capitalcity300
01-11-2009, 02:47 PM
Christopher N. "Bud" Wamsley Sr., former race driver, dies at 77
By Ellen Robertson
Published: January 11, 2009 Richmond Times-Dispatch
-- Christopher Neil "Bud" Wamsley Sr. took a wrecked car and with the help of his father and brother built himself a hot rod shortly after graduating from
Petersburg High School.
He started racing cars in 1949, driving some of the Richmond area's first
roadsters. But roadsters didn't catch on locally, and he jumped on the stock-car bandwagon.
When a newly formed Richmond Stock Car Racing Association initiated weekly
racing at Royall Speedway, later Southside Speedway, in 1950, Bud Wamsley often cruised down victory lane.
During a four-year hitch in the Air Force, he worked on airplanes and raced on the side, often coming to a prepped car on a weekend and taking off for a track, said his wife, Gail Page Wamsley.
"Bud was the first NASCAR track champion in the state of Virginia," said local
racing historian Joe Kelly, a radio host of "Let's Talk Racing." Mr. Wamsley won the track championship at NASCAR's newly sanctioned Southside Speedway in 1952.
Mr. Wamsley, who had raced at Daytona Beach, Fla., when the "track" was on the beach, died of heart failure Friday at his Colonial Heights home. He was 77.
"He was a darn good driver. He was a no-holds-barred driver," Kelly said. "He
was the Dale Earnhardt Sr. before there was Dale Earnhardt Sr. If there was a six-inch hole, he made it big enough to get a car through."
When Mr. Wamsley became a family man about 1954, he continued working for his father's H.E. Wamsley Trucking Co. and raced as time permitted, effectively retiring as a driver. He and his brother, Howard E. Wamsley Jr. of Colonial Heights, bought the business from their father during the early 1970s and then retired in the early 1980s.
In addition to racing, Mr. Wamsley owned racing cars. His was the first car that driver Lennie Pond raced. Pond would go on to race at NASCAR's top level and become the 1973 Rookie of the Year.
"Bud was instrumental in a lot of things with Lennie Pond. Lennie stayed with
him 10 years at least running cars for Bud," Kelly said.
The family-owned Wamsley Trucking owned a car that Eddie Crouse drove when he won national championships in 1962 and 1963 in NASCAR's Modified Division.
Mr. Wamsley emerged out of retirement as a driver in 1970. He drove his own car
at South Boston and Southside speedways.
In addition to his wife and brother, survivors include a son, C. Neil Wamsley
Jr. of Colonial Heights; a stepson, Steven Ashburn of Richmond; two aughters, Joy Moore of Colonial Heights and Kathy Rogers of Acworth, Ga.; his mother, Alma Perkinson Wamsley of Ettrick; a sister, Nancy Chadwick of Colonial Heights; and nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
A funeral will be held Monday at 11 a.m. at the Petersburg Chapel of J.T.
Morriss & Son Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 103 S. Adams St. Burial will be in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg.
http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/article/CWOB11_20090110-222422/174813/
C. N. "Bud" Wamsley Sr.
http://www.legacy.com/TimesDispatch/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=122633872
http://www.legacy.com/TimesDispatch/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=122633872
WAMSLEY, C. N. "Bud" Sr., 77, of Colonial Heights, Va., and Surf City, N.C., passed away on Friday, January 9, 2009. Bud was the co-owner of H.E. Wamsley Trucking Company. He is survived by his wife, Gail P. Wamsley; children, Joy W. Moore (Mike), C. Neil Wamsley Jr. (Debbie), Kathy Rogers (Bobby) and Steven Ashburn (Maria); mother, Alma P. Wamsley; nine grandchildren, three great-grandchildren; brother, Howard E. Wamsley Jr.; and sister, Nancy Chadwick. The family will receive friends at the Petersburg Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home & Cremation Service on Sunday, January 11, 2009 from 2 to 4 p.m. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, January 12, 2009 at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Blandford Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Victory Junction Gang Camp, 4500 Adams Way, Randleman, N.C. 27317 or at www.victoryjunction.org. Condolences may be registered at www.jtmorriss.com.
http://obits.jtmorriss.com/archives/005142.html
Published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on 1/11/2009
By Ellen Robertson
Published: January 11, 2009 Richmond Times-Dispatch
-- Christopher Neil "Bud" Wamsley Sr. took a wrecked car and with the help of his father and brother built himself a hot rod shortly after graduating from
Petersburg High School.
He started racing cars in 1949, driving some of the Richmond area's first
roadsters. But roadsters didn't catch on locally, and he jumped on the stock-car bandwagon.
When a newly formed Richmond Stock Car Racing Association initiated weekly
racing at Royall Speedway, later Southside Speedway, in 1950, Bud Wamsley often cruised down victory lane.
During a four-year hitch in the Air Force, he worked on airplanes and raced on the side, often coming to a prepped car on a weekend and taking off for a track, said his wife, Gail Page Wamsley.
"Bud was the first NASCAR track champion in the state of Virginia," said local
racing historian Joe Kelly, a radio host of "Let's Talk Racing." Mr. Wamsley won the track championship at NASCAR's newly sanctioned Southside Speedway in 1952.
Mr. Wamsley, who had raced at Daytona Beach, Fla., when the "track" was on the beach, died of heart failure Friday at his Colonial Heights home. He was 77.
"He was a darn good driver. He was a no-holds-barred driver," Kelly said. "He
was the Dale Earnhardt Sr. before there was Dale Earnhardt Sr. If there was a six-inch hole, he made it big enough to get a car through."
When Mr. Wamsley became a family man about 1954, he continued working for his father's H.E. Wamsley Trucking Co. and raced as time permitted, effectively retiring as a driver. He and his brother, Howard E. Wamsley Jr. of Colonial Heights, bought the business from their father during the early 1970s and then retired in the early 1980s.
In addition to racing, Mr. Wamsley owned racing cars. His was the first car that driver Lennie Pond raced. Pond would go on to race at NASCAR's top level and become the 1973 Rookie of the Year.
"Bud was instrumental in a lot of things with Lennie Pond. Lennie stayed with
him 10 years at least running cars for Bud," Kelly said.
The family-owned Wamsley Trucking owned a car that Eddie Crouse drove when he won national championships in 1962 and 1963 in NASCAR's Modified Division.
Mr. Wamsley emerged out of retirement as a driver in 1970. He drove his own car
at South Boston and Southside speedways.
In addition to his wife and brother, survivors include a son, C. Neil Wamsley
Jr. of Colonial Heights; a stepson, Steven Ashburn of Richmond; two aughters, Joy Moore of Colonial Heights and Kathy Rogers of Acworth, Ga.; his mother, Alma Perkinson Wamsley of Ettrick; a sister, Nancy Chadwick of Colonial Heights; and nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
A funeral will be held Monday at 11 a.m. at the Petersburg Chapel of J.T.
Morriss & Son Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 103 S. Adams St. Burial will be in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg.
http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/article/CWOB11_20090110-222422/174813/
C. N. "Bud" Wamsley Sr.
http://www.legacy.com/TimesDispatch/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=122633872
http://www.legacy.com/TimesDispatch/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=122633872
WAMSLEY, C. N. "Bud" Sr., 77, of Colonial Heights, Va., and Surf City, N.C., passed away on Friday, January 9, 2009. Bud was the co-owner of H.E. Wamsley Trucking Company. He is survived by his wife, Gail P. Wamsley; children, Joy W. Moore (Mike), C. Neil Wamsley Jr. (Debbie), Kathy Rogers (Bobby) and Steven Ashburn (Maria); mother, Alma P. Wamsley; nine grandchildren, three great-grandchildren; brother, Howard E. Wamsley Jr.; and sister, Nancy Chadwick. The family will receive friends at the Petersburg Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home & Cremation Service on Sunday, January 11, 2009 from 2 to 4 p.m. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, January 12, 2009 at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Blandford Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Victory Junction Gang Camp, 4500 Adams Way, Randleman, N.C. 27317 or at www.victoryjunction.org. Condolences may be registered at www.jtmorriss.com.
http://obits.jtmorriss.com/archives/005142.html
Published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on 1/11/2009