Fast Facts: 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Rex White

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2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Rex White holds an unusual distinction in the NASCAR world – at 5-foot-4 and 135 pounds, he was the smallest driver to ever win the Grand National Series title. White and fellow 2015 inductees Wendell Scott, Joe Weatherly, Fred Lorenzen and Bill Elliott will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Jan. 30, 2015. Here are the Fast Facts on this short-track specialist.

• Rex White was born on Aug. 17, 1929 and raised in Taylorsville, NC, where he overcame polio as a youngster. White did not start racing until 1954, when, with the help of one of his wife’s relatives, he purchased a 1937 Ford for $600; he ran his first race that year at West Lanhan Speedway in Maryland, and when the season was over, the rookie won the track’s Sportsman title.
• In 1956, White made his first NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) Series starts, earning 14 top 10 finishes in 24 races. In 1957, he made just nine starts, but amassed six top 10 finishes, including four top fives. White won his first race in 1958 at Champion Speedway in Fayetteville, NC; that year, he picked up 17 top 10 finishes in 22 starts and finished seventh in points.
• After winning five times in 23 races in 1959, White won six times in 1960 on his way to the Grand National Series championship; he picked up 35 top 10 finishes in 40 starts and beat runner-up Richard Petty by nearly 4,000 points. In 1961, he won seven times and finished in the top 10 38 times in 47 starts on his way to a runner-up finish in points.
• White won his last races in 1962, visiting victory lane eight times and earning 23 top 10 finishes in 37 starts. In nine seasons of Grand National Series racing (1956-1964), White earned 28 wins and 163 top 10 finishes – nearly 70-percent of his finishes.
• White was names one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, and was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame in 1974; he is also a member of the Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame.
• Learn more about Rex White on his Legends of NASCAR page.