Marvin Emil Panch was an American stock car racing driver.
25 Facts About Marvin Panch
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Marvin Panch started his racing career as a car owner in Oakland, California.
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Marvin Panch won a championship and several races in six years, including five NASCAR races on the West Coast of the United States.
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Marvin Panch attempted his first East Coast race at Darlington Raceway in 1953.
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Marvin Panch won his first NASCAR race on July 20,1956, at Montgomery Speedway after starting on the pole position and dominating the entire race.
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Marvin Panch won the two races in 1957 for DePaolo.
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Marvin Panch joined the legendary Holman-Moody team for the rest of the season.
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Marvin Panch won three more events in the season and finished second in the final points standings.
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Marvin Panch was offered a ride by famed NASCAR mechanic Smokey Yunick in the 1961 Daytona 500.
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Marvin Panch took the offer and won the 1961 Daytona 500 to put his career back on track.
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Marvin Panch accepted the ride in the Ford factory-sponsored team.
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Marvin Panch had eight wins and 30 top-three finishes in 69 races for the team.
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Marvin Panch stayed with the team from 1962 to March 27,1966, when Ford had another dispute with NASCAR.
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Foyt finished the Atlanta 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in a car Marvin Panch had started, taking it to victory.
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In February 1963 at Daytona, Marvin Panch tried to set a speed record in a Ford-powered Maserati but crashed.
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Marvin Panch was pulled to safety by fellow drivers Tiny Lund, Ernie Gahan and Bill Wimble, Firestone's Steve Petrasek, and mechanic Jerry Rayborn.
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Marvin Panch's rescuers were awarded the Carnegie Medal for heroism.
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Tiny won the 1963 Daytona 500 in the car that the injured Marvin Panch had been scheduled to drive.
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Marvin Panch was hired by Petty to race for Petty Enterprises for the 1966 World 600 in a year old car.
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Marvin Panch won the race for his final career victory when Petty was his relief driver.
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Marvin Panch raced for Petty Enterprises until he announced his retirement after the National 500 at Charlotte in October 1966.
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Marvin Panch was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.
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Marvin Panch was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame in 1987, and the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in its first class in 2002.
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Marvin Panch is the father of four children: Pamela and Marvann, from his first marriage to Hester Herrald, and Richard and Marvette, from his second marriage to Bettie Gong.
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On December 31,2015, Marvin Panch was found unconscious in his car, and was later pronounced dead of natural causes.