G. C. Spencer

Grover Clifton "G. C." Spencer^[1] (July 9, 1925^[2] – September 20, 2007) was a NASCAR driver who competed in 415 Grand National/Winston Cup Series races from 1958 to 1977. Despite never winning a race, he had 55 top-5 finishes and 138 top tens, including 7 second-place finishes.

G. C. Spencer
Born	Grover Clifton Spencer (1925-07-09)July 9, 1925 Owensboro, Kentucky
Died	September 20, 2007(2007-09-20) (aged 82) Johnson City, Tennessee
NASCAR Cup Series career
415 races run over 20 years
Best finish	4th (1965)
First race	1958 Southern 500 (Darlington)
Last race	1977 Dixie 500 (Atlanta)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 138 1

Born in Owensboro, Kentucky,^[3] he was a dominant short-track racer in the 1940s and 1950s. He served in World War II with the U.S. Navy.^[3]

Spencer drove for his own independent team for most of his career, and was one of the most successful independents of the day. His best season came in 1965, when he finished fourth in points with 14 top-5 finishes and 25 top-10s and his only career pole. Although he drove GM and Chrysler cars for most of his career, he drove Fords in 1965, where he found most of his success.

He sold his team and equipment in 1983,^[4] and his No. 49 became the No. 4 of Morgan-McClure Motorsports.^[3] Spencer acted as the team manager to the team for its first three years.^[3]

He died in 2007 at the age of 82.^[3]

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	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60	61	62	NGNC	Pts	Ref
1958	Buck Baker Racing	86	Chevy	FAY	DAB	CON	FAY	WIL	HBO	FAY	CLB	PIF	ATL	CLT	MAR	ODS	OBS	GPS	GBF	STR	NWS	BGS	TRN	RSD	CLB	NBS	REF	LIN	HCY	AWS	RSP	MCC	SLS	TOR	BUF	MCF	BEL	BRR	CLB	NSV	AWS	BGS	MBS	DAR 16	CLT	BIR	CSF	GAF	RCH	HBO	SAS	MAR	NWS	ATL												36th	1040	^[5]
1959	GC Spencer Racing	44	Chevy	FAY	DAY	DAY	HBO	CON	ATL	WIL	BGS	CLB	NWS 15	REF																																																				13th	4260	^[6]
		34													HCY 14	MAR 17	TRN	CLT 12	NSV 11	ASP	PIF 4	GPS 7	ATL 22	CLB 17	WIL 14	RCH	BGS 8	AWS 19	DAY 34	HEI	CLT 27	MBS 12	CLT 28	NSV 12	AWS 12	BGS 11	GPS 15	CLB 7	DAR 23	HCY 14	RCH 14	CSF	HBO 8	MAR 34	AWS	NWS 16	CON 30
1960				CLT 11	CLB 15	DAY 14	DAY	DAY 31	CLT	NWS	PHO																																																							33rd	3986	^[7]
	Weldon Wagner	48	Chevy									CLB 9	MAR 13	HCY 20	WIL	BGS	GPS 21	AWS 5	DAR 15	PIF 6	HBO 18	RCH	HMS	CLT 21	BGS	DAY	HEI	MAB	MBS	ATL	BIR 6	NSV 10	AWS 17	PIF 19	CLB 26	SBO 15	BGS 17		HCY 11	CSF	GSP 4	HBO	MAR 16	NWS 17	CLT 16	RCH	ATL
	Spook Crawford	20	Ford																																			DAR 22
1961	GC Spencer Racing	48	Chevy	CLT	JSP	DAY	DAY	DAY	PIF	AWS	HMS	ATL	GPS 4	HBO 9	BGS 10	MAR 15	NWS 18	CLB 4	HCY 4	RCH 6	MAR 13	DAR 17	CLT 10	CLT	RSD	ASP	CLT 31	PIF 8	BIR 9	GPS 9	BGS 8	NOR	HAS	STR 7	DAY	ATL 9	CLB 8	MBS 16	BRI 34	NSV 8	BGS 6	AWS 27	RCH	SBO 19	DAR	HCY 6	RCH 10	CSF	ATL 31	MAR 11	NWS 23	CLT	BRI 12	GPS	HBO											20th	9128	^[8]
1962				CON 12	AWS 22				CON 7	AWS 20	SVH 12	HBO 19	RCH 8	CLB 5	NWS 11	GPS 10	MBS 17	MAR 12	BGS 9	BRI 25	RCH	HCY 15	CON 15		PIF 4			BGS 14	AUG 5	RCH 11	SBO 19	DAY	CLB	ASH	GPS	AUG	SVH	MBS	BRI 32	CHT 6	NSV 11	HUN 16	AWS 22	STR 10	BGS 5	PIF 5	VAL 4	DAR 28	HCY 7	RCH 14	DTS	AUG	MAR 30	NWS 19	CLT 26	ATL 16										24th	9788	^[9]
	Matt DeMatthews	38	Ford			DAY 21	DAY	DAY 45																DAR 28
	Ralph Smith	79	Chevy																							CLT 21	ATL 26
1963	GC Spencer Racing	48	Chevy	BIR	GGS 21	THS 18	RSD																																																											18th	13744	^[10]
	Fox Racing	03	Chevy					DAY 11	DAY	DAY 32	PIF	AWS	HBO	ATL DNQ	HCY	BRI	AUG 8	RCH 17	GPS 3	SBO
	GC Spencer Racing																				BGS 16	MAR		CLB 22												BGS 18	ASH 18	OBS	BRR	BRI 35	GPS	NSV 21	CLB 5			BGS 6	ONA 6		HCY 2	RCH 4
		58																					NWS 24		THS 7
	Owens Racing	16	Dodge																							DAR 13	ODS	RCH
	Stroppe Motorsports	25	Mercury																										CLT 9	BIR	ATL 13	DAY 9	MBS	SVH	DTS
	Jack Smith	48	Plymouth																																									AWS 21							MAR 23	DTS	NWS	THS	CLT 7	SBO 16	HBO 17	RSD
	Robert Smith	75	Pontiac																																										PIF 7
	Jack Smith	47	Plymouth																																													DAR 24
1964	Paul Clayton	75	Pontiac	CON 20																									GPS 5	ASH 8																																				26th	10012	^[11]
		70			AUG 24
	GC Spencer Racing	03	Chevy			JSP 17	SVH	RSD	DAY
	Cliff Stewart	2	Pontiac							DAY 16	DAY 33	RCH
	GC Spencer Racing	49	Chevy										BRI 30	GPS	BGS	ATL 25	AWS	HBO	PIF	CLB	NWS 12	MAR 13	SVH	DAR 16	LGY	HCY	SBO	CLT 6			ATL 35	CON	NSV 5	CHT 5	BIR	VAL	PIF	DAY	ODS	OBS	BRR	ISP	GLN	LIN	BRI	NSV	MBS	AWS	DTS	ONA	CLB	BGS	STR
			Ford																																																			DAR 18	HCY	RCH	ODS	HBO	MAR 12	SVH	NWS	CLT 29	HAR	AUG	JAC 3
1965				RSD	DAY 20	DAY	DAY 10	PIF 2	AWS 4	RCH 10	HBO 17	ATL 12	GPS 16	NWS 8	MAR 12	CLB 17	BRI 22	DAR 9	LGY 21	BGS 4	HCY 3	CLT 29	CCF 7	ASH 18	HAR 2	NSV 8	BIR 3	ATL 6	GPS 18	MBS 5	VAL 3	DAY 3	ODS 7	OBS 16	ISP 13	GLN Wth	BRI 19	NSV 5		AWS 14	SMR 14	PIF 5	AUG 5	CLB	DTS	BLV	BGS	DAR 20	HCY 6	LIN 2	ODS 23	RCH 23	MAR 37	NWS 9	CLT 22		CAR 4	DTS								4th	24314	^[12]
		75																																					CCF 10
	Cliff Stewart	2	Pontiac																																																					HBO 17
1966	GC Spencer Racing	49	Plymouth	AUG	RSD	DAY	DAY 9	DAY 24	CAR 44	BRI 10	ATL 32	HCY	CLB	GPS	BGS	NWS 2	MAR 5	DAR 5	LGY	MGR	MON	RCH	CLT 2	DTS	ASH	PIF	SMR	AWS			DAY 35	ODS	BRR	OXF	FON	ISP	BRI 22	SMR	NSV 13	ATL 27	CLB	AWS 2	BLV	BGS	DAR 10	HCY	RCH	HBO	MAR 40	NWS 34	CLT 34	CAR 12														19th	15028	^[13]
	Gray Racing	97	Ford																										BLV 5	GPS
1967	GC Spencer Racing	49	Plymouth	AUG	RSD	DAY 21	DAY	DAY 44	AWS	BRI 25	GPS	BGS	ATL 10	CLB	HCY	NWS 33	MAR 24	SVH	RCH	DAR 29	BLV	LGY	CLT 35	ASH	MGR 12	SMR 9	BIR	CAR 31	GPS 10	MGY	DAY	TRN 23	OXF 28	FDA 3	ISP 3	BRI 19	SMR 25	NSV 26						HCY 25	RCH	BLV 20	HBO 5	MAR 7	NWS 19			AWS 13														21st	15240	^[14]
	A.C. Rakestraw	0	Dodge																																				ATL 8	BGS	CLB	SVH
	Petty Enterprises	42	Plymouth																																								DAR 3							CLT 5	CAR 37
1968	GC Spencer Racing	49	Plymouth	MGR 24	MGY	RSD	DAY	BRI 32	RCH		HCY 13	GPS	CLB	NWS 22	MAR 21	AUG	AWS 27	DAR	BLV	LGY	CLT 43	ASH	MGR	SMR	BIR	CAR 33	GPS	DAY	ISP 20	OXF 18	FDA 22	TRN 8	BRI 31	SMR 7	NSV 17	ATL 10	CLB	BGS	AWS 29	SBO	LGY	DAR 38	HCY	RCH	BLV 4	HBO 10	MAR 30	NWS 11	AUG	CLT 35																23rd	1401	^[15]
	Bobby Allison	2	Dodge							ATL 28
	Roy Trantham	84	Ford																																																CAR 8	JFC 28
1969	GC Spencer Racing	49	Plymouth	MGR 21	MGY	RSD	DAY	DAY	DAY	CAR 28	AUG	BRI 28	ATL 35	CLB	HCY 5	GPS	RCH	NWS 28	MAR 40	AWS	DAR 7	BLV 6	LGY 14	CLT 4	MGR	SMR 13	MCH	KPT 5	GPS	NCF	DAY	DOV 16	TPN 4	TRN 33	BLV 6	BRI 18	NSV	SMR	ATL 34	MCH	SBO	BGS	AWS 20	DAR 11	HCY 18	RCH	TAL	CLB	MAR 37	NWS 9	CLT 30	SVH	AUG	CAR 24	JFC	MGR	TWS									26th	1562	^[16]
1970				RSD	DAY	DAY	DAY	RCH	CAR 27	SVH	ATL 25	BRI 14	TAL	NWS 30	CLB	DAR 25	BLV	LGY	CLT 9	SMR	MAR 6	MCH	RSD	HCY 4	KPT	GPS	DAY	AST 5	TPN 21	TRN 9	BRI 4	SMR 24	NSV 36	ATL 27	CLB	ONA	MCH	TAL	BGS	SBO	DAR 9	HCY 7	RCH 7	DOV	NCF	NWS 30	CLT 11	MAR	MGR	CAR	LGY															16th	2079	^[17]
1971				RSD	DAY	DAY	DAY	ONT	RCH	CAR 26	HCY 7	BRI 27	ATL	CLB	GPS	SMR 8	NWS 9	MAR	DAR 6	SBO	TAL	ASH	KPT	CLT 36	DOV 5	MCH	RSD	HOU	GPS	DAY	BRI 24	AST 24	ISP 5	TRN 31	NSV	ATL 27	BGS	ONA	MCH	TAL	CLB	HCY	DAR 21	MAR	CLT	DOV 34	CAR 31																			34th	1008	^[18]
	Don Tarr	37	Dodge																																													MGR 23	RCH	NWS	TWS

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup 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	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1972	GC Spencer Racing	49	Plymouth	RSD	DAY DNQ	RCH	ONT	CAR 30	ATL 14	BRI 9	DAR 36	NWS DNQ	MAR	TAL	CLT 39	DOV	MCH	RSD	TWS	DAY	BRI 28	TRN	ATL 40	TAL	MCH 38	NSV	DAR 19	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS				43rd	1238.25	^[19]
	Altheide Racing	0	Dodge																													CLT 36	CAR	TWS
1973	GC Spencer Racing	49	Dodge	RSD	DAY	RCH	CAR	BRI	ATL	NWS	DAR 15	MAR	TAL	NSV	CLT 29	DOV 26	TWS	RSD	MCH	DAY 14	BRI 29	ATL 8	TAL	NSV	DAR 39	RCH	DOV 30	NWS	MAR	CLT 39	CAR 41				37th	1503.15	^[20]
1974				RSD	DAY DNQ	RCH	CAR 39	BRI	ATL 30	DAR 36	NWS	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV 31	CLT 25	RSD	MCH	DAY 30	BRI	NSV	ATL 21	POC	TAL	MCH	DAR 6	RCH	DOV 37	NWS	MAR	CLT	CAR 35	ONT		38th	96.8	^[21]
1975				RSD	DAY 9	RCH	CAR	BRI	ATL 36	NWS	DAR 24	MAR	TAL 22	NSV	DOV	CLT 38	RSD	MCH	DAY 39	NSV	POC	TAL 49	MCH	DAR 31	DOV	NWS	MAR	CLT 32	RCH	CAR	BRI	ATL	ONT		40th	634	^[22]
1976				RSD	DAY	CAR	RCH	BRI	ATL	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL 25	MCH 34	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 17	CAR	ATL 35	ONT		59th	319	^[23]
1977				RSD	DAY DNQ	RCH	CAR	ATL 21	NWS	DAR 8	BRI	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT 20	RSD	MCH	DAY 14	NSV	POC	TAL 31	MCH	BRI	DAR 37	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 18	CAR	ATL 25	ONT		39th	785	^[24]

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1960	GC Spencer Racing	Chevrolet	27	31
1962	Matt DeMatthews	Ford	48	45
1963	Fox Racing	Chevrolet	21	32
1964	Cliff Stewart	Pontiac	32	33
1965	GC Spencer Racing	Ford	36	10
1966		Plymouth	18	24
1967			45	44
1972	GC Spencer Racing	Plymouth	DNQ
1974	GC Spencer Racing	Dodge	DNQ
1975			37	9
1977	GC Spencer Racing	Dodge	DNQ

References

1. G.C. Spencer, 20-year NASCAR veteran, dies at 82 - USATODAY.com
2. GC Spencer obituary. http://www.heartfeltconnections.net/memberEulogy.cfm?memberid=14734&sqry_rownum=1&CFTOKEN=39227896 2019-03-28 at the Wayback Machine .
3. Bobo, Jeff. Kingsport Times News. "NASCAR pioneer G.C. Spencer dead at 82". 20 September 2007. http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9003095 2019-01-29 at the Wayback Machine
4. Birchfield, Jeff. Johnson City Press. "Early NASCAR racer, who started 415 Cup events, Spencer dies". http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?Cat=SPORTS&ID=60267 2015-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
5. "G.C. Spencer – 1958 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
6. "G.C. Spencer – 1959 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
7. "G.C. Spencer – 1960 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
8. "G.C. Spencer – 1961 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
9. "G.C. Spencer – 1962 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
10. "G.C. Spencer – 1963 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
11. "G.C. Spencer – 1964 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
12. "G.C. Spencer – 1965 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
13. "G.C. Spencer – 1966 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
14. "G.C. Spencer – 1967 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
15. "G.C. Spencer – 1968 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
16. "G.C. Spencer – 1969 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
17. "G.C. Spencer – 1970 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
18. "G.C. Spencer – 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
19. "G.C. Spencer – 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
20. "G.C. Spencer – 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
21. "G.C. Spencer – 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
22. "G.C. Spencer – 1975 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
23. "G.C. Spencer – 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
24. "G.C. Spencer – 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2018.

External links

• G. C. Spencer driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• G. C. Spencer owner statistics at Racing-Reference