November 14, 1929 -
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OBITUARY for WANDA RUSSELL EARLY LUND
December 10, 1948 -
Tiny Lund's first NASCAR race was on October 9, 1955 in Lehi, Arkansas. He started
in 23rd position in his 1955 Chevrolet, sponsored by Ruppert Safety Belt Company.
When his car flipped repeatedly on lap 65, he suffered a broken arm and multiple
bruises when his seat belt broke during his series of flips. He was credited with
finishing in 25th place.
Forward to February 1963 and Lund would receive the Carnegie Medal of Honor for heroism when he pulled fellow driver and friend Marvin Panch from a burning sports car at Daytona. Since he was not able to compete, Panch convinced the Woods brothers to let Tiny drive his Ford in the Daytona 500. Lund won the race at an average speed of 151.566 mph on a single set of tires! Later that year, he would win another premier race...the 500 mile Modified Sportsman race in Atlanta.
Lund would go on to win two other NASCAR Grand National events: on April 28th, 1965,
he won the rain-
On June 15, 1966, he outlasted the Factory drivers to win at Beltsville, MD. He
started 7th, and took the lead on lap 71 when Richard Petty blew his engine. Lund
led the balance of the race.
During his long and varied racing career, Tiny would
win races in USAC, ARCA and the Pacific Coast Racing Association, as well as the
Grand American Series. He won the Grand American Championship three times (1968,
1970 and 1971). And, he won the Grand National East Championship in 1973.
Tiny also won the Most Popular Driver title in the Grand National American Series a total of four consecutive years: (1969, 1970, 1971 and 1972).
The Shelby County Speedway was Dewayne "Tiny" Lund's home track when he first started
racing. One of the most colorful drivers of his era, with a heart as big as his stature,
Tiny was a very generous man who loved fast cars, fishing, good times and children.
It was more than once when Tiny was seen giving his trophy to a child after winning
that day's main event. Tiny is also a member of Iowa's Motorsports Sports Hall of
Fame.
Credit: Fletcher Williams Jeannie Barnes Painting*
Tiny Lund: Larger than life By: Tom Gillispie Published: September 22, 2011
DeWayne “Tiny” Lund, the last winner of a Cup race at Hickory Motor Speedway, was
most definitely not a tiny man. At 6-
And he came up huge in the 1963 Daytona 500.
Ten days before the 500, Marvin Panch crashed a Maserati during sports-
He also joined the list of drivers – Derrike Cope, Mario Andretti and Sterling Marlin
are among them– to get their first Cup victories in stock-
Lund loved fast cars, fishing, good times and children, as he often gave a racing trophy to a child after winning that day’s featured race.
Only one month before his big Daytona 500 win, Lund caught a world-
Lund was a four-
Along with his back-
He wound up winning 5 of 303 Grand National (now called Sprint Cup) races.
His last race, one he entered while doing a favor for a friend, was on Aug. 17, 1975. After a crash eight laps into the Talladega 500 at Alabama International Motor Speedway (now Talladega Superspeedway), he died of massive chest injuries at 45 years of age.
Lund, who was born Nov. 14, 1929, in Harlan, Iowa, considered both Cross, S.C., and
Harlan home. And he has been well remembered in both areas. Now-
There’s also a Tiny Lund Grandstand at Daytona International Speedway.
Lund was also one of the most colorful drivers of his era. There’s the time he fought
the entire Petty family to a standstill, only to be pummeled by a woman with her
purse. There’s the time Buddy Baker, another colorful character, was swimming, and
Lund snuck up on him, alligator-
The winner of the 1975 Talladega 500, by the way, was Baker, another member of Hickory Motor Speedway’s Wall of Fame. When Baker went to the press box for the winner’s interview, he learned of Lund’s death and fell to his knees in a near swoon.
Years later, Baker always has a Tiny Lund story. He once talked about a post-
“I looked up and said, ‘Oh, Lord,' ” Baker said with a laugh. “Tiny was racing me, and I was racing to win. I tried to get around him four or five times, so I just moved him. It kinda made him mad.”
Naturally. Baker said he noticed part of an axle about the length of a ball bat.
“My first thought,” he has said, “was to take the axle and whop him across the head. Then it occurred to me, ‘What if I miss?’ ”
So how did Baker handle the aroused and not-
“I was a good salesman, and I had a boost of adrenaline,” Baker said, laughing. “I said, ‘You, of all people, are upset at me? You hit me four or five times in one corner!’ He turned around laughing and walked off. I thought, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ”
Baker, who was also 6-
Absolutely. Especially a Tiny bear. from HickoryRecord.com (drawing by Bill Rankin.)