Buddy Arrington

Buddy Arrington
Born	(1938-07-26)July 26, 1938 Martinsville, Virginia, U.S.
Died	August 2, 2022(2022-08-02) (aged 84) Martinsville, Virginia, U.S.
NASCAR Cup Series career
560 races run over 25 years
Best finish	7th (1982)
First race	1963 Jacksonville 200 (Jacksonville)
Last race	1988 Firecracker 400 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 103 0

Buddy Rogers Arrington (July 26, 1938 – August 2, 2022) was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner.

Racing career

Arrington's 1981 Dodge Mirada

Arrington's 1983 Chrysler Imperial

Arrington has the second-most starts without a win, and finished in the top 10 of NASCAR points twice; in 1978 (ninth) and 1982 (seventh). Arrington was loyal to his Mopar cars and engines, as he ran Chryslers and Dodges until 1985 (Chrysler stopped production of raceable body styles in 1983 and they became ineligible two years later) when the company stopped supporting them. His best career race and finish was at Talladega in 1979, where he had a powerful enough car to lead a few laps towards the end, and finished third. Arrington finished one lap ahead of Richard Petty, driving one of Petty's cast-off Dodge Magnums that were left when Petty abandoned Mopar and began driving General Motors vehicles a year earlier, and several other top NASCAR drivers. Arrington almost always ran his own car, and his operation was a very money-conscious effort. His pit crew were almost always unpaid volunteers, and he relied heavily (and almost exclusively) on used equipment with Petty's old Magnums being his primary cars. Since Arrington could not afford new cars, his team would have to reconfigure the Petty cars and re-skin them into Dodge Miradas or Chrysler Imperials for a 1981 rule change.

Arrington's two Chrysler Imperials were the last Chrysler products to run in the NASCAR Winston Cup series. He ran the car at first in two races in the 1981 season, and in more races (alternating with Dodge Miradas) until April 1985, when at that point the parts supply, even used, for Chrysler products (Chrysler factory support ended in late 1978) dried up. He sold one of the Imperials (purchased from Cecil Gordon in 1984) to Phil Goode in April 1985 (Goode raced it till the end of the 1985 season), and his other Imperial was given to the NASCAR Hall of Fame at Talladega, Alabama. Arrington was always a much-liked man on the NASCAR circuit, and other teams and a small, but loyal fan club pitched in to help keep him racing. In 1985 the generosity of rising NASCAR star driver Bill Elliott (who sold Buddy his slightly used Ford Thunderbird race cars and parts on the cheap) kept Arrington driving until 1988. Buddy's son Joey Arrington (who at the age of 17 served on Buddy's pit crew, and built up his engines), now runs Arrington Manufacturing in Martinsville, Virginia. The company builds racing engines (mostly Dodges) for the Craftsman Truck Series, and test engines for Nextel Cup Nationwide series cars. Buddy Arrington was a regular visitor to his son's company, and often offered advice to young (mostly Dodge) drivers trying to make it in NASCAR racing.

Arrington is a noted figure in NASCAR and Mopar history. He began professional NASCAR racing in December 1963 behind the wheel of his Dodge hardtop, and for the next twenty-five years, he never missed a season; finally retiring from the sport in 1988. What made Arrington unique in the history of the sport was his absolute dedication and loyalty to Chrysler, and his positive attitude in spite of what often seemed like insurmountable odds. Being the team owner and driver, Arrington drove Dodges from 1964 all the way through mid-season 1985. In 1984 and 1985, his Chrysler Imperial became the last Chrysler product in NASCAR until Dodge reentered the sport in 2001. As prolific a racer as Buddy Arrington was, and as popular as he still remains among fans, he never won a single NASCAR race. In his 560 career starts, he mustered fifteen top-five finishes, and his highest points finish was seventh, achieved in 1982. Still, Buddy Arrington never abandoned the Mopar banner until Mopar completely abandoned him and pulled all parts sponsorships in 1985.

Arrington died on August 2, 2022, at the age of 84.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Grand National Series

NASCAR Grand National Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60	61	62	NGNC	Pts	Ref
1964	Arrington Racing	78	Dodge	CON	AUG	JSP 8	SVH	RSD	DAY	DAY	DAY		BRI 25	GPS 14	BGS	ATL	AWS	HBO 13	PIF	CLB	NWS 18	MAR 27	SVH	DAR 31	LGY	HCY	SBO 12	CLT	GPS 7	ASH 10	ATL	CON 15	NSV	CHT	BIR	VAL	PIF 14	DAY	ODS 5	OBS	BRR	ISP	GLN	LIN	BRI 9	NSV 23	MBS	AWS 19	DTS	ONA 10	CLB 12	BGS 23	STR	DAR	HCY 11	RCH 12	ODS	HBO 5	MAR 42	SVH	NWS 31	CLT	HAR 9	AUG 14	JAC 8	34th	6364
			Plymouth									RCH 11
1965		67	Dodge	RSD	DAY	DAY	DAY	PIF	ASW	RCH	HBO 5	ATL 38	GPS	NWS 33	MAR 5	CLB	BRI Wth	DAR				CLT 25	CCF			NSV 15	BIR 8							OBS DNQ	ISP	GLN	BRI 12	NSV 3	CCF	AWS 21			AUG 11	CLB	DTS	BLV	BGS	DAR 5					MAR 12	NWS 35			CAR 41									22nd	11744
		6																	LGY 4	BGS 16	HCY 19
		62																						ASH 19	HAR 12				GPS 5	MBS	VAL	DAY	ODS								SMR 24	PIF 7							HCY 25	LIN 8	ODS 13	RCH 22				HBO 18		DTS 24
	Lester Hunter	35	Dodge																									ATL 10
	Langley Racing	84	Ford																																																				CLT 15
1966	Arrington Racing	67	Dodge	AUG	RSD	DAY	DAY	DAY	CAR 25	BRI 27							MAR 36	DAR 27	LGY	MGR	MON	RCH	CLT 19	DTS	ASH	PIF	SMR	AWS	BLV	GPS	DAY 36	ODS 24	BRR	OXF	FON	ISP	BRI			ATL 6					DAR 39	HCY	RCH 23	HBO 9	MAR 32	NWS 15	CLT 44															32nd	7636
	Joan Petre	73	Ford								ATL 28	HCY	CLB	GPS 23	BGS 22	NWS 22
	Fox Racing	3	Dodge																																			SMR 24	NSV 15
	Arrington Racing	65	Dodge																																						CLB 24	AWS 11	BLV 8	BGS 22
	Paul Lewis	1	Plymouth																																																	CAR 14
1967	Arrington Racing	67	Dodge	AUG	RSD	DAY	DAY	DAY	AWS	BRI	GPS	BGS	ATL 14	CLB	HCY 9	NWS 27	MAR 9	SVH	RCH 16	DAR 28	BLV 9	LGY 12	CLT 17	ASH 5	MGR 24	SMR	BIR	CAR 39	GPS	MGY	DAY	TRN	OXF	FDA	ISP	BRI 22	SMR	NSV	ATL	BGS	CLB	SVH	DAR 15	HCY	RCH	BLV	HBO	MAR	NWS DNQ																	26th	9768
		69																																																CLT 9	CAR	AWS
1968		67		MGR	MGY	RSD	DAY 11	BRI	RCH	ATL	HCY	GPS	CLB	NWS	MAR	AUG	AWS	DAR	BLV	LGY	CLT	ASH	MGR	SMR	BIR	CAR	GPS	DAY	ISP	OXF	FDA	TRN	BRI	SMR	NSV	ATL	CLB	BGS	AWS	SBO	LGY	DAR	HCY	RCH	BLV	HBO	MAR	NWS	AUG	CLT	CAR	JFC														NA	0
1969				MGR	MGY	RSD	DAY 6	DAY	DAY 28	CAR 19	AUG	BRI 26	ATL 10	CLB	HCY	GPS	RCH 23	NWS 8	MAR 5	AWS	DAR	BLV 15	LGY 9	CLT 22	MGR	SMR	MCH	KPT	GPS	NCF	DAY 23	DOV	TPN	TRN	BLV	BRI	NSV	SMR	ATL	MCH	SBO	BGS	AWS	DAR	HCY	RCH	TAL	CLB	MAR 5	NWS 27	CLT 36	SVH	AUG	CAR 35	JFC	MGR	TWS									33rd	1099
1970		5		RSD	DAY	DAY 25	DAY 29	RCH	CAR	SVH	ATL	BRI	TAL	NWS	CLB	DAR 6	BLV	LGY	CLT 13	SMR	MAR 19	MCH 39	RSD	HCY	KPT	GPS	DAY 14	AST	TPN	TRN	BRI 29	SMR 27	NSV 32	ATL 18	CLB	ONA	MCH 32	TAL 42	BGS	SBO	DAR 14	HCY	RCH 26	DOV	NCF	NWS 28	CLT 8	MAR 12	MGR	CAR 40	LGY															33rd	1087
1971				RSD	DAY	DAY	DAY	ONT	RCH	CAR	HCY	BRI	ATL	CLB	GPS	SMR	NWS	MAR	DAR	SBO	TAL	ASH	KPT	CLT	DOV	MCH	RSD	HOU	GPS	DAY	BRI	AST	ISP	TRN	NSV	ATL	BGS	ONA	MCH	TAL	CLB	HCY	DAR	MAR 14	CLT	DOV	CAR	MGR	RCH	NWS	TWS															NA	0

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1972	Arrington Racing	67	Plymouth	RSD	DAY 32	RCH	ONT																												22nd	4555.89
			Dodge					CAR 8	ATL 11	BRI DNQ	DAR 6	NWS	MAR 27	TAL 31	CLT 7	DOV	MCH 9	RSD	TWS	DAY 17	BRI	TRN	ATL 13	TAL 5	MCH 33	NSV	DAR 6	RCH 10	DOV 27	MAR 7	NWS 11	CLT 8	CAR 10	TWS 34
1973				RSD	DAY 9	RCH 17				NWS 25	DAR 13	MAR 18		NSV 14		DOV 21			MCH 16		BRI 30	ATL 11		NSV 12	DAR 14	RCH 5	DOV 40	NWS 25	MAR 9						12th	5483.9
			Plymouth				CAR 12	BRI 14	ATL 15				TAL 49		CLT 32		TWS 17	RSD		DAY 18			TAL 27							CLT 7	CAR 24
1974				RSD	DAY DNQ	RCH 10	CAR 16	BRI 21	ATL	DAR 16	NWS 27	MAR 17	TAL 46	NSV 10	DOV 12	CLT 19	RSD	MCH 12	DAY 21	BRI 8	NSV 9	ATL 15	POC 16	TAL	MCH	DAR	RCH	DOV	NWS	MAR	CLT	CAR	ONT		30th	221.2
1975			Dodge	RSD	DAY	RCH 6	CAR 9																												19th	2654
			Plymouth					BRI 15	ATL	NWS 20	DAR 10	MAR 14	TAL 38	NSV 28	DOV 13	CLT 26	RSD	MCH 15	DAY 21	NSV 25	POC 12	TAL 24	MCH 22	DAR 17	DOV 18	NWS 18	MAR 11		RCH 12	CAR 13	BRI 15	ATL 20	ONT
			Chevy																									CLT 17
1976			Dodge	RSD	DAY 11	CAR 31			ATL 30		DAR 24	MAR 28	TAL 22	NSV 26	DOV 31	CLT 14	RSD	MCH 11	DAY 40	NSV 26		TAL 33	MCH		DAR 35	RCH 18	DOV 10	MAR 11		CLT 12	CAR 16	ATL	ONT DNQ		20th	2573
			Plymouth				RCH 11	BRI 9		NWS 18											POC 7			BRI 17					NWS 12
1977			Dodge	RSD	DAY 38	RCH 24	CAR 14	ATL 11	NWS 10	DAR 14	BRI 14	MAR	TAL 19	NSV 15	DOV 11	CLT 18	RSD 19	MCH 19	DAY 22	NSV 9	POC 15	TAL 12	MCH 14	BRI 10	DAR 14	RCH 25	DOV 13	MAR 7	NWS 10	CLT 17	CAR 12	ATL 17			11th	3247
			Ford																														ONT 19
1978				RSD 11													RSD 18																ONT 35		9th	3626
			Dodge		DAY 16	RCH 15	CAR 9	ATL 14	BRI 8	DAR 18	NWS 11	MAR 5	TAL 12	DOV 13	CLT 15	NSV 9		MCH 12	DAY 34	NSV 12	POC 14	TAL 15	MCH 12	BRI 12	DAR 8	RCH 16	DOV 22	MAR 10	NWS 13	CLT 14	CAR 9	ATL 16
1979			Ford	RSD 18														RSD 9																	11th	3589
			Dodge		DAY 12	CAR 19	RCH 15	ATL 29	NWS 25	BRI 13	DAR 25	MAR 22	TAL 3	NSV 26	DOV 10	CLT 12	TWS 9		MCH 15	DAY 15	NSV 17	POC 22	TAL 8	MCH 20	BRI 14	DAR 14	RCH 13	DOV 32	MAR 7	CLT 12	NWS 9	CAR 17	ATL 17	ONT 19
1980				RSD 14	DAY 41	RCH 6	CAR 25	ATL 19	BRI 21	DAR 14	NWS 13	MAR 10	TAL 18	NSV 27	DOV 26	CLT 10	TWS 28	RSD 14	MCH 23	DAY 10	NSV 10	POC 13	TAL 38	MCH 13	BRI 20	DAR 17	RCH 12	DOV 13	NWS 26	MAR 8	CLT 13	CAR 12	ATL 11	ONT 10	12th	3461
1981				RSD 9	DAY 26	RCH 16	CAR 37	ATL 14	BRI 13	NWS 29	DAR 13	MAR 8	TAL 17		DOV 7	CLT 15	TWS 13	RSD 26	MCH 12	DAY 17	NSV 28	POC 16		MCH 35	BRI 10	DAR 37	RCH 13	DOV 14	MAR 11	NWS 10	CLT 10	CAR 14	ATL 17	RSD 24	11th	3381
	Negre Racing													NSV 9
	Arrington Racing		Chrysler																				TAL 41
1982			Dodge	DAY 15	RCH 14	BRI 15	ATL 14	CAR 9	DAR 8	NWS 16	MAR 8	TAL 11	NSV 14	DOV 11	CLT 11	POC 12	RSD 15	MCH 15	DAY 12	NSV 22	POC 9	TAL 20		BRI 16	DAR 9	RCH 16	DOV 7	NWS 21		MAR 10	CAR 23				7th	3642
			Chrysler																				MCH 6						CLT 22			ATL 14	RSD 35
1983				DAY 16		CAR 22			NWS 15		TAL 23	NSV 16	DOV 19	BRI 16	CLT 12	RSD 17		MCH 29	DAY 34	NSV 24				BRI 13					NWS 18	CLT 34		ATL 14			15th	3158
			Dodge		RCH 20		ATL 16	DAR 23		MAR 9							POC 17				POC 32	TAL 18	MCH 23		DAR 18	RCH 14	DOV 23	MAR 10			CAR 12		RSD 23
1984			Chrysler	DAY 25	RCH	CAR 15			NWS 20		MAR 25	TAL 24		DOV 32		RSD 21	POC 23	MCH 18	DAY 36	NSV 17	POC 16	TAL 21	MCH 31	BRI 13	DAR 28	RCH 23	DOV 17								20th	2504
			Dodge				ATL 20	BRI 22		DAR 11			NSV 21		CLT 32													MAR 18	CLT DNQ		CAR 20	ATL DNQ	RSD DNQ
	Thomas Racing	41	Chevy																											NWS 29
1985	Arrington Racing	67	Dodge	DAY	RCH	CAR 16																													20th	2780
			Chrysler				ATL 18	BRI 25							RSD 31
			Ford						DAR 17	NWS 20	MAR 15	TAL 14	DOV 23	CLT 22		POC 19	MCH 23	DAY 16	POC 18	TAL 16	MCH 10	BRI 15	DAR 18	RCH 22	DOV 11	MAR 21	NWS 23	CLT 17	CAR 16	ATL 20	RSD 22
1986		65		DAY DNQ																															20th	2776
		67		DAY 23	RCH 14	CAR 17	ATL 20	BRI 17	DAR DNQ	NWS 21	MAR 15	TAL 22	DOV 15	CLT DNQ	RSD 19	POC 21	MCH	DAY 25	POC 17	TAL 21	GLN 24	MCH 19	BRI 16	DAR 20	RCH 12	DOV 15	MAR 19	NWS 19	CLT 22	CAR 17	ATL 21	RSD 18
1987	Fillip Racing	81	Ford	DAY	CAR	RCH 17	ATL	DAR	NWS	BRI	MAR 11	TAL																							25th	1885
	Arrington Racing	67	Ford										CLT 12	DOV 18	POC 25	RSD	MCH 37	DAY 28	POC 17	TAL	GLN 20	MCH 23	BRI 17	DAR 24	RCH 14	DOV 19	MAR 29	NWS 27	CLT 14	CAR 24	RSD 21	ATL 22
1988				DAY DNQ	RCH QL†	CAR	ATL DNQ	DAR 28	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL				POC 21	MCH 23																		46th	352
			Chevy										CLT DNQ	DOV	RSD			DAY 28	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	PHO	ATL
† – Qualified but replaced by Ken Schrader

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1968	Arrington Racing	Dodge	22	11
1969			13	28
1970			32	29
1972	Arrington Racing	Plymouth	22	32
1973		Dodge	36	9
1974		Plymouth	DNQ
1976	Arrington Racing	Dodge	37	11
1977			38	38
1978			17	16
1979			15	12
1980			31	41
1981			20	26
1982			39	15
1983		Chrysler	34	16
1984			28	25
1986	Arrington Racing	Ford	35	23
1988	Arrington Racing	Ford	DNQ

External links

• Buddy Arrington driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Buddy Arrington owner statistics at Racing-Reference