After 17 years of trying, Buddy Baker conquered the Daytona 500 in 1980 with a dominating win in an Oldsmobile known as the Gray Ghost.

Elzie Wylie Baker Jr.—you may know him better as Buddy—had a remarkable career as a NASCAR driver, owner, and television personality. The son of NASCAR pioneer Buck Baker, Buddy (1941-2015) won 19 races in his 700 starts in NASCAR’s premier series, developing a reputation, fairly or unfairly, as a leadfoot: quick as anyone but hard on his equipment. Buddy could break an anvil, some observers said. Baker foiled the critics in 1980 when, after 17 years of trying, he won the Daytona 500 driving an Oldsmobile for Ranier Racing and crew chief Waddell Wilson.

The beautiful silver-and-black Cutlass, powered by one of Wilson’s magical small-block V8s, was such a formidable machine that it soon developed a legend of its own, and a name: the Gray Ghost. With Baker up on the wheel, the Ghost took the pole for the Daytona 500 in 1979, and it won its 125-mile qualifying race easily. The Olds also won the inaugural Busch Clash all-star race that year, but an ignition failure forced an early retirement in the big race.

Baker, Wilson, and the Gray Ghost came roaring back to win the 500 outright in 1980, leading 150 of 200 laps and pulling out a 13-second advantage at one point. Courtesy of NASCAR All Out, here’s an excellent video recap of the dominating performance. By the way, Buddy Baker and Waddell Wilson were just elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame class of 2020. Enjoy the race. -NASCAR photo.