It was September 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee where Gene Tapia's wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Larry Eugene. But before Gene or his wife could lay eyes on their newborn Son, Larry was stolen by Georgia Tann's baby theft ring that worked at the hospital in Memphis. After that, Gene and his wife returned to Mobile, Alabama and decided to enlist in the United States Marine Corps in June of 1943. He served with the Third Marine Division in Guadalcanal, the first-day invasion of Guam, and spent over 35 days on Iwo Jima.
But in 1948, Tapia returned to the Gulf Coast and began racing. He saw it as an opportunity to get the Battle Stress and the lost of his son off his mind. But no one ever thought that Tapia would become a Pioneer in Motorsports. That year, Tapia lost a wheel just after he crossed the finish line at Chisholm Fairgrounds to win his first stock car race.
But it was 1952 that Tapia became apart of history. It was the inaugural race at Five Flags Speedway, and Tapia was apart of the days festivities. His first race was the 3rd heat race of the afternoon where he finished 2nd behind Lennie Boyette. Moving on to the feature, Tapia was considered one of the favorites to win at Five Flags Speedway. But, before the race could even get started, a 14 car pileup on the first lap changed everything. Tapia, along with Boyette, was sent to the hospital for a knee injury. And with that, Five Flags Speedway was born.
Tapia went on to become a racing legend. The former Two Time World 300 champion raced in 3 Snowball Derbies. His best finish came in 1973 where he finished 9th. He competed throughout the Southern United States with such drivers like Lee Petty, "Fireball" Roberts, and "Buck" Baker. And when the opportunity came to race in Winston Cup, Tapia choose to stay close to home.
In 1999, Tapia was the 30th driver inducted into the Alabama Auto Racing Pioneers Hall Of Fame. One of his fellow Hall members said, "Tapia was right up there with the best. He could have made it real good in NASCAR, if he had chosen." That was from Donnie Allison.
That same year, Tapia did something that he never thought would be possible. He met his son that was stolen from him. The 47-year-old, who was living in Missouri, was told that his parents had died in an automobile accident.
Gene Tapia, a true pioneer of Five Flags Speedway and racing in the Southern United States.
