Mark Stahl | |||||||
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Nationality | ![]() | ||||||
Born | (1951-08-12) August 12, 1951 (age 72) San Diego, California | ||||||
Retired | 2001 | ||||||
ARCA Re/MAX Series | |||||||
Years active | 1988–2001 | ||||||
Car number | 32 | ||||||
Starts | 48 | ||||||
Wins | 0 | ||||||
Poles | 0 | ||||||
Best finish | 20th in 1998 | ||||||
Previous series | |||||||
1981–1993 1981–1982 | NASCAR Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston West Series | ||||||
Championship titles | |||||||
1978, 1980 1981, 2007, 2015, 2016 | Baja 1000 Overall Winner Baja 1000 Class Winner | ||||||
NASCAR driver
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NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
30 races run over 13 years | |||||||
Best finish | 38th (1987) | ||||||
First race | 1981 Winston Western 500 (Riverside) | ||||||
Last race | 1991 AC Delco 500 (Rockingham) | ||||||
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Mark Stahl (born August 12, 1951) is an American former professional off-road and stock car racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the ARCA Re/MAX Series, and is a four-time winner of the Baja 1000 off-road race, twice winning the event overall.
Born in San Diego, California, Stahl began his professional racing career in off-road racing; he scored overall wins in the Baja 1000 in his Chenowth VW in 1978 and 1980, and the car won just Class 1 (but not overall) in 1981.[1][2] Stahl battled Frank "Scoop" Vessels for the win of the 1978 Baja 1000 and Vessels crossed the finish line 3 minutes ahead of Stahl - but had started 9 minutes earlier - giving the victory to Stahl by 6 minutes.[3]
He moved to stock cars 1981, competing in the NASCAR Winston West Series; he competed in the series full-time in 1982,[4] finishing 12th in points. Stahl also made his debut in the Winston Cup Series in 1981, driving in the Winston Western 500atRiverside International Raceway, finishing 23rd.[5]
Stahl competed in 30 races in the Winston Cup Series between 1981 and 1993;[5] his best finish was 16th in 1986 at Darlington Raceway.[6] He also failed to qualify for 34 additional events.[7] In 1987 Stahl posted the fastest time in second-round qualifying for the 1987 Winston 500, becoming part of the fastest field in NASCAR history.[8] He moved to South Carolina in 1991 to further his racing career.[1] In 1990 Stahl acquired sponsorship from Hooters; his failing to qualify for the 1991 Motorcraft 500atAtlanta International Raceway led to 1992 Winston Cup Series Champion Alan Kulwicki picking up the sponsorship for the event,[9] and later receiving the sponsorship full-time.[10] Stahl left NASCAR with more DNQs (34) than races run (30).
In 1988 Stahl made his debut in the Automobile Racing Club of America's Permatex SuperCar Series; he competed in 48 ARCA events between 1988 and 2001, posting a best finish of fourth at Talladega Superspeedway in 1997.[11]
Following the 2001 racing season, Stahl retired from competition; in 2007, he came out of retirement to compete in the Baja 1000 once more,[1] co-driving with Jim Christensen and winning the Touring Car class of the race.[6] His 1977 Chenowth was restored by another driver for the 2011 NORRA Mexican 1000 vintage race and Stahl co-drove in the May event.[12]
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)