Larry Pollard
{{short description|Canadian racing driver}}
{{Infobox NASCAR driver
| name = Larry Pollard
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1954|05|05}}
| birth_place = Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| height =
| weight =
| achievements =
| awards =
| Total_Cup_Races = 4
| Years_In_Cup = 1
| Cup_Car_Team =
| Prev_Cup_Pos =
| Prev_Cup_Year =
| Best_Cup_Pos = 107th (1987)
| First_Cup_Race = 1987 Budweiser 500 (Dover)
| Last_Cup_Race = 1987 Holly Farms 400 (North Wilkesboro)
| First_Cup_Win =
| Last_Cup_Win =
| Cup_Wins = 0
| Cup_Top_Tens = 0
| Cup_Poles = 0
| Total_Busch_Races = 98
| Years_In_Busch = 6
| Busch_Car_Team =
| Prev_Busch_Pos =
| Prev_Busch_Year =
| Best_Busch_Pos = 9th (1985)
| First_Busch_Race = 1985 Mountain Dew 400 (Hickory)
| Last_Busch_Race = 1990 AC-Delco 200 (Rockingham)
| First_Busch_Win = 1987 Busch 200 (Langley)
| Last_Busch_Win =
| Busch_Wins = 1
| Busch_Top_Tens = 38
| Busch_Poles = 0
}}
Larry Pollard (born 5 May 1954) is a Canadian former NASCAR Busch Grand National Series driver. During his career, Pollard was the crew chief for NASCAR drivers Richard Petty and Phil Parsons during the 1980s before starting his Busch Series racing career in 1985. As a racecar driver, Pollard became the first non-American driver to win a Busch Grand National event after his win during the 1987 Busch 200 at Langley Speedway. Pollard was inducted into the Victoria Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2003.
Early life
Career
Pollard began his racing career as a stock car racer in Victoria during the 1970s. At the beginning of the 1980s, Pollard became a NASCAR pit crew member in the Winston West Series for driver Roy Smith. After two years with Smith, Pollard went to the Busch Grand National Series and continued his pit crew career for Ricky Rudd in 1982.{{cite news |last1=Fedoruk |first1=Ernie |title=Pollard heading for stock cars' big league |work=Times Colonist |date=18 January 1982 |page=14}} Between 1982 and 1984, Pollard was a pit crew chief for Richard Petty before ending his crew chief career with Phil Parsons in 1985.{{cite news |last1=Dheensaw |first1=Cleve |title=Racing runs in Pollards' blood - Victoria's first family of auto |work=Times Colonist |date=30 July 1995 |page=1}}
As a NASCAR driver, Pollard competed in the Busch Grand National Series from 1985 to 1990 while appearing in four races during the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season.
While in the Busch Series, he won the 1987 Busch 200 at Langley Speedway and became the first non-American driver to win a Busch Series event.{{cite web |title=1987 NASCAR Busch Grand National Results |url=http://www.espn.com/racing/results/_/series/xfinity/year/1987 |website=ESPN |accessdate=18 March 2019}}
At the 1988 Budweiser 200 at Dover International Speedway, Pollard crashed into a wall during the 195th lap and acquired a basilar skull fracture.{{cite news |title=Victoria driver 'stable' after crash |work=Vancouver Sun |date=6 June 1988 |page=D6}} After coming out of a coma, Pollard returned to racing during the 1989 NASCAR Busch Series.{{cite news |last1=Lang |first1=Stew |title=Pollard is prepared for bright comeback |work=Times Colonist |date=24 December 1989 |page=E3}} After Pollard's final Busch Series race in 1990, Pollard briefly drove in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southeast Series during the early 1990s and the Pro All Stars Series in the mid 2000s.{{cite web |title=Larry Pollard |url=https://www.driverdb.com/drivers/larry-pollard/ |website=Driver Database |accessdate=17 March 2019}}
Awards and honours
In 2003, Pollard was inducted into the Victoria Auto Racing Hall of Fame.{{cite web |title=Larry Pollard 2003 Inductee |url=http://victoriaautoracinghalloffameandmuseum.com/larry-pollard-2003-inductee |website=Victoria Auto Racing Hall of Fame and Museum |date=17 February 2013 |accessdate=17 March 2019}}
Motorsports career results
=NASCAR=
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
==Winston Cup Series==
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:75%" |
| colspan=45| NASCAR Winston Cup 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 ! {{Tooltip|NWCC|NASCAR Winston Cup classification}} ! Pts ! Ref |
| rowspan=2| 1987
! rowspan=2| Hamby Racing ! rowspan=2| 12 ! Chevy | DAY | CAR | RCH | ATL | DAR | NWS | BRI | MAR | TAL | CLT | style="background:#DFFFDF;"| DOV | POC | RSD | MCH | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| DAY | POC | TAL | GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR | colspan=3| | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| NWS | CLT | CAR | RSD | ATL ! rowspan=2| 107th ! rowspan=2| - |
| Olds
| colspan=21| | style="background:#DFFFDF;"| RCH | DOV | MAR | colspan=5| |
=ARCA Talladega SuperCar Series=
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:75%" |
| colspan=45| ARCA Talladega SuperCar Series results |
|---|
| Year
! Team ! No. ! Make ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! 9 ! 10 ! 11 ! 12 ! 13 ! 14 ! {{Tooltip|ATSCSC|ARCA Talladega SuperCar Series classification}} ! Pts ! Ref |
| 1985
! ! 98 ! Chevy | ATL | DAY | ATL | TAL | ATL | SSP | IRP | CSP | FRS | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| IRP | OEF | ISF | DSF | TOL ! 118th ! - |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Racing-Reference driver|Larry_Pollard}}
{{Hensley Motorsports}}
{{Whitaker Racing}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Larry}}
Category:ARCA Menards Series drivers
Category:Canadian motorsport people
Category:Racing drivers from British Columbia