Rick Wilson (racing driver)

Rick Wilson (born January 31, 1953 in Bartow, Florida) is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver. He began racing in 1980, and posted 23 top-ten finishes over his career. NASCAR's website says that he is probably best known for his "close, side-by-side second to Bill Elliott in Daytona's summer event in 1988." He was also known for taking over Richard Petty's car at Petty Enterprises after Petty retired in a car numbered 44.

Career

Wilson's most successful run came from 1986 until 1989, driving the No. 4 car for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, when he was a consistent top-20 driver and won his only pole position, at Bristol Motor Speedway. He later drove for RahMoc Enterprises, Stavola Brothers Racing and Petty Enterprises and was an Oldsmobile driver until the brand left NASCAR following the 1992 season. Wilson was the first driver chosen to replace Richard Petty after Petty's retirement—the car's number temporarily changed to No. 44 at that time. Wilson also raced several years in the Busch Series driving for the Abingdon-based Food Country No. 75 Oldsmobile operated by Henderson Motorsports. He won two races, Bristol, and Dover, both in 1989. The Bristol race he won was postponed due to snow, and ran on a Monday. Wilson led 161 of the 200 laps ran on his way to victory. Wilson started second in 1989 at Martinsville, leading 160 of the 200 laps before blowing a motor and finishing 21st. Wilson has not raced in NASCAR since 1998.

Wilson won the 2010 NASCAR "Saturday Night Special" also known as The NASCAR Legends Race at Bristol Motor Speedway in a replica of the 1989 Food Country USA Oldsmobile he won with at Bristol in 1989. He returned to active competition for a single race in the USARacing Pro Cup Series at Bristol later that year, finishing 19th following an accident.

Personal life

After Wilson retired from racing NASCAR, he became a crew member for Chip Ganassi and Travis Carter. He later became a farmer in his native Florida. As of 2007 he ran thousands of cattle on 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) and had about 200 acres (0.81 km2) of orange trees.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

Daytona 500

Busch Series

Craftsman Truck Series

ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)