Georgia Racing Hall of Fame member Gene Felton laid to rest

Racing champion Gene Felton has made his last pass at age 84. The driver whose career spanned four decades was buried by his family on Tuesday at the Crest Lawn Memorial Park in Atlanta.

Racing for 21 seasons in IMSA from 1972 through 1992, Felton won 45 races, the most of any driver at that time in IMSA’s production-based cars. He rubbed shoulders with the elites in sports car racing and is remembered for beating the Porsche shared by legends Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood to Victory Lane at the Daytona International Speedway in a Chevrolet Camaro he built and prepared after recovering it from a junk yard.

“Gene always figured a way to get to the track and he was successful,” said Atlanta resident Jim Downing, a five-time IMSA champion whose career coincided with that of Marietta resident Felton. “He was one of those natural talents and he just had to race.”

A member of the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, Felton is currently on the ballot for election to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, located in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Felton was well known among his fellow racers for not only his speed, but generosity. He often shared parts and advice.

“He gave me a pep talk once at Road Atlanta when I was just starting,” said David Vaughn. “He didn’t even know me then. I was impressed with his kindness, help and advice. I’ve never forgotten it. He lifted me up, and from then on, he was my personal hero.”

Born in Atlanta on May 11, 1936, Felton proudly served his country as a Marine for 13 years, rising to the rank of captain after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While growing up, Felton became fascinated by racing while watching the NASCAR legends of the 1950s compete on the Lakewood Speedway’s dirt mile.

After getting his start in racing on motorcycles during his Marine Corps service, Felton won some of America’s most prestigious events, including the overall win in the first Paul Revere 250 at Daytona sanctioned by IMSA on July 4, 1973, when multiple IMSA champions Gregg and Haywood were runners-up. He drove car No. 96, which had an intimidation factor.

“Most drivers don’t like that number,” he said. “It’s the only one that reads the same when the car is upside down. I didn’t know the difference. Nothing too much rattled me at that time.”

Felton scored a GTO class victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 1984, co-driving a Camaro with two-time NASCAR Cup champion Terry Labonte and car owner Billy Hagan. Driving one of Hagan’s Camaros, Felton won the GT class pole at the prestigious Le Mans 24-hour in his first trip to the famed eight-mile French circuit in 1982.

Before he became a full-time professional driver, Felton ran his family’s beauty supply company by day and built his race cars in the evenings. Longtime Atlanta Journal-Constitution sports editor Furman Bisher cited Felton’s work ethic by poking fun at famed Revlon cosmetics heir Peter Revson’s racing career. “Closest Revson ever got to cosmetics was when he kissed,” wrote Bisher. “And of course, there’s a wide gap between being an heir and working at it. Gene Felton goes to the office regularly.” 

Prior to joining Hagan’s team, Felton won four straight championships in IMSA’s Kelly American Challenge Series, driving cars he built himself. Off the track, Felton helped promote the sport he loved. Janet Upchurch, the former advertising and promotions manager at Road Atlanta, recalls a trip to the Atlanta Fulton County Stadium with Felton.

“They unloaded the car, pushed it into the stadium’s ground entrance and Gene proceeded to drive it onto the grass in the stadium and rev the motor as long and loud as humanly possible,” she said. “It is impossible to describe the amount of sound it made in that stadium and the crowd went nuts. Gene just gave one of his wide grins.”

In 1984, Felton survived a horrendous crash at the Riverside International Raceway that left him hospitalized with a broken neck. He resumed his career in IMSA the following year and competed until 1992. Following his IMSA career, Felton returned to his roots with Gene Felton Restorations, maintaining vintage NASCAR stock cars and road racing Camaros in a garage behind his house.

Before road racing in IMSA became his primary focus, Felton competed in NASCAR.

“I think one thing that helped me a lot was I wasn’t enamored with Bobby Allison, David Pearson and the other NASCAR guys,” said Felton. “They were just another driver to me.”

In NASCAR’s Modified Series, he finished the Permatex 200 at Daytona in third in 1976, a race won by Bobby Allison. His best result in the NASCAR Grand American series was second place behind Tiny Lund at Road Atlanta in 1971. A lone entry in the NASCAR Cup series came at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1976, where he finished the 500-mile race while running in 16th place. A frequent winner behind the wheel in vintage events, Felton was invited to drive a Chevrolet Nova he restored that was previously driven by seven-time Cup series champion Dale Earnhardt at the Goodwood Festival in England in 2009.

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