Dave Marcis

Dave Marcis (born March 1, 1941) was a driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit from 1968 until 2002. Marcis won five times over this 34-year span, twice at Richmond, including his final win in 1982. Dave was always known for racing for his own team and wearing wingtip shoes while racing to absorb the heat in the car. He made the Daytona 500 every year from 1968 until 1999. The 2002 Daytona 500 was the last time Marcis raced in NASCAR.

Career Overview

The career of Dave Marcis is notable in the history of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. While Marcis is best known as the last of the non-factory supported independent owner drivers, he is also known as one of the top drivers of the 1970s. During his career Marcis drove for Nextel Championship car owners in Nord Krauskopf and Rod Osterlan. Marcis finished as high as second in the season standing in 1975 driving Nord Krauskopf's K @ K Dodge Charger. 1975 was also notable as the first year for NASCAR's modern standard of calculating points. Despite driving for some of the top teams of the day Marcis oppted field his own teams following his sudden departure from Osterland Racing after the 1978 season. Coincidently Marcis was replaced by now deceased seven time champion Dale Earnhardt, who would begin his rookie campaign the following year. Former crew Harry Hyde once said of Marcis' "he had the talent to be a champion, if only he weren't so stubborn."

Marcis experienced moderate success as an owner driver during the 1980s. The highlight of the Marcis' career as a owner driver was winning at the old Richmond Fairgrounds in 1982. The race is often remembered for an odd finish which involved a miscalculation on pit road by the Petty Racing team during a rain delay which, handed the win to Marcis. From that point Marcis team gradually became less competive as more well funded teams found their way into the series. Marcis was occasionally known to moonlight for other car owner such as Larry Hendrick. Often Marcis would still field his own car, usually with Jim Sauter behind the wheel.

During the twilight of his career Marcis landed the first major internet sponsor in Nextel Cup, Prodigy Internet. The internet company would sponsor Marcis as an associate and primary sponsor between 1994 and 1996. Marcis was frequently the test driver for the Richcard Childress GM Goodwrench #3 of the late Dale Earnhardt during the prime of his career. This agreement with Childress was made by Marcis to help fund his own race team, but often backfired due the fact that he rarely had the time to test his own equipment. Marcis finished out his career in the 2002 Daytona 500, a race he has competed in more then any other driver in history.

Marcis is second only to Richard Petty in all time starts at 883. A couple of interesting notes to Marcis' career is that he holds a Darlington record club mark for speed in an AMC and he still holds the Nextel Cup track record for qualifying a Hickory Motor Speedway. Marcis is currently a test driver for the International Race of Champions series. In addition Marcis' race shop has been converted into a hotrod shop that builds rods with Nextel Cup based engines.

Career Statistics

Dave Marcis' stats Year/Starts/Poles/Wins/Top 5's/Top 10's/Final Points Ranking

1968 10 00 00 00 02 34

1969 37 00 00 03 11 19

1970 47 00 00 07 15 09

1971 29 02 00 09 14 21

1972 27 00 00 05 11 15

1973 23 00 00 03 06 24

1974 30 00 00 06 18 06

1975 30 04 01 16 18 02

1976 30 07 03 09 16 06

1977 18 00 00 05 07 25

1978 30 00 00 14 24 05

1979 25 00 00 01 06 20

1980 31 00 00 04 14 09

1981 31 01 00 04 09 09

1982 30 00 01 02 14 06

1983 30 00 00 00 07 11

1984 30 00 00 03 09 13

1985 28 00 00 00 05 18

1986 29 00 00 01 04 17

1987 29 00 00 02 07 18

1988 29 00 00 00 02 19

1989 27 00 00 00 01 25

1990 29 00 00 00 00 21

1991 27 00 00 00 01 29

1992 29 00 00 00 00 29

1993 23 00 00 00 00 33

1994 23 00 00 00 01 36

1995 28 00 00 00 00 35

1996 27 00 00 00 00 38

1997 19 00 00 00 00 42

1998 13 00 00 00 00 45

1999 20 00 00 00 00 42

2000 11 00 00 00 00 46

2001 03 00 00 00 00 53

2002 01 00 00 00 00 82

Total 883 14 5 94 222 Avg: 24.63