Don Diffendorf
{{Short description|American Dirt Modified racing driver (born 1929)}}
{{Infobox racing driver
| name = Don Diffendorf
| image =
| birth_name = Donald J. Diffendorf Sr.
| birth_date = February 9, 1929
| birth_place = Binghamton, New York
| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|4|21|1929|2|9|mf=y}} {{cite news|title= Donald Diffendorf Obituary |url= https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/pressconnects/name/donald-diffendorf-obituary?id=25593316 |date=April 27, 2012|publisher=Press & Sun-Bulletin|via=Legacy.com|accessdate=September 6, 2023}}
| last series = Modified racing career
| first year = 1951
| car number = S/360
| championships = 2
| wins = 100+
| retired = 1978
| titles = 1969, 1971 New York State Fair Champion
| awards=
| updated=
}}
Donald "Don" Diffendorf (February 9, 1929 – April 21, 2012) was an American dirt modified racing driver who accounted for over 100 feature victories. His most famous ride was Glenn Scott's iconic S/360, numbered for the IBM System 360 computers Scott sold.{{cite news |last=Dowd |first=Bill |date=April 12, 1966 |title=A lighter car for a heavier ($) haul |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/114548839/press-and-sun-bulletin/ |accessdate=September 6, 2023 |work=Press & Sun-Bulletin |publisher= |location=Binghamton NY |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |last=Stevens |first=Kevin |date=July 14, 2016 |title=Halls of Fame honor pair from Broome County |url=https://www.pressconnects.com/story/sports/2016/07/15/halls-of-fame/87140894/ |accessdate=September 6, 2023 |work=Press & Sun-Bulletin |publisher= |location=Binghamton NY}}
Racing career
Don Diffendorf began his racing career at Five Mile Point Speedway NY the year the track opened in 1951. He competed successfully at the renowned tracks of the northeast, including Fulton Speedway NY, Lancaster Speedway NY and Oswego Speedway NY, while claiming championship titles at Five Mile Point and Shangri-La Speedway NY.{{cite news |last=Ferlito |first=Jim |date=July 31, 1971 |title=Diffendorf outruns field to win Fulton race |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/new-york/oswego/oswego-palladium-times/1971/07-21/page-19/ |accessdate=September 6, 2023 |work=The Palladium-Times |publisher= |page=19 |publication-place=Oswego NY |via= NewspaperArchive}}
In 1969 and again in 1971 Diffendorf won the New York State Fair championship event at the Syracuse Mile{{cite news |date=September 7, 1971 |title=Triumphs at Fair: Feature won by Diffendorf |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/new-york/syracuse/syracuse-post-standard/1971/09-07/page-11/ |accessdate=September 6, 2023 |work=The Post-Standard |publisher= |location=Syracuse NY |page=11 |via= NewspaperArchive}} He was inducted into the New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame in 2012, and into the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame in 2016.{{cite news |last=Sciria |first=Chris |date=August 9, 2016 |title=Dirt Hall of Fame in Weedsport inducts new members |url=https://auburnpub.com/sports/auto_racing/dirt-hall-of-fame-in-weedsport-inducts-new-members/article_36b49937-689b-5424-8ff7-99e8dbe2666b.html |accessdate=August 15, 2023 |work=The Citizen |publisher= |location=Auburn NY}}