Delma Cowart (July 6, 1941 - November 10, 2021 ) was a former NASCAR driver from Savannah, GA. He competed in twenty-one Nextel Cup Series events in his career, spanning from 1981 to 1992. He always drove his familiar #0 car sponsored by Heyward Grooms and Master's Inn. Cowart never raced full-time and thus never placed high in standings nor earned a top-ten. His best career finish was just a 17th at Daytona in 1982. He also competed in one Busch Series event, finishing 17th in the series' inagural event.
Controversy[]
Throughout Delma Cowart's racing career, he was often the center of controversy. This was the case no more than in the 1997 Nascar Twin 125 event, when as Geoffrey Bodine was coming to lap Cowart, Cowart lost control of his car and destroyed both his and Bodine's cars. After this event, Nascar told Cowart to not come back to the track again.
Comment by past crew member, David Daniels-"Basically Delma was influenced by Nascar to retire. This came as a result from the 1997 Winston Open in Charlotte because of entering the race track for the start of the race without passing pre-race inspection.
"On that day the team worked very hard to prepare a car for Delma to race. We lost an engine in practice and had to piece together parts from two different engines as well as diagnose a transmission that went bad. The team worked right up to the very start of the race and as the call was given for "Gentlemen, start your engines!" Delma started his and entered the track. Before the green flag dropped the black flag was issued for Delma. After that it was a trip to the big red hauler. This was the controversy that ended Delma's driving days in Nascar."
Non-Nascar[]
Delma Cowart also raced on the ARCA circuit. He was known as a party man, as after he qualified for the 1992 Daytona 500, he threw a huge party at his hotel. Throughout his racing career he owned a swimming pool and septic tank installation business.