One bit of Jaguar history I didn’t know is that Al Keller won a NASCAR Grand National Series race in 1954 aboard this Paul Whiteman-owned Jaguar XK120. The race was at Linden Airport, Linden, New Jersey, on June 13, 1954; it was a 100-miler, 50 laps of a 2-mile road course. That XK win must have been pretty good for sales?
Thanks to those who answered my question about the aircraft type. The Freddo Frog first prize goes to Paul Cummins response of a Lockheed 18 Lodestar. The rego #N66H was attached to serial #558, chassis #18-2379. It was originally deployed to the USAAF on March 5, 1943 and was in civvy-street by 1946-47 going through countless hands until it crashed near Redbird, Texas, on December 7, 1987, after which the airframe was written off.
Alvah August Keller (11-4-1920 to 9-11-1961) made 29 starts in NASCAR’s top division (Strictly Stock/Grand National) between 1949 and 1954, taking two wins, both in 1954. He won aboard George Miller’s Hudson Hornet at Oglethorpe Speedway, Savannah, Georgia, that March (photo above), in addition to Linden Airport. In so doing, he became the first driver in NASCAR history to win on both oval and road courses in the same year.
The Hornet was the dominant NASCAR weapon at the time, with three Manufacturer’s Championships and 81 Cup Series victories over its lifespan.
In ’54 Keller progressed to Champ Cars (AAA & USAC), with his best finish in five starts at Indy, fifth in 1961 aboard the HH Johnson-owned Phillips Offy.
Keller started the 100-mile, 100-lap Bobby Hall Memorial on pole on November 19, 1961. He was fifth in the USAC Championship at the time and died after his Lesovsky Offy got caught in a rut and rolled on the one-mile dirt track at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix.
Credits…
NASCAR-Getty, eBay, Marty Littles Collection
Tailpiece…
Utterly irrelevant in the context of this article but too good an image to waste…
Al Keller on track for sixth place in the February 26, 1956, Daytona Beach NASCAR race in a Chevrolet; up front was Tim Flock’s Chrysler.
Finito…
How about a Citroen ID-19, or a Volkswagen Beetle or a Porsche 356 in NASCAR. A Citroen actually won its class in 1958 at Riverside. Just Google NASCAR Citroen. A site called driving.ca features the list above.
Lockeed Electra 12A
Plane looks a bit like a Boeing 247.
Lockheed 18 Lodestar. Great photo.
Howard 250 N66H executive conversion of Lockheed 18 Lodestar. c/n 18-2379 originally delivered to the USAAF as a C-60A
But what is the low wing single engine plane in the background?
The plane is a Lockheed Loadstar. My mums uncle flew one towards the end of WW2. The Jag would not have been flown to the U.S. in it though. It wouldn’t fit.