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Nationality | American |
Born | 11 March 1928 |
Pelham, Tennesee, United States | |
World Stock Car Championship | |
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14 races run over 2 season(s). | |
Rookie Season | 1950 |
Team(s) | Lucky Hornick |
Championships | 0 |
Pole Positions | 1 |
Wins | 0 |
Podiums | 1 |
Top 5s | 2 |
Top 10s | 4 |
Best Finish | 3rd |
First Start | 1950 Icebreaker Sweepstakes |
Last Start | 1951 NSCS Race 04 |
Best Result | 19th (1950) |
WSCC Canon Driver |
Emmett Henry Newton is a retired stock car driver who was active in the World Stock Car Championship during the 1950's through the 1970's. He is best known for his long partnership with mechanic-turned-owner Lucky Hornick, who fielded cars for Newton from 1950 through 1958, and again from 1966 through 1971.
Early Life and Career[edit | edit source]
Newton was born in Pelham, Tennessee, but relocated to Norristown, Pennsylvania to look for work during World War II. He began racing soon after the moratorium on motorsports was lifted in 1946, entering a 1941 Chevrolet Fleetline at the inaugural Icebreaker Sweepstakes in Thompson, Connecticut. He met Philadelphia native Lucky Hornick in 1947 while en route to a race at Langhorne Speedway; their chance meeting at Hornick's shop would lead to a partnership that saw them dominate the local stock car scene.
WSCC Career[edit | edit source]
Newton, with backing from Hornick as his car owner and mechanic, entered the inaugural National Stock Car Series racing season driving an Oldsmobile Rocket 88. Despite the strong promise of the Rocket 88, the unreliable Oldsmobile engines significantly hampered the duo, and they mustered just two top-10 finishes before the season finale at Riverside, where they made the formal switch to Hudson.
The pair entered a partnership with Hudson in late 1950, convincing the manufacturer to provide corporate support to Hornick for the 1951 racing season; this partnership was the first time a major automotive manufacturer provided factory support to a stock car racing team.