Billy Rafter

Billy Rafter
BornWilliam F. Rafter
(1929-07-31)July 31, 1929
Clarence Center, New York, U.S.
DiedMarch 2, 2026(2026-03-02) (aged 96)
Retired1972
Motorsport career
Debut season1949
Car number22
Championship titles
1959 NASCAR NY Sportsman Champion
1959 New York State Fair Champion
NASCAR Cup Series career
35 races run over 6 years
Best finish19th (1958)
First race1949 Hamburg NY
Last race1958 Rochester NY
Wins Top tens Poles
0 11 0

William F. Rafter (July 31, 1929 – March 2, 2026) was an American champion stock car driver from Clarence Center, New York and a pioneer of the sport.

Racing career

Rafter began his racing career in 1948 as a teenager at the Civic Stadium in Buffalo, New York, and was soon hired by local car dealer John Moran to drive his highly-modified ’37 Ford coupe.

Rafter made 35 appearances in the NASCAR Grand National Series, the first of which was in 1949, the inaugural year of the Cup division. He otherwise spent the majority of his career racing in the Late Model Sportsman and Modified divisions, competing at the renowned tracks of the northeast, including Fonda Speedway and Perry Speedway in New York and Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania. In 1961, he won the inaugural event at the newly opened Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, New York.

Rafter claimed track titles at Civic Stadium, Lancaster Speedway and Holland Speedway in New York, as well as Merrittville Speedway in Thorold, Ontario. He was inducted into the New York State Stock Car Association and the Northeast Dirt Modified Halls of Fame.

Death

Rafter died March 2, 2026, at the age of 96.

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 NGNC Pts Ref
1949 Ford CLT DAB HBO LAN HAM
3		 MAR HEI NWS 20th 160
1953 Plymouth PBS DAB HAR NWS CLT RCH CCS LAN CLB HCY MAR PMS RSP LOU FFS LAN TCS WIL MCF
18		 PIF MOR ATL RVS LCF DAV HBO AWS PAS HCY DAR CCS LAN BLF WIL NWS MAR ATL 146th 64
1954 Billy Rafter 141 PBS DAB
42		 JSP ATL OSP OAK NWS HBO CCS LAN WIL MAR SHA RSP CLT GAR CLB LND HCY MCF WGS PIF AWS SFS GRS MOR OAK CLT SAN COR DAR CCS CLT LAN MAS MAR NWS 201st 14
1956 41 Dodge HCY CLT WSS PBS ASF DAB PBS WIL ATL NWS LAN RCH CLB CON GPS HCY HBO MAR LIN CLT POR EUR NYF
19		 MER MAS CLT MCF
15		 POR AWS
7		 RSP PIF CSF CHI CCF MGY OKL ROA OBS SAN NOR
13		 PIF
11		 MYB POR DAR CSH CLT
17		 LAN POR CLB HBO NWP
22		 CLT CCF
26		 MAR
26		 HCY WIL 73rd 623.4
1957 C.M. Julian WSS CON TIC DAB CON WIL HBO AWS NWS LAN CLT PIF GBF POR CCF RCH MAR POR EUR LIN LCS ASP NWP CLB CPS PIF JAC RSP CLT MAS
17		 POR HCY NOR LCS GLN
10		 KPC 99th 128
Billy Rafter LIN
23		 OBS MYB DAR
4 Plymouth NYF
24		 AWS CSF SCF LAN CLB CCF CLT MAR NBR CON NWS GBF
1958 150 Ford FAY DAB CON FAY WIL HBO FAY
11		 19th 2916
50 CLB
32		 PIF
10		 ATL
15		 CLT
8
57 MAR
18		 ODS OBS GPS
8		 GBF
8		 STR
11		 NWS BGS TRN RSD CLB NBS
5		 REF
14		 LIN
8		 HCY
11		 AWS
13		 MCC
11		 SLS TOR
6		 BUF
9		 MCF
12		 BEL BRR CLB NSV AWS BGS MBS DAR CLT BIR CSF GAF RCH HBO SAS MAR NWS ATL
Chevy RSP
24

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Billy Rafter Returns For May 30 Hall of Fame Happening". DIRTcar Racing. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Rafter wins at Syracuse". The Schenectady Gazette. NY. September 8, 1959. p. 21. Retrieved February 9, 2024 – via Google Books.
  3. 1 2 "Billy Rafter-NASCAR Cup Series". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Jaworecki, Michael Sr. (March 3, 2026). "Hall of Fame driver Bill Rafter passes". MyRaceNews.com. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Billy Rafter Career Results". The Third Turn. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  6. ↑ O'Brien, Dick (June 18, 2021). "Utica-Rome Speedway celebrates 900th modified feature race Friday". The Post-Standard. Syracuse NY. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Meet Stock Car Hall of Fame inductees at Saratoga Auto Museum". The Saratogian. Saratoga Springs NY. July 22, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  8. ↑ Bisci, John; Southcott, Mark; Schmeh, Thomas (March 5, 2026). "Sad News – Bill Rafter". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Billy Rafter – 1949 NASCAR Strictly Stock Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Billy Rafter – 1953 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Billy Rafter – 1954 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Billy Rafter – 1956 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Billy Rafter – 1957 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Billy Rafter – 1958 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2023.