Full Throttle

Two time NASCAR Champion and the winningest driver in the NASCAR Winston West Series Jack McCoy has died at the age of 72.

“Jack was a tremendous competitor and representative of NASCAR on the West Coast,” said NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

As recent as the last week of March McCoy attended the reopening of Stockton 99 Speedway in Stockton, California.

(NOTE: The following few paras are an excerpt from Stock Car Racing magazine on West Coast racing at the time - ed)

Early on, West Coast drivers had few options. They had the opportunity to move South and race, but the money wasn’t what it is today. Chasing the dream of becoming a top-notch race car driver back East didn’t take precedent over putting food on the table and feeding the family.

Once the realization came that it wasn’t too practical for the West Coast’s elite to race back East, the racers began sanctioning the Pacific Coast Late Model circuit. The series visited historic tracks such as Oakland (California) Speedway, Balboa Stadium in San Diego, Bay Meadows Race Course in San Mateo, California, and Carrell Speedway in Gardena, California.

The 1954 series schedule featured nine races, with the first event taking place at the 5/8-mile Oakland Speedway. The track was known as “The Oakland Wall” because of incredible 65-degree banking used for some events. While McGriff won the pole position, it was Dick Rathmann who drove through the field to win the 250-lap race in a 1952 Hudson.

The series quickly began to grow, fueled by support from Detroit automakers. Thirteen races were held in 1955, followed by 27 events in 1956 and 32 in 1957. As the series expanded, the number of tracks on the schedule grew. The complexion of the series changed drastically in 1957, however, after the automakers pulled their financial support. In 1958, the schedule again contained only nine races.

The popularity of the series began to rebound in the ’60s with the help of premier racetracks such as Riverside (California) International Raceway. Drivers such as McCoy and Elder hit the scene, and things took off like gangbusters.

“I spent 10 outstanding years of my life in the NASCAR Winston West Series, and I loved every minute of it,” McCoy says. He holds the all-time series record for victories with 54. “At the time when I came up through the ranks people thought all of the action was back East, but let me tell you the drivers on the West Coast could also drive their tails off. You look at what I did with 54 victories in the series. I think it’s a record that will definitely stay intact. Nowadays, if a driver from the West Coast is any good, he is going to North Carolina. With the money that is out there, who could blame them.”

Elder is second on the all-time win list with 47 wins, followed by McGriff, who has 35. When it comes to championships, Elder leads with six (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974 and 1975), followed by Bill Schmitt (1977, 1979, 1989 and 1990) and Roy Smith (1980, 1981, 1982 and 1988).

Elder’s team also made a significant mark in racing by becoming the only West Coast team in the modern era to win a NASCAR Winston Cup (then Grand National) race. Elder won the Motor Trend Riverside 500 on January 10, 1971, at Riverside International Raceway. He also won the Golden State 400 on June 18, 1972, at Riverside.

“When Ray won those races it proved to a lot of people that the West Coast could definitely keep up with the major players in stock car racing,” McCoy says. “Being out on the West Coast nobody really knew a whole lot about us, but all of a sudden we were getting the respect we deserved.”

Full Throttle sends it respects to Jack’s family, friends and many associates gained over the course of his long career.

R.I.P Jack.