Frankie Schneider

Frankie Schneider
Born(1926-08-11)August 11, 1926
Maplewood, New Jersey
DiedNovember 12, 2018(2018-11-12) (aged 92)
Motorsport career
Debut season1947
Car number2
Wins750+
Finished last season1999
Championship titles
1952 NASCAR National Modified champion
1954,1962 Langhorne National Open
1967 All Star Stock Car Racing League Champion
NASCAR Cup Series career
27 races run over 7 years
Best finish20th (1957)
First race1949 Hamburg Speedway
Last race1958 Starkey Speedway
First win1958 Old Dominion Speedway
Wins Top tens Poles
1 16 1

Frank E. Schneider (August 11, 1926 – November 11, 2018) was an American stock car, modified, midget, and sprint car racer. He had one NASCAR Grand National Series 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.[1][2] Schneider earned his nickname "The Old Master" through his ability to master anything with wheels.

Early life

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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.[3] He left home when he was 16 and he started racing cars when he was 21.[4]

Racing Career

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Schneider began his career on June 15, 1947, by winning $70 ($955.17 when considering inflation) for driving his streetcar to a seventh-place at Flemington Speedway.[2] Schneider is believed to have won at least 750 races in the next thirty years.[2] He routinely raced in several classes at eight races per week.[2] He reportedly scored at least 100 wins again in 1958.[2] Schneider won the Langhorne National Open, the country's top event for Sportsman and Modified racers in 1954 and 1962. In 1963, he won four track points championships—Middletown, Harmony, Reading, and Nazareth—in a car he bought for $1,000 ($9,952.17 when considering inflation).

He scored his last feature win on July 31, 1977, at the 1/2-mile dirt track Nazareth Speedway.[2][5] Although he competed in almost all 50 states, the Bahamas, and Canada, Schneider raced most of his career at the Orange County Fair Speedway, Reading Fairgrounds Speedway, Flemington Speedway, Harmony Speedway, and Nazareth Speedway.[4] The Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame inducted Schneider in 1992 as part of its inaugural class.[6] He was recently voted driver of the century by Area Auto Racing News.[2]

Schneider's career is the subject of the video "The Old Master: Frankie Schneider".[7] Schneider died at the age of 92 on November 11, 2018.[8]

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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

Grand National Series

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NASCAR Grand National Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 NGNC Pts Ref
1949 Frankie Schneider - Ford CLT DAB HBO LAN HAM
6
MAR HEI NWS 26th 100 [9]
1950 - DAB CLT LAN MAR CAN VER DSP MCF CLT HBO DSP HAM
11
DAR LAN NWS VER MAR WIN HBO 80th - [10]
1951 DAB CLT NMO GAR HBO ASF NWS MAR CAN CLS CLB DSP GAR GRS BAI HEI AWS MCF ALS MSF FMS MOR
37
ABS DAR CLB CCS LAN CLT DSP WIL HBO TPN PGS MAR OAK NWS HMS JSP ATL GAR NMO [11]
1952 Clark-Warwick 88 Oldsmobile PBS
4
DAB
11
JSP
3
NWS
18
MAR
9
CLB
4
ATL CCS LAN DAR DSP CAN HAY FMS HBO CLT MSF NIF OSW MON MOR PPS MCF AWS DAR CCS LAN DSP WIL HBO MAR NWS ATL PBS 37th 931 [12]
1953 - 8 Jaguar PBS DAB HAR NWS CLT RCH CCS LAN CLB HCY MAR PMS RSP LOU FIF LAN
12
TCS WIL MCF PIF MOR ATL RVS LCF DAV HBO AWS PAS HCY DAR CCS LAN BLF WIL NWS MAR ATL [13]
1957 Hugh Babb 45 Chevy WSS CON TIC DAB
40
CON WIL HBO AWS NWS LAN CLT PIF GBF POR CCF RCH
4
MAR POR EUR LIN LCS ASP NWP CLB CPS PIF JAC 20th 2516 [14]
Hubert Westmoreland 44 RSP
2
CLT MAS POR HCY NOR LCS
2 GLN
4
KPC LIN
7
OBS
9
MYB
Frankie Schneider 62 DAR
47
NYF AWS
8
CSF SCF LAN
11
CLB CCF CLT MAR
24
NBR CON NWS GBF
1958 Hubert Westmoreland 2 FAY DAB
29
CON - - [15]
Frankie Schneider 62 FAY
4
WIL HBO FAY
2
CLB PIF ATL CLT MAR
27
ODS
1*
OBS
4
GPS GBF STR
4
NWS BGS TRN RSD CLB NBS REF LIN HCY AWS RSP MCC SLS TOR BUF MCF BEL BRR CLB NSV AWS BGS MBS DAR CLT BIR CSF GAF RCH HBO SAS MAR NWS ATL

References

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  1. ^ nascar.com article on NJ drivers
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Biography Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine at legendsofnascar.com, Retrieved July 20, 2007
  3. ^ http://www.theoldmaster.net/ The Old Master
  4. ^ a b The Morning Call [bare URL]
  5. ^ "The 'Old Master' did it best ** Frankie Schneider won the first, and most, races at Nazareth". The Morning Call. August 28, 2004. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  6. ^ "Danny Johnson, Pat O'Brien & Ray Brown the 2019 class". Race Pro Weekly. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  7. ^ Online Store
  8. ^ "Frankie Schneider, 92". Speed Sport. November 12, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  9. ^ "Frankie Schneider – 1949 NASCAR Strictly Stock Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  10. ^ "Frankie Schneider – 1950 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  11. ^ "Frankie Schneider – 1951 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  12. ^ "Frankie Schneider – 1952 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  13. ^ "Frankie Schneider – 1953 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  14. ^ "Frankie Schneider – 1957 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  15. ^ "Frankie Schneider – 1958 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
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