Bill Rexford

Bill Rexford (March 14, 1927 – April 18, 1994) was a stock car driver in the early 1950s.

Biography

Born in Conewango Valley, New York, he made his name driving stock cars in the region. When NASCAR introduced its "strictly stock" series, Rexford appeared in three races that were held in the Northeast, with a best finish of 3rd. He became the first of two Northern drivers to regularly drive in the series in 1950, when it became known as the Grand National division, the other driver being his teammate, Lloyd Moore. That year, he won his first career NASCAR race at Canfield, Ohio.

By the end of the year, Rexford managed to involve himself in the race for the championship. He would end up benefitting from the misfortunes of three other contenders. Two contenders, Fireball Roberts and Curtis Turner, went through major late season slumps at the same time that Rexford was at his best. A third contender, Lee Petty, had more controversial problems, as he was stripped of 809 points (at that time, the equivalent of winning 4 races or 5 third place finishes) by NASCAR for racing in non-NASCAR sanctioned races.