SEASON IN REVIEW
Thomasville, North Carolina driver Larry Thomas picked up his first LASTCAR Cup Series Championship in 1962, scoring three last-place finishes in thirty-seven starts during a fifty-three-race season. Thomas claimed the title in LASTCAR’s first bottom-ten finish tiebreaker since 1951, beating Larry Frank by eight Bottom Tens after edging Bobby Waddell by three Bottom Fives.
Thomas was competing in his second season on the Cup Series tour, continuing his relationship with owner Wade Younts after racking up four top-ten finishes in 1961. After starting the season in Ford and Chevrolet equipment, Thomas and Younts moved to Dodge power at Daytona, where he debuted a 1962 Dodge with a 16th-place finish in his qualifying race.
Thomas’ first two last-place finishes in 1962 came in two races run on consecutive days that July. In the first, on July 13 at the New Asheville Speedway in Asheville, North Carolina, Thomas slipped to the back of the 19-car field when a blown head gasket ended his run after 4 laps. The next day in Greenville, South Carolina, a busted engine mount dropped him to 21st after 15 laps. Thomas’ third finish came sixteen races later on September 11, when a torsion bar fractured and took him out 53 laps into the 250-lapper in Moyock, North Carolina’s Dog Track Speedway.
The September 11 finish bumped Thomas into the LASTCAR lead over Larry Frank, who had just scored his own third finish the week before at Richmond, Virginia following a rear end failure on his #66 1962 Ford after two laps.
Despite his struggles, Thomas scored a career-best three Top Fives and twelve Top Tens in 1962, moving him to 17th in the final point standings. He would continue to improve over the next two seasons, finishing last just once more in early 1963. In 1964, he tripled 1962's Top Five and Top Ten count, finished 8th in points, and scored a career-best runner-up finish at the Hickory Speedway in Hickory, North Carolina on September 11, 1964. Thomas finished three laps behind race winner David Pearson that day, having started last in a #19 1964 Ford prepared by fellow owner-driver Herman “The Turtle” Beam.
In his career, Thomas scored 18 Top Fives and 56 Top Tens in 126 starts. Tragically, he was killed in a traffic accident on January 25, 1965.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
The 1962 season started November 5, 1961 at the Concord Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. That race saw Maurice Petty score his first and only last-place finish in his 12th of 26 career Cup Series starts. Petty was driving brother Richard’s #43 1961 Plymouth that day, but fell out after 16 laps with a busted fuel tank. Richard finished 13th in the #42. Maurice would go on to race part-time in two more seasons before he worked full-time as Petty Engineering’s engine builder.
The following February in the Daytona 500, future three-time NASCAR Cup Champion Cale Yarborough picked up his first last-place finish when his #52 Julian Buesink 1961 Ford suffered electrical problems after four laps, dropping him to the 48th and final finishing position. Yarborough would go on to win 83 Cup Series races in his career, including four Daytona 500s.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) Larry Frank [8 B5s, 8 B10s], Larry Thomas [8 B5s, 16 B10s], Bobby Waddell [5 B5s] (3)
2nd) Dick Getty, Allan Harley, Tommy Irwin, Ed Livingston (2)
3rd) Johnny Allen, George Alsobrook, Buddy Baker, Jim Bennett, Jim Bray, Earl Brooks, Tom Cox, Matt DeMatthews, Gerald Duke, Stick Elliott, George Fox, Bubba Furr, George Green, Hank Grillot, Fred Harb, Rock Harn, Ned Jarrett, Joe Lee Johnson, Junior Johnson, Glen Killian, Ralph Moody, Johnny Nave, A.F. Nichols, Cotton Owens, Sammy Packard, Maurice Petty, Richard Petty, Fireball Roberts, G.C. Spencer, Nero Steptoe, Jim Street, E.J. Trivette, Billy Wade, Bob Welborn, Rex White, Cale Yarborough (1)
