texastrophies Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 What do you think about this? The cars -- and track -- have changed quite a bit since James Hylton's first Daytona 500. Credit: James Hylton 72-year-old Hylton plans to enter '07 Daytona 500 By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM January 3, 2007 12:05 PM EST (17:05 GMT) Forty-one years after making his Daytona 500 debut, James Hylton feels now is as good a time as any to give it another go. With a car and engine acquired from Richard Childress Racing, Hylton announced plans to enter the 2007 Daytona 500, driving the No. 58 Chevrolet. Inside the Numbers James Hylton's career stats Starts 601 Wins 2 Top-5 140 Top-10 301 Poles 4 Laps Led 979 Avg. Start 17.0 Avg. Finish 13.5 Earnings $1,478,096 At 72, Hylton would easily become the oldest driver in Daytona 500 history. Dave Marcis was 61 when he finished 42nd in the 2002 race. "I have never been able to come to Daytona with a well-financed operation and a first-rate car," Hylton said. "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." To put it in perspective, only 15 drivers in the 2006 Daytona 500 were alive when Hylton drove Bud Hartje's 1965 Dodge to a ninth-place finish in the rain-shortened 1966 Daytona 500, five laps behind eventual winner Richard Petty. Certainly, Hylton knows his way around the 2.5-mile high-banked superspeedway, having made 36 career starts at Daytona, including 15 in the Daytona 500. His best finish came in the 1967 race, when he was third, a lap behind Mario Andretti and Fred Lorenzen. "I was running a 1965 Dodge that I had purchased from Cotton Owens and was staying on the led lap until I had a tire go down late in the race," Hylton said. "I had little financial backing, I was running with nothing." Hylton, who had been a mechanic and crew chief for Rex White and Ned Jarrett up to that point, made his NASCAR driving debut at Manassas, Va., on July 8, 1964. He finished 19th -- and took home $100. He went on to win 1966 rookie of the year honors and finished runner-up for the NASCAR championship three times between 1966 and 1971. During an 11-year stretch that ended in 1977, Hylton finished out of the top 10 only twice. Hylton's last Cup start came in 1993, when he parked his car after 62 laps at Darlington. He made his first Busch Series start in 24 years at Milwaukee in June, running four laps before being sidelined with brake problems. At that point, he became the oldest driver to start a NASCAR race, easily eclipsing Herschel McGriff, who was 65 when he started the 1993 Save Mart Supermarkets 300K at Sonoma. Hylton plans to put Washington native Damon Lusk in the No. 58, starting at Bristol. "We are looking at running 19 Nextel Cup races in 2007 and Damon is a perfect fit for our plans," Hylton said. "Over the years, Damon has exhibited that he has the ability to step up to the Nextel Cup level. "Damon had a good run in 2006 in the ARCA RE/MAX Series and 2007 will give him a chance to move up to the next level." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heathcoerracin Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Re: NASCAR, if anybody cares wow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deer huntin k-man Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Re: NASCAR, if anybody cares He must be nuts to get back into one of those cars. Did they go fast enough to have to draft off of peple back then? Anyways I wish him the best of luck and hope he stays safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkrie1357 Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: NASCAR, if anybody cares I wish him well. I wonder what the other drivers think? I don't know if I'd want an 70+ year old racing with me at Daytona. Think of your dads or Grandpas(or even yourselves) Sure he has done it in the Past. I'd be leary if I was one of the other Drivers. I feel the Mind is willing, it's the Body, that I'd worry about?!?!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deerslayer06 Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: NASCAR, if anybody cares he wont last past bud pole qualifying day, things have changed too much for the old guy. i hope im wrong tho... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubhunter Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: NASCAR, if anybody cares I don't like 70 year olds on the road much less in a race! It looks like NASCAR will do ANYTHING for a buck these days! I wonder how they will feel if he dies in a crash?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUTNSTRUT Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: NASCAR, if anybody cares The bad thing is he is going to have his left blinker on the whole race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdvantageTimberLou Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: NASCAR, if anybody cares [ QUOTE ] I wish him well. I wonder what the other drivers think? I don't know if I'd want an 70+ year old racing with me at Daytona. Think of your dads or Grandpas(or even yourselves) Sure he has done it in the Past. I'd be leary if I was one of the other Drivers. I feel the Mind is willing, it's the Body, that I'd worry about?!?!! [/ QUOTE ] I would rather race with a veteran than some of those young guys who take risks and make moves they shouldn't. You got some guys that have a 5th place car and ruin their chances by making moves that will not do anything but wreck them and others. You get a cagey veteran and he knows just how much he can push the limit, they respect their competitors and know what the car is capable of. I applaud this effort and hope you qualifies for the event!! Like to see him take a starting spot away from a Toyota! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyderpancake Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: NASCAR, if anybody cares Hey, if he can pass the physical, then i say go for it! He is using a RCR car so he has a decent shot during qualifying, but i doubt he will place high enough in the Gatorade Dual 150 qualifying races to make the field. We have an old guy that races at local tracks around here named Frank Sessoms that will turn 77 this year, and he is still mixing it up with the young guys in the Late Model division, winning races and finishing top 10 in points almost every year! Some of those ol' boys are tough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: NASCAR, if anybody cares [ QUOTE ] Like to see him take a starting spot away from a Toyota! [/ QUOTE ] Like that would happen ... Here Lou, I'll help ya turn this post into termoil... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUGARKAHNE Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Re: NASCAR, if anybody cares Good luck to him! Not your average grandpa! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Re: NASCAR, if anybody cares GOOD FOR HIM!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
str8shooter48 Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 Re: NASCAR, if anybody cares More power to the old guy. But they should have put him in a TOYOTA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 Re: NASCAR, if anybody cares [ QUOTE ] More power to the old guy. But they should have put him in a TOYOTA [/ QUOTE ] Yeah, but they didn't want him to win..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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