Gary Balough (born September 16, 1947)[3] is a retired American stock car racing driver who competed from 1962 to 2001.
[5] Balough led one lap in his NASCAR Cup career, at the 1981 Talladega 500 where he came from 41st to 1st, only to suffer from an overheating engine and resulting DNF.
In addition to his many short-track wins, Balough also won the 1981 Miller High Life 300 NASCAR Late Model Sportsman race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
[3][7] Balough served a sentence of 45½ months in jail for drug trafficking; which ended his career along with his marriage.
[3][7] A ride with Harry Ranier's team was in the works along with a sponsorship from Domino's Pizza that would have paid him $750,000 ($2,084,699.45 when adjusted for inflation) for having their name appear on his car for 25 races.