Ralph and Dale
JD SEE SCRIPT
John Delphus McDuffie was a former NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) driver. He raced in the top division of NASCAR from 1963 to 1991. McDuffie had 106 top-tens in his Cup Series career. His unexpected death was a result of a crash at Watkins Glen International in 1991.
Career
After attending his first race in Bowman Gray Stadium at the age of ten, McDuffie was inspired by racing legends Curtis Turner, Glenn Wood, Billy Myers, and others to become a race car driver. He won several small races throughout the Carolinas including a track championship at a small dirt track near Rockingham, North Carolina. McDuffie made his NASCAR Winston (Sprint) Cup debut in 1963 at the Rambi Speedway near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina driving Curtis Turner’s old 1961 Ford. Though McDuffie was a expert dirt track racer, he never met with much success on asphalt tracks. His best NASCAR finish came at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in 1971 where he managed to finish 3rd. In 1978 McDuffie won the pole position for the Delaware 500. In the 1988 Daytona 500 qualifying race, McDuffie received second and third degree burns in an accident after he raced without fireproof gloves because they were stolen before the race. One day before his fatal accident at Watkins Glen International Speedway, McDuffie won a celebrity race at Shangri-La Speedway not far from Watkins Glen.
