|
After
such an impressive debut, Jim and the newly formed Chevrolet
Racing Team discussed joining forces, but, as fate would
have it there was no Corvette available for Jeffords. Jim
knew that this new four mile, 14-turn race was going to
attract top drivers, automotive writers, and manufacturer's
top brass and he was not going to be left out. Knowing that
the Jaguar XK140MC that he campaigned last season was still
sitting on the used car lot, Jim bought it back and readied
it for the race that was just days away. Underfunded and
underpowered compared to the Corvette team, Jim ran his
Jaguar in the first Road America Race at Elkhart Lake in
September of 1955. Relying on his superior driving skills,
Jim was able to take on the dominant Corvettes and go on
to a highly respectable 2nd place finish in the "C"
Production Class. Ed Cole, then General Manager of Chevrolet,
congratulated Jim on his victory and then told him, "That
was the last time you'll ever race against Chevrolet."
So
began Jim's collaboration with the factory race team which
led him to compete in some of the major racing events of
1956 such as the World Championship Race in Caracas, Venezula
and at Nassau Speed Week as well as in the 1957 season opener
at Sebring.
In
1958, due to a major expansion at Nickey's Chevrolet of
Chicago, Jim was contacted to drive for their racing program.
Jim agreed; as long as he could also run the program. Bringing
in noted mechanic Ronny Caplan, Jim was unstoppable in 1958
and won his first Sports Car Club of America Class B-Production
Championship running in his second '58 Purple People Eater
Corvette.
Nickey's
Chevrolet then ordered a 1959 Corvette with all the racing
options. This car became the Mark III Purple People Eater
and proudly sported a # 1 due to Jim's first place standing
the year before. According to Jim, this Mark III was, "virtually
unbeatable," winning every race it finished. And for
the second year in a row, the Jeffords-Nickey's Chevrolet
partnership brought home another SCCA Class B-Production
Championship.
In
February 1960, Jim drove home several impressive finishes
in what would become the only Cuban sports car meet open
to other nations under Fidel Castro's rule. Newspapers of
the day showed Castro's then 12-year old son as Jim's beaming
passenger during the customary victory lap.
Jim
no longer races but has held a position on the Board of
Directors at Race America since 1958. When Jim relives his
racing stories, you feel like a passenger whisked right
along with him through all the curves and straight-aways.
A big man with a big laugh, Jim still seems to enjoy life
with a "racer's edge." Asked if he would race
again, Jim said, "I still drive fast. But I can't play
ping-pong as well as I did 40 years ago and I certainly
can't drive a race car as fast as I once did….I see
no point in going slower."
|
