Hume hailed from Belvidere, New Jersey — an unusual origin for a NASCAR competitor of his era, when the sport's center of gravity was firmly in the American South. His career in NASCAR's top division was fragmented over more than two decades, with long gaps between appearances that reflected both the challenges of finding competitive rides and the realities of a sport where independent drivers often raced only when opportunities presented themselves.
Hume first appeared in the NASCAR Winston Cup (then still known as the Grand National Series) in 1964, competing in two races late in the season. His debut came at Darlington Raceway, where he started 28th but was involved in an early crash that dropped him to a 38th-place finish. He followed that with a 35th-place result at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where overheating ended his day prematurely.
Hume returned for four races in 1965 with improved if still limited results. Of those four starts, he managed to finish only one race — a midfield effort at Charlotte Motor Speedway where he came home eighteenth. The other three outings all ended with mechanical failures, a common fate for independent competitors running limited schedules without the resources of factory-backed teams.
After a sixteen-year absence from the series, Hume reappeared in 1981 for a single race, driving for team owner D.K. Ulrich. Starting 33rd at Rockingham's North Carolina Motor Speedway, he was caught up in an early race crash and finished in the same 33rd position, unable to improve on his grid spot.
Another multi-year gap preceded Hume's 1984 appearance, when he ran one race for Bahari Racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Starting 23rd, he crossed the line in 26th place, finishing twenty-nine laps down — a result that was unremarkable but completed without incident.
Hume's most productive NASCAR stretch came in 1985, when he completed seven starts driving for team owner James Hylton. Of those seven races, Hume finished four, and all four finishes landed inside the top 21 — a meaningful achievement for an independent operator. His career-best finish of 16th came at Bristol Motor Speedway, one of NASCAR's most demanding short tracks. Hume ended the year 38th in points, after which he was replaced and never returned to the series. His 1985 run remained the peak of his Cup-level career.
Don Hume's fifteen career Winston Cup starts over more than two decades placed him among the many journeyman competitors who populated the back half of NASCAR grids through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Independent drivers like Hume were essential to filling out race fields during an era when the sport was still finding its commercial footing, and their willingness to enter events on limited budgets helped sustain the competitive landscape of early NASCAR. Hume died on May 23, 2018.