1. Robert Laurence Wawak was an American NASCAR driver from Villa Park, Illinois.
18 Facts About Bobby Wawak
1. 2.
Bobby Wawak raced in his first stock car race at around 1958 at Mance Park Speedway in Hodgkins, Illinois.
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Bobby Wawak raced regularly at the O'Hare Stadium in Schiller Park, Illinois.
4.
Bobby Wawak competed in both the cadet and late model divisions.
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Bobby Wawak competed at the track in 1973 and 1974, winning 14 features at that half mile asphalt track in his 1971 Ford Torino.
6.
Bobby Wawak competed on the USAC stock car circuit in 1965.
7.
Bobby Wawak made six races with a sixth-place finish in one event during his rookie season.
8.
Bobby Wawak finished 18th in the final USAC standings that year.
9.
Bobby Wawak did not return to USAC racing until 1969 and would compete on a limited basis into the early 1970s.
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Bobby Wawak made occasional NASCAR starts before 1976, except for making 14 NASCAR starts in 1967.
11.
Bobby Wawak's first start was in the 1965 Southern 500 at Darlington Speedway.
12.
Bobby Wawak started 27th, and finished 36th with engine problems.
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Bobby Wawak's highest career finish was a sixth-place finish in the final race of the season at Ontario.
14.
Bobby Wawak jumped from the car while it was still moving, held up his burnt hands, and ran to the infield care center.
15.
Bobby Wawak continued racing in NASCAR, and made 96 more NASCAR starts.
16.
Bobby Wawak's career ended when he crashed in the first qualifier for the 1988 Daytona 500, Wawak suffering a fractured vertebra and detached retinas.
17.
Bobby Wawak appeared in NASCAR Thunder 2004 as an unlockable driver in a car numbered 36.
18.
Bobby Wawak was survived by his wife Stevi, daughters, Jaclin Wawak and Robin Wawak Pemberton and grandchildren, Lauri Trotter and River Pemberton, in addition to two brothers, Allen Wawak and Richard Wawak; three sisters, Carole Tarvash, Joyce Annanie, and Marilyn Zmich.