Paul Goldsmith | |||||||
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Born |
Parkersburg, West Virginia |
October 2, 1925 ||||||
Achievements |
1961 and 1962 USAC stock car champion Daytona Beach Road Course final winner (1958) |
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Awards | AMA Hall of Fame inductee (1999) | ||||||
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
127 races run over 11 years | |||||||
Best finish | 5th - 1966 (Grand National) | ||||||
First race | 1956 Lakewood Speedway (Atlanta) | ||||||
Last race | 1969 Michigan International Speedway | ||||||
First win | 1956 Langhorne Speedway | ||||||
Last win | 1966 Bristol Motor Speedway | ||||||
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Formula One World Championship career | |||||||
Nationality | American | ||||||
Active years | 1958–1960 | ||||||
Teams | Epperly, Kurtis Kraft | ||||||
Entries | 3 | ||||||
Championships | 0 | ||||||
Wins | 0 | ||||||
Podiums | 1 | ||||||
Career points | 6 | ||||||
Pole positions | 0 | ||||||
Fastest laps | 0 | ||||||
First entry | 1958 Indianapolis 500 | ||||||
Last entry | 1960 Indianapolis 500 |
1961 and 1962 USAC stock car champion
Paul Goldsmith (born October 2, 1925 in Parkersburg, West Virginia) is a former USAC and NASCAR driver. He is an inductee of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Later in life Goldsmith became a pilot and, flying primarily a Cessna 421, transported engines and parts to and from races.
Goldsmith was a famous A.M.A. Grand National Championship motorcycle racer during the late 1940s through the mid-1950s. His first victory came in 1952 aboard a Harley-Davidson at the Milwaukee Mile in Harley's hometown. Paul was a full-time worker at a Chrysler plant in Detroit.
His most famous victory was at the 1953 Daytona 200. Later in 1953, he won a 100-mile (160 km) event at the grueling Langhorne (Pennsylvania) cinder track. He was awarded the Most Popular Rider of the Year Award for his efforts.
In 1954, Goldsmith had one victory at Charity Newsies at Columbus, Ohio, and four podium finishes. He finished second in the first year of the Grand National Series behind his former pupil Joe Leonard.
In 1955 he won his final AMA event at Schererville, Indiana. He was frequently running stock cars. He left motorcycle racing because he was pressured to run only stock cars by General Motors.
He was the winner of the final race at the famous Daytona Beach Road Course in 1958. He was also the only driver to win the Daytona Beach Road course both in a stock car and on a motorcycle.
Goldsmith was the 1961 USAC champion, with 7 poles, 10 wins, 16 top-five finishes in 19 races. Goldsmith won his second consecutive USAC championship in 1962 with 6 poles, 8 wins, and 15 top-five finishes in 20 races.