James Hylton

James Harvey Hylton was born on the 26th of August, 1934 in Roanoke, Virginia. He was one of thirteen children brought up in a poor family where they lived and worked on a farm. James, like so many youngsters in the south, was gripped in the fascination of stock car racing. And like so many of the young hopefuls from the south he learned his trade by fixing the farm equipment. This experience was to serve him well in the future as an independent driver with no plans and no money to speak of.

James started his working life as a mechanic for the celebrated Rex White, being part of the team that helped Rex on the way to the 1960 NASCAR Grand National championship. When Rex took a step back from full time racing in 1964 James took over as head crew chief for the Ned Jarrett/Bondy Long team and during that season the team won fourteen races and finished second in points.

1965 also saw success for the team when they won twelve races and won the NASCAR Grand National championship, proving that James was an excellent mechanic who knew his job. James’ chance came to drive in 1964 when he made his first start on the 8th of July in the Grand National at the Old dominion 400 at the Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, Virginia. He finished in 19th position. Things were going to get better though and in 1966 James, with one car, one engine and high hopes he made forty one starts and gained twenty Top 5 finishes, placing him second behind David Pearson in the final point standings. He was also awarded the coveted 1966 “Rookie of the Year” honours. James’ performance was very consistent and between 1966 and 1975 his average finish was 4.0, beaten only by Richard Petty and placing him above the other racing celebrities such as Davey Allison and David Pearson.

Although he was consistent he was not so well known as his counterparts and maybe this is because he only had two victories in his 601 career starts. The first being on the 1st of March 1970 with the Richmond 500 at the Richmond International Raceway and the second was on the 6th of August, 1972 claiming the Talladega 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway by finishing just one car length ahead of Ramo Stott. Being an independent driver was very challenging for James, it was difficult to race against teams with better equipment but he still managed to finish third in the 1975 final point standings. Nevertheless, he continued to drive a full schedule until the end of the 1981 NASCAR season and in the years that followed he ran in a limited number of races and made a qualifying attempt in 1995 for the Brickyard 400 when he was almost 60 years of age.

In the 1990’s he moved to the ARCA circuit and made sixteen starts of the twenty three ARCA REMAX Series 2006 schedule finishing eighteenth in the final point standings. James made a comeback to NASCAR racing in 2007 when he attempted to make the 2007 Daytona 500 in equipment hired from Richard Childress Racing and sponsored by GrahamFest and Retirement Living TV. James said at the time,

“I am doing this for seniors to show that at 70 years old, you don’t have to go hunting for an old-folks home. You can go race a little bit.”

n the final practice session he finished the 15th fastest time of 48.532 secs./185.445 mph for the 2007 Daytona 500. He was in a good position to qualify but with ten laps to go the race was halted through a caution flag and with the restart he had clutch problems and fell out of the draft and failed to qualify. At the age of 76 James took part on the 6th of May 2011 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina making him the oldest driver to qualify in NASCAR top three series. James isn’t the oldest driver to ever run in a major NASCAR series; that honour still belongs to Hershel McGriff, who raced last year in the Trucks series at age 81.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hylton

http://www.gonascargo.com/drivers/james-hylton.php

http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Make-way-young-8217-uns-76-year-old-James-Hyl?urn=nascar-wp1039

Pro Street 1956 Ford

This is a 1956 Ford Coupe that has had some serious work done to it to change it into the tarmac chewing monster you see before you. The car took 3 years to restore and is street legal and very easy to drive.

The massive engine generates around 1000 horse power which is transferred through a Turbo 400 transmission and finally through a narrowed and braced Ford 9″ rear-end. The engine is a 502 generation II big block with Brodix heads, stainless steel valves, in shaft rockers, twin 960 Holley carburetors, Kuhl 851 mega-charger, MSD distributor with MSD box with the exhaust fumes are taken away through a 4.5″ Flowmaster exhaust system.

Pro Street 1956 Ford

Pro Street 1956 Ford

The interior of the car has electric windows with the attention to detail being followed through the the perfectly finished dashboard featuring carbon fiber inserts and Phantom Gauges. The door panels and headliner have all been finished to a high-standard using custom wool tweed fabric.

Pro Street 1956 Ford

Pro Street 1956 Ford

Pro Street 1956 Ford

Pro Street 1956 Ford

Jamie McMurray

James Christopher McMurray, known as Jamie, was born on the 3rd of June, 1976 in Joplin, Missouri. His early racing career began at the age of eight when he started go-kart racing in his hometown, winning the World Karting Championship in 1991. After competing in just about every type of go-kart racing he made the move into racing in NASCAR late model racing with some success. After moving up the ranks in the Late Model series it was inevitable that this would eventually led to the ARCA (Automobile Racing Club of America) RE/MAX Challenge Series, onwards and upwards to the challenge of NASCAR’s top three Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and the prestigious NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Jamie made his debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 1999, making four starts in that season. 2000 saw him running in fifteen races where he posted one Top 5 and four Top 10 finishes. He competed full-time in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2001 and 2002, driving the #27 Williams Travel Centers Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Brewco Motorsports, winning two races in the 2002 season and finishing sixth in the final point standings. He also made his debut in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series this year, driving the #40 Coors Light Dodge at Talladega Super Speedway before, just one week later, on October the 13th, and his second race in the Series, he clinched his first victory, the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

Jamie was substituting for Sterling Marlin who was out through injury and made a big impression, leading ninety six of the final one hundred laps and out- racing Bobby Labonte to go to victory lane. With this win Jamie set the record for the fewest starts before a win and the first time a driver has won in their first start at a 1.5 mile track. Jamie joined the Chip Ganassi team to race full-time in 2003 and at the end of this season was awarded the 2003 Raybestos “Rookie of the Year” honours. 2006 was a disappointment for Jamie; his team were penalised twenty five points after the Food City 500 race for an incorrect x-measurement (a method of comparing the centre of the roof with the centre of the chassis). This was to cost him his place in the Chase for the Cup. He had twenty three Top 10’s during the season, twelve of which he gained later in the season, he finished in eleventh place in the point standings, missing his chance at the Chase the Cup by just fifteen points. In this year he won a Craftsman Truck Series race; joining only twenty other drivers to have won a race in all three NASCAR top series, Craftsman Truck, Busch and the NEXTEL Cup. He stayed with the team until the end of the season of 2005 before joining Roush Fenway Racing.

The three seasons spent with the Chip Ganassi Team were the best of Jamie’s career during which time he had eighteen Top 5’s and forty six Top 10’s and competed each of these years for a place in the Chase, he finished 13th, 11th and 12th respectively. For the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season Jamie returned to the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and it proved to be a career best for him. On the 14th of February he won the Daytona 500 in his first start of the season only leading for two laps, the least in Daytona history. In the Aaron’s 499 on the 25th of April he was leading for twenty seven laps when there was a mad dash for the finish and he narrowly missed out by.011 seconds to Kevin Harvick. Hard luck that time but success was to find him again in July when Jamie won the second most celebrated race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, making him one of just three drivers to have won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in a single season. .Jamie won again in October at Charlotte Motor Speedway, this was where he had his first career win in October 2002. He finished the 2010 season in 14th position in the point standings with three wins, twelve Top 10’s, nine Top 5’s and a carer high of four pole positions.

On the 19th of January 2011 Jamie signed a multi-year extension to continue driving the #1 McDonalds/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet with the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team. Jamie’s NASCAR career boasts a total of 15 wins, 13 pole awards, 73 top-five, and 163 top-10 finishes.

When he is not racing Jamie enjoys a lifelong love of fishing and still competes in World Karting Association races when he has a free weekend. Jamie was married to Christy Futrell in July 2009 and their first child, Carter Scott McMurray was born on Thanksgiving Day, the 25th of November 2010.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_McMurray

http://www.buddytv.com/info/jamie-mcmurray-info.aspx

http://www.widia.com/widia/en/nascar/profile.jhtml

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1661409/bio

Jr Turboville Racing

This is an advert for the full “Jr Turboville Racing” operation that is currently based in the UK. It includes an ex-NHRA modified advanced dragster with a best of ET 7.92 that will go faster with lighter driver and is currently it is JMA 8 in UK.

It features a SFI tagged chrome-moly chassis with single shocker launch and is powered by a 480cc 3.25″ rhino motor that was recently rebuilt so good as new. It comes with a starter, spares for almost everything, weight bar to slow down so can be used for younger kids at a modified level, pit stand, stands, fire-suit, gloves, boots, neck brace and arm restraints. all graphics easily removable.

The operation is for sale to take immediately or at end of UK race season. full training can be given if needed! You can check out more information at www.jrturbovilleracing.moonfruit.com.

Jr Turboville Racing

Jr Turboville Racing

1936 Ford 3 Window Coupe

This is a 1936 Ford 3 window coupe that was originally assembled 1958 in Memphis by Don Brasfield. Don gave the car many modifications which included chopping the roof, filling the roof and cowl, adding 1940′s Chevrolet headlights which were molded into the fenders, shaving the door handles and fitting a custom 1939 Nash grille. Inside the car was also modified with the addition of customized aircraft bucket seats, a filled dashboard, classic black and white tuck and roll interior. The engine was also replaced with a Buick nailhead being fed through 6 carburetors.

The car stayed in Memphis for all of its life and eventually was rescued from a warehouse where it had rested for 35 years by Steve Legens from Legens Hot Rod. The car was then further modified be Steve but the traditional 50′s feel was retained. His company modified it over a few years and it now features a fuel injected 425 Buick Nailhead engine that is controlled by a custom FAST computer. The throttle bodies have been made to resemble 6 Strongberg carburetors. The engine now delivers it power through a Muncie 4 speed transmission with a custom bell-housing as an adapter between the two. The power is delivered to the road through a 9″ rear end.

1936 Ford 3 Window Coupe

1936 Ford 3 Window Coupe

The car is now finished in “Red Snap” that was sprayed at Steve’s shop and the interior has been changed to match the interior and is now Nu-buck leather but still in a tuck and roll style.

1936 Ford 3 Window Coupe

1936 Ford 3 Window Coupe

The car was featured on the cover of the 2007 “Street Rodder” magazine and you can see a full-length article on it here.

Doug Cooper was born on the 9th of September, 1938 in Gastonia, North Carolina. He raced in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series between 1963 and 1968 but he never ran a full schedule. In total he raced in 114 Sprint Cup Series events and gained eleven Top 5 finishes and twenty nine Top 10 finishes. In 1964 he made forty starts and recorded four Top 5 finishes and eleven Top 10’s earning him enough points to receive the much desired 1964 “Rookie of the Year” honours. His best career finish position was third and this position he earned three times. Following a good 1967 season Doug made one start in 1968, this was at Bristol Motor Speedway where he finished in 27th position before retiring from the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit for good. Sadly, Doug passed away on the 3rd of September, 1987. Unfortunately, there seems to be very little information documented about him and his life.

References:

http://thirdturn.wikia.com/wiki/Doug_Cooper

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/stats?driverId=3470

1971 Chevy Chevelle SS 496

This is a 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle that has been resto-modded by Marc Schiliro who decided that he wanted to build something that screamed for attention yet was a Chevelle to the core. He painted the car in Huggar Orange with a high gloss clear coat and white racing stripes which will make even the most unobservant person sit up and take notice.

The car was given a flame theme throughout from the hood flames with the stripes through to the valve covers, door panel emblems, pedals and much more. The Chevelle was fitted with 20” chrome Foose Nitrous rims and Toyo tires which compliments all the chrome that adorns the car. Marc has chrome plated many of the parts that are not commonly plated on these vehicles such as the grille and windshield wipers. The strong chrome look is continued into the engine compartment and is one of the shiniest engines I have ever seen!

1971 Chevy Chevelle SS 496 (source : www.msclassiccarsllc.com)

1971 Chevy Chevelle SS 496 (source : www.msclassiccarsllc.com)

1971 Chevy Chevelle SS 496 (source : www.msclassiccarsllc.com)

1971 Chevy Chevelle SS 496 (source : www.msclassiccarsllc.com)

The engine was build by A&R Racing in Warrenton, VA and has been stroked to deliver around 557 horsepower and 632 FT. Lbs torque. It has fully casted Portwork Alum heads as well as Forged Eagle rods and pistons, stainless valves and 2.25/1.90 full roller rockers.

1971 Chevy Chevelle SS 496 (source : www.msclassiccarsllc.com)

1971 Chevy Chevelle SS 496 (source : www.msclassiccarsllc.com)

If you like this car then there is much more information on a posting by Marc that you can see by clicking here.

Billy Wade

Billy Wade, (also known as Wade Lavender) was a NASCAR race car driver who was born on the 28th of February 1930 in Houston, Texas. Before entering into the NASCAR Grand National Division he was well known for competing on the Texas short tracks.

During the ten years, driving his #53 open wheel modified car, he competed on these tracks and he won three Texas Modified Championships. He then started to compete in the late model division and won two late model championships. By this time he was ready to move up to NASCAR competition and his first NASCAR Grand National Division event was on the 18th of February 1962 when he made his debut in the Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Raceway driving the #1 Ford for Luther Costales. He started in 45th position and moved up the field to finish 18th. His next race was on the 15th of April at the North Wilkesboro Speedway where, driving the #24 Pontiac for James Turner he finished in 10th position, gaining his first career Top 10 finish.

His second Top 10 finish came just one week later, on the 22nd of April when he finished in 8th position at Martinsville Speedway. His final race for 1962 came on the 23rd of April at the Bowman-Gray Stadium at Winston-Salem. In 1963 Billy was signed up to drive the #5 Dodge for Cotton Owens and he really came into his own, showing his talent for driving. For the 1963 season Billy raced in thirty one of a possible fifty five events, earning himself fourteen Top 10 finishes and four Top 5 finishes.

He recorded his first career Top 5 position on the 7th of April at Atlanta Rural Fairground, (now Atlanta Motor Speedway), Richmond, North Carolina. When the Series returned to Atlanta Motor Speedway on the 30th of June for the Dixie 400 Billy, starting in 18th position raced to the front, battling with Junior Johnson for supremacy. Billy led for seventeen laps before worn tyres forced him to drop back but he still finished at a respectable eighth position. On the 4th of August at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, racing in the sixth annual Nashville 400 event Billy finished in second place behind Jim Paschal and ahead of eventual season champion, Joe Weatherly. This was a brilliant season for Billy and earned him the coveted NASCAR 1963 “Rookie of the Year” honours. Billy started the 1964 season in the same way he ended the 1963 season. Billy recorded a third place at Augusta International Raceway and after recording a tenth place finish at Speedway Park in Jacksonville Florida Cotton Owens and Billy went their separate ways. Billy was quickly approached by the Bud Moore Engineering team and he started driving their #1 Mercury, taking the car to three third place finishes at Richmond, Weaverville and Birmingham and a further ten Top 10 finishes out of a total of thirty two races run for the team. On the 10th of July at Old Bridge Stadium, Old Bridge, New Jersey Billy struck gold, he qualified for the pole position and went on to win the race. Two days later at the following event at Bridgehampton Raceway, Bridgehampton, New York on the 12th of July he qualified in third place and went on again to the victory lane. The next race was at Islip Speedway, Islip, New York on the 15th of July, again Billy qualified on the pole and went on to take the chequered flag yet again. Three in row! But this was not the end of the victories, on the 19th of July at Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen; New York Billy again qualified on the pole position and went on to victory lane again, making it four straight consecutive wins, making Billy the first driver to have four consecutive NASCAR Grand National races. He gained his fifth career pole of the season at Harris Speedway in North Carolina. He competed in only thirty six of the possible sixty two events and he recorded four wins, twelve Top 5’s, twenty five Top 10’s and five poles, finishing fourth in the championship final point standings. Tragically, Billy was killed during a tyre test at Daytona International Speedway on the 5th of January, 1965. He was just thirty four years old. With such an outstanding beginning to his career it makes you wonder just how far he would have gone if this tragedy hadn’t happened. He left a wife and young family.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Wade_%28NASCAR_driver%29

http://racersreunion.ning.com/group/rememberingbillywade

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-racing/nascar/season-recaps/1960s/1964-nascar.htm

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-racing/nascar/season-recaps/1960s/1965-nascar.htm

http://www.legendsofnascar.com/Billy_Wade.htm

1959 BMW Isetta Custom Dragster (source : www.germancarforum.com)

Now hear is something you don’t see everyday, unless you are at the The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum where it is an exhibit, a BMW’s Isetta drag racing car. The car was inspired by a Hot Wheel Isetta drag car toy and looks almost identical.

Rather than the pathetic 13 horsepower that is normally associated with these vehicles the car is now powered by a 502 cubic inch V8 generating about 730 hp and only weighing a mere 1520 lb. The museum that is displaying the vehicle doesn’t quote the overall performance figures but does describe it as !very very fast! and !very very loud”!


All the power is delivered through a single Sumitoma HTRZ II 285/35ZR18 tire which must be interesting to watch to say the least. The builders of the dragster also added a switch that allows the dragster to spit 4 foot flames from its exhaust!

1959 BMW Isetta Custom Dragster (source : steveartist on Flickr)

1959 BMW Isetta Custom Dragster (source : steveartist on Flickr)

1959 BMW Isetta Custom Dragster (source : steveartist on Flickr)

1959 BMW Isetta Custom Dragster (source : steveartist on Flickr)

Earl Ross

Earl Ross is a former NASCAR race car driver who was born on the 4th of September 1941 in Fortune, Prince Edward Island, Canada. His claim to fame on the NASCAR circuit is that he was the only non-American race car driver and still the only Canadian to have done so) to have won a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race (Juan Pablo Montoya, a Columbian, became the second in 2007 having won the Toyota/Save Mart 350 in the Series on the 24th of June, 2007 at the Infineon Raceway). He is also the only Canadian to have won the “Rookie of the Year” honours, 1974.

His solitary NASCAR win came on the 29th of September, 1974 at Martinsville Speedway during the Old dominion 500 event. Earl started the race in eleventh position in a field of thirty cars and with care and determination he gradually moved up the field, slowly closing the gap between himself and Cale Yarborough, his team mate who was dominating the race by leading 288 laps until his engine gave up.

“When Cale blew up, he had already lapped me but at that time, you could race back to the flag,” Ross said. “When he blew up, he slowed down and I got by him and got my lap back. That put me in the lead of the race. The car was working real good and we ended up winning the race.”

Earl was now a lap up with eighty laps to go. He drove to the winning line, beating Buddy Baker and Donnie Allison by one lap on the way. Earl’s career started in NASCAR when Canadian based Carling O’Keefe Breweries were looking to open a brewery in South Eastern America. The company opened a brewery in Atlanta and were going to use the NASCAR Cup Series as its main marketing tool. In 1972 the company successfully sponsored Larry Smith who took the 1972 “Rookie of the Year” honours but, sadly, Larry was killed at the Talladega Superspeedway the following season and this left the company looking for a replacement and this is where Earl came in.

“I had been racing in Canada and was winning quite a bit,” Ross said from his welding and fabrication shop in his hometown of Ailsa Craig, Ontario.
“Carling O’Keefe Breweries wanted to race a couple of races in 1973. So they decided in 1974, they wanted to race a few more races. Halfway through the season, they decided to run the rest of the season, so I ended up running 21 races that year.”

He eventually made his debut in the Daytona 500 in 1973 after the team encountered problems with the engines used, he finished in 39th position. This year he also ran in events at Talladega Superspeedway and Michigan International Speedway before running in twenty one of a possible thirty races in 1974. He had one win, five Top 5’s, ten Top 10’s and led 127 laps, 79 of these being at Martinsville Speedway and finished the season eight in the final point standings. Unfortunately, the brewery decided to shut down their brewery in Atlanta and withdrew their sponsorship, returning to Canada and leaving Earl with a quandary – should he leave NASCAR and return to racing in Canada or accept offers of rides by other teams. Earl decided to return to Canada with his team. He made just two more Cup races, finishing in 13th position driving a Ford owned by Junie Donlavey at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1975 and finished 39th in the 1976 Daytona 500 after his engine failed after twenty eight laps at Daytona International Speedway.

Earl’s driving career started in the 1960’s, driving regional races including the ASA (American Speed Association) circuit and the CASCAR (Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) Super Series. He competed in these series’ throughout the 1970’s , 1980’s and 1990’s and regularly took part in Friday night racing at Delaware Speedway before he finally retired in the late 1990’s, living in his current home in Alisa Craig. Earl Ross was inducted into the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Prince Edward Island Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

References:

http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/opinion/08/27/retro.racing.maumann.eross.canada/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Ross

http://www.wilsonsracereport.com/?p=1921