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2003Apr, 17

H. B. Bailey

H. B. Bailey, American race car driver (b. 1936)
Herring Burl "H. B." Bailey (November 15, 1936 – April 17, 2003) was a NASCAR driver. He raced his No. 36 Pontiac part-time as an independent driver in the Grand National/Winston Cup series from 1962 to 1993, making 85 races over his career.

Although he never ran a full schedule, he still had his share of fans. He had the distinction of being the first driver to take a qualifying lap for the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994.

Bailey said he began racing at Playland Park, near Houston, in 1954. He won the track championship there in 1959.

Darlington Raceway was one of the driver's favorite venues, and he was a three-time member of the UNOCAL/Darlington Record Club at the famed South Carolina oval. Bailey made his final start in the 1993 Southern 500 at Darlington.

In the 1972 NASCAR Grand American division, Bailey won the pole for the opener at Daytona International Speedway, won at Nashville and finished second in the national championship standings to Wayne Andrews.

He died of heart failure on April 17, 2003. When he died, Richard Petty, who raced alongside Bailey for virtually his entire career, said "Our sport was built by people like H.B. Bailey", adding "H.B. was a racer through and through, and the sport is better off because he was a part of it. We will miss him."

Bailey's son and mechanic on his cars, Joe Dan, later worked as an engineer for various NASCAR teams, including Bob Whitcomb's 1990 Daytona 500-winning team and the Richard Childress Racing 1993 and 1994 NASCAR Cup Series championship teams.

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Events on 2003

  • 17Mar

    2003 invasion of Iraq

    Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
  • 7Apr

    Saddam Hussein

    U.S. troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein's regime falls two days later.
  • 27Aug

    North Korea and weapons of mass destruction

    The first six-party talks, involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, convene to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns of the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
  • 12Sep

    Pan Am Flight 103

    The United Nations lifts sanctions against Libya after that country agreed to accept responsibility and recompense the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
  • 12Nov

    2003 invasion of Iraq

    Iraq War: In Nasiriyah, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base.