79-year-old James Harvey Hylton to take final ride in No. 48 in Kansas Lottery 98.9

The support has been pouring in for James Harvey Hylton, who will make his final ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards start at Kansas Speedway in the Kansas Lottery 98.9 Friday, October 4.

 

While Kansas will conclude the final race of the 2013 season for ARCA, it will also put a wrap on the career of 79-year-old Hylton, who will take his final ride aboard his signature No. 48 car.

 

“I’ve been thinking about this for quite a while,” Hylton said. “I’m 79, and the time has come.

 

“I may even have a surprise for everyone at Kansas; we’ll see. Let’s put it this way, I plan on running really well at Kansas, and there will be several factors contributing to the overall effort.”

 

Having logged laps for more than 50 years, Hylton has built an army of followers and fans, many of which are eager to make Hylton’s final ride as special as it can be.

 

Currently, and thanks to his many supporters, preparations are underway in the construction of a special car for Kansas.

 

“This has been a group effort from the ARCA family,” said one of the contributors. “Icons don’t come around every day and giving James a nice piece to end his career with is important to a lot of people. Plus, we think with the right equipment, he can still get the job done on the track.”  

 

Not only will Hylton have some serious horsepower under the hood and a car to go with it, he’ll be sporting a retro paint scheme from his first Daytona start in 1966 compliments of CGS Imaging.

 

Hylton’s contributions to the sport are not lost on ARCA President Ron Drager.

 

“It’s been an honor for us at ARCA for James to turn his final laps and close out his career these past several seasons with our series,” Drager said. “Over the last 60 plus years we’ve had a lot drivers compete with us but there is only one James Harvey Hylton.”

 

Hylton’s career accomplishments are note-worthy. He was the 1966 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year and finished second in championship standings three times over 602 career Cup starts. Then came ARCA.

 

“ARCA took me in, so to speak. What a wonderful place to be in my retirement years,” added Hylton.

“Kansas Speedway’s one of the nicest tracks I’ve ever raced on. It’s just a world class facility. I can’t thank of a finer place to wrap up my career. It’s got all kinds of room, and you can race two- and three-wide. I just love the place. And they treat us so well every time we go. Kansas is as good as it gets.”  

 

Hylton’s final season has been a humbling walk down memory lane with fans, drivers, crew members, track operators and curious onlookers.

 

“It’s been overwhelming for me,” said Hylton. “Everyone has made this season so special; I’m looking forward to going out in style at Kansas.”

 

Born on the family farm in Roanoke County Virginia in 1934, right in the middle of America’s Great Depression, he was one of 13 children. Times were hard; work and food were scarce for many. His father Preston farmed and found additional work supervising prisoners who built roads as part of the chain gang while his mother Sammy managed 13 kids as best she could. Hylton worked the farm from sun up till sun down to help raise food for the family.

 

“I had an excellent childhood. At the time, I thought it was awful, but looking back now, I wouldn’t have traded that lifestyle for anything. We farmed the mountain behind the house. It was beautiful country. At night we’d head down to the creek with our lanterns and we’d go giggin’ for bull frogs and eels. We’d skin the eels, and filet ’em. It was good eatin’, better than fish.

 

“I remember going to school where I saw city folks for the first time. We’d all bring these giant biscuits for lunch, but the city boys all had sliced bread. I had never seen sliced bread.”

 

He first caught the racing bug when he climbed aboard his father’s Ford Model T.

 

“My oldest brother taught me how to drive it. It had three pedals on the floor, instead of gear shifts. But that’s what got me into racing. I learned how to drive in a Ford Model T, and I’m still driving a Ford. That’s pretty ironic to me.”

 

His first racecar was also in the Ford Family – a 1934 Ford Coupe. But, to survive, Hylton climbed out of the driver’s seat and became a mechanic for NASCAR champion Rex White, and then a champion crew chief for Ned Jarrett. But Hylton decided he would give up the crew chief role and get back to the business of driving racecars. And once he got behind the wheel, he never looked back. His second place NASCAR Cup points finish in his 1966 Rookie season is a record that still stands today. He also holds the distinction of being the oldest driver to race in all three of NASCAR’s highest divisions, and of course, he holds that title in ARCA too. He made his 750th career professional stock car start at Pocono last August.  

 

“It’s time to step aside as a driver and turn this car over to the younger generation. I don’t want to lose the Hylton Motorsports race team. I’ll be there next year as the general manager. We are definitely in the market to build up our race team and put younger drivers behind the wheel who can run up front.”

 

Hylton’s feelings are mixed regarding his final year behind the wheel.  

 

“It’s kind of a love-hate relationship. If I could drive until I was 90 years old, I would. But I need to face the facts. It’s too much of a job to be the driver and manager the team. I’m excited about the future. I feel I have an honest-to-goodness chance to build my team to where we can be competitive. Next time we come to Kansas, maybe we will have a car and driver capable of winning the race.”

 

ARCA Racing PR