Paul Goldsmith, a revered veteran of both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR, has passed away at the age of 98. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NASCAR confirmed the news of his death.
Born in West Virginia and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Goldsmith began his racing career in the post-World War II era as a teenager, starting with motorcycles. He quickly rose to prominence as an American Motorcyclist Association expert on Harley-Davidson bikes, securing his most significant motorcycle victory at the Daytona 200, breaking Harley-Davidson’s long drought in the event, as highlighted by NASCAR. Despite his racing success, Goldsmith worked full-time at the Chrysler factory in Detroit, balancing his career on two wheels with his day job, according to a release from the Speedway.
Goldsmith’s transition to stock car racing began while he was still racing motorcycles, winning a 250-mile race at the Detroit Fairgrounds in 1953. He made his final motorcycle race appearance in 1956 to focus entirely on stock car racing, earning his first NASCAR victory later that year in a 300-mile race at Langhorne under the legendary car owner Smokey Yunick. Yunick once remarked in Peter Golenbock’s 1993 book *American Zoom*, “Paul Goldsmith had more natural talent than any driver I ever had anything to do with…a very, very fast race driver with extremely quick reflexes.”
Goldsmith holds the distinction of being the last NASCAR Grand National winner on the historic beach course in Daytona Beach in 1958, just before the opening of the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway the following year. In 1959, Goldsmith partnered with another iconic car owner, Ray Nichels, and went on to dominate the U.S. Auto Club Stock Car circuit, securing 26 victories in 85 starts, as noted by the Speedway.
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