Rob Moroso

Template:Short description Template:Infobox NASCAR driver Robert James Moroso (September 26, 1968 Template:Spaced ndash September 30, 1990) was an American NASCAR racing driver who was champion of the NASCAR Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) in 1989,<ref name="NYTimesObit">Template:Cite news</ref> and was posthumously awarded the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series) Rookie of the Year award. A promising young driver, he and another driver were killed when Moroso was driving under the influence at excessive speeds on roads near his hometown of Terrell, North Carolina.<ref name="NYTimesObit" /><ref name=SM-Moroso-2010 />

Born in Greenwich, Connecticut, he was the son of Dick Moroso,<ref name="NSSN">Template:Cite news</ref> founder of Moroso Performance, suppliers of aftermarket automotive parts, and former owner of Moroso Motorsports Park in Jupiter, Florida.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early life

Moroso grew up in Madison, Connecticut, with two other siblings, Rick and Susan. His father was Richard D. "Dick" Moroso, who served as owner and sponsor for much of the younger Moroso's racing career.<ref name=ChicagoTribune-Moroso-NextKing-1990>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=DragCentral-DickMoroso-1998>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

After graduating from high school, Moroso enrolled in courses at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina, though he failed to complete them. He also attended the Buck Baker Racing School at Rockingham Speedway.<ref name=ChicagoTribune-Moroso-NextKing-1990/>

Racing career

Busch Series

Moroso made his debut in the Busch Series at Orange County Speedway in North Carolina in 1986, two days after his 18th birthday. Driving the No. 23 Old Milwaukee Chevrolet, he qualified an impressive sixth, but finished 21st after suspension issues.<ref name=SM-Moroso-2010 /><ref name=PopSpeed-Moroso-2014/> He made his second start of the season in Rick Hendrick's No. 15 Chevrolet at Rockingham Speedway, finishing 18th.<ref name=SM-Moroso-2010>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=PopSpeed-Moroso-2014/> Moroso began running full-time in 1987, driving the No. 25 Oldsmobile owned by his father and sponsored by Moroso Performance. Moroso ran 25 of 27 races that season, with eight top tens and a 15th-place points finish.<ref name=SM-Moroso-2010 /> 1988 was a breakout season for Moroso.<ref name=PopSpeed-Moroso-2014/><ref name=SM-Moroso-2010 /> He won his first career race in July 1988 at Myrtle Beach Speedway, at the age of 19, after out-dueling defending series champion Larry Pearson.<ref name=SM-Moroso-2010 /><ref name="NSSN" /><ref name=PopSpeed-Moroso-2014/> He would score his second win of the season at Charlotte, and finished second in the final Busch series points to Tommy Ellis.<ref name=PopSpeed-Moroso-2014/>

In 1989, Moroso was vying with veteran driver Tommy Houston for the championship in the final race of the year, at Martinsville Speedway. Houston's engine failed during the race, while Moroso finished third and won the title by 55 points over Houston. At the time Moroso was the youngest champion in the history of NASCAR.<ref name="NSSN" /><ref name=PopSpeed-Moroso-2014/> Moroso won a total of six races from 1988 to 1989, including 3 consecutive at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and was voted the most popular driver on the circuit.<ref name="NSSN" />

Winston Cup Series

File:Rob Moroso Oldsmobile IMHOF.jpg

Moroso's 1990 Crown Oldsmobile on display at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame

Moroso made his debut in Winston Cup in 1988 at Charlotte in the No. 47 Peak Antifreeze Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, finishing 14th.<ref name=PopSpeed-Moroso-2014>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He would race one more time in 1988 and ran two races in 1989 as a warm up for the following season. Moroso declared he was running for Rookie of the Year in the 1990 season, driving the No. 20 Crown Central Petroleum Oldsmobile for his father.<ref name=PopSpeed-Moroso-2014/> The highlight of the season was a ninth-place finish in the Pepsi Firecracker 400 at Daytona.<ref name=PopSpeed-Moroso-2014/> Other than that, Moroso posted no wins, no top 5's, and only 1 top 10 and DNF'd in 15 races.

Death

On September 30, 1990, four days after his 22nd birthday, Moroso was killed in an automobile crash on North Carolina Highway 150 near Mooresville, North Carolina, only hours after finishing 21st in the Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Traveling at an estimated Template:Convert, Moroso lost control of his vehicle in a curve with a Template:Convert posted speed limit, skidding over 200 feet before being struck in the driver's side door by an oncoming car in the opposite lane. The resulting collision killed both Moroso and Tammy Williams, a 27-year-old nursing assistant, wife and mother who was driving in the opposite lane.<ref name=DailyPressVA-Moroso-1990/> The passenger in Moroso's vehicle, girlfriend Debbie Bryant, as well as a passenger in Williams' vehicle both survived with injuries.<ref name=PopSpeed-Moroso-2014/><ref name=DailyPressVA-Moroso-1990/><ref name="NYTimesObit" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Investigations revealed that he had been driving under the influence of alcohol. Moroso had been seen drinking several beers at a Cornelius, North Carolina, lounge prior to the crash, and his blood alcohol level was found to be 0.22, over twice the then legal level of 0.10.<ref name=DailyPressVA-Moroso-1990 /><ref name="NASCARCrossWords" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also had been convicted of speeding four times between 1987 and 1989, and had been involved in two prior highway crashes which included a rollover.<ref name=DailyPressVA-Moroso-1990>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="NASCARCrossWords" /> Judges could have revoked his license at least twice but the charges were reduced.<ref name="NASCARCrossWords">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=OrlandoSentinal-Moroso-1990>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Moroso earned enough points after completing just 25 of 29 races that he was awarded the Raybestos NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award in 1990, the only driver to ever receive the award posthumously.<ref name=SM-Moroso-2010 /><ref name=PopSpeed-Moroso-2014/>

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

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

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	Template:Tooltip	Pts	Ref
1988	Hendrick Motorsports	47	Chevy	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT 14					54th	191	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Moroso Racing	22	Olds																										NWS 31	CAR	PHO	ATL
1989				DAY	CAR	ATL	RCH	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV 28	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	PHO	ATL 34	63rd	140	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1990		20		DAY 38	RCH 15	CAR 30	ATL 33	DAR 26	BRI 30	NWS 32	MAR 13	TAL 37	CLT 26	DOV 29	SON 42	POC 36	MCH 16	DAY 9	POC 32	TAL 12	GLN 13	MCH 26	BRI 30	DAR 13	RCH 28	DOV 28	MAR 21	NWS 21	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL	30th	2184	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1990	Moroso Racing	Oldsmobile	36	38

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	Template:Tooltip	Pts	Ref
1986		23	Olds	DAY	CAR	HCY	MAR	BRI	DAR	SBO	LGY	JFC	DOV	CLT	SBO	HCY	ROU	IRP	SBO	RAL	OXF	SBO	HCY	LGY	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	ROU 21	CLT			59th	209	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Hendrick Motorsports	15	Olds																														CAR 18	MAR
1987	Moroso Racing	25	Olds	DAY 15	HCY	MAR 28	DAR 16	BRI 30	LGY 19	SBO 8	CLT 28	DOV	IRP 5	ROU 8	JFC 15	OXF 5	SBO 13	HCY 16	RAL 21	LGY 13	ROU 13	BRI 7	JFC 22	DAR 36	RCH 11	DOV 9	MAR 6	CLT 7	CAR 12	MAR 24					15th	2949	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1988				DAY 9	HCY 10	CAR 22	MAR 3	DAR 6	BRI 4	LNG 13	NZH 2*	SBO 7	NSV 16	CLT 4	DOV 12	ROU 4	LAN 18	LVL 20	MYB 1	OXF 40	SBO 13*	HCY 9	LNG 6	IRP 33	ROU 3	BRI 27	DAR 8	RCH 3	DOV 34	MAR 10	CLT 1	CAR 11	MAR 2		2nd	3986	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1989				DAY 3*	CAR 1	MAR 23	HCY 3	DAR 9	BRI 6	NZH 22	SBO 4	LAN 2	NSV 18	CLT 1	DOV 17	ROU 20	LVL 9	VOL 1*	MYB 7*	SBO 5	HCY 28	DUB 13	IRP 14	ROU 16	BRI 22	DAR 12	RCH 4	DOV 23	MAR 2	CLT 1	CAR 12	MAR 3			1st	4001	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Busch North Series

NASCAR Busch North Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	NBNC	Pts	Ref
1987	n/a	n/a	n/a		OXF 16																						n/a	n/a	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

• Template:Racing-Reference driver