Roy Hall

30/1/1920 - 14/3/1991

Record updated 30-Jan-07

Roy Hall ran 'shine from the hills of North Georgia to Atlanta, he won AAA Stock Car Championship in 1941.

Roy Hall was a tripper who ran shine from the hills of North Georgia to Atlanta. By age 19 he had a reputation for a reckless disregard of the rules, both on and off the road. One Atlanta newspaper reported that the police chased him for two years for running illegal liquor, speeding, and reckless driving. "He was a genius at the wheel," said one officer.

Raymond Parks and Roy Hall were cousins, and Raymond agreed to sponsor Hall on the race track. He hired Louis Jerome "Red" Vogt to prepare the car.

In March 1940 Hall entered his first Daytona beach race. In true daredevil style he arrived with the proud boast that he drove from Atlanta in seven hours and averaged 62 mph, an impressive feat before the days of interstate highways. A few days later he thrilled race fans by running his car on two wheels through the North and South Turns.

Roy won that race in the pits when the race leader, Joe Littlejohn, had a two-minute pit stop on lap 29. Hall pitted on the 36th lap, and Vogt got him out in 40 seconds. (Remember this was 1940 when two-minute pit stops were the norm.) Roy won by half a lap and established a new race record of 76.53 mph. After the race, he declared, "I was getting about 95 mph out of my car and I was getting it all the time. I kept it wide open down both straightaways and never eased up on the pace, even when I was way ahead."

Hall won the March 2, 1941 beach race by nearly half a lap over Smokey Purser. In the March 30th race that year, he finished second behind Purser. He came in eighth in the July race, but finished outside the top ten in August. He won AAA Stock Car Championship that year but then the war interveined.

When racing resumed in 1946, he competed in the April race and dueled Red Byron until he threw a wheel in the South Turn. Roy then arrived in Daytona three days before the June race. He was immediately arrested for speeding and cutting donuts on Main Street. He explained that he wanted to go to the local jail because the Daytona hotel rates were too high.

Hall was competing at Tri-City Speedway in September 1949 when his car went out of control on the first lap. He sustained critical head injuries that ended his racing career at the age of 28. He died in 1992.

Considered by Hall of Fame Mechanic Red Vogt as one of the greatest natural drivers who ever lived, he won many modified events in the early days, but his trouble with the law cost him many more accolades.



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