Dean Combs
{{short description|American stock car racing driver}}
{{Infobox NASCAR driver
| name = Dean Combs
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1952|02|23}}
| birth_place = North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
| achievements = 1975, 1976, 1977 NASCAR Baby Grand Series Champion
1980, 1981 NASCAR International Sedan Series Champion
| awards =
| Total_Cup_Races = 24
| Years_In_Cup = 4
| Cup_Car_Team =
| Prev_Cup_Pos =
| Previous_Year =
| Best_Cup_Pos = 39th (1984)
| First_Cup_Race = 1981 Holly Farms 400 (North Wilkesboro)
| Last_Cup_Race = 1984 Atlanta Journal 500 (Atlanta)
| First_Cup_Win =
| Last_Cup_Win =
| Cup_Wins = 0
| Cup_Top_Tens = 1
| Cup_Poles = 0
| updated = January 15, 2012
}}
Dean Combs (born February 23, 1952) is a former NASCAR driver. In his limited career, Combs competed in twenty-four Winston Cup Series events. Combs is best known for dominance on NASCAR's lower level Dash Series in the 1970s and 1980s. He had five championships in that series, and was the all-time wins leader in that series before it closed up in 2004.
Winston Cup
=1981=
Combs made his entrance into the series in 1981, driving for two races late in the season. Driving for the #77 of Irv Sanderson, Combs made his debut at North Wilkesboro. He qualified well, putting it in with an 11th-place lap. Eventually, rear end problems sidelined Combs to 28th. Combs again qualified well at Rockingham, but fell out once again due to mechanical problems to 34th.
=1982=
=1983=
Combs continued on his five-race pace in 1983, continuing to drive Sanderson's cars. He still struggled to finish races, falling out of two of the events. Yet, once again, if Combs finished he had good finishes. He was 13th at Charlotte, 20th at Michigan and at Atlanta, Combs grabbed his only top-10 with a solid eighth-place finish.
=1984=
Combs biggest year came in 1984, when he competed in twelve events. However, judging by the nine DNFs it was not exactly successful. The only races he did finish were an 18th at Charlotte, 19th at Daytona and 25th at Richmond. After finishing 39th in points, Combs and Sanderson finally split and Combs went back to lower level racing.
Racing career results
| class="wikitable"
|+ ! colspan="38" |NASCAR Winston Cup Series results |
| Year
!Team/Owner !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 !NWCC !Pts !Ref |
|---|
| 1981
! rowspan="6" |Irv Sanderson ! rowspan="3" |77 ! rowspan="3" |Buick | colspan="26" | |NWI 28 | |ROC 34 | colspan="2" | !n/a !n/a |
| 1982
| colspan="11" | |CLS 38 | colspan="2" | |MCH 17 | colspan="4" | |MCH 13 | colspan="4" | |NWI 26 |CLS 34 | colspan="5" | !43rd !431 |
| rowspan="2" |1983
| colspan="11" | |CLS 13 | colspan="7" | |MCH 20 | colspan="3" | |DOV 33 | colspan="7" | ! rowspan="2" |42nd ! rowspan="2" |500 |
| rowspan="3" |97
! rowspan="2" |Oldsmobile | colspan="26" | |CLS 32 | |ATL 8 | colspan="2" | |
| rowspan="2" |1984
|DAY 19 |RCH 25 | |ATL 32 | |NWI 31 | |MAR 27 | colspan="2" | |DOV 29 |CLS 18 | colspan="19" | ! rowspan="2" |39th ! rowspan="2" |903 |
| Chevrolet
| colspan="14" | |MCH 36 |DAY 32 | colspan="3" | |MCH 38 | colspan="2" | |RCH DNQ | colspan="2" | |CLS 28 | colspan="2" | |ATL 36 | colspan="2" | |
Moonshining
In 2009, Combs was arrested for the operation of a moonshine still in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Officers from the Wilkes County Sheriff's Office destroyed the still with explosives, seizing {{convert|200|USgal}} of corn liquor and {{convert|3000|lb}} of sugar.{{cite web|url=http://www2.timesdispatch.com/sports/2009/mar/05/deangat04_20090304-221605-ar-50658/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204132832/http://www2.timesdispatch.com/sports/2009/mar/05/deangat04_20090304-221605-ar-50658/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 4, 2013 |title=Former NASCAR driver Dean Combs charged in moonshine bust |last=Mitchell |first=Monte |date=March 5, 2009 |work=Richmond Times-Dispatch |accessdate=2012-01-15 |location=Richmond, Virginia }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Racing-Reference driver|Dean_Combs}}
- [http://www.theautochannel.com/search/search.html?words=Dean%20Combs Dean Combs] at The Auto Channel
{{s-start}}
{{s-sport}}
{{succession box |
before= Inaugural |
title= NASCAR Baby Grand Series Champion |
years= 1975, 1976, 1977|
after= Larry Hoopaugh
}}
{{succession box |
before= Larry Hoopaugh |
title= NASCAR International Sedan Series Champion |
years= 1980, 1981|
after= Larry Hoopaugh
}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Combs, Dean}}
Category:Racing drivers from North Carolina
Category:People from North Wilkesboro, North Carolina