Jimmy Florian

Jimmy Florian (September 25, 1923 – February 14, 1999) was an American stock car racing driver. Nicknamed "Shirtless", He made his debut at Langhorne Speedway and finished third. At Dayton Speedway, Florian passed the dominant car of Curtis Turner (who led 115 of 200 laps) with 35 laps remaining to win the first NASCAR Grand National Series race for Ford Motor Company. Florian continued to race in NASCAR in 1951 (including three races for Don Rogala), 1952 and 1954; though he did not win another race, he recorded seven top-ten finishes and two top-fives.

After his NASCAR career ended, Florian continued short track racing, competing in vintage cars until he was 72. He died in February 1999 at the age of 75 after a battle with cancer.

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 Pts 1950 Jimmy Florian 27 Ford DAB CLT LAN3 MAR CAN6 VER8 DAY1 MCF4 CLT HBO19 DAY22 HAM26 DAR41 LAN NWS VER MAR WIN7 HBO 9th 801 1951 Don Rogala Olds DAB CLT NMO GAR HBO ASF NWS MAR CAN30 CLS CLB DAY7 WIL HBO TPN PGS4 MAR OAK NWS HMS 27th 462.5 Jimmy Florian 27 Ford DAY20 GAR GRS8 BAI4 HEI AWS MCF ALS MSF FMS9 MOR ABS DAR CLB CCS LAN CLT JSP22 ATL17 GAR NMO 1952 18 Olds PBS21 DAB42 48th 551 Ford JSP12 NWS MAR CLB10 ATL10 CCS13 LAN DAR DAY CAN HAY FMS HBO CLT MSF NIF OSW MON MOR PPS MCF AWS DAR CCS LAN DAY WIL HBO MAR NWS ATL PBS 1954 Jimmy Florian 15 Hudson PBS DAB37 JSP ATL OSP OAK NWS HBO CCS LAN WIL MAR SHA RSP CLT GAR CLB LIN HCY MCF WGS PIF AWS SFS GRS MOR OAK CLT SAN COR DAR CCS CLT LAN MAS MAR NWS NA –