Name George Iuliano | Died 1968 | |
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George William Iuliano, known as Buddy, (January 3, 1948 in Portsmouth, Virginia – October 5, 1968) was both part-owner and manager of Abbott Auto Supply, however was better known as driver of the 1957 C Modified Production Chevrolet, the "Bootlegger". Iuliano and the Bootlegger were well known for their racing abilities at race tracks in Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. Iuliano showed-off 1960s drag racing like it really was with his back tires smoking and the front tires off the ground. Iuliano was one of the best at what was then called speed shifting, now power shifting, where you hold the clutch in and power the shifter through the gears and hope you hit it right. His fast reflexes seldom saw him second off the line when the Christmas tree light went green.
He died participating in the sport he loved. News articles in the October 7, 1968, editions of both the Ledger Star and Virginian Pilot newspapers of Norfolk, Virginia, and The Jacksonville Daily News of Jacksonville, North Carolina, state that Iuliano was killed on October 5, 1968, when his car overturned during a race at the Highway 258 Drag Strip near Jacksonville, NC. He was survived by his wife, Candace Yeager Iuliano, his parents and two brothers.