Bob Senneker (born December 12, 1944) is an American stock car racing driver from Dorr, Michigan near Grand Rapids.[1] He is best known for racing on the American Speed Association (ASA) National Tour where he was the 1990 champion. Senneker's 85 wins were the most in series history.[2] He has also raced in eight NASCAR Cup Series races between 1968 and 1983.[1]
| Bob Senneker | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bob Senneker in the Blue Bird special at Toledo Speedway | |||||||
| Nationality | American | ||||||
| Born | December 12, 1944 | ||||||
| Retired | 1998 | ||||||
| Related to | Terry Senneker (brother) | ||||||
| American Speed Association | |||||||
| Starts | 396 | ||||||
| Wins | 85 | ||||||
| Best finish | 1st in 1990 | ||||||
| Championship titles | |||||||
| 1990 | ASA National champion | ||||||
| Awards | |||||||
| 1988 | Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 8 races run over 4 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 44th (1983) | ||||||
| First race | 1968 Daytona 500 (Daytona) | ||||||
| Last race | 1983 Atlanta Journal 500 (Atlanta) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Statistics current as of July 3, 2020. | |||||||
Background /Personal life
editSenneker was born on December 12, 1944.[1] His brother, Terry Senneker, raced against him and has done some touring series starts.[3]
Racing career
editLocal driver (1963–1972)
editIn 1963, Senneker began racing at the 1/4 mile paved Grand Rapids Speedrome in 1963.[4] He began racing at Berlin Raceway after it was paved in 1966;[4] he won 92 features and over 130 preliminary races between 1966 and 1980.[5] In 1966, he won 18 features at Berlin.[5] He was the 1966, 1967, and 1968 Berlin track champion.[4] In the 1960s, he also won track championships at Grand Rapids Speedrome, Tri-City Motor Speedway, and Kalamazoo Speedway.[4]
He began this 1970 season by winning at Heidelberg Raceway;[4] he also won the Glass City 200 at Toledo Speedway by two laps.[4] In 1971, he raced Heidelberg Raceway as well at selected larger money shows.[4] Senneker won the Goodyear 250 that season at Cayuga Speedway in Ontario, Canada.[4] In 1972, Senneker was the U.S. Stock Car Champion at Tri-City.[4]
ASA / ARTGO (1974–1998)
editSenneker took his first ASA National Tour win at the Winchester 400 in 1974; he ended up winning the race five consecutive times (1974–1978).[2] That season, he used a Camaro to win approximately 40 races.[4] He began teaming up with Ed Howe in 1975 and he started using a new car.[4] Senneker won 21 times in 1976 and 28 feature races in 1977.[4] In his "Bluebird" car, he won 24 times in 1978, including six ASA wins[4] - the first Milwaukee 150, his fifth consecutive Winchester 400, and a 300-lap race at I-70 Speedway.[4] In 1979, he promoted at Hartford Motor Speedway.[4] He cut back on weekly races and just concentrated on major races.[4] The final year of the decade ended with five wins, including one in ASA and one in ARTGO.[4]
He started the eighties by winning 15 times including the Anderson 300, Cayuga 300, Minnesota State Fair 300, and the Queen City 300.[4] He won five in ASA to take second in the national tour points.[4] Senneker recorded 11 wins in 1981, including five times in ASA (Milwaukee 500 and the first ASA race at Michigan International Speedway) as well as an All-Pro race at Birmingham International Raceway.[4] In the 1982 ASA season, Senneker primarily raced in ASA.[4] He had eight wins, including the Badger 150 at the Milwaukee Mile,[6] Indianapolis Raceway Park,[6] the Molson 200 and Molson 300 at Cayuga International Speedway,[6] the Fall Classic 300 at Indianapolis Raceway Park,[6] and the All-American 400 at Nashville Speedway.[6] Senneker remained racing primarily in ASA in 1983 and won six features.[4] Senneker won ten ASA races in 1984 and finished second after an accident in the final race of the season.[4] He raced strictly at ASA races and won once in 1985 and once in 1986 (Cayuga).[4]
In 1991, he won four consecutive ASA races in the middle of the year.[7]
Senneker's final ASA start happened on September 26, 1998 where he won in his final race at Southern National Speedway.[2] He had competed in 396 ASA races with 85 wins.[8]
Senneker won nine times in frequent ARTGO starts throughout his career.[8]
NASCAR
editSenneker made eight NASCAR Cup Series starts in this career.[9] He made his first start at the 1968 Daytona 500 in a home-built 1966 Chevelle.[4] He had his career-best 13th-place finish.[9] His next NASCAR race happened at his home track of Michigan International Speedway in 1970.[9] He started 30th and finished 21st.[9] Eleven years later, Senneker started 23rd for J.D. Stacy at Charlotte Motor Speedway and finishing 21st after crashing.[9]
Senneker made his final five NASCAR starts in 1983 for Terry Marra in the No. 80 Pontiac.[9] He finished 28th after crashing at Atlanta, 27th with battery issues at 1983 World 600 (Charlotte), 14th and 16th at Michigan, and 15th at Atlanta.[9]
Driving style
editSpeed Sport describes his personality as "intensely focused, ... engrossed with the thought of winning the next race."[2] Speed Sport also said "His smooth, calculating style was perfectly suited to long races and he had an uncanny ability to conserve his equipment."[2] Michigan fans nicknamed him "The Sneaker" for his patience and "The Bluebird" for his blue car which was often "flew" in front.[5]
Awards
editSenneker was inducted into the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.[4] Bob was inducted into the Grand Rapids, MI Sports Hall of Fame(www.grshof.com) in 2006. He was added to the Berlin Raceway Hall of Fame in 2015.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Driver Bob Senneker Career Statistics - Racing-Reference.info". Racing Reference. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Argabright, Dave (5 April 2020). "The Rivalry: The Bluebird & The Polar Bear". SPEED SPORT. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ "Driver Terry Senneker Career Statistics - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z "Senneker, Bob 1988". www.mmshof.org. Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Steve, Kaminski (August 11, 2015). "Berlin Raceway Hall of Fame to induct racing great Bob Senneker". mlive. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Grubba, Dale (2009). Alan Kulwicki: NASCAR Champion: Against All Odds. Badger Books Inc. pp. 226, 227, 229, 231, 236, 238. ISBN 978-1-932542-39-4. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
- ^ Ott, Larry (August 5, 1991). "SENNEKER'S DATE WITH HISTORY FOILED WITH ASA LOSS TO EDDY". The Buffalo News. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ a b Sullivan, Matthew (16 November 2015). "NASCAR: Five Great Short Track Drivers Who Never 'Made It'". Beyond the Flag. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Driver Bob Senneker's NASCAR Cup Series races - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
External links
edit- Bob Senneker driver statistics at Racing-Reference