Our Daily Dead

LA Times
Paul Sawyer, 88, who helped develop stock car racing from a regional sport into an international phenomenon, died of pneumonia Saturday at a hospital in Richmond, Va.

Sawyer and his partner, early NASCAR star Joe Weatherly, bought a small dirt track in Richmond, along with tracks in Wilson, N.C., and Virginia Beach, Va., in 1955. A year later, Sawyer bought out Weatherly and concentrated on Richmond, which he gradually turned into a three-quarter-mile oval with more than 100,000 seats.

Sawyer sold the track to International Speedway Corp. in 1999, but remained on its board.

In 1997, Sawyer received the Buddy Shuman Award, which has been presented since 1957 to an individual or group that has made a significant contribution to the growth of NASCAR’s top series. In 1998, Sawyer received NASCAR’s Founder’s Award as part of the sport’s 50th anniversary celebration.

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