Terry Ryan (racing driver)

Terry Ryan
Born	May 13, 1938 Davenport, Iowa, United States
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
12 races run over 2 years
Best finish	40th – 1977
First race	1976 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last race	1977 Champion Spark Plug 400 (Michigan)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 4 0

Terry Ryan is an American stock car racing driver. he competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series between 1976 to 1977.

Career

Ryan competed in the USAC Stock Car and ARCA Racing Series before competing in NASCAR; in 1975 he won the pole for the ARCA event at Daytona International Speedway.^[1]

In the 1976 Daytona 500, Ryan was the first rookie to start in the front row; he would finish sixth in that event.^[2] His average start is in 18th place while his average finish is in 20th place. Ryan's total career earnings were $37,345 ($145,832.12 when considering inflation). Out of 1745 laps, Terry has only led one of them. His top ten finishes came at the 1976 Daytona 500, the 1976 Winston 500, the 1976 Los Angeles Times 500, and at the 1977 Champion Spark Plug 400.^[3]

Terry's favorite track was the Ontario Motor Speedway where he would finish an average of ninth place. His least favorite track was Charlotte Motor Speedway where he would finish an average of 35th place. Ryan performed the best on restrictor plate tracks and the worst on tri-oval intermediate tracks.^[4]

After retiring from NASCAR in 1977, Terry eventually returned to the vintage racing circuits in 1997; where he still races as of 2009.^[5]

References

1. "Surprising Ryan wins pole position". The Montreal Gazette. Montreal, PQ. February 8, 1975. p. 18. Retrieved 2013-08-14.
2. 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Recap at How Stuff Works
3. Career statistics for Terry Ryan at Racing Reference
4. NASCAR Statistics for Terry Ryan at Driver Averages
5. Terry Ryan: Still turning laps at age 71 at Front Porch Expressions

External links

• Terry Ryan driver statistics at Racing-Reference