NASCAR Great Jim Paschal passes away: Jim Paschal, a NASCAR pioneer, died Monday. He was 77. Paschal drove in NASCAR's first race for late model cars. That was in 1949 at Charlotte. His career in racing continued into the 1970s. He won 25 races in what is now the Nextel Cup Series and ranks 23rd on the all-time win list. Paschal died of cancer Monday morning at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, NC. His funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Briggs Funeral Home in Denton. Burial will be at North Bend Cemetery near Jackson Creek. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Briggs Funeral Home.(High Point Enterprise)(7-6-2004)

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2-Time Indy 500 winner Rodger Ward passes away: Rodger Ward, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner in the glory era of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, died Monday in Anaheim, Calif. He was 83. Ward won the 500 in 1959 and '62 to become the race's sixth multiple winner. Ward competed in 15 500s, and he never finished lower than fourth from 1959-64. He was the last surviving race winner from the 1950s. A.J. Foyt said Monday that Ward was as talented on the dirt tracks as anyone he competed against. Ward was born in Beloit, Kan., on Jan. 10, 1921. After World War II service as an Air Force fighter and bomber pilot, he helped prepare a midget car for local competition while stationed at an air base in Wichita Falls, Texas. He drove the car because the team's regular driver failed to show up for a race. Ward, who was in failing health in recent months, said earlier this year that winning the 500 was "the greatest thing that happened to me in my life." Ward is survived by his wife, Sherri; sons Rodger Jr., David and Rick; and daughter Robin. Services are pending.(see a full article about Ward at the Indianapolis Star)(7-6-2004)

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