Buddy Baker, NASCAR's 'Gentle Giant,' dies at 74

[mvcg66b3r]

Buddy Baker, who won the 1980 Daytona 500 and at 6-foot-6 was NASCAR's ''Gentle Giant,'' died Monday. He was 74.

Baker died after a brief battle with lung cancer, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio said. Baker left his job as co-host of ''The Late Shift'' for the station last month when he announced he had a ''huge'' inoperable lung tumor.

''Do not shed a tear. Give a smile when you say my name. I'm not saying goodbye. Just talk to you later,'' Baker said in his final radio appearance.

Baker rode for more than 30 years and was honored as one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers in 1998. He was the first driver to exceed 200 mph on a closed course. The milestone came in 1970 at Talladega Superspeedway, where he won four times.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/buddy-baker-nascars-gentle-giant-dies-74-cancer-110623039--nascar.html

 

[landtuna]

Buddy was one of the true characters of NASCAR and died before his time. The article didn't say but I think, like so many of his contemporaries, he died of a disease caused by smoking and that is sad. I just lost a lifetime friend to the same disease and cause and it is so unnecessary.