Education
He finished 18th in the final Universal Service Administrative Company standings that year.
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Bobby Wawak
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Career
Local racing
He began drag racing as a teenager. He raced in his first stock car race at around 1958 at Mance Park Speedway in Hodgkins, Illinois. He raced regularly at the O’Hare Stadium in Schiller Park, Illinois.
He competing in both the cadet (sportsman) and late model divisions.
He competed at the track in 1973 and 1974, winning 14 features at that half mile asphalt track in his 1971 Ford Torino. National touring series
= Universal Service Administrative Company Wawak competed on the Universal Service Administrative Company stock car circuit in 1965.
He made six races with a sixth-place finish in one event during his rookie season. Wawak did not return to Universal Service Administrative Company racing until 1969 and would compete on a limited basis into the early 1970s.
= National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing Wawak made occasional National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing starts before 1976, except for making 14 National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing starts in 1967.
His first start was in the 1965 Southern 500 at Darlington Speedway. He started 27th, and finished 36th with engine problems. His most successful year was 1976, when he finished 22nd in the points.
His highest career finish was a sixth-place finish in the final race of the season at Ontario.
The fuel line on his car came loose on the third lap of the 1977 Daytona 500, and the fire came into the car"s cockpit. Wawak jumped from the car while it was still moving (and slammed into the inside wall moments later), held up his burnt hands, and ran to the infield care center.
"lieutenant was like sitting in front of a blow torch," Wawak said later. He made six more starts that year.
He continued racing in National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, and made 96 more National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing starts.
His career ended when he crashed in the first qualifier for the 1988 Daytona 500, Wawak suffering a fractured vertebra and detached retinas. Randy Lajoie raced in one race in his car in 1988, and Mike Potter raced three races in 1990. After his National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing career ended, he helped Hendrick Motorsports with their show cars.
He appeared in National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing Thunder 2004 as an unlockable driver in a car numbered 36.
At age 64, Wawak died on April 17, 2004.
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Quotations: "lieutenant was like sitting in front of a blow torch,".
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Born
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Died
April 17, 2004 (aged 64) -
Nationality
American