Iggy Katona

Egnatius "Iggy" Katona (August 16, 1916 – December 4, 2003) was an American stock car racing driver from Willis, Michigan. He is most famous for his performance in the ARCA series in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, where he won six championships and 79 races, the latter of which stood as a series record until Frank Kimmel surpassed it in 2013. Other ARCA records held by Katona include most starts (630), oldest race winner (57 years old, Daytona International Speedway, 1974) and most consecutive seasons with a win (19, from 1953–1971) [1]

Iggy Katona
Nationality	American
Born	Egnatius Katona August 16, 1916 Toledo, Ohio
Died	December 4, 2003 (aged 87) Daytona Beach, Florida
Retired	1977
ARCA Series
Years active	1953–1977
Teams	Iggy Katona
Starts	312
Wins	79
Poles	44
Best finish	1st in 1955, 1956, 1957, 1962, 1966, 1967
Previous series
1951–'52, 1965–'66, 1974	NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Championship titles
1955 1956 1957 1962 1966 1967	MARC Champion MARC Champion MARC Champion MARC Champion ARCA Series Champion ARCA Series Champion
Awards
1982	Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame
Achievements	1965, 1971, 1974 Daytona ARCA 200 Winner All-time ARCA Racing Series wins leader (79 wins)(tied with Frank Kimmel) Finished top ten in ARCA Racing Series point standings for 21 consecutive seasons (1953–1973) The only driver ever to win a 600-lap race on a half-mile oval (Dayton Speedway)
NASCAR Cup Series career
13 races run over 5 years
Best finish	33rd (1952)
First race	1951 Motor City 250 (Detroit)
Last race	1974 Winston 500 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 3 0
NASCAR Grand National East Series career
3 races run over 1 year
First race	1973 Toledo 100 (Toledo)
Last race	1973 Mt. Clemens 100 (Mt. Clemens)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0
Statistics current as of April 28, 2013.

Early career

Katona started out racing motorcycles in local races in Michigan and Ohio at age 21, winning nearly every race he entered.[2]

After a brief tour of duty in the Army during World War II, he turned to midget car racing. Building his own engines and chassis and with his two sons Ronnie and Jim as crew members, Katona found success on four wheels as well, including winning 14 feature races in a row at Detroit's famed Motor City Speedway dirt oval.[2]

MARC/ARCA career

In 1952, fellow Toledoan John Marcum created his Midwest Association for Race Cars as a Northern counterpart to the Southern stock car series of the day, Bill France, Sr.'s NASCAR. Katona was a force in the series from the beginning, finishing 3rd in the series' inaugural campaign in 1953, 2nd in 1954 and winning the championship in 1955, 1956 and 1957. His 4th MARC championship came in 1962 driving his #30 Ford.

Although he developed his racing skills on the short tracks of the Midwest, Katona adapted well when the MARC changed its name to ARCA and began racing on superspeedways in 1964, winning the ARCA race at Daytona three times. He won his 5th and 6th titles in 1966 and – at the age of 51 – 1967. His consistency was his biggest asset; he finished in the top ten in series points 21 straight seasons, from 1953–73.[2]

References

1. "Miscellaneous Records". ARCAracing.com. Retrieved November 2, 2006.
2. Radebaugh, Don (2003-12-05). "Iggy Katona". Motorsport.com. Retrieved November 2, 2006.

External links

• Iggy Katona driver statistics at Racing-Reference