Jim Reed (racing driver)
| Jim Reed | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jim Reed | |||||||
| Born | February 21, 1926 Marion, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | June 29, 2019 (aged 93) Peekskill, New York, U.S. | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 106 races run over 13 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 9th (1959) | ||||||
| First race | 1951 Race 19 (Altamont) | ||||||
| Last race | 1963 Race 35 (Old Bridge) | ||||||
| First win | 1958 Race No. 14 (Old Bridge) | ||||||
| Last win | 1959 Southern 500 (Darlington) | ||||||
| |||||||
Jim Reed (February 21, 1926 – June 29, 2019) was an American NASCAR Grand National driver.[1]
Career
Reed completed 16,335 laps in the Grand National Series[1] (and led 1,472 of them)[1] – the equivalent of 14,017.3 miles (22,558.7 km) from his beginnings 1951 to his final NASCAR season as a driver in 1963.[1] His total career earnings are $16,299 ($171,405.24 when adjusted for inflation).[1] Reed's biggest win came in the 1959 Southern 500 driving a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. Reed finished the highest in championship standings in 1959 (ninth place overall) and the lowest in 1963 being 139th place overall for the year.[1] His average career start was 12th and his average career finish was 16th.[1] A wreck while driving a Ford late in the 1963 Grand National season caused a broken vertebra; Reed eventually retired from NASCAR. At Heidelberg Raceway, Reed won a race that took place on July 21, 1959, on a ¼-mile dirt track.
Reed performed the best at short tracks and restrictor plate tracks; finishing 11th on average while finishing in 34th on average while driving on tri-oval intermediate tracks.[2]
Reed also had eleven career wins in what is now the ARCA Menards Series West, as well as sixty wins and fix consecutive championships in the NASCAR Short Track Division.[3][4]
Later life and death
In 1965, Reed left the motorsports scene to start a truck dealership.[5][6] While it started out as a GMC dealership, the business eventually moved on to selling Mitsubishi and UD trucks.[5][6] Sales have mostly been either the first or second best in the Peekskill, New York region.[5][6]
Reed died in his sleep on June 29, 2019, succumbing to a heart attack.[7]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Jim Reed racing information at Racing Reference
- ↑ NASCAR Statistics for Jim Reed Archived May 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine at Driver Averages
- ↑ "Jim Reed". The Third Turn. Retrieved August 21, 2026.
- ↑ "NASCAR Short Track Division". The Third Turn. Retrieved August 21, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Jim Reed Trucks". Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2010.
- 1 2 3 "Jim Reed". Legends of NASCAR. Archived from the original on December 12, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2010.
- ↑ "Our Founder and NASCAR Legend Jim Reed Passes Away at 93". Jim Reed Truck Sales. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
External links
- Jim Reed driver statistics at Racing-Reference