Nine-Time NASCAR Cup Race Winner Paul Goldsmith Dies Aged 98
Paul Goldsmith, a legendary racer known for his versatility in various forms of motorsport, passed away on Friday at the age of 98. Goldsmith, a native of West Virginia who was raised in Detroit, won a total of nine NASCAR Grand National Series, now known as NASCAR Cup Series, races in a part-time career that spanned 127 races over 11 seasons. According to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which confirmed Goldsmith's death on Friday, the tenacious racer died in Munster, Indiana.
Among his wins in the NASCAR Cup Series was a triumph on the sands of Daytona Beach in 1958, while driving Smokey Yunick's No. 3 Pontiac. That race marked the final NASCAR race held on the beach of Daytona as Daytona International Speedway, the 2.5-mile superspeedway officially opened for the first-ever Daytona 500 in 1959.
Goldsmith's first-career NASCAR Cup Series win came at Langhorne Speedway in 1956, and he achieved his final NASCAR Cup Series victory at Bristol in 1966.
In addition to his NASCAR Cup Series success, Goldsmith also took home a win at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the 1957 NASCAR Convertible Series event.
While he ran part-time in NASCAR, Goldsmith was a championship contender in the USAC Stock Car division, where he won the championship in back-to-back seasons (1961, 1962) and amassed 26 victories in only 85 starts.
Prior to giving stock car racing a try, Goldsmith was a standout on two wheels as he competed in the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). Goldsmith's first career win in AMA competition came on the 1-mile dirt track at the Wisconsin State Fair Park in 1952. That track would later be paved, and became The Milwaukee Mile. A year later, Goldsmith won the AMA Daytona 200 on the Daytona Beach course. With his win in the NASCAR event on the Daytona Beach five years later, Goldsmith became the only driver to win races on the beach course in a car and on a motorcycle.
Goldsmith also contested the Indianapolis 500 six times in consecutive years from 1958 to 1963. The racer's best finish in the Indianapolis 500 was a third-place effort in 1960.
Over his legendary career, Goldsmith was honored with enshrinement in many Hall of Fames, including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame, Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, Motorcycle Hall of Fame, USAC Hall of Fame, and the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame.
The racing legend was preceeded in death by his wife, Helen, and son, Greg. Goldsmith is survived by his daughter, Linda, Goldsmith-Slifer.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.