The Gentle Giant Buddy Baker passed away early this morning at the age of 74. Buddy had announced last month that he had a "huge tumor" in his lungs.

Buddy towered over other racecar drivers. Buddy stood 6'6" tall. If you never got the chance to watch Buddy race, he got everything he could out of his equipment. Buddy racked up 19 NASCAR Cup Victory's and was the first man to hit 200mph on a closed course track at Talladega and this was back in 1970. Buddy knew how to put a car on the pole. He ranks 14th with 38 poles, and also amassed 202 top-fives and 311 top-10's.

Buddy won the big races. He won the 1970 Southern 500 at Darlington and the Coca-Cola 600 in 1968, 1972 and 1973 in Charlotte. Perhaps Buddy's biggest win came in the 1980 Daytona 500. Buddy was always known to be fast at Daytona, but could never get the car to last the entire race. That all changed when he hooked up with Waddell Wilson and they won the Fastest Daytona 500 on record with an average speed just over 177 mph.

After Buddy retired from racing, his love of the sport lead him to broadcasting. Not only did he help as the color commentator in NASCAR, but also with the ASA Series on the old Nashville Network. I had the opportunity to meet and work with Buddy Baker and he loved racing as much as he loved meeting racefans. A Gentle Giant he certainly was.

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