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Billy Rafter

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Billy Rafter
BornWilliam F. Rafter
(1929-07-31)July 31, 1929
Clarence Center, New York, U.S.
DiedMarch 2, 2026(2026-03-02) (aged 96)
Retired1972
Motorsport career
Debut season1949
Car number22
Championship titles
1959 NASCAR NY Sportsman Champion[1]
1959 New York State Fair Champion[2]
NASCAR Cup Series career
35 races run over 6 years
Best finish19th (1958)
First race1949 Hamburg NY
Last race1958 Rochester NY[3]
Wins Top tens Poles
0 11 0

William F. Rafter (July 31, 1929 – March 2, 2026) was an American champion stock car driver from Clarence Center, New York and a pioneer of the sport.

Racing career

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Rafter began his racing career in 1948 as a teenager at the Civic Stadium in Buffalo, New York, and was soon hired by local car dealer John Moran to drive his highly-modified ’37 Ford coupe.[4]

Rafter made 35 appearances in the NASCAR Grand National Series, the first of which was in 1949, the inaugural year of the Cup division.[3] He otherwise spent the majority of his career racing in the Late Model Sportsman and Modified divisions, competing at the renowned tracks of the northeast, including Fonda Speedway and Perry Speedway in New York and Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania.[1][5] In 1961, he won the inaugural event at the newly opened Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, New York.[6]

Rafter claimed track titles at Civic Stadium, Lancaster Speedway and Holland Speedway in New York, as well as Merrittville Speedway in Thorold, Ontario.[4] He was inducted into the New York State Stock Car Association and the Northeast Dirt Modified Halls of Fame.[1][7]

Death

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Rafter died March 2, 2026, at the age of 96.[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 54 55 56 NGNC Pts Ref
1949 Ford CLT DAB HBO LAN HAM
3 		MAR HEI NWS 20th 160 [9]
1953 Plymouth PBS DAB HAR NWS CLT RCH CCS LAN CLB HCY MAR PMS RSP LOU FFS LAN TCS WIL MCF
18 		PIF MOR ATL RVS LCF DAV HBO AWS PAS HCY DAR CCS LAN BLF WIL NWS MAR ATL 146th 64 [10]
1954 Billy Rafter 141 PBS DAB
42 		JSP ATL OSP OAK NWS HBO CCS LAN WIL MAR SHA RSP CLT GAR CLB LND HCY MCF WGS PIF AWS SFS GRS MOR OAK CLT SAN COR DAR CCS CLT LAN MAS MAR NWS 201st 14 [11]
1956 41 Dodge HCY CLT WSS PBS ASF DAB PBS WIL ATL NWS LAN RCH CLB CON GPS HCY HBO MAR LIN CLT POR EUR NYF
19 		MER MAS CLT MCF
15 		POR AWS
7 		RSP PIF CSF CHI CCF MGY OKL ROA OBS SAN NOR
13 		PIF
11 		MYB POR DAR CSH CLT
17 		LAN POR CLB HBO NWP
22 		CLT CCF
26 		MAR
26 		HCY WIL 73rd 623.4 [12]
1957 C.M. Julian WSS CON TIC DAB CON WIL HBO AWS NWS LAN CLT PIF GBF POR CCF RCH MAR POR EUR LIN LCS ASP NWP CLB CPS PIF JAC RSP CLT MAS
17 		POR HCY NOR LCS GLN
10 		KPC 99th 128 [13]
Billy Rafter LIN
23 		OBS MYB DAR
4 Plymouth NYF
24 		AWS CSF SCF LAN CLB CCF CLT MAR NBR CON NWS GBF
1958 150 Ford FAY DAB CON FAY WIL HBO FAY
11 		19th 2916 [14]
50 CLB
32 		PIF
10 		ATL
15 		CLT
8
57 MAR
18 		ODS OBS GPS
8 		GBF
8 		STR
11 		NWS BGS TRN RSD CLB NBS
5 		REF
14 		LIN
8 		HCY
11 		AWS
13 		MCC
11 		SLS TOR
6 		BUF
9 		MCF
12 		BEL BRR CLB NSV AWS BGS MBS DAR CLT BIR CSF GAF RCH HBO SAS MAR NWS ATL
Chevy RSP
24

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Billy Rafter Returns For May 30 Hall of Fame Happening". DIRTcar Racing. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  2. ^ "Rafter wins at Syracuse". The Schenectady Gazette. NY. September 8, 1959. p. 21. Retrieved February 9, 2024 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b "Billy Rafter-NASCAR Cup Series". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Jaworecki, Michael Sr. (March 3, 2026). "Hall of Fame driver Bill Rafter passes". MyRaceNews.com. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  5. ^ "Billy Rafter Career Results". The Third Turn. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  6. ^ O'Brien, Dick (June 18, 2021). "Utica-Rome Speedway celebrates 900th modified feature race Friday". The Post-Standard. Syracuse NY. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  7. ^ "Meet Stock Car Hall of Fame inductees at Saratoga Auto Museum". The Saratogian. Saratoga Springs NY. July 22, 2021. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  8. ^ Bisci, John; Southcott, Mark; Schmeh, Thomas (March 5, 2026). "Sad News – Bill Rafter". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  9. ^ "Billy Rafter – 1949 NASCAR Strictly Stock Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  10. ^ "Billy Rafter – 1953 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  11. ^ "Billy Rafter – 1954 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  12. ^ "Billy Rafter – 1956 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  13. ^ "Billy Rafter – 1957 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  14. ^ "Billy Rafter – 1958 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
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