Buick is an American automobile manufacturer that fielded several models of cars from 1949 through 1991 in the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series.
A pair of Buicks ran in the very first NASCAR Cup Series race in 1949, a ’46 model driven by Curtis Turner & a ’48 model driven by Lee Petty. They finished 9th and 17th respectively.
Buck Baker won Buick’s first Cup Race at Charlotte Speedway in 1955. A second win followed later in the same season at Raleigh.
New rules were implemented in 1981, which mandated a smaller wheelbase than before, and made the cars look like their showroom counterparts. The result of the rule changes made several manufacturers’ vehicles (notably, Chevrolet) undesirable because of bad aerodynamics and instability. As a result, many teams who used to run Chevys switched to Buicks in the 1981 season.
In 1981, Buick won the Daytona 500, its third ever win in the Cup Series. They went on to dominate 1981 & 1982, with 22 wins in 1981, and 25 wins in 1982. They also won the 1981, 1982 and 1983 Driver’s Championships and 1981 & 1982 Manufacturer’s championships.
In 1983, Chevy had resolved the issues with the Monte Carlo, and many top GM teams switched back. Buick won 6 races in 1983, and 2 races in 1984. In 1986, they won 3 races, followed by 1 race in 1987 and 2 races in 1988.
Buick would win their final 2 races in 1989 and 1990, before leaving NASCAR for good before the 1992 season began.