Buddy Arrington - Biography

Biography

He has the second most starts without a win, and managed to finished in the top 10 of NASCAR points twice; in 1978 (ninth) and 1982 (seventh). He was known as a stubborne Mopar (Chrysler vehicles) loyalist until 1985 (long after almost every other team moved to other makes, and when the cars became ineligible to compete) and finished his career driving a few FORD Thunderbirds. His best career race and finish was at Talledega in 1979, where he had a powerful enough car to lead a few laps towards the end, and finished third. The race was ironic for Buddy (and Richard Petty), as Buddy finished one lap up of Petty, driving one of Richard's cast-off Dodge Magnums (a car Petty considered uncompetitive on big tracks like Talledega) and several other top NASCAR drivers. Buddy; from day one, almost always ran his own car, and his operation was a very money conscious effort. His pit crew were almost always unpaid volunteers, and relied on used equipment; at first Dodge Magnums that he bought from Richard Petty team, and also Harry Hyde's defunct team. These cars were later re-skinned and re-wheelbased to Dodge Miradas and Chrysler Imperial/Cordobas to meet the new NASCAR 110" wheel-base rule in 1981 (Buddy could not afford to build, or buy new 110" cars) and later ex-Bill Elliott Fords.

Buddy's two Chrysler Imperials were the last Chrysler products to run in the NASCAR Winston Cup series. He ran the car at first in two races in the 1981 season, and in more races (alternating with Dodge Miradas) up until April 1985, when at that point the parts supply, even used, for Chrysler products (Chrysler factory support ended in late 1978) dried up. He sold one of the Imperials (purchased from Cecil Gordon in 1984) to Phil Goode in April 85 (Goode raced it right up till the end of the 1985 season), and his other Imperial was given to the NASCAR Hall of Fame at Talledega, AL. Buddy was always a much liked man on the NASCAR circuit, and other teams and a small, but loyal fan club pitched in to help keep him racing. In 1985 the generosity of rising NASCAR star driver Bill Elliott (who sold Buddy his slightly used Ford Thunderbird race cars and parts on the cheap) kept Buddy driving until 1988. Buddy's son Joey (who at a the young age of 17 served on Buddy's pit crew, and built up his engines), now runs Arrington Manufacturing in Martinsville VA. The company builds racing engines (mostly Dodges) for the Craftsman Truck Series, and test engines for Nextel Cup Nationwide series cars. Buddy is a regular visitor to his son's company, and often offers advice to young (mostly Dodge) drivers trying to make it in NASCAR racing.

Tragedy struck Arrington's team in 1986. Rick Baldwin substituted for Arrington, who had been injured the previous week at Pocono International Raceway, for the Miller 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. During his qualifying run in Arrington's Thunderbird, Baldwin spun in turn 1 and pancaked the wall with the drivers side of the car, and his head struck the wall. Baldwin remained in a coma for over 11 years, succumbing to his brain injuries in 1997.