Grant Adcox

Herbert Grant Adcox (January 2, 1950 – November 19, 1989) was an American stock car driver who died in a single-car accident in the 1989 Atlanta Journal 500 in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

Career Adcox's Winston Cup Series career started in 1974, running a handful of races for his father Herb Adcox with sponsorship backing from the family's Chevrolet dealership in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In that year's Winston 500 – considered one of the top events in the sport – held at the fastest track on the circuit, the Talladega Superspeedway, Adcox and his father qualified for the event. With a hundred laps in the books, a caution period came out as Donnie Allison's clutch burned out and David Sisco's motor blew up. Gary Bettenhausen, who had pitted a lap after the leaders, was up on jacks as Adcox came down for service. Adcox's car hit an oil and water patch and slammed straight into Bettenhausen's Matador, crushing catch-can man Don Miller between the cars. A young crew member of the Nord Krauskopf team who was nearby, Buddy Parrott, came rushing down to help, while Penske crew members John Woodward and John Watson were also injured. Miller was taken to a hospital and eventually had his right leg amputated. Learning of the extent of Miller's injuries, Adcox went into shock, and his car was withdrawn from the event.

Adcox continued to run sporadic Winston Cup races over the years. He qualified for the 1975 Talladega 500, but his crew chief Gene Lovell suffered a heart attack and died in their garage. Adcox's car was withdrawn, but he was able to find a substitute ride. However, the race was delayed for a week due to rain, and Adcox was again forced to withdraw. His spot on the grid was given to Tiny Lund, who had not raced in Winston Cup for several years. Lund subsequently died during the race in an accident on lap seven.

The 1978 Winston 500 at Talladega was Adcox's best result, as Krystal Restaurants came on board for a partial season with sponsorship money and in his family-owned Chevrolet, Adcox finished fifth in his career best Winston Cup finish.

Adcox's racing career was consistently underfunded. A year later, he was again sponsorless; he timed in fourth for the 1979 Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway, but his car's raw speed did not pay off, and his motor expired early. He continued to run sporadic events over the years, but never again contended.

Adcox's primary claim to fame was for being a strong competitor in ARCA competition, a lesser stockcar series that uses older Winston Cup cars and more grassroots-based operations. He was especially dominant on the superspeedways; he won a record four of them in 1986 and had eight total superspeedway triumphs in his career, with five victories coming at Talladega. Dale Earnhardt, in an interview before a 1989 race at North Carolina Motor Speedway, remarked about how well Adcox had done in ARCA and said that if he had the monetary backing that other teams had, he might become a success in NASCAR.

For 1989, Adcox had signed up with Bumper to Bumper All Pro Autoparts and in a family-owned Chevrolet planned to run in a handful of Winston Cup events.

Death

In the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Adcox crashed heavily on lap 202 of the event and died of major chest and head injuries, also suffering a heart attack as result of the crash. Upon investigation, the severe impact was determined to have torn his improperly mounted racing seat away from its mount entirely, and this led to Adcox's death. It also led to new safety regulations on the way seats were mounted for the 1990 season.

ARCA's sportsmanship award, the H.G. Adcox Award, is named in Adcox's honor, and was awarded annually by his father Herb until his death in 2015. The Grant Adcox Memorial is also held annually in his honor at North Georgia Speedway and a subsequent event has been held also in Cleveland, Tennessee.

Adcox is interred at the Chattanooga Memorial Park in Chattanooga, TN.

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 Pts Ref 1974 Adcox Racing 41 Chevy RSD DAYDNQ RCH CAR18 BRI ATL25 DAR NWS MAR TAL38 NSV DOV CLT RSD MCH DAY BRI NSV ATL POC TAL MCH DAR RCH DOV NWS MAR CLT18 CAR ONT 54th 16.6 1975 RSD DAY37 RCH CAR BRI ATL21 NWS DAR MAR TAL7 NSV DOV CLT RSD MCH29 DAY36 NSV27 POC MCH14 DAR13 DOV NWS MAR CLT16 RCH CAR BRI25 ATL ONT 33rd 1020 Tom Williams 38 Chevy TAL34 1976 Adcox Racing 41 Chevy RSD DAYDNQ CAR7 RCH BRI ATL12 NWS DAR7 MAR TAL19 NSV DOV CLT12 RSD MCH DAY30 NSV POC TAL18 MCH BRI DAR13 RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT14 CAR12 ATL20 ONT 31st 1163 1977 RSD DAY34 RCH CAR ATL NWS DAR BRI MAR TAL37 NSV DOV CLT RSD MCH DAY26 NSV25 POC TAL15 MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL22 ONT 50th 413 1978 RSD DAY14 RCH CAR30 ATL7 BRI DAR25 NWS MAR TAL5 DOV CLT11 NSV6 RSD MCH22 DAY22 NSV11 POC TAL22 MCH BRI DAR31 RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT33 CAR ATL38 ONT 29th 1467 1979 RSD DAY23 CAR RCH ATL28 NWS BRI DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV 36th 560 Olds CLT11 TWS RSD MCH DAY33 NSV POC TAL19 MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR Buick ATL27 ONT 1983 Adcox Racing 29 Chevy DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR NWS MAR TAL NSV DOV BRI CLT RSD POC MCH DAY NSV POC TAL36 MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL RSD 95th 55 1984 DAYQL† RCH CAR ATL BRI NWS DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT RSD POC MCH DAY NSV POC TAL40 MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR ATL RSD 91st 43 1985 DAY RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL DOV CLT RSD POC MCH DAY22 POC TAL40 MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL RSD 71st 140 1986 DAYDNQ RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL DOV CLT RSD POC MCH DAY26 POC TALDNQ GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATLDNQ RSD 101st 85 1987 24 DAYDNQ CAR RCH ATL DAR NWS BRI MAR TAL CLT DOV POC RSD MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR RSD ATL NA - 1989 Adcox Racing 22 Chevy DAY CAR ATL RCH DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL24 CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY13 POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR PHO 51st 282 Olds ATL32† - Qualified but replaced by Connie Saylor

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1974 Adcox Racing Chevrolet DNQ 1975 25 37 1976 DNQ 1977 14 34 1978 13 14 1979 21 23 1984 Adcox Racing Chevrolet QL† 1986 Adcox Racing Chevrolet DNQ 1987 DNQ† - Qualified but replaced by Connie Saylor

Busch Series NASCAR Busch 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 1989 Adcox Racing 21 Olds DAY CAR MAR HCY DAR BRI NZH SBO LAN NSV CLT DOV ROU LVL VOL MYB SBO HCY DUB IRP ROU BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT CAR18 MAR 80th 109

ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)