Gene Tapia
| Gene Tapia | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
March 16, 1925 Mobile, Alabama | ||||||
| Died | April 12, 2005 | ||||||
| Cause of death | Unknown | ||||||
| Awards | Inducted in the Alabama Auto Racing Pioneers Hall of Fame (1999) | ||||||
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career | |||||||
| 4 races run over 2 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 134th - 1953 (Grand National) | ||||||
| First race | 1951 Lakeview Speedway (Mobile, Alabama) | ||||||
| Last race | 1953 Five Flags Speedway (Pensacola, Florida) | ||||||
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Eugene "Gene" H. Tapia (March 16, 1925 – April 12, 2005) was an American race car driver from Mobile, Alabama.[1] He competed in four NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup Series) races,[1] but he is best known for racing in the #327 supermodified. He was nicknamed the "King of the Supermodifieds."
Early life
Tapia was born on March 16, 1925, in Mobile, Alabama, to Ada and Homer Tapia.[2] When he was nine years old, he attended a dirt track race with his father.[2] His father began taking him regularly to motorcycle races in the mid 1930s.[2]
At the age of 17, Tapia got married. That same year, he was involved in a street fight[3] and the county district attorney suggested that he should leave town to avoid prosecution.[3] In order to resolve the matter amicably, he left Mobile to work as a civilian on a military base in Alaska. Tapia was wounded when the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor in June 1942.[3]
While Tapia was away, his wife gave birth to a boy named Larry Eugene Tapia in September 1942 at Memphis, Tennessee.[3] Before either parent was able to see the baby, he was stolen by Georgia Tann's baby theft ring that worked at the hospital.[3][4]
In June 1943, Tapia returned to Mobile where he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.[3] He served with the Third Marine Division in Guadalcanal, the first-day invasion of Guam, and spent over 35 days on Iwo Jima.[3]
Racing career
In 1948, Tapia began racing as a way to get past battle stress which plagued him after the War. Later that year, he won his first stock car race at Chisholm Fairgrounds in Montgomery, Alabama.[2] He raced in several NASCAR races that season. During his brief time spent racing in NASCAR, he won the Florida state title and the 1953 Mississippi state title.[4] He left the circuit because he wanted to race five nights per week instead of one night.[3] "Tapia was right up there with the best," said Donnie Allison. "He could have made it real good in NASCAR, if he had chosen. But I think his regard for his family and the desire to race more frequently is what kept him closer to home."[3]
Tapia won the 1968 and 1969 World 300 Supermodified race at Mobile International Speedway.[3] The event was billed as the "world's richest supermodified race".[3]
Later life
In 1990, Tapia was able to meet his son. The 47-year-old, who was living in Missouri, was told that his parents had died in an automobile accident.[3] Tapia died in 2005 at the age of 80.[3]
Awards
He was inducted in the Alabama Auto Racing Pioneers Hall of Fame in 1999.[2]
Biography
- The Gene Tapia Story: King of the Supermodifieds ISBN 978-0-9725023-0-6
References
- 1 2 "Gene Tapia driving statistics". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Hodges, Gerald. "Racing Hall inducts Tapia". Retrieved 2009-03-03.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Gerald, Hodges (April 14, 2005). "Well-known local racer Gene Tapia dies at 80". Fatboysports. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- 1 2 Hodges, Gerald. "The Gene Tapia Story". Retrieved 2009-03-05.
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