National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Rance Phillips, a south Georgia dirt racer who piled up more than 700 career victories, died this week. He was 78.
He was found in his Hamilton County, Fla., home on Tuesday by a sheriff’s deputy after family members weren’t able to make contact with him. His death was confirmed by Roberts Racing of Sparks, Georgia, a team Phillips worked with for several years.
Phillips, who competed in a vintage race car event a few seasons back, won hundreds of races along with more than 10 track championships at tracks in Georgia and Florida. He once had a 12-race winning streak at Jacksonville, Fla., where he was also the winner of the Jacksonville 100 in 1989.
Among his other major victories: the 1967 Waycross 75 at Waycross (Ga.) Speedway; the 1979 Nimnicht Chevrolet 100 at Golden Isles Speedway near Brunswick, Ga.; the 1980 Easter 100 at Columbia County Speedway in Lake City, Fla.; and the 1980 Georgia-Florida 100 at Lake City.
Phillips was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011. He was inducted into the Jacksonville Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame two years earlier.
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RANCE PHILLIPS
(1934-2012)
