Rex White

Rex White won the 1960 Cup Series championship with six victories, an impressive feat for a driver whose diminutive stature -- he stood just five feet four inches tall -- belied an enormous competitive heart. The Taylorsville, North Carolina native proved that in stock car racing, skill and determination matter far more than physical size. White's championship campaign was built on consistency across a grueling schedule that included more than 40 races on tracks ranging from tiny dirt bullrings to the newly opened Daytona International Speedway. His ability to adapt to wildly different conditions and equipment requirements week after week was the hallmark of a true champion. He earned 28 career victories in the Cup Series, a number that places him among the most successful drivers of the sport's early decades. White's driving style was precise and technically sound, qualities that compensated for whatever physical disadvantages his small frame might have presented in an era before power steering. Inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015, Rex White's championship is a reminder that the early years of NASCAR produced champions of genuine quality whose accomplishments deserve recognition alongside the more celebrated names of later eras.

Written by Richard R. Glover, NASCAR Reference