Few drivers in NASCAR history have a story as unique as Red Byron’s.
In 1932, at the age of 17, Byron began his racing career and quickly became a major force on local Alabama tracks.
But Byron first made a name for himself during World War II.
It was not his speed that threatened Byron’s life, but his selflessness. Byron wasn’t scheduled to fly a B-24 bomber the night he injured his leg, but he did it anyway. While Byron’s companion waited at home for news of the child’s birth, Byron took his friend’s place in a B-24 bomber that shouldn’t have carried him.
The last bomb dropped failed when Byron’s bomb bay door opened. Byron was designated as the man who dropped the final bomb, but once again selflessness nearly cost him his life.
More than eight years later, it’s still not entirely clear what happened to Byron’s leg. Whether it was the bomb that finally exploded or enemy artillery fire is debatable, but Byron’s left leg was so badly damaged that it was almost amputated.
It wasn’t until 27 months in a military hospital in Colorado that Byron returned to normal life. At least by the standards of the people of Anniston, Alabama.
Byron returned to racing after his family told him he could find pride and normalcy in driving a race car. With his left foot in a bracket attached to the car’s clutch, he returned to Seminole Speedway in 1946.
When Byron teamed up with legendary mechanic Red Vogt, the man who coined the acronym NASCAR, the two became NASCAR’s first powerhouse driver-crewman duo.
Byron won the first two NASCAR championships. First was the Modified Championship in 1948 and then their first Cup title in 1949.
Byron only completed a total of 15 Cup Series races, but his legacy as a war hero and NASCAR’s first champion will live on forever.
Stories like Byron’s are making history this Veterans Day.
