Walter Ballard

Walter Harvey Ballard Sr. (January 12, 1933 – October 26, 2024) was an American NASCAR driver from Houston, Texas. In 1971, he won the Rookie of the Year Award in the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National Series (known as the NASCAR Cup Series as of 2021), in its first year under Winston's sponsorship.

Walter Ballard
Born	Walter Harvey Ballard Sr. (1933-01-12)January 12, 1933 Foley, Alabama, U.S.
Died	October 26, 2024(2024-10-26) (aged 91) Kingwood, Texas, U.S.
Awards	1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
176 races run over 9 years
Best finish	6th (1972)
First race	1966 Rebel 400 (Darlington)
Last race	1977 Wilkes 400 (North Wilkesboro)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 34 0

NASCAR Winston Cup Series

Ballard made his first start in the Winston Cup Series — then known as the Grand National Series — in 1966, but did not race in the series again until 1971.

In 1971, Ballard ran a nearly-full season in a car owned by his father, Vic,^{[citation needed]} capturing 11 top-tens, a tenth-place finish in points, and the Rookie of the Year Award.^[1]

In the 1972 Daytona 500, Ballard's car flipped in the race. On lap 19 of the race, his car ramped over Buddy Baker's car on the front stretch wall and flipped over where it flipped another two times in the grass before landing on all four wheels. Ballard and Baker were both unscathed.^[2] Despite the flip, Ballard had an even better season in 1972, collecting seven top-tens and a sixth-place finish in points. He continued to race full-time with his family-owned team until 1975, and competed part-time in the 1976 and 1977 seasons before retiring from the series after 1977.

Ballard's best result in the Winston Cup Series was a third-place finish in the 1971 Space City 300 at Meyer Speedway in Houston, Texas.

Other NASCAR series

Ballard also drove six races in the NASCAR Grand National East Series from 1972 to 1973, collecting one top-ten in 1972,^[3] and attempted two races in the NASCAR Winston West Series in 1971 and 1976, failing to qualify for both.^[4]

Personal life and death

In 1979, Ballard started an automotive repair business with his sons Daniel, Stoney and Clint, retiring in November 2005.^{[citation needed]} As of 2007, he resided in Charlotte, North Carolina. His wife Katy died in 2019.^[5]

Ballard died in Kingwood, Texas, on October 26, 2024, at the age of 91.^[6]

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	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	NGNC	Pts	Ref
1966	Ballard Racing	30	Ford	AUG	RSD	DAY	DAY	DAY	CAR	BRI	ATL	HCY	CLB	GPS	BGS	NWS	MAR	DAR 20	LGY	MGR	MON	RCH	CLT	DTS	ASH	PIF	SMR	AWS	BLV	GPS	DAY	ODS	BRR	OXF	FON	ISP	BRI	SMR	NSV	ATL	CLB	AWS	BLV	BGS	DAR	HCY	RCH	HBO	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	84th	560	[7]
1971				RSD	DAY	DAY 23	DAY DNQ	ONT DNQ	RCH 30	CAR	HCY	BRI 25	ATL 39	CLB 13	GPS 11	SMR 12	NWS 17	MAR 25	DAR 16	SBO 4	TAL 22	ASH 13	KPT 7	CLT 40	DOV 10	MCH 17	RSD	HOU 3	GPS 5	DAY 32	BRI 11	AST 13	ISP 10	TRN 12	NSV 6	ATL 18	BGS 10	ONA 8	MCH 20	TAL 22	CLB 8	HCY 21	DAR 29	MAR 16	CLT 20	DOV 9	CAR 22	MGR 12	RCH 11	NWS 13	TWS 39		10th	2633	[8]

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	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1972	Ballard Racing	30	Ford	RSD 14	DAY 36			CAR DNQ	ATL 26	BRI 11																									6th	6781.45	[9]
			Plymouth			RCH 21	ONT 47
	Joe Phipps	65	Chevy					CAR 32
	Ballard Racing	30	Mercury								DAR 18	NWS 9	MAR 9	TAL 19	CLT 15	DOV 16	MCH 12	RSD 25	TWS 33	DAY 23	BRI 9	TRN 10	ATL 10	TAL 15	MCH 11	NSV 9	DAR 12	RCH 12	DOV 8	MAR 20	NWS 19	CLT 19	CAR 15	TWS 18
1973			Plymouth	RSD 19																															8th	5955.7	[10]
			Chevy		DAY 19
			Mercury			RCH 11	CAR 39	BRI 17	ATL 14	NWS 18	DAR 25	MAR 8	TAL 48	NSV 22	CLT 18	DOV 28	TWS 16	RSD 15	MCH 30	DAY 26	BRI 14	ATL 15	TAL 9	NSV 7	DAR 17	RCH 6	DOV 17	NWS 13	MAR 18	CLT 23	CAR 22
1974			Chevy	RSD	DAY 10	RCH 19	CAR 6	BRI 14	ATL	DAR 40	NWS 12	MAR 11	TAL 24	NSV 21	DOV 22	CLT 12	RSD	MCH 35	DAY 20	BRI 10	NSV 26	ATL 13		TAL 48	MCH 24	DAR 16	RCH 5	DOV 10	NWS 9	MAR 25	CLT 12	CAR 15	ONT 16		15th	748.44	[11]
	Ed Hawks	75	Chevy																				POC 29
1975	Ballard Racing	30	Chevy	RSD 31	DAY 25		CAR 17	BRI 18	ATL 24	NWS 10	DAR 18	MAR 15	TAL 12	NSV 10	DOV 25	CLT 10	RSD 24	MCH 11		NSV 18		TAL 48	MCH 11	DAR 25	DOV 14	NWS 25	MAR 14	CLT 41	RCH 15	CAR 11	BRI 12	ATL 17	ONT 20		11th	3151	[12]
	Champion Racing	10	Ford			RCH 19
	Tom Williams	38	Chevy																DAY 31
	Dalton Racing	7	Ford																		POC 13
1976	Ballard Racing	30	Chevy	RSD	DAY	CAR 25	RCH 14	BRI 19		NWS 10	DAR	MAR 9	TAL	NSV 8	DOV 16																		ONT DNQ		26th	1554	[13]
		29							ATL 24
	Hollar Racing															CLT 22	RSD	MCH 31	DAY	NSV
	Negre Racing	82	Dodge																		POC 37	TAL	MCH
	Price Racing	45	Chevy																					BRI 26	DAR	RCH 22	DOV 16	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL
1977	Ballard Racing	03	Chevy	RSD	DAY 19																														55th	318	[14]
	Price Racing	45	Chevy			RCH 22	CAR	ATL	NWS	DAR	BRI	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR
	Ballard Racing	30	Chevy																										NWS 16	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT
1978				RSD	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR QL†	TAL	DOV	CLT	NSV	RSD	MCH	DAY																NA	-	[15]
	Hylton Motorsports	48	Chevy																	NSV 30	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT
† – Replaced by Tighe Scott