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Bob Senneker
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] Background /Personal lifeSenneker was born on December 12, 1944.[1] His brother, Terry Senneker, raced against him and has done some touring series starts.[3] Racing careerLocal driver (1963–1972)In 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)Senneker 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] NASCARSenneker 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 styleSpeed 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] AwardsSenneker 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
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