James Hylton

James Harvey Hylton (August 26, 1934 – April 28, 2018) was an American stock car racing driver. He was born in Roanoke, Virginia. He was a two-time winner in NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Monster Energy Cup Series) competition. He was a long-time competitor in the ARCA Racing Series. Hylton finished second in points in NASCAR's top series three times.

Hylton was killed in a car crash near Carnesville, Georgia on April 28, 2018 at the age of 83.

Childhood
He was born into a family with many children: he had 12 siblings. As a child, he was primarily involved in farming, but he soon found his way and, like many southern teenagers at the time, was caught up in the world of stock car racing.

As a car racer
Hylton’s career in car racing began in late 1950 when he joined mechanic for the legendary Rex White. James, Rex and Louis Clements won first place in 26 races, as well as the 1960 NASCAR Grand National Series (today’s NASCAR Nextel Cup) championship. In 1964, White stopped starting so many times and James became Team boss for Ned Jarrett/Bondy Long. This season, the team has won 14 times and finished second in the year. They were the best 12 times in 1965 and were able to take home the NASCAR Grand National Championship Cup at the end of the year.

On July 8, 1964, Hylton started for the first time in the Grand National Series as a racer at the Old Dominion 400 in Manassas, Virginia. He finished in 19th place for hitting $100. Hylton won the NASCAR Winston Cup “Rookie of the Year” title in 1966 and finished second in the league the same season. He won only two races over his career. Although, he only won two races, he was always in the thick of the championship hunt. He finished in the Top 10 in the season points standings in ten of the twelve years between 1966 and 1977. He has won only two races in his career, but has nevertheless had several chances for the championship title. In the 12 seasons from 1966 to 1977, he finished 10 times in the top 10 in the league points race. Hylton’s success story began in 1966, finishing second on the leaderboard and winning the coveted NASCAR “Rookie of the Year” award. Plus, he could own a pole he got on the Starlite Speedway in Monroe, North Carolina. In 1967, he was also in second place at the end of the year with Bud Hartje Dodge. James himself was a statue of reliability, winning 46 top5 places in 87 races in two years.

In 1968, James Hylton also became a team owner and racer in one person, which is still the case today. His first triumph on March 1, 1970 reaped the Richmond 500 with the usual #48 Ford. In the late ’60s and early ’70s, Hylton produced an amazing average that only people like Richard Petty and Cale Yarbrough could compete with.

On August 6, 1972, James forever wrote himself in the history books by winning the Talladega 500. He drove 106 of the 188 laps in the tournament and was able to pocket $ 24,865 at the end of the day. Hylton defeated ARCA legend Ramo Stott by a car length.

Hylton continued his full-season career until 1982, when he handed over the government to the Trevor Boys of Canada. As a team owner, he continued to work in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series until 1993.

James moved into the ARCA series in the ’90s and continues to participate in it as an owner and racer to this day.

At the age of 71, on June 24, 2006, James Hylton drove the #28 Speed Zone Energy Drink/Advil Forddal was the start of the second NASCAR Busch Series in Milwaukee. He completed the first in 1982 in Rockingham Speedway.

Hylton attempted to make the 2007 Daytona 500 in equipment leased from Richard Childress Racing, sponsored by GrahamFest and Retirement Living TV. Hylton said "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 for a little bit."

In the final practice session for the 2007 Daytona 500 he posted the 15th fastest time of 48.532 sec./185.445 m.p.h. He was in a position to qualify for the Daytona 500 with 10 laps remaining in the qualifier when he was leading, then a caution for a wreck was called and on the restart he fell out of the draft due to a clutch problem. He did not qualify for the race. It was announced that he was going to attempt several others races in 2007, including the UAW-Ford 500, but these plans did not come to fruition.

At the age of 74 Hylton returned to Daytona to attempt to qualify for the 2009 Daytona 500. Hylton signed on with E&M Motorsports for the race. Sadly, carburetor issues plagued the team in both Saturday pre-qualifying practice sessions, and Hylton was unable to make a lap. Because NASCAR has a rule that you must make one timed lap in practice to be eligible for qualifying, Hylton and team were forced to withdraw.

Hylton was planning on qualifying his No. 48 car sponsored by the Sons of Confederate Veterans for the ARCA race at Rockingham on April 19, 2009. Hylton lost that sponsorship on April 16, 2009, due to ARCA placing a ban on the organization's logo that contains a version of the Confederate Battle Flag. Since this ban breached the contract already entered into by ARCA and the SCV, the SCV cancelled its sponsorship and participation with the race. ARCA was forced to refund the organization's fees due to the breach of contract. Hylton has since become a member of the SCV.

Hylton planned to attempt to qualify for the 2010 Daytona 500, but no deal came to fruition. In 2011, Hylton set a record at the 2011 Royal Purple 200 in Darlington as the oldest driver in history to start a NASCAR race in the top three divisions at age 76. At the start of the 2013 season, Hylton announced that the 2013 ARCA season would be his last; in his final start in racing at Kansas Speedway in October, contributions from his fellow ARCA racing teams resulted in his being able to drive a brand-new car and engine combination, finishing 18th in his final race.

Death
On April 28, 2018, Hylton, his son James "Tweet" Hylton Jr., and the team's crew chief Terry Strange were driving home from the ARCA race at Talladega, and the team's hauler was in a traffic accident going northbound on near Carnesville, Georgia. Both Hyltons died in the accident, while Strange survived with severe injuries. It was unclear how the accident occurred. There were several conflicting reports once Strange was questioned. One statement claimed that Hylton Sr. was having a heart attack, and when checking, he lost control. Another statement said that Strange lost control and neither Hylton was wearing a seatbelt. Strange's statement said that while driving a car veered into his lane, causing him to hit a dirt embankment and then crash into the highway median.

NASCAR
(key) ( Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. )

Camping World Truck Series
$$ Season still in progress $1$ Ineligible for series points

ARCA Racing Series
(key) ( Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. )

Other websites

 * James Hylton on Decades of Racing
 * James Hylton on Decades of Racing
 * James Hylton on Decades of Racing
 * James Hylton on Decades of Racing