Neil Castles
{{Short description|American race car driver (1934–2022)}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox NASCAR driver
|name = Neil Castles
|image =
|caption = Castles in 1970
|birth_name = Henry Neil Castles
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1934|10|1}}
|birth_place = Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|8|4|1934|10|1}}
|death_place =
|achievements = 1972 NASCAR Grand National East Series Champion
|awards =
|Total_Cup_Races = 498
|Years_In_Cup = 19
|First_Cup_Race = 1957 race #24 (Columbia)
|Last_Cup_Race = 1976 Mason-Dixon 500 (Dover)
|Cup_Wins = 0
|Cup_Top_Tens = 178
|Cup_Poles = 0
|Total_GNEast_Races = 28
|Years_In_GNEast = 2
|Best_GNEast_Pos = 1st (1972)
|First_GNEast_Race = 1972 Hickory 276 (Hickory)
|Last_GNEast_Race = 1973 Buddy Shuman 100 (Hickory)
|First_GNEast_Win = 1972 Greenville 200 (Greenville)
|Last_GNEast_Win = 1972 Maryville 200 (Maryville)
|GNEast_Wins = 2
|GNEast_Top_Tens = 20
|GNEast_Poles = 0
}}
Henry Neil Castles (October 1, 1934 – August 4, 2022) was an American NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. He raced from 1957 to 1976, and won the NASCAR Grand National East Series in 1972.
Early life
Castles was born in Marion, North Carolina,{{cite news|title=Obituary for Henry Neil Castles Sr.|url=https://www.mcmahansfuneralhome.com/obituary/HenryNeil-CastlesSr|access-date=August 7, 2022|publisher=McMahan's Funeral Home & Cremation Services}} on October 1, 1934.{{cite news|title=Neil Castles, former NASCAR Cup Series driver and movie stuntman, dies at 87|url=https://www.cbssports.com/nascar/news/neil-castles-former-nascar-cup-series-driver-and-movie-stuntman-dies-at-87/|first=Steven|last=Taranto|date=August 5, 2022|access-date=August 7, 2022|publisher=CBS News}}{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Stock Car Racing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JbABCwhdfhAC&pg=PA112|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=March 14, 2013|last=Freedman|first=Lew|pages=112–113|isbn=9780313387104}} He was raised in nearby Charlotte. When he was nine, he was gifted a car to drive at a soapbox derby racer by Buddy Shuman, who also gave Castles the nickname "Soapy". As a teenager, Castles worked on Shuman's cars and cleaned his tools at the latter's shop.{{cite news|title=Neil 'Soapy' Castles, longtime NASCAR racer and movie stuntman, dies at 87|url=https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2022/08/05/cup-series-2022-neil-soapy-castles-driver-stuntman-obituary/|first=Zack|last=Albert|date=August 5, 2022|access-date=August 8, 2022|publisher=NASCAR}}
Career
Castles made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in June 1957 at Columbia Speedway, finishing 51 laps before engine failure forced him to record a Did Not Finish (DNF). He went on to win 25-lap qualifying races at Darlington Raceway (1967) and Rockingham Speedway (1969). Three years later, he won the NASCAR Grand National East Series, a second-level series beneath the Winston Cup Series, which would ultimately prove to be his most successful NASCAR campaign. He also won at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway in the spring of 1972. Even though he failed to win a race in his nineteen-year career, Castles managed to record 51 finishes in the top five and 178 finishes in the top ten. Out of 90,509 laps, Castles led 70 of them. His total mileage in his career was {{convert|65412.8|mi|km}}.{{cite web|title=Neil Castles Statistics and Results|url=https://motorsportstats.com/driver/neil-castles/summary/series/nascar-cup-series|access-date=August 8, 2022|publisher=Motorsport Stats}}{{cite web|title=Neil Castles|url=https://www.racing-reference.info/driver/Neil_Castles/|access-date=August 8, 2022|website=Racing-Reference.info}}{{cite web|title=Neil Castles Stats|url=https://www.espn.com/racing/driver/stats/_/id/2406/neil-castles|publisher=ESPN Internet Ventures|work=ESPN|access-date=August 8, 2022}}
There was a short story about Castles in American Zoom, a book authored by Peter Golenbock.{{cite book|title=American Zoom: Stock Car Racing – from the Dirt Tracks to Daytona|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9AYKAQAAMAAJ|publisher=Macmillan USA|year=1994|last=Golenbock|first=Peter|isbn=9780020327820}} Castles was an also-ran of the old days who once found himself having an uncharacteristically good day. He had lapped Curtis Turner, but the flagman apparently did not believe it, as he kept giving Castles the move-over flag to let Turner pass. As Castles told the story: "The starter kept doing this, and I was getting real mad, so I just picked up my gun and when I come by the stand the next time I took aim and shot that flag out of his hand."
By the end of his racing career, Castles managed to earn $276,854 in total winnings (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|276854|1976|r=2}}}} when adjusted for inflation). At the time of his death, his 498 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series were the third-most by a driver who did not have a victory, behind J. D. McDuffie (653) and Buddy Arrington (560).
Castles also worked in the film industry as a stunt driver, beginning in the 1950s about the time that he started racing. After he and his friends were recruited as extras for filming at the Occoneechee Speedway, he volunteered to replace the stuntman who was stuck in California. He later featured in that capacity in Thunder Road (1958), Speedway (1968, doubling for Elvis Presley), The Last American Hero (1973), Greased Lightning (1977), and Six Pack (1982). He also acted in The Night of the Cat (1973) and Challenge (1974).{{cite news|title=Neil Castles Dies: Stuntman In Elvis Presley's 'Speedway', Actor, NASCAR Driver Was 88|url=https://deadline.com/2022/08/neil-castles-dead-stuntman-elvis-presley-speedway-actor-nascar-driver-was-88-obituary-1235085731/|first=Bruce|last=Haring|date=August 4, 2022|access-date=August 8, 2022|magazine=Deadline Hollywood}}
In 2019, Castles published a memoir of his life in NASCAR and in the film industry.{{cite book |last1=Castles |first1=Henry Neil "Soapy" |title=Neil "Soapy" Castles: Memoir of a Life in NASCAR and the Movies |date=January 31, 2019 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-1-4766-3504-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2RiGDwAAQBAJ |language=en}}
Personal life
Castles was married to Iris Jean Gallion for 63 years until her death in December 2019.{{cite news|title=Iris Castles Obituary|url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/charlotte/name/iris-castles-obituary?id=2065024|date=December 20, 2019|access-date=August 7, 2022|newspaper=The Charlotte Observer|via=Legacy.com}} Together, they had three children.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Racing-Reference driver|Neil_Castles}}
- [http://www.legendsofnascar.com/Neil_Castles.htm Legends of NASCAR]
- [http://www.nascar.com/2002/kyn/history/dbd/02/06/1969/index.html NASCAR.com's 1969 season recap]
=Books=
- {{cite book |last1=Golenbock |first1=Peter |title=American Zoom: Stock Car Racing—from the Dirt Tracks to Daytona |date=1994 |publisher=Macmillan USA |isbn=978-0-02-032782-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9AYKAQAAMAAJ |language=en}}
- {{cite book |last1=Castles |first1=Henry Neil "Soapy" |title=Neil "Soapy" Castles: Memoir of a Life in NASCAR and the Movies |date=January 31, 2019 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-1-4766-3504-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2RiGDwAAQBAJ |language=en}}
{{Champion Racing}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castles, Neil}}