Dana
Graves first climbed into a stock car in 1958 at the old Exeter
Raceway and hung up his racing helmet for the final time in
1989. In between, Dana won an estimated 200 races and eight
track championships.
During his thirty-two year racing career, Dana raced on the
dirt at Exeter and the asphalt of Unity Raceway, Speedway 95,
Spud Speedway, Wiscasset Speedway, Oxford Plains Speedway, Beech
Ridge Motor Speedway and the old Ellsworth and Cherryfield Park
tracks along with tracks in the Canadian Maritimes.
Dana won his first track championship at Exeter in 1962 in
the Class B division driving a 1937 Ford coupe.
It wasn’t until 1966, when he and
brother Bob built a ’55 Ford for Unity that Dana became a
regular visitor to victory lane.
Two years later, Dana won his
first of four track championships at Unity (1968, 1969, 1971 and
1972) and in 1969, he
captured his first of three track titles at Speedway 95.
Wherever Dana raced in Maine, the familiar blue #15 Ford ended up in
victory lane or in the top five. In 1972, Dana won a 100-lap
Open race at Unity on Saturday night for $1,000 then drove to
Speedway 95 the next day and won another 100-lap event worth
$1,100.
Dana Graves was honored twice at Speedway 95 with the
Driver-of-the-Year award.
Dana and wife Dorothy make their home in Hermon, Maine.
