Racing Reference lists Seven 1959 Convertible division starts by a Buck Baker owned #89 Convertible, in all cases listed as a 1958 Chevy.
Buddy Baker at Occoneechee, Weaverville, Columbia and Greenville
Ned Jarrett at Hickory
Shorty Rollins at Martinsville
Buck himself at Bowman-Gray
One other aside using Racing Reference stats...
After the 1959 Daytona 500,
Buck Baker is shown as the entered owner of car #89 in Eight other 1959 NASCAR Cup races and in all instances the car is listed as a 1958 Chevrolet. We know the guys added and deleted the hardtops depending on whether they were running Grand National or Convertible division.
Buddy Baker ran the hardtop Buck Baker owned #89 in 6 1959 Cup races;
Twice at Columbia and once each at Greenville (SC), Wilson, Richmond, and Weaverville.
Shorty Rollins ran the Buck Baker owned #89 in 1959 at Spartanburg.
Tiny Lund ran the Buck Baker owned #89 in 1959 at Occoneechee.
Here's a little more in-depth on Boris Said's father, Bob - wish I had known him.
Bob Said: 1932-2002
Bob Said, a pioneering American racer in post-World War II Europe and one of the great characters of the era, died after watching the 2002 Oscar show.
Born in 1932 of a Syrian father and Russian mother, Boris Said lived many lives. He was the first American driver to win a race in Europe after World War II, taking an OSCA to victory at Rouen in 1953. After more good European showings in the OSCA and a Ferrari Mondial in 1953 and 1954, Said returned to America. He continued in Ferraris, but after crashing badly at Nassau in 1955, he didn't race for two years. While he was absent, he made one of his fortunes in a mining endeavor in Montana. He returned to racing, piloting a Ferrari at Nassau in 1957, but he raced only rarely. His last event was the first United States Grand Prix at Sebring in 1959 where he only made a lap in a Connaught. He got the entry because his mother had helped out the mother of Sebring organizer, Alec Ulmann, during hard times in Russia.
Away from the track, Said made another big killing in Westchester County real estate in the 1960s, allowing him a big estate in Pound Ridge, with a private zoo. People who met Bob in later years sometimes thought he was exaggerating, but he actually was a two-time Olympic bobsledder and an Emmy-winning TV documentary maker. At the time of his death, he was waiting to begin another project, Mysteries of the Goddess, which had been interrupted by the violence in the Middle East.
When spending time around Bob, one was immediately reminded why so few of today's drivers catch the imagination of the public. His knowledge of other subjects and his storytelling abilities were unparalleled. VeloceToday's condolences go out to his son, racer Boris Said, his daughter, Leesa, and his many friends around the world.
Well, PK.... Appears Mr. Said WAS pulled in from the streets, lol!!!
Boris "Bob" Said (May 5, 1932 in New York City - March 24, 2002 in Seattle) was a racing driver from the United States. Boris was the first American to win a road race in Europe after World War II - the 1953 Rouen Grand Prix. He participated in the first Formula One United States Grand Prix at Sebring on December 12, 1959. He spun off on the first lap and scored no World Championship points. He also made one NASCAR start, the 1959 Daytona 500 where he finished 50th after a transmission failure.
Said was also a bobsled racer, competing in the Olympics twice, 1968 in Grenoble and in 1972 at Sapporo, Japan. Later he was the executive producer of a documentary entitled Mystery of the Sphynx.
His son, Boris Said III, is a current NASCAR driver and road course ringer.
SOURCE - Wikipedia
Not finished with Mr. Harkey yet!
Would you look at this field? 73 cars started the July 4, 1953 NASCAR Modified race at Darlington.
Buck Baker and Bob Harkey both drove in it. 73 cars!!!
http://www.ultimateracinghistory.com/race.php?raceid=6729
Oh, by the way, maybe we should ask Boris.
More about the Indy car found by Bob Harkey and driven by Buck Baker...
Found this in an article about the whereabouts of Indy 500 winning cars:
It was the 1941 Indy 500 race winner.
1941: Noc-Out Hose Clamp Special (Floyd Davis & Mauri Rose)
Owned and restored to display condition by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Foundation, and housed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. A plaque indicates it was donated by Mr. & Mrs. O.A. Corriher.
It is reportedly the same car that Frank Wearne drove at Indy in 1939, and that Rose drove in 1940. After the war, the car was reportedly driven by Joie Chitwood in 1946-1947, Duane Carter in 1948, and by Troy Ruttman in 1949. In 1950, Bob Sweikert practiced in the car, but was unable to qualify. Ted Horn also reportedly drove the car.
In 1952, Buck Baker acquired the car, replaced the Offenhauser engine with a Cadillac V-8, and entered it in the short-lived NASCAR Speedway Division, an open-wheel series that ran from 1952-1953. Baker drove it to the lone championship in 1952, because the series disbanded after only two races in 1953.
After that point, it was prepped for use as a sprint car. It was garaged in Spartanburg, South Carolina , where it was intact, but in desperate need of significant repair. Sometime in the 1970s, it was relocated by Bob Harkey to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, where it was restored.
By 1980, it the restoration was complete. In April of 2003, it was brought to the Indycar event in Motegi, Japan for display. It is on periodic display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. In the spring of 2011 the car was included in the 100th Anniversary display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.
And this Bob Harkey / Buck Baker connection come courtesy of an Indianapolis Motor Speedway News Release in 2009:
Indianapolis Motor Speedway shares some NASCAR history
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is celebrating its 100th birthday this year, and although known more for its open wheel tradition, the track has seen its share of NASCAR history.
Stock car racing became a fixture at Indianapolis in 1994, with the advent of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. But NASCAR references and competitive crossover are found throughout Indianapolis long history.
NASCAR founder Bill France was a pit crew member for driver Joel Thorne during the 1938 and 1939 Indianapolis 500. Thorne finished seventh and ninth respectively.
The car that Mauri Rose drove in his 1941 Indianapolis 500 victory proved quite versatile. The grandfather of outgoing Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Joie Chitwood III drove the same car in the 1946 Indianapolis 500.
Buck Baker later drove the car to the NASCAR Speedway division title in1952. It remained in Charlotte, N.C., until Bob Harkey arranged for its return to Indianapolis. Today, the car is on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame.
I keep finding interesting Bob Harkey / Buck Baker connections:
On July 19, 1964 while Bob Harkey was finishing 3rd in the USAC Indy Car race at Trenton, Buck Baker was finishing 4th in his NASCAR stocker at Watkins Glen.
1964
A.J. Foyt, in his Sheraton-Thompson Watson Offy, won the Trenton 150 USAC Indy Car race on the 1 mile paved oval at the Trenton International Speedway, Trenton, NJ. Lloyd Ruby was second followed by Don Branson , Bob Harkey and Norm Hall.
Billy Wade, in the Bud Moore Mercury Marauder , won the NASCAR Grand National race on the Watkins Glen International Road Course in Watkins Glen, NY. LeeRoy Yarbrough finished second followed by Walt Hansgen, Buck Baker and Bob Welborn.
May I be allowed to throw a little more mud in these interesting waters?
Turns out Mr. Harkey was in attendance at this past year's 400-Mile NASCAR Stock Car race at Indy.
On the date of Paul Menard's win, Mr. Harkey is thusly quoted in the official Indianapolis Motor Speedway pit notes for July 31, 2011:
BOB HARKEY: "I drove in the first NASCAR convertible race at Daytona in 1959. Buck Baker gave me a ride in his '59 Impala convertible. Larry Frank hooked me coming off the second turn and spun me all the way down the backstretch. I drove back to the pit, they checked the car, and I finished 10th. I had to go to Washington, D.C. or Atlanta to run midgets because there wasn't any open-wheel racing in the South."
How about that!?
PattyKay says the car is a '57, Jim says it is a '58 and Mr. Harkey himself says he drove a '59!
Take your pick!
And Mr. Harkey is credited as leading lap #4 in that qualifier, one of 4 different leaders the first 4 laps, beginning with Glen Wood leading lap #1.
Daytona was competitive from the beginning.
