Charlie "Red" Cregar - Auto Racer

Charlie "Red" Cregar's racing career in the NASCAR Modified, Sportsman and Grand National divisions was during the dirt track heydays of the 50's and 60's. A Bloomsbury, New Jersey native, he tore up the northeastern tracks, including that of Flemington Fair Speedway. Cregar made an annual trek to Daytona to race on the beach in 1955, 1956, 1957 and to the first race at Daytona International Superspeedway in 1959, where he started a respectable 15th and finished 28th after an engine failure on lap 70 of the 100 lap qualifier. Mechanical failures plagued most of his Grand National appearances as he drove for himself and owners James Gess in '54-'55 and Happy Steigel in 1959. Cregar never finished on the lead lap in any of his GN races, however he led 8 laps at Darlington in the 1954 race, starting 11th and finishing 20th in a James Gess Plymouth. His best GN finish came in 1957 at Concord (started 15th) and Wilson (started 10th) where he finished 8th in each race in his own Plymouth. He competed in sixteen Sprint Cup Series events in his career, racing part time between 1954 and 1959. He earned just three top-tens, all in 1957, bested by a pair of 8ths at Wilson and Concord. Following a career-high 34th place in 1959 standings, Cregar stopped racing in the series and never raced again.

Note:  Though I have found several sources stating that Charlie Cregar resided in Bloomsbury during his racing days, I have not been able to find any information as to where and how long he lived there.  I did find information stating that he moved to Lawrenceville, NJ and opened a used car business under the name of CR Cregar & Son.  Charlie Cregar passed away on October 31, 2003.