364:. Castles was an also-ran of the old days who once found himself having an uncharacteristically good day. He had lapped Curtis Turner, but the flagman apparently did not believe it, for he kept giving Castles the move-over flag to let Turner around him. As Castles told the story: "The starter kept doing this, and I was getting real mad, so I just picked up my gun and when I come by the stand the next time I took aim and shot that flag out of his hand."
352:
in the spring of 1972. Even though he failed to win a race in his nineteen-year career, Castles managed to record 51 finishes in the top five and 178 finishes in the top ten. Out of 90,509 laps, Castles led 70 of them. His total mileage in his career was 65,412.8 miles (105,271.7 km).
367:
By the end of his racing career, Castles managed to earn $ 276,854 in total winnings ($ 1,482,383.17 when adjusted for inflation). At the time of his death, his 498 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series were the third-most by a driver who did not have a victory, behind
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320:, who also gave Castles the nickname "Soapy". As a teenager, Castles worked on Shuman's cars and cleaned his tools at the latter's shop.
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Castles was married to Iris Jean
Gallion for 63 years until her death in December 2019. Together, they had three children.
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391:, he volunteered to replace the stuntman who was stuck in California. He later featured in that capacity in
383:, beginning in the 1950s about the time that he started racing. After he and his friends were recruited as
344:(1969). Three years later, he won the NASCAR Grand National East Series, a second-level series beneath the
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718:"Neil Castles Dies: Stuntman In Elvis Presley's 'Speedway', Actor, NASCAR Driver Was 88"
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In 2019, Castles published a memoir of his life in NASCAR and in the film industry.
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547:"Neil Castles, former NASCAR Cup Series driver and movie stuntman, dies at 87"
316:. When he was nine, he was gifted a car to drive at a soapbox derby racer by
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617:"Neil 'Soapy' Castles, longtime NASCAR racer and movie stuntman, dies at 87"
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American Zoom: Stock Car Racing – from the Dirt Tracks to
Daytona
332:, finishing 51 laps before engine failure forced him to record a
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Neil "Soapy" Castles: Memoir of a Life in NASCAR and the Movies
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American Zoom: Stock Car Racing—from the Dirt Tracks to
Daytona
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Neil "Soapy" Castles: Memoir of a Life in NASCAR and the Movies
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Castles made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in June 1957 at
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281:(October 1, 1934 – August 4, 2022) was an American
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447:Castles died on August 4, 2022, at the age of 87.
509:. McMahan's Funeral Home & Cremation Services
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847:Castles, Henry Neil "Soapy" (January 31, 2019).
742:Castles, Henry Neil "Soapy" (January 31, 2019).
336:. He went on to win 25-lap qualifying races at
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312:, on October 1, 1934. He was raised in nearby
379:Castles also worked in the film industry as a
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805:driver statistics at Racing-Reference
480:"Neil Castles Statistics and Results"
286:Grand National and Winston Cup Series
507:"Obituary for Henry Neil Castles Sr"
16:American race car driver (1934–2022)
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545:Taranto, Steven (August 5, 2022).
14:
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298:NASCAR Grand National East Series
71:NASCAR Grand National East Series
716:Haring, Bruce (August 4, 2022).
578:Encyclopedia of Stock Car Racing
575:Freedman, Lew (March 14, 2013).
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581:. ABC-CLIO. pp. 112–113.
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350:Greenville-Pickens Speedway
89:498 races run over 19 years
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425:(1982). He also acted in
171:Grand National East Series
826:Golenbock, Peter (1994).
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47:Charlotte, North Carolina
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670:. ESPN Internet Ventures
770:"Iris Castles Obituary"
288:driver. He raced from
208:1973 Buddy Shuman 100 (
774:The Charlotte Observer
410:The Last American Hero
310:Marion, North Carolina
643:Racing-Reference.info
360:, a book authored by
220:1972 Greenville 200 (
664:"Neil Castles Stats"
427:The Night of the Cat
403:(1968, doubling for
389:Occoneechee Speedway
308:Castles was born in
232:1972 Maryville 200 (
120:1976 Mason-Dixon 500
776:. December 20, 2019
387:for filming at the
342:Rockingham Speedway
893:NASCAR team owners
722:Deadline Hollywood
482:. Motorsport Stats
346:Winston Cup Series
338:Darlington Raceway
279:Henry Neil Castles
196:1972 Hickory 276 (
35:Henry Neil Castles
860:978-1-4766-3504-0
839:978-0-02-032782-0
832:. Macmillan USA.
809:Legends of NASCAR
755:978-1-4766-3504-0
695:. Macmillan USA.
416:Greased Lightning
330:Columbia Speedway
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21:NASCAR driver
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803:Neil Castles
784:– via
778:. Retrieved
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419:(1977), and
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394:Thunder Road
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381:stunt driver
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357:
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318:Buddy Shuman
307:
278:
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66:Achievements
59:(2022-08-04)
27:Neil Castles
18:
883:2022 deaths
878:1934 births
429:(1973) and
340:(1967) and
184:Best finish
95:Best finish
872:Categories
786:Legacy.com
549:. CBS News
451:References
372:(653) and
304:Early life
222:Greenville
193:First race
188:1st (1972)
104:First race
99:4th (1969)
82:Cup Series
40:1934-10-01
780:August 7,
727:August 8,
674:August 8,
648:August 8,
623:August 8,
553:August 7,
513:August 7,
486:August 8,
431:Challenge
314:Charlotte
300:in 1972.
234:Maryville
217:First win
205:Last race
116:Last race
619:. NASCAR
433:(1974).
422:Six Pack
413:(1973),
400:Speedway
397:(1958),
248:Top tens
229:Last win
138:Top tens
109:Columbia
73:Champion
376:(560).
210:Hickory
198:Hickory
857:
836:
752:
699:
585:
385:extras
324:Career
283:NASCAR
173:career
168:NASCAR
84:career
79:NASCAR
49:, U.S.
820:Books
252:Poles
142:Poles
124:Dover
69:1972
855:ISBN
834:ISBN
782:2022
750:ISBN
729:2022
697:ISBN
676:2022
668:ESPN
650:2022
625:2022
583:ISBN
555:2022
515:2022
488:2022
294:1976
290:1957
245:Wins
135:Wins
54:Died
32:Born
407:),
292:to
151:178
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.