Jimmy Summerour-The Man Behind the Scenes


On To NASCAR

Jimmy Summerour steers the car of Johnny Allen to the starting grid for the 1961 Daytona 500. Allen went on to finish fifth but was first among the Chevrolets. In those years the engines were stock and the Chevys didn't carry the same power as the Fords and the Pontiacs.

“I left Buckshot’s and went to work with Don Bailey to run a Chevrolet with Johnny Allen,” Jimmy said.  “We had Darlington won I thought. Johnny came during a caution with a lap and a half lead on Curtis (Turner) and (Fred) Lorenzen. I said put two tires on it and fill with gas. The air wrenches for changing tires were such that you couldn’t run both at the same time with the air regulator turned down. Buckshot turned it up and blew both wrenches. Chevrolet ran the six lug truck hubs with 1 1/8 inch nuts where all other makes had 1 1/16 inch lugs so none of the other air wrenches would work. We had to finish changing tires with 4-way lug wrench. We came back out, we were in third place.

“I went out and showed Johnny the sign to slow down, hoping Lorenzen and Turner would wreck each other over the win and it would be ours for the taking. It never happened so Johnny finished third. They did wreck but it was after they took the checkered flag. Lorenzen won and Curtis really put him in the wall.

“It was so comical; Ford and Pontiac had been winning everything. After that race, everybody came by to see the Chevrolet that finished third. ‘Oh yeah; there were a few fans in victory lane,’ was what we were told. But most of them were at our car.”

But it all came to an end a few weeks later at Charlotte.

“Mr. B. G. Hollaway owned the car Johnny drove as well as the cars of Ned Jarrett and Tom Pistone,” Summerour said.  “We got in an argument over running the car and he wanted Johnny to come in for the rest of the race. Johnny wouldn’t stay and went back out. I argued some more with B. G. and then I told him when the race was over, he needed to get somebody to pick this stuff up. I came back home without a job and went back to work for Buckshot again and got married.”

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