Banjo Matthews
{{short description|NASCAR driver and owner}}
{{Infobox NASCAR driver|
name = Banjo Matthews |
birth_name = Edwin Keith Matthews |
birth_date = {{birth date|1932|2|14|mf=y}} |
birth_place = Akron, Ohio, U.S.
|image = Banjo Matthews.jpg
|
death_date = {{death date and age|1996|10|2|1932|2|14|mf=y}} |
death_place = Hendersonville, North Carolina, U.S. |
death_cause = heart and respiratory disease|
awards = Inducted in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1998 |
Best_Cup_Pos = 10th (1960) |
Achievements = car builder for 1976, 1977, 1978 NASCAR Cup champions{{cite web |title=Banjo Matthews Hall of Fame Nominee Bio {{!}} NASCAR |url=https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2020/04/02/banjo-matthews-hall-of-fame-nominee-bio/ |website=NASCAR |accessdate=September 11, 2020 |date=7 April 2020}} |
Cup_Wins = 0 |
Cup_Top_Tens = 13 |
Cup_Poles = 3 |
First_Cup_Race = 1952 Southern 500 (Darlington) |
Last_Cup_Race = 1963 World 600 (Charlotte) |
Total_Cup_Races = 51 |
Years_In_Cup = 10 |
}}
Edwin Keith "Banjo" Matthews (February 14, 1932 – October 2, 1996) was an American NASCAR driver, car owner, and builder. As a driver, he had 13 top ten finishes in 51 starts. He was the car builder for the 1976 to 1978 NASCAR Cup Series champions.
Racing career
=Driver=
Matthews began his career at age 15 at Pompano Beach Speedway in Florida. He was a successful Modified driver. He won 50 times in 1954. He made 51 starts in the NASCAR Grand National Series, with a best finish of second at Atlanta.[http://www.circletrack.com/thehistoryof/1804/ Circle Track magazine], Retrieved April 1, 2007[http://racing-reference.info/driver?id=matthba01 Driver's statistics] at racing-reference.info, Retrieved April 2, 2007 He won three poles, one each at the Daytona Beach and Road Course, Daytona International Speedway, and Atlanta International Raceway.
His best finishes were on superspeedways, where he would finish in 15th place on average, while his worst finishes would be on road courses, where he would finish in 39th place on average. Matthews drove 26 races using #94.[http://www.driveraverages.com/nascar_stats/driver.php?drv_id=1646 NASCAR statistics for Banjo Matthews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104025610/http://www.driveraverages.com/nascar_stats/driver.php?drv_id=1646 |date=2012-11-04 }} at Driver Averages Matthews stopped driving in 1963 to focus on building cars.
=Car owner/builder=
Matthews served as car owner for several of the biggest names in NASCAR in the 1960s and 1970s, including Fireball Roberts, A. J. Foyt, Junior Johnson, Donnie Allison, and Cale Yarborough. Matthews' career as a team owner began at the 1957 Southern 500 and ended at the 1974 Southeastern 500.[http://racing-reference.info/owner?id=matthba01 Owner's statistics at racing-reference.info], Retrieved April 1, 2007 His drivers won 9 races and had 14 pole positions in 160 races. Matthews also served as co-crew chief for Jack Ingram in 1975, with Junior Johnson.{{cite web|url=http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2013/10/09/nascar-hall-of-fame-six-pack-of-pop-nationwide-jack-ingram.html|title=Six Pack of Pop: Hall of Famer Jack Ingram|work=NASCAR|date=October 9, 2013|accessdate=October 23, 2013}}
He is best known, however, for having constructed many cars in the 1970s and 1980s, including 72% of the winning cars in the top NASCAR division from 1974 to 1985 (262 wins in 362 Cup races). He first worked for Holman Moody's Ford Motor Company factory team before starting his shop called Banjo's Performance Center in Arden, North Carolina in 1970.{{cite news |last1=Myers |first1=Bob |title=NASCAR Scrapbook: Banjo Matthews - The Henry Ford of Race Cars |url=https://www.hotrod.com/articles/1804/ |accessdate=September 11, 2020 |work=Hot Rod magazine |date=1 February 1997 |language=en}} In 1978, he built the winning car for all 30 Cup races. He was nicknamed the "Henry Ford of Race Cars."
Death and personal life
Matthews had failing health for his last two years, and he died in a nursing home in Hendersonville, North Carolina on October 2, 1996.{{cite news |title=Banjo Matthews Dead At 64 |url=https://apnews.com/c8e5cb251b89ad9acdf452ad257ce924 |accessdate=September 11, 2020 |work=Associated Press |date=October 3, 1996}} His wife Penny had died from cancer in 1984. His son Jody took over the family business and had a daughter.
Banjo Nickname
NASCAR owner Bud Moore said, "When Banjo first came around, he wore a pair of glasses that were so thick, it made everyone, on first impression, think of a "banjo." I don't know who thought of it first, but it stuck when we started calling him 'Banjo Eyes'.{{cite news |title=Banjo Matthews Carries Unique NASCAR Legacy |url=https://speedsport.com/racing-history/banjo-matthews-carries-unique-nascar-legacy/ |accessdate=September 11, 2020 |work=Speed Sport |date=October 15, 2010}}
Awards
He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1998. He also received the Buddy Shuman Award for his contributions to the sport, the Smokey Yunick Award for his mechanical ability, and was inducted in the inducted National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2022, Matthews was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Racing-Reference driver|Banjo_Matthews}}
- {{Racing-Reference owner|Banjo_Matthews}}
- {{Racing-Reference crewchief|Banjo_Matthews}}
{{Smokey Yunick Racing}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Banjo}}