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Marshall Teague (racing driver)

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Marshall Teague
Teague, circa 1957
BornMarshall Pleasant Teague
(1921-02-22)February 22, 1921
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
DiedFebruary 11, 1959(1959-02-11) (aged 37)
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Championship titles
AAA Stock Car (1952, 1954)
Major victories
NASCAR Daytona Beach (1951, 1952)
Awards
NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers (1998)
NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers (2023)
AAA/USAC Stock Car career
Years active1952–1958
Championships2
Best finish1st in 1952, 1954
NASCAR Cup Series career
23 races run over 4 years
Best finish62nd (1949)
First race1949 Race 2 (Daytona Beach)
Last race1952 Race 6 (Columbia)
First win1951 Race 1 (Daytona Beach)
Last win1952 Race 3 (Speedway Park)
Wins Top tens Poles
7 11 2
Champ Car career
2 races run over 5 years
Best finish18th (1957)
First race1953 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last race1957 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Wins Podiums Poles
0 0 0
Formula One World Championship career
Active years1953–1954, 1956–1958
TeamsKurtis Kraft, Kuzma
Entries5 (3 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1953 Indianapolis 500
Last entry1958 Indianapolis 500

Marshall Pleasant Teague[1] (February 22, 1921 – February 11, 1959) was an American race car driver nicknamed by NASCAR fans as the "King of the Beach" for his performances at the Daytona Beach Road Course.

He walked into fellow Daytona Beach resident Smokey Yunick's "Best Damned Garage in Town", and launched Yunick's NASCAR mechanic career.

Career

[edit]
Marshall Teague restored Hudson Hornet

Teague competed in 23 NASCAR Grand National Series races from 1949 to 1952, winning seven of them.

Teague approached the Hudson Motor Car Company by traveling to Michigan and visiting the automaker's factory without an appointment. By the end of his visit, Hudson virtually assured Teague of corporate support and cars, with the relationship formalized shortly after his visit. This "is generally regarded as the first stock car racing team backed by a Detroit auto manufacturer."[2]

During the 1951 and 1952 racing seasons, Teague was a member of the Hudson Motors team and driving what were called the "Fabulous Hudson Hornet" stock cars.[3]

Teague was also instrumental in helping Hudson tune the 308 cu in (5.0 L) straight-6 powered Hudson Hornet to its maximum stock capability. When combined with the car's light weight and low center of gravity, the Hornet allowed Teague and the other Hudson drivers to dominate stock car racing from 1951 through 1954, consistently beating out other drivers in cars powered by larger, more modern engines. Smokey Yunick and Teague won 27 of 34 events in major stock car events.[4]

In 1953, Teague dropped out of NASCAR following a dispute with NASCAR founder William France Sr. and went to the AAA and USAC racing circuits.

The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. Teague participated in three World Championship races, but scored no World Championship points.

Death

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Driving a reconfigured Indy car at the newly opened Daytona International Speedway, Teague died while attempting to break the closed course speed record, which had been established by Tony Bettenhausen in qualifying for the 1957 Race of Two Worlds at about 177 mph. Teague was conducting test sessions in preparation for the April start of the 1959 USAC Championship Car season, piloting a "Sumar Special" streamliner, a Kurtis Kraft chassis with a 270 c.i. Meyer-Drake Offenhauser engine, streamlined fenders, and a canopy enclosing the driver, thus being classified as Formula Libre.

On February 9, 1959, Teague, clocked at 171.821 mph (276.5 km/h), markedly improved Ed Elisian's unofficial 148-mph-one-lap record for an American race track, which had been set in preparation for the 1958 Indianapolis 500.[5][6]

The next day, the left rear tire was cut as a result of running over a foreign object, which forced Teague to pit.[7]

Teague was trying to go even faster on February 11, 1959, eleven days before the first Daytona 500. "Teague pushed the speed envelope in the high-powered Sumar Special streamliner – to an estimated 140 mph (230 km/h)."[8] His car spun and flipped through the third turn and Teague was thrown, seat and all, from his car. He died nearly instantly, eleven days shy of his 38th birthday.[4][9][10][11]

Legacy

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Teague was the inspiration for Doc Hudson in the film Cars.[8]

Awards and honors

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Motorsports career results

[edit]

Indianapolis 500

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* Shared drive with Duane Carter, Jimmy Jackson and Tony Bettenhausen
** Shared drive with Gene Hartley

NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)

Grand National Series

[edit]
NASCAR Grand National Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 NGNC Pts Ref
1949 Bill Appleton 6 Hudson CLT DAB
14 		HBO LAN HAM MAR HEI NWS 62nd 4 [13]
1950 Paul Cox DAB
32 		CLT LAN MAR CAN VER DSP MCF CLT HBO
17 		DSP HAM DAR
63 		LAN NWS VER MAR WIN HBO 119th - [14]
1951 Marshall Teague DAB
1 		CLT
3 		NMO GAR
1** 		HBO ASF
1* 		NWS MAR
23 		CAN
1 		CLS
31 		CLB
3 		DSP
6 		GAR GRS
1* 		BAI
31 		HEI AWS
29 		MCF ALS MSF
33 		FMS MOR ABS DAR
33 		CLB CCS LAN
6 		CLT DSP WIL HBO TPN PGS MAR OAK NWS HMS JSP ATL GAR NMO NA - [15]
1952 PBS DAB
1* 		JSP
1** 		NWS
16 		MAR CLB
22 		ATL CCS LAN DAR DSP CAN HAY FMS HBO CLT MSF NIF OSW MON MOR PPS MCF AWS DAR CCS LAN DSP WIL HBO MAR NWS ATL PBS NA - [16]

References

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  1. ^ The Talk of Gasoline Alley. July 24, 2013. WFNI.
  2. ^ Wood, Perry Allen (2010). Declarations of stock car independents: Interviews with twelve racers of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. McFarland. p. 5. ISBN 9780786457809. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  3. ^ Via, Roland (2010). "Marshall Teague". marshallteague.com. Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  4. ^ a b Via, Roland (2003). "Marshall Teague Biography". legendsofnascar.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  5. ^ Marc. "The Jimmy Daywalt Tribute Site". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Just 'playing around' at 171 mph – Teague". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. 10 February 1959. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  7. ^ Kahn, Bernard (11 February 1959). "Teague had close call and didn't know it!". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  8. ^ a b Parente, Audrey (9 February 2008). "Life lost; legend lives local race car hero's death preceded 1st Daytona 500". News Journal. Daytona Beach, Florida. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  9. ^ Hinton, Ed (2002). Daytona: From the Birth of Speed to the Death of the Man in Black. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-0-446-61178-7.
  10. ^ "Teague dies in Daytona wreck". The Spartanburg Herald. Associated Press. February 12, 1959.
  11. ^ Kahn, Bernard (12 February 1959). "Experts divided on wreck cause". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  12. ^ "Marshall Teague". www.mshf.com. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  13. ^ "Marshall Teague – 1949 NASCAR Strictly Stock Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  14. ^ "Marshall Teague – 1950 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  15. ^ "Marshall Teague – 1951 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  16. ^ "Marshall Teague – 1952 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
[edit]
Sporting positions
Preceded by AAA Stock Car Champion
1952 		Succeeded by
Preceded by AAA Stock Car Champion
1954 		Succeeded by
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