Delma Cowart

Clinton “Delma” Cowart (July 6, 1941 – November 10, 2021) was an American stock car racing driver. While never achieving much success, Cowart became known by fans and broadcasters as the "clown prince of racing" in the 1980s and 1990s. His jovial nature made him a favorite among competitors.

Racing career

Cowart began competing in NASCAR in the Late Model Sportsman Division, now the NASCAR Xfinity Series. His notoriety in that series came in 1979 Permatex 300 at Daytona. On lap four, Joe Frasson had wrecked and was sitting in the middle of the race track. Cowart hit Frasson at nearly full speed igniting Frasson's fuel tank into a ball of fire. Neither Frasson or Cowart were injured in the crash although Don Williams was critically injured trying to avoid the accident. When changes to the structure of the late model series were made, Cowart decided that the rising expenses in that series would make it just as economically feasible to race in the Winston Cup Series.

Cowart made his first start in NASCAR by qualifying for the Atlanta Journal 500 with owner . That day he finished 18th. In 1982, Cowart earned his best career finish, in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona, scoring seventeenth.

A superspeedway driver, Cowart qualified for the Daytona 500 four times, each time throwing an extravagant party for members of the NASCAR community in celebration.

Cowart's primary career was installing pools and septic tanks in the Savannah, Georgia area. He used his day job to advance his racing, once trading Junior Johnson's engine builder a swimming pool for a racing engine.

Tracks Cowart's main tracks were Daytona International Speedway or Talladega Superspeedway, but he did run in the 1992 race at Rockingham, North Carolina. Cowart also tried, but failed, to make the 1994 Brickyard 400.

Numbers Cowart mainly ran the No. 0 during his time in the Cup Series, but he also ran the No. 49 at Daytona in 1987 (also a DNQ). Cowart repeatedly joked that he was the only driver whose car number matched his chance of winning. The inspiration for the number use was from Billy Preston's song, Nothing From Nothing. The song was a favorite of Cowart's.

Cowart also ran the No. 37 at Daytona in 1982 in what is now the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series.

1992 Daytona 500 Cowart made the 1992 Daytona 500 and made his trademark quote, "I ain't never won a race, though I ain't lost a party." An accident-filled qualifying race allowed Cowart to finish thirteenth and advance to the Daytona 500. "When we made the race," Cowart said, "I went out and hired a team physician. I figured we needed a team physician. I figured we needed one for all the physical requirements of our fine crew. What does the doctor specialize in? He's a veterinarian, because all we've got on our crew is a bunch of dogs!" A legendary party ensued at a Daytona area hotel. "I don't think he showed back up at the track until Sunday," Benny Parsons recalled.

The Daytona 500 that year was plagued by accidents, allowing Cowart to finish 25th, earning a career high $23,285. With the money, he bought a big screen TV and travelled to the following race at Rockingham, finishing 35th there.

Final years Cowart tried to make the Daytona 500 from 1993 to 1997, but failed each time. His last race was the 1997 Winston Open, but he was flagged shortly after the start. Delma Cowart Racing brought two race cars to Charlotte Motor Speedway that weekend. One was for the ARCA race as the newer Penske Ford that Cowart had bought was for the Cup race. The Cup engine developed a problem so the team decided to make an engine change. The problems that followed were that the clutch components, some of the brackets, etc., were different from what Delma had as backup parts. Once the ARCA race had completed the team worked feverishly on the Cup car to make the race.

It was about 4:00 pm when the team started making the engine change as well as trying make all of the pieces fit together; by the time the car was ready it was roughly 6:00 pm. The green flag was to drop at 7:30 pm. The car had yet to pass inspection. A little after 6:00 pm, the team started the car and found that there was a transmission problem. The team now had a decision to make: to quit or keep on working. The team decided to go and make the transmission swap. Later on, the command to start engines went out. At that time, Cowart was still in the garage area and he started his. He left the garage area and entered the track only to see the black flag displayed. A few caution laps were made and then Cowart decided to pull off. At that time, the NASCAR officials were present in the garage area as Cowart and his crew chief had a meeting in the NASCAR trailer.

In later years, Cowart was featured in a Growing Bolder interview. When asked to as why he did what he did, he said, "Look, it wasn't a points race, just a money race, and the crew worked so hard, I wasn't about to let them down."

In early 1998, at age 56, Cowart announced his retirement at Whiskey Pete's, a saloon in Holly Hill, Florida. "I'm a dinosaur," Cowart said "There ain't no room for guys like me no more. To me, racing was a hobby. Now, you gotta have money."

Personal life Delma has a nephew Robbie Cowart who competes in Dirt Late Model competition and also competed in ARCA Menards Series competition from 1988 to 2004 across eighteen starts.

Cowart died on November 10, 2021, at the age of 80.

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.)

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 32 Pts Ref 1981 Heyward Grooms 0 Buick RSD DAY RCH CAR ATL BRI NWS DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT TWS RSD MCH DAY NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL18 RSD NA - 1982 DAY33 RCH BRI CLT32 POC RSD MCH 44th 410 H. L. Waters Racing ATL23 CAR DAR NWS MAR TAL NSV DOV DAY17 NSV POC TAL30 MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV NWS CLTDNQ MAR CAR ATL RSD 1983 DAY31 RCH CAR ATL DAR NWS MAR TAL NSV DOV BRI CLT RSD POC MCH DAY35 NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS ATL24 RSD 49th 277 Chevy CLT35 CAR 1984 DAYDNQ RCH CAR TALDNQ MCHDNQ BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR ATL RSD 64th 152 Buick ATL36 BRI NWS DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT22 RSD POC MCH DAY NSV POC 1985 Chevy DAY40 RCH CAR ATLDNQ BRI DAR NWS MAR TALDNQ DOV CLTDNQ RSD POC MCH DAYDNQ POC TAL37 MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL RSD 80th 95 1986 DAYDNQ RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL19 DOV CLTDNQ RSD POC MCH DAY POC TAL29 GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT39 CAR ATLDNQ RSD 60th - 1987 49 DAYDNQ CAR RCH ATL DAR NWS BRI MAR TAL CLT DOV POC RSD MCH 107th - 0 DAYDNQ POC TAL24 GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLTDNQ CAR RSD ATLDNQ 1988 DAYDNQ RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV RSD POC MCH DAYDNQ POC TALDNQ GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR PHO ATL NA - 1989 DAYDNQ CAR ATL RCH DAR BRI NWS MAR TALDNQ CLTDNQ DOV SON POC MCH DAYDNQ POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR PHO ATL NA - 1990 Ford DAYDNQ RCH CAR ATLDNQ DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLTDNQ DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TALDNQ GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLTDNQ CARDNQ PHO ATL NA - 1991 DAYDNQ RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAYDNQ POC TALDNQ GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLTDNQ CAR PHO ATLDNQ NA - 1992 DAY25 CAR35 RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TALDNQ CLTDNQ DOV SON POC MCH DAYDNQ POCDNQ TAL37 GLN MCHDNQ BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 54th 198 1993 DAYDNQ CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TALDNQ SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAYDNQ NHA POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL NA - 1994 DAYDNQ CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TALDNQ SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAYDNQ NHA POC TALDNQ INDDNQ GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLTDNQ CAR PHO ATL NA - 1995 DAYDNQ CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TALDNQ SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAYDNQ NHA POC TALDNQ IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLTDNQ CAR PHO ATLDNQ NA - 1996 DAYDNQ CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TALDNQ SON CLTDNQ DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLTDNQ CAR PHO ATL NA - 1997 DAYDNQ CAR RCH ATL DAR TEX BRI MAR SON TAL CLT DOV POC MCH CAL DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO ATL NA -

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1982 Heyward Grooms Buick 37 33 1983 H. L. Waters Racing 38 31 1984 Chevrolet DNQ 1985 30 40 1986 DNQ 1987 DNQ 1988 DNQ 1989 DNQ 1990 Ford DNQ 1991 DNQ 1992 27 25 1993 DNQ 1994 DNQ 1995 DNQ 1996 DNQ 1997 DNQ

Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman 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 Pts Ref 1982 Heyward Grooms 37 Chevy DAY17 RCH BRI MAR DAR HCY SBO CRW RCH LGY DOV HCY CLT ASH HCY SBO CAR CRW SBO HCY LGY IRP BRI HCY RCH MAR CLT HCY MAR 135th 112

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) 1990

DAY ATL KIL TAL FRS POC KIL TOL HAG POC

MCH ISF TOL DSF WIN DEL ATL

90th

DAY ATL KIL TAL TOL FRS POC MCH KIL FRS DEL POC

HPT MCH ISF TOL DSF

00

ATL

1994

TAL FIF LVL KIL TOL FRS MCH DMS POC POC KIL FRS INF I70 ISF DSF TOL SLM WIN ATL

NA 1995

FIF KIL FRS MCH I80 MCS FRS POC POC KIL FRS SBS LVL ISF DSF SLM WIN

41st 860 1996

ATL SLM

FIF LVL

KIL FRS POC MCH FRS TOL POC MCH INF SBS ISF DSF KIL SLM WIN

38th

8 DAY ATL SLM CLT CLT POC MCH SBS TOL KIL FRS MIN POC MCH DSF GTW SLM WIN CLT

ISF

0