“You are kidding, right?” – NASCAR Twitter reacts as Larry Phillips is inducted into the 75 Greatest Drivers list
Larry Phillips was inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame in 2001.
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Larry Phillips. Image via Yahoo News.
NASCAR’s list of the “75 Greatest Drivers” does not only include the icons from its top-tier series like the Cup, Xfinity, and Truck but also drivers from Whelen Modified Tour. The latest addition to this prestigious list is Larry Phillips. He was a racing driver and a race car builder. Phillips has a record of five national championships in the NASCAR Weekly Series. It is now known as the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.
He was the master of short tracks. The Missouri native won 220 of his 289 NASCAR-sanctioned starts; it was over a period of seven years (1989-1996). With his brilliant stats, Phillips had a winning rate of 76.1 percent. It also includes his thirteen track championships. Phillips was often unbeatable on the Midwestern short tracks.
Larry Phillips pursued racing for over four decades. He started his career in the NASCAR Touring series and then moved to race on the asphalt. Phillips made only a single start in the NASCAR Cup Series. It was at the Ontario Motor Speedway in 1976. He joined hands with his crew chief James Ince in the 1990s, and they achieved success in the Weekly Series.
Phillips won the national championship in 1989,1991,1992,1995, and 1996. He won more races than what is known. However, the early days are not exactly known for record keeping. Ince revealed that Phillips won at least 1000 times over the span of his racing career. The Missouri native was nominated twice to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. In 2001, he was inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame. Phillips was added to the 25 Greatest Whelen All-American Series Drivers of All Time list in 2006.
Here is how the fans reacted to Larry Phillip’s induction
The NASCAR fans were happy with Larry Phillips’ induction into the Greatest Drivers list. Some of their reactions were, “Unexpected, but love to see it”, “You have no idea how happy I am to see this”, “A pleasant surprise. The trajectory of the recent selections made it seem like we’d be down to only recent drivers” and “Local racing Legend”. Take a look at the other reactions below.
According to Larry Phillips’ NASCAR Hall of Fame nominations, his legend cannot be measured in wins alone. This is because no one knows his number of wins. Phillips raced everywhere on dirt and asphalt. He also raced in places where “record keeping wasn’t always a priority”.
In case you missed it:
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