Joseph Herbert Weatherly was born on May 29, 1922 in Norfolk, Virginia. Weatherly had discovered motorcycles while in High School, and upon returning from the Army started racing them. Weatherly earned three American Motorcycle Association (AMA) Championships before he started racing stock cars.

 In 1950 Weatherly started racing stock cars and by 1953 had won NASCAR's Modified National Crown along with 52 more victories.

In 1952 Weatherly switched to NASCAR racing and won 49 of the 83 stock car races he was in that year. In 1953 Weatherly won NASCAR's Modified National Crown along with 52 more victories. In 1962 he won the NASCAR Grand National (now Winston Cup) Division Championship. In 1962 and 1963 he won the "Rebel 300" at Darlington. Weatherly was the Most Popular Driver in 1961, and won the National Championships in 1962 and 1963.

Weatherly was killed in the race at Riverside, California on January 19,1964.   Observers believed that the throttle stuck. The Mercury went up on the bank on the inside of the track entering turn six, then came off it, crossing the track and went straight for the wall. Joe was an outstanding and cautious driver. He suffered mortal head injuries, and died on the way to the hospital. Upon examining the wreck, nothing was found to be wrong with the car. To this day, exactly what caused the wreck remains a mystery.