The report out of Germantown, Tennessee, today is that Sammy Swindell, a of Fame sprint car driver who has raced for 43 years, has decided to retire from racing, with one exception: He still plans to race in the Chili Bowl Nationals each January, where he has a unmatched five victories.
Swindell, who smiles rarely but wins frequently, is best known for his sprint car racing career, where he has won more than 600 races, including virtually every one of the major sprint car events – the Knoxville Nationals, the Gold Cup Race of Champions, the Kings Royal, the Williams Grove National Open, the Western World Championships and the Syracuse Super Nationals among them. He earned three World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championships and he retires as a winner, having won races in every year of his career.
But Swindell raced also in the NASCAR truck series and in IndyCar, and of course in the Chili Bowl Nationals where he appears to know not only the secrets of the track but also the mysteries of the qualifying procedure. With more than 200 cars entered each year, making the cut to the final 24 is no easy feat, yet Swindell makes it look easy.
So while we will miss Swindell in a sprint car we will look forward to seeing him in his midget in January.