Bob Barkhimer

He was inducted in the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in its first class in 2002.

Barkhimer became a Senior Vice President in NASCAR. During his career, he had also promoted boxing, car shows, roller derbies, and wrestling. He retired after his first wife died in 1976. He had promoted 3000 races in his career. Barkhimer and Burke sold out to Ken Clapp. After retiring, he traveled and wrote stories about the early years of racing.

In 1954 Bill France Jr., son of NASCAR found Bill France, Sr., was stationed on the West Coast while serving in the United States Navy. He was stationed at the northern California Navy Air Base known as Moffett Field. The elder France had his son talk with Barkhimer. Barkhimer, his partner Margo Burke, and the younger France went to races together and hung out on weekends. The friendship led to Barkhimer going to Daytona Beach, Florida to meet with the elder France and to watch a race at the Daytona Beach Road Course. France and Barkhimer discussed uniform rules and guaranteed payout for drivers. That meeting resulted in ten of Barkhimer's tracks becoming NASCAR sanctioned. The first track was Stockton 99, and tracks in Oakland, Fresno, San Jose and Hughes Stadium in Sacramento soon followed.

In 1948 Barkhimer quit racing to become the Business Manager for BCRA. In 1949 Barkhimer took over San Jose Speedway. San Jose was losing fans. Barkhimer saw that midgets were losing their appeal, so he ended the midget class in favor of a hardtop late model stock car division. They were a hit and the crowds returned. Also in 1949, Barkhimer and Jerry Piper started their own association called California Stock Car Racing Association (CSCRA). He eventually promoted 21 or 22 racetracks on the West Coast.

Barkhimer and Aiten purchased a midget car. After Aiten raced the car one night, he accepted an offer to race a different car on the day of the second race. Barkhimer was forced to race his racecar even though he had never raced before. He borrowed a football helmet and sat in the car on the inside front row. He quickly fell from the first starting position to last place. His racing skills developed to the point that he became the Bay City Racing Association (BCRA) champion in 1945. He won six events that season. He won ten events in 1946, and four in 1947 before he got injured.

He married the former Mary Cecil Slattery of Alameda in 1936. After she died, he married Jean Hightower in 1980. She died in 2005. Barkhimer had a son, Bill, and three daughters, Shirley, Bonnie, and Judy.

Robert Barkhimer (March 2, 1916 – June 17, 2006), nicknamed "Barky", was a promoter on the West Coast of the United States. He was born in Berkeley, California. His career started as a midget car racer and ended as a senior vice president at NASCAR.