Billy Drew Wade (February 28, 1930January 5, 1965) was an American stock car racing driver.
Career Wade was the 1963 NASCAR Rookie of the Year for car owner Cotton Owens. He finished the season with 14 Top 10 finishes in 31 races. He won four consecutive races the following year for Bud Moore Engineering between July 10 and July 19, 1964. The four wins give Wade the sole distinction of being the only driver to accomplish this feat with victories at Old Bridge Stadium on July 10, the road course at Bridgehampton, N.Y on the 12th, a July 15 win at Islip Speedway in New York, and his fourth (and final) win at Watkins Glen. Dick Linder also followed his first victory at Dayton with a win at Hamburg; but Wade is the only driver to string four victories in a row once he got his first. He also accumulated five poles and 25 top-ten finishes in his 35 starts. As of 2025, he is the most recent driver in NASCAR to get his first pole and win in the same weekend.
On January 5, 1965, Wade was performing a tire test at Daytona International Speedway, when a tire blowout caused his car to crash in the west turn, killing the 34-year-old Texan.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR Grand National Series +NASCAR Grand National Series resultsYearTeam/OwnerNo.Make1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950515253545556575859606162NGNCPtsRef1962Luther Costales01Ford CON AWS DAY DAY DAY CON AWS SVH HBO RCH CLB 46th 2,008 James Turner24Pontiac NWS GPS MBS MAR BOW BRI RCH HCY CON DAR PIF CLT ATL BGS AUG RCH SBO DAY CLB ASH GPS AUG SVH MBS BRI CHT NSV HUN AWS STR BGS PIF VAL DAR HCY RCH DTS AUG MAR NWS CLT ATL 1963 Cotton Owens 5 Dodge BIR GGS THS RIV DAY DAY DAY PIF AWS HBO BRI AUG RCH GRE SBO MAR NWS CLB THS DAR ODS RCH CLT BIR ATL DAY MBS SVH DTS BRD BRI GRE FAI COL AWS SPR BGS ONA DAR HCY RCH MAR DTS NWS THS CLT SBO OCC RIV 16th 14,646 6 ATL HCY Bill Church 0 Chevy BOW Mark Hurley 61 Ford BOW ASH OBS 1964 Cotton Owens 6 Dodge CON 4th 28,474 5 AUG JAC SVH Rex White 4Mercury RIVBud Moore Engineering1 DAY DAY DAY RCH BRI GPS BGS ATL AWS HBO PIF COL NWS MAR SVH DAR LGY HCY SBO CLT GPS ASH ATL CON NSV CHT BIR VAL PIF DAY ODS OBS BRD ISL GLN LIN BRI NSV MBS AWS DTS HUN COL BGS STR DAR HCY RCH ODS HBO MAR SVH NWS CLT HAR AUG JAC
References
External links
Webshot of newspaper article on Billy Wade