The eNASCAR iRacing Pro-Invitational Series holds its second race of the season Wednesday night at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
Daniel Suárez is ready to take on the virtual highbanks with a special paint scheme and number honoring 88-year-old racing legend Red Farmer, an original member of the “Alabama Gang.”
Suárez’s car will not only carry a paint scheme honoring Farmer, but the Trackhouse Racing team is switching its car number from 99 to the 97 that Farmer has championed for years.
Farmer started competing in the late 1940s. He is the first racer elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame via the Pioneer Ballot, which recognizes individuals who began their motorsports careers more than 60 years ago. A member of the famed “Alabama Gang,” Farmer won more than 750 races, including many on the dirt tracks of Alabama. Originally hailing from Hialeah, Florida, Farmer relocated to Alabama early in his career, where he become a respected member of the “Alabama Gang” of racers led by Hall of Famer Bobby Allison (a 2011 Hall of Fame inductee) and Bobby’s brother, Donnie Allison.
| Farmer is a 2021 inductee to the NASCAR Hall of Fame joining Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the late Mike Stefanik and Landmark Award recipient Ralph Seagraves. The class is expected to be part of an induction ceremony postponed by Covid-19 until early 2022. |
| Farmer is now a member of 10 halls of fame. But 2020 and 2021 hasn’t been easy for Farmer. He successfully fought off chronic kidney issues plus Covid-19 and in March a tornado damaged his Indian Springs, Ala. home and trailer that housed his race car. An outpouring from the NASCAR community made the incident more bearable. Farmer returned to the dirt track for the first time last Saturday night and plans to participate in the races at the dirt track this weekend in Talladega. Farmer was a four-time NASCAR champion, taking titles in two different NASCAR divisions, including the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Division, where he won three consecutive championships from 1969-71, and the Modified Division, which he captured in 1956. Farmer also served as the NASCAR Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) crew chief for Hall of Famer Davey Allison (2019) and won an ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1988 driving a car owned by Davey Allison. Farmer obtained his first NASCAR license in early 1953. He bought a car off a Miami car lot, and drove it north to Daytona to compete on the beach course in February that year. He finished 45th out of 57 cars in his No. 48 Hudson Hornet. He has had a NASCAR license every year since and at age 88 continues to race on local short tracks. Farmer was named one of the 50 Greatest Drivers in NASCAR history in 1998. He was a member of the first Class of Inductees into the Talladega Walk Of Fame. FS1 will broadcast the Talladega iRace at 7 p.m. EDT. |
Trackhouse Racing PR
