This is an old revision of this page, as edited by D-Day (talk | contribs) at 22:42, 25 July 2005. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 22:42, 25 July 2005 by D-Day (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Template:NASCAR current driver
Greg Sacks(born November 3, 1952, in Mattiuck, New York, is a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series driver. Currently he drives the unsponsored #13 Dodge fielded by Daytona Speed Inc., a team he co-owns. He is married to his wife Vicky and lives in Ormand Beach, Florida. Together they had three children: Paul, Brian, and Rachel. Mr. Sacks has spent most of his career as a Research & Development driven for many NASCAR teams.
Modifieds
Early in his racing career, Sacks was a successful driver in what is now the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series. Competing from 1980 to 1983, he won 17 races at Stafford Motor Speedway. 1982 was an especially good year to him, as he won the track championship that year, as well as the Dogwood Classic at Martinsville, and the Race of Champions in Pocono, Pennsylvania. In 1983, he made his NASCAR Winston Cup Series debut at the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in the #5 car owned sponsored by his father Arnie. He only completed nineteen laps until experiencing engine faliute, finishing 38th out of 40 cars. Sacks competed in four more events that season, posting a best finish of 17th in the GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan, the only race he finished that year.
80's Success
In 1984, Sacks made a full attempt at the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, once again in a car owned by his father, only now it ran as #51. Sacks made 29 out of the 30 races, finished 19th in points and runner-up to Rusty Wallace for the NASCAR Rookie of the Year award. 1985 got off to rough start for Sacks. After the first four races, his father's team folded. Seven races later, Sacks was able to hook on to the #49 Cleaner Hands Formula owned by 1966 NASCAR Rookie of the Year James Hylton. Before the Firecracker 400, DiGard Motorsports asked Sacks to drive their R & D car. Sacks qualified ninth and defeated pole-sitter Bill Elliott to earn what so far has been his only NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory. After DiGard's regular driver Bobby Allison quit the team days after the race, the team let Sacks finish the season in their regular car. The next year, Sacks found himself running a limited schedule as DiGard slowly went bankrupt. In 1987, he signed to drive the #50 Valvoline Oil Pontiac for the Dingman Brothers, where he struggled with qualifying for each race. Three-quarters of the way through 1988, Sacks left the team to drive for Buddy Baker's team, the #88 Red Baron Frozen Pizza Oldsmobile. Despite posting two top ten finishes in the first ten races of the 1989 season, Sacks was replaced by rookie Jimmy Spencer. Sacks was unemployed for a brief period then joined on with Tom Winkle's #75 Dinner Bell Foods Pontiac for most of the season, joining with Rick Hendrick for the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix.
Qualifying King
Sacks started off 1990 in a familiar place; no ride. Sacks was able to get a one-race deal with Hendrick once again at Darlington. Four races later, Sacks was rewarded with a full-time ride at Hendrick, driving the #18 Slim-Fast Chevrolet. Sacks even drove the #17 Tide car for the injured Darrell Waltrip in a couple of races. But the most memorable part of his season was winning the pole position at what has turned out to be a landmark race for him, the Firecracker 400. Sacks was so fast, NASCAR officials slowed him down after they found something illegal in his car. Trying to make up for lost speed, Sacks raced so hard he caused a massive 23-car pileup at the end of the first lap, taking out eight cars, including Sacks. No one was seriously hurt in that race. But it gave Sacks a reputation of being an excellent qualifer, as shown in 1989, when he won the pole for just his second Busch Series race. In 1994, Sacks set the track record at Atlanta when he won the pole. 1994 also marked just the second time in his Cup career he completed the full schedule, piloting the #77 USAir Ford owned by D.K. Ulrich. Sacks raced part-time in Cup and Busch over the next couple of years, winning a Busch Series race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1996. The next year, he started out driving the #20 Hardee's Ford for championship owner Harry Rainer, but was soon released. Later in the season, he filled in for rookie driver Robby Gordon, who had suffered burns in the Indianapolis 500. After Gordon was released later in the year, Sacks finished the season for the team.
Struggles
1998 looked like Sacks would finally find a steady ride, driving the #98 Thorn Apple Valley Ford for Cale Yarborough. Sadly, that was not to be. On lap 136 of the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, Sacks lost control of his car and wrecked, suffering near-fatal injuries. He missed the rest of the season. Sacks made his return in 1999 in the NASCAR Busch Series, but only qualified for one of the several races he attempted. Sacks tried his hand at Winston Cup again in 2000, attempting that year's Daytona 500 in the #96 Island Oasis Chevrolet. He did not make the field. After making sporatic races in modifieds, Sacks announced his return to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and Busch Series in the summer of 2002, driving the #05 Chevy sponsored by the board game FRANCHI$IT. Sacks, who described FRANCHI$IT as "The Board Game of the 21st Century.," teamed with Loren Fossie to form "Team FRANCHI$IT/Sacks Racing." Orginally set to debut at the Brickyard 400, the date was pushed to the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Nothing has been heard from the team since, and it is not clear if the team was orginally planned as a marketing tool for FRANCHI$IT. In 2004, Sacks formed Daytona Speed Inc., with Ed Raabe and James Wilsberg. Making its first attempt at Chicagoland Speedway, the team did not make a race until the Pennsylvania 500 the next month. In February 2005, Sacks founded himself once again swindled by a greedy co-owner. Raabe left thet team took several cars and the sponsorship(ARC DeHooker)with him to form the #73 team. Sacks is planning to file a lawsuit in court against Rabbe for violating his contract. Sacks has run both Pocono Raceway in 2005, and finished 43rd in both of them.
Races won
1985: Pepsi 400 (Daytona International Speedway)
1996: Hummingbird Fishfinder 500K (Talladega Superspeedway