Remembering Paul Goldsmith, a unicorn in the world of motorsports

The racing world lost one of its most underappreciated legends on Friday.

Paul Goldsmith, who had a lengthy racing career that included nine NASCAR Cup Series wins and multiple starts in the Indianapolis 500, died on Friday at the age of 98.

Goldsmith won nine NASCAR Cup Series races in his career, as well as one race in NASCAR's convertible series. He made his first Indianapolis 500 start in 1958, with his last start in the race coming in 1963. His best finish at Indy was a third-place effort in 1960.

Goldsmith is perhaps most well known for being the final NASCAR Cup Series winner on the Daytona Beach Road Course, the predecessor of the Daytona International Speedway. His NASCAR career was unique in the fact that despite winning nine times, he never won at a single track more than once. When his cars didn't suffer mechanical issues, he was usually a good bet to bring home a good finish, as despite finishing less than half of the races he started, his career average finish was 15.3.

Goldsmith's varied racing portfolio also carried over to his life away from the racetrack. Goldsmith was known as a good pilot and had a solid business acumen, owning ranches, restaurants and the Griffith-Merrillville Airport in Griffith, Indiana.

As stories are told and memories about Goldsmith are passed on, race fans will remember the West Virginia native as a driver who could go fast in anything he drove, and as a man who helped shape American auto racing in the late 1950s.