COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Midwestern stock car racer for some 25-plus years, Don Gregory passed away September 7 at the age of 91.
During his career, Gregory was a familiar figure at Ohio speedways before branching out to other speed venues and eventually becoming a top runner with the American Speed Association.
While in the service, Gregory attended some races and decided to try racing when he got back home to Columbus.
Gregory honed his racing skills at tracks like Kil-Kare, Shady Bowl and Portsmouth in Ohio in the early 1960s. One of his earliest “big” wins was the first annual Hillbilly 100 at Pennsboro, W. Va., in 1967 as he drove his red Chevelle No.7 to a $2,000 payday.
Gregory competed in a Ford in 1968 at Daytona Beach, Fla., during the annual Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) race, finishing 18th in the 42-car field. In 1966, he finished second in a ’64 Ford in an ARCA 500 lapper at the Fairgrounds Motor Speedway in Louisville, Ky.
A truck mechanic by trade, Gregory started to grab more victories both locally and out-of-state. He won at Heidelberg, Pa., and captured the Florida Late Model Championship at Golden Gate Speedway in 1970. Ohio’s Columbus Motor Speedway, Zanesville Speedway, and Tri-County Speedway near Cincinnati, along with Sun Valley Speedway and Indianapolis Raceway Park in Indiana, saw Gregory score victories.
There would be nights at Columbus and Zanesville that Gregory would do “double duty” in the 1960s – winning feature races in both the “flathead” and “overhead” stock car divisions. Among Gregory’s racing laurels was the 1974 points championship at Tri-County.
Gregory and longtime car owner partner and crew chief Bud St. Amant began racing with the ASA series as early as 1973 and pretty much became regulars on the circuit by 1976. The Gregory/St. Amant team’s purple and white No.7s were always in the mix for a win or top finish. Gregory’s best finish in the final ASA points was eighth, which he did four times.
The team’s first ASA win came at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 1974. Gregory scored his biggest win of his career, capturing the “Dri-Powr 400” at Indiana’s Winchester Speedway in 1979, wheeling the St. Amant-prepped/Jeg’s-sponsored Olds Cutlass No.7 to the $10,000 victory.
Gregory set a new race record that day and broke Bob Senneker’s string of five straight “400” victories. “It was a great feeling and couldn’t have had happened at a better race than this one,” said Gregory after the win.
Another ASA win for the team came at Indiana’s Salem Speedway in 1980.
Gregory continued his winning ways outside of ASA, including capturing the Sugar Bear 100 at Ohio’s Dayton Speedway in 1980.
At the end of 1985, Gregory’s ASA career was over with his son, Donnie, having started his own racing career. Gregory was honored many times after his driving days were over, including his induction into Kil-Kare Speedway’s Hall of Fame in 2011 and into Ohio’s Muskingum County Speedway HoF in 2012. In recent years, Don Gregory and his wife, Shirley, would watch great grandchildren, Danny and Kaylee Travis compete in quarter midgets.
