Full Throttle

Jim Bickerstaff, ARCA late model race winner and Ohio short track sensation, died Friday, March 21, at St. Elizabeth Medical Center near his hometown of Mineral Ridge, Ohio.

Memories of Jim Bickerstaff go back to my earliest days of following the Midwest Association for Race Cars (MARC), later to become ARCA, and entire weekends shuffled between series home tracks of Flat Rock Speedway and Toledo Speedway.

As the 1962 MARC Late Model champion at Canfield Speedway Jim was the “enemy,” the interloper from Ohio that came into Michigan to steal glory from the local stars of the day.

He was also a track champion at Cloverleaf Speedway in Cleveland and won two consecutive Pittsburgh Racing Association (PRA) championships at Heidelberg Speedway, and scored additional feature wins at Midvale and Sharon Speedways in Ohio. Bickerstaff was successful at both dirt and pavement venues, and drove at tracks from Florida to Maryland and Virginia.

Toledo Speedway was the site of his greatest Michigan triumph as he won the prestigious Glass City 200 in 1975. In many respects that years event was considered by many as a classic that saw two of Michigan’s all-time greats - Joy Fair and Bob Senneker - capture 100 lap wins.

Bickerstaff, by virtue of his second and third place finishes became the first and only Ohio driver to win the Glass City 200, claiming $1,400 for his efforts. ARCA and Mid-West short track legend Joy “Mr ARCA” Fair finished second.

With great sadness and respect the Half-Vast Staff™ of Full Throttle notes the passing Jim Bickerstaff one of the Mid-West’s most decorated and celebrated short track veterans.

He is survived by two children, James “Jim” (Lonnie) Bickerstaff of Mineral Ridge, and Jill (Gary) White, with whom he made his home, and two grandchildren.

R.I.P. Jim Bickerstaff.