‘GENTLEMAN NED’

NASCAR Hall of Famer Dies at 93

Two-time NASCAR champ Ned Jarrett dominated the sport during his 13-year career.

NASCAR has lost one of its earliest legends. Ned Jarrett, the oldest living NASCAR Cup Series champion and a Hall of Famer known to fans as “Gentleman Ned,” died Thursday at 93. NASCAR and the Jarrett family announced that the racing icon died of natural causes at his home in Newton, North Carolina, surrounded by loved ones. “A friend to everyone he met,” the family said in a statement. “While we mourn his passing, we celebrate the remarkable life of an amazing man and truly the best father anyone could have wished for,” they wrote. Jarrett’s racing career began in 1953 after a local speedway opened in his hometown. Over the next 13 years, he became one of the sport’s most dominant drivers, winning two NASCAR Cup Series championships (then known as premier-series) and 50 races between 1953 and 1966. His most famous victory came in the 1965 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, where he won by a staggering 14 laps—the largest margin of victory in NASCAR Cup Series history. After retiring at 34, Jarrett became a beloved radio host on his show, Ned Jarrett’s World of Racing. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011 and named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.