Frankie Schneider

Frankie Schneider (born August 11, 1926 in Maplewood, New Jersey) was a stock car, modified, midget, and sprint car racer. He had one NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) victory at Old Dominion Speedway in 1958 driving a 1957 Chevrolet. He also won the 1952 NASCAR modified title, where it is suspected that he scored at least 100 wins. Frankie Schneider earned his nickname "The Old Master" through his ability to master anything with wheels.

Schneider began his career on June 15, 1947 by winning $70 ($750.80 when considering inflation) for driving his street car to a seventh place at Flemington Speedway. Schneider is believed to have won at least 750 races in the next thirty years. He routinely raced in several classes at eight races per week. He reportedly scored at least 100 wins again in 1958. Schneider won the Langhorne National Open, the country's top event for Sportsman and Modified racers, in 1954 and 1962. 1963, he won four track points championships—Middletown, Harmony, Reading and Nazareth—in a car he bought for $1,000.

He scored his last feature win on July 31, 1977 at the 1/2-mile dirt track Nazareth Speedway. Although he has competed in almost all 50 states, the Bahamas and Canada, Schneider raced most of his career at the Orange County Fair Speedway, Reading Fairgrounds, Flemington Speedway, Harmony Speedway and Nazareth Speedway. He was recently voted driver of the century by Area Auto Racing News.

Schneider's career is the subject of the video "The Old Master: Frankie Schneider".

Frank E. Schneider was born on August 11, 1926, in Maplewood, New Jersey, not far from Newark. His father, Frank Sr, was employed at the Western Electric Company in Newark at the time. Frank is the oldest of 5 children, Eleanor, Lorraine, Robert and Charles are his younger siblings. He left home when he was 16 and he started racing cars when he was 21.