August 26, 1935
Anyone care to guess the significance of that date?
The year 1935 started with the inaugural Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl in college football. Later that January the 1st canned beer, “Krueger Cream Ale,” was marketed by Kruger Brewing Co.
Other significant events were the first use of a Lie detector in court, Babe Ruth’s 1st NL game, for Boston Braves and later in the year playing his final game at Fenway Park with 41,766 on hand. 1935 ended with Detroit Tigers beating Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 2 in 32nd World Series and Charles Darrow filing a patent for the game of Monopoly.
Back to the titles date, anyone guess the importance of it? As a point of reference the date is more than a decade before “Big Bill” France established NASCAR. Still no idea? Not surprising, I wouldn’t have either without the connecting story.
August 26, 1935 is the birth date of the latest driver to enter this years Daytona 500. Go ahead, read that again… I’ll wait until the gravity of that sinks in.
Seventy two years young James Hilton has entered the #58 Chevrolet Monte Carlo built and prepared by Richard Childress Racing and constructed on a Ronnie Hopkins chassis with power also coming from the RCR shop.
A crew chief for the team will be named later this month.
Hylton first drove a NASCAR sanctioned stock car in 1964 with 3 starts. His career started in earnest during the 1966 season that saw the Inman, South Carolina native compete in 41 of 49 events scoring 20 top tens good for a second place in the final points standings enroute Rookie of the Year honors.
He also had points finishes of second in 1967 and 1971 in a career that spanned 27 years, 601 starts with 3 wins (1970 Richmond 400, the 1970 NASCAR Grand American Citrus 250 and the 1972 Talladega 500), 4 poles, 140 top fives and 301 top tens. His final year at the top level of the sport was 1993 although he made one token start last year.
Recently he has competed in the ARCA RE/MAX Series making 57 starts over the years. Most of his fans considered 2006 his “Last Ride,” as Hylton himself announced 2006 would be his last after seven decades of competition. For the record he didn’t just ride around, he finished 18th in points in one of the most competitive ARCA seasons on record.
As it turns out that “Last Ride” won’t be until this February and the Daytona 500.
Long-time friend J.C. Weaver, owner of Mountain Rock Music, a publishing and recording company, is bankrolling the Hylton effort and James thinks this may be his best shot at making his mark at Daytona.
“I have never been able to come to Daytona with a well-financed operation and a first-rate car. I have always wanted to be able to race the 500 and not be limited by budget constraints and even though it has taken over 40 years, I am finally at that position. At my age, the odds against me are astronomical but it’s a challenge and I love a good challenge.”
Truer words were never spoken, he has a tall hill to climb to make the starting field, but that has always been Hylton’s way.
Through his career he accomplished more with less, much less, than any other regular competitor on the NASCAR circuit. Perpetually under-funded he remained competitive no matter the circumstances and is one of my picks for the inaugural class for entry to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Chassis builder Ronnie Hopkins is also building a Car of Tomorrow for Hylton Motorsports, which will debut in March at Bristol. Hylton will be atop the War Wagon for that event as he assumes duties as Crew Chief for Washington State’s Damon Lusk.
Lusk has two wins in ARCA RE/MAX Series competition along with along with 10 Top fives and 23 Top ten finishes. Lusk has also recorded 17 NASCAR Busch Series starts and six Craftsman Truck series starts.
So… if you have no one to root for come February you might want to cheer on James Hylton, there are worse choices. And besides, Hylton may not be marriage material, but with Jeffy, Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle “off the market” surely some of the gal fans are in need of a new driver to root for.
James Hylton, NASCAR, Hylton Motorsports, Daytona 500, Sports, Richard Childress Racing, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle
Wow, seventy two and still has the desire to race. Here’s hoping we don’t see him with a perpetual turn signal blinking as he circles Daytona. Just kidding!
But your comment about hoping for his entry in the NASCAR Hall of Fame baffles me. Besides longevity and loads of determination, shouldn’t any entry have accomplishments, like wins or titles, to enter the hall of fame? After 7 decades he would need a lot more than 3 wins to satisfy my criteria.
But God bless him anyway, and I will be rooting for him if manages to make the Daytona field.
Kevin LePage scored a top ten two years ago at Daytona. Kirk Shelmerdine made the show last year. Why not Hylton in ‘07?
There’s no mystery George.
My thoughts are based on other examples, the baseball HoF has many 260 hitters for one.
Drivers like James Hylton are NASCAR despite its current incarnation as big money and deep pockets.
Hylton’s entire career was one of being an independent without major sponsorship, little to no factory support and still arrived to the track dragging an open trailer loaded with his #48 long after everyone else utilized fancy expensive closed transporters.
He is NASCAR’s heritage, a lineage that should be recognized.
Besides, us dinosaurs need to stick together George.
Your logic is sound but flawed Marc. I’m sure you can find dozens of the early racers who can fill the same criteria but for longevity. Money may be the root of all evil, but it’s also the fountain of competitive sporting success, then and now.
But if you had to pick a representative of the sport’s early years who represented all of the good aspects of the game, I guess you couldn’t find a better example.
And hey, if they give him a place, in another 60-70 years of blogging maybe we’ll find you there as well!
“Money may be the root of all evil, but it