Larry Flynn | |
Birth Date: | 10 April 1930 |
Death Cause: | Diabetes complications |
Best Cup Pos: | 28th (1955) |
Years In Cup: | 4 |
Total Cup Races: | 8 |
First Cup Race: | 1955 Southern 500 (Darlington) |
Last Cup Race: | 1961 Rebel 300 (Darlington) |
Cup Wins: | 0 |
Cup Top Tens: | 1 |
Cup Poles: | 0 |
Larry Flynn (April 10, 1930 – September 14, 2007), of Holly Hill, Florida, USA, was a NASCAR Grand National race car driver that competed in eight races from 1955 to 1961.[1]
Prior to 1955, Flynn would compete exclusively at the Daytona Beach Road Course for the "Modified" and "Sportsman" divisions of NASCAR.[2] He would drive Ford vehicles from the late 1930s during his formative years in professional stock car racing.[2] As a competitor in the 1955 Southern 500, he had the fastest finishing Ford in the race with a fifth-place finish.[3] Flynn's impressive accomplishment gave credibility to the Ford racing teams that were racing in NASCAR during that era.[3] During the 1956 Southern 500, he would crash into fellow NASCAR driver Bill Brown in an incident that would cause the fence to be temporarily broken.[4]
His total career earnings in the NASCAR Grand National Series were considered to be $1,700 ($ when adjusted for inflation) and he finished 1162 laps (1439.6 miles) of racing.[1] Flynn also racked up a single top-five finish in addition to his only top-ten finish.[1] After suffering from complications due to his diabetes, Flynn would die in 2007 at the age of 77.[5] Most of the races in Larry's NASCAR Cup Series career were done as a driver/owner.[2] However, he would race in the 1955 Southern 500 under the employment of Mr. W.R. Waldon.[2] [3]
In 1970, Flynn won the Bobby McKim Memorial Race at the 0.375miles DeLand Drive-In Raceway, having set the fastest qualifying time for the event.[6] His ultimate retirement from motorsports came from a 68th-place finish at an International Supermodified Association (ISMA) race at Daytona International Speedway on February 1, 1976.[2]
In 1955 Larry finished 2nd at Langhorne which was a major Modified-Sportsman race.