| Birth name | Richard Shelton May |
|---|---|
| Birth date | November 7, 1930 |
| Birth place | Astoria, New York, U.S. |
| Death date | June 9, 2009 (aged 78) |
| Death place | Salisbury, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Current series | Modified racing |
| First year | 1950 |
| Car number | B29 |
| Championships | 1 |
| Retired | 1986 |
| Best cup pos | 15th (1978) |
|---|---|
| Cup wins | 0 |
| Cup top tens | 8 |
| Cup poles | 0 |
| First cup race | 1970 Daytona 500 Qualifier #2 (Daytona) |
| Last cup race | 1985 Northwestern Bank 400 (North Wilkesboro) |
| Years in cup | 16 |
| Total cup races | 185 |
| First busch race | 1967 Permatex 300 (Daytona)[1] |
Richard Shelton May (November 7, 1930 – June 9, 2009) was an American NASCAR driver who competed in 185 races in the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series between 1967 and 1985.
Racing career
May began his racing career at the St. Lawrence Valley Speedway in Canton, New York.[2] He spent much of his early career racing at the Watertown Speedway, New York, where he was 1962 Track Champion.[3]
Known as NASCAR’s pinch hitter, May was a coveted as a relief driver and hailed for his ability to qualify cars and avoid crashing, and some estimates put his total NASCAR appearances at over 500.[4] In the 1975 running of the Mason-Dixon 500, May drove five different cars but did not finish the race.[5]
After retiring as a driver, May worked as a NASCAR inspector until 2003.[2][4] He was inducted into the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame in 2007.[6]
Death
On June 9, 2009, May died following a long illness.[7]
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.)
Grand National Series
| 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 | NGNC | Pts | Ref | |
| 1970 | Ron Ronacher | 67 | Ford | RSD | DAY | DAY 19 | DAY DNQ | RCH 25 | CAR | SVH 17 | ATL | BRI | TAL DNQ | NWS DNQ | CLB 22 | DAR DNQ | BLV 23 | LGY 15 | CLT | SMR 22 | MAR 29 | MCH | RSD | HCY | KPT | GPS | DAY | AST 20 | TPN 25 | TRN 24 | BRI DNQ | SMR | NSV 18 | ATL | CLB 20 | ONA | MCH | TAL | BGS | SBO | DAR | HCY | RCH | DOV 32 | NCF | NWS | CLT DNQ | MAR DNQ | MGR 29 | CAR | LGY 30 | 44th | 551 | [8] | |
| 1971 | RSD | DAY 26 | DAY | DAY DNQ | ONT | RCH 25 | CAR 35 | HCY | BRI 21 | ATL | CLB 18 | GPS | SMR 20 | NWS | MAR | DAR | SBO 14 | TAL | ASH 6 | KPT 14 | CLT | DOV 30 | MCH 40 | RSD | HOU | GPS 25 | DAY | NSV 29 | 32nd | 1090 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Langley Racing | 64 | Ford | BRI 29 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercury | AST 23 | ISP 27 | TRN 34 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Doc Faustina | 5 | Plymouth | style="background:#CFCFFF;"'| ATL 22 | BGS | ONA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ralph Davis | 84 | Dodge | MCH 32 | DAR 25 | MAR | CLT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ford | TAL 27 | CLB | HCY | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ulrich Racing | 40 | Ford | DOV 19 | CAR | MGR | RCH | NWS | TWS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Winston Cup Series
Daytona 500
| Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Ron Ronacher | Ford | DNQ | |
| 1971 | DNQ | |||
| 1972 | Bob Davis | Dodge | DNQ | |
| 1974 | Travis Tiller | Dodge | DNQ | |
| 1975 | Frank Warren | Dodge | QL† | |
| 1976 | Hiram Handy | Chevrolet | 38 | 38 |
| 1977 | Alfred McClure | Ford | DNQ | |
| 1978 | 25 | 18 | ||
| 1979 | DNQ | |||
| 1980 | DNQ | |||
| 1981 | Brooks Honda | Dodge | DNQ | |
| 1982 | Jim Stacy Racing | Buick | Wth | |
| † - Qualified but replaced by Ed Negre | ||||
References
- ^ "Career Results by Series". The Third Turn. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
- ^ "Dick May Interview" (Oral history interviews). RacersReunion. April 4, 2008. Retrieved April 9, 2023. – via YouTube.
- ^ Stoodley, Dave (2003). The Legends of Watertown Speedway. Speedway Press. p. 9. ISBN 9780967743844.
- ^ "Dick May". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
- ^ goNASCARgo
- ^ DIRT Motorsports Archived 2011-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Former area driver May dies". Watertown Daily Times. 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
- ^ "Dick May – NASCAR Cup Series Statistics". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
