Lizzy Musi (1991–2024), star of Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings

Lizzy Musi was a professional race car driver and star of the reality series “Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings.” 

Cale Yarborough (1939–2023), three-time NASCAR champion 

Cale Yarborough was a consecutive three-time NASCAR champion and one of the winningest racers in series history with 83 career victories.

Paula Murphy (1928–2023), record-breaking race car driver

Paula Murphy was a record-setting race car driver in the 1960s and ‘70s, the first woman to speed across the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in a jet-engine car. 

Kyle LeDuc (1981–2023), off-road racing champion

Kyle LeDuc was a second-generation off-road racer with seven Pro 4 Championship Off-Road wins whose 30 years in racing netted over 100 wins throughout his career. 

Ashlea Albertson (1998–2023), 24-year-old racing driver

Ashlea Albertson was a talented young car racing driver from Indianapolis sponsored by the Tony Stewart Racing team.

Craig Breedlove (1937–2023), first driver to reach 600 mph

Craig Breedlove was a race car driver who wowed the world in 1965 when he set a world land speed record of 600 mph.

Ken Block (1967–2023), rally driver and gymkhana YouTube star 

Ken Block  was a rally driver and co-founder of DC Shoes known for his gymkhana YouTube videos.

Al Unser Sr. (1939–2021), four-time Indy 500 winner

Al Unser Sr. was a racing driver who became one of only four people to win the Indianapolis 500 four times.

Bob Bondurant (1933–2021), racing driver and instructor

Bob Bondurant was a racing driver who founded the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, where he taught celebrities including and Tom Cruise.

Bobby Unser Jr. (1955–2021), racecar driver and Bobby Unser’s son

Bobby Unser Jr. was a racecar driver who was the son of racing legend Bobby Unser.

Bobby Unser (1934–2021), three-time Indy 500 winner

Bobby Unser was a racing driver who was one of only 10 drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 three times.

Charlie Glotzbach (1938–2021), record-setting NASCAR driver

Charlie Glotzbach was a NASCAR driver known as Chargin’ Charlie, who was active in the 1960s and ‘70s.

Jim Pace (1961–2020), racing driver who won Daytona and Sebring

Jim Pace was a sports car racing driver who won both the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1996.

Vicki Wood (1919–2020), record-setting woman NASCAR driver

Vicki Wood was a NASCAR driver who broke gender barriers in the sport during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1960 she set a speed record of 150.375 mph on a one-way drive down the sand at Daytona Beach. She also set speed records for women at the Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta International Speedway. During her career she claimed to have collected 48 racing trophies. She competed with male drivers until 1963 when some men made it clear they would rather strike than face teasing when they lost to a woman. She retired rather than return to racing exclusively against other women drivers.

Bob Lazier (1938–2020), Indy 500 driver and father of Indy winner Buddy Lazier

Bob Lazier was a race car driver who was the Rookie of the Year at the 1981 Indianapolis 500, as well as the father of drivers Buddy Lazier and Jacques Lazier.

Stirling Moss (1929–2020), legendary British racecar driver

Stirling Moss was a top Formula One racer called "the greatest driver never to win the World Championship," though he was runner-up four times.  

John Andretti (1963–2020), NASCAR and IndyCar racer

John Andretti  was a professional racer who was a member of the famous Andretti racing family. Andretti’s uncle is former Indy 500 winner Mario Andretti, and he is the cousin of former racers Michael and Jeff Andretti. He won two NASCAR races and finished fifth at the 1991 Indianapolis 500 before retiring in 2010. He was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in 2017 and had clean scans a year later after treatment, but the cancer returned earlier this year. After his original diagnosis, he used the hashtag #CheckIt4Andretti to urge people to get regular colonoscopies, something he had not done.

Junior Johnson (1931–2019), NASCAR legend

Junior Johnson  was a NASCAR legend who won 50 races during his Hall of Fame career including the 1960 Daytona 500. Growing up in the hills of Western North Carolina, Johnson was a bootlegger, outrunning authorities while transporting moonshine in his car. He became a NASCAR driver with his first major race coming in 1953 at the Southern 500. Johnson is credited with inventing the drafting technique during his Daytona 500 victory when he used the slipstream of faster cars in front of him to slingshot to first place on the last lap. He was in the first class to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Johnson later became a team owner with his drivers winning over 100 races.

Mike Stefanik (1958–2019), nine-time NASCAR champion

Mike Stefanikwas a champion of NASCAR whose nine total championship wins made him one of the two drivers with the most championships in NASCAR history.

Anthoine Hubert (1996–2019), Formula Two driver

French driver won two races during the 2019 season.

Jessi Combs (1980–2019), “fastest woman on four wheels”

Co-host of “Xtreme 4x4” died attempting to break her own land speed record.

Race Car Drivers Who Have Died

Fast, competitive, and determined, these race car drivers loved the thrill of the track. Whether you're a Formula One fan or can't get enough NASCAR, join us in paying tribute to some of auto racing's greatest drivers.

David Pearson (1934–2018), NASCAR’s “Silver Fox”

Hall of Fame driver, second in all-time wins.

Kitty O’Neil (1946–2018), pioneering deaf Hollywood stuntwoman

Legendary daredevil set the land speed record for female drivers.

Dan Gurney (1931–2018), legendary race car driver

First driver with wins in each of the Formula One, IndyCar and NASCAR Cup series…

Paul Newman: Irresistible

A Los Angeles Times writer once described them as "Windex eyes." If you are missing actor-racer-entrepreneur-philanthropist Paul Newman's baby blues, just stroll down the grocery aisle and they'll be peering back at you from bottles of salad dressing, jars of pasta sauce, cereals, marinades, pizza, popcorn and even cat food – just to name a few.

Davey Allison, NASCAR Legend

NASCAR driver Davey Allison was the proud new owner of a Hughes helicopter when, just a foot from landing at his beloved "home track" of Talladega Speedway, the craft nosed up and crashed. Allison, rising star of the legendary Alabama racing family, was skilled at controlling cars capable of going more than 200 miles an hour, but he lost control of the copter at a crucial moment and he died the next day of his injuries.

Remembering Racing Greats

We remember three race car drivers who lost their lives to the sport they loved.