Gene Tapia

Eugene "Gene" H. Tapia (March 16, 1925 – April 12, 2005) was an American race car driver from Mobile, Alabama.^[1] He competed in four NASCAR Grand National Series races,^[1] but he is best known for racing in the #327 supermodified. He was nicknamed the "King of the Supermodifieds."

Tapia was born on March 16, 1925, in Mobile, Alabama, to Ada and Homer Tapia.^[2] When he was nine years old, he attended a dirt track race with his father.^[2] His father began taking him regularly to motorcycle races in the mid 1930s.^[2]

At the age of 17, Tapia got married. That same year, he was involved in a street fight^[3] and the county district attorney suggested that he should leave town to avoid prosecution.^[3] In order to resolve the matter amicably, he left Mobile to work as a civilian on a military base in Alaska. Tapia was wounded when the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor in June 1942.^[3]

While Tapia was away, his wife gave birth to a boy named Larry Eugene Tapia in September 1942 at Memphis, Tennessee.^[3] Before either parent was able to see the baby, he was stolen by Georgia Tann's baby theft ring that worked at the hospital.^[3][4]

In June 1943, Tapia returned to Mobile where he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.^[3] He served with the Third Marine Division in Guadalcanal, the first-day invasion of Guam, and spent over 35 days on Iwo Jima.^[3]

In 1948, Tapia began racing as a way to get past battle stress which plagued him after the War. Later that year, he won his first stock car race at Chisholm Fairgrounds in Montgomery, Alabama.^[2] He raced in several NASCAR races that season. During his brief time spent racing in NASCAR, he won the Florida state title and the 1953 Mississippi state title.^[4] He left the circuit because he wanted to race five nights per week instead of one night.^[3] "Tapia was right up there with the best," said Donnie Allison. "He could have made it real good in NASCAR, if he had chosen. But I think his regard for his family and the desire to race more frequently is what kept him closer to home."^[3]

Tapia won the 1968 and 1969 World 300 Supermodified race at Mobile International Speedway.^[3] The event was billed as the "world's richest supermodified race".^[3]

In 1990, Tapia was able to meet his son. The 47-year-old, who was living in Missouri, was told that his parents had died in an automobile accident.^[3] Tapia died in 2005 at the age of 80.^[3]

He was inducted in the Alabama Auto Racing Pioneers Hall of Fame in 1999.^[2]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

• The Gene Tapia Story: King of the Supermodifieds ISBN 978-0-9725023-0-6

• Gene Tapia driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Articles