Jim Shampine
| Jim Shampine | |
|---|---|
| Born | Donald James Shampine March 25, 1941 Syracuse, New York |
| Died | September 4, 1982 (aged 41) |
| Oval track racing career | |
| Debut season | 1962 |
| Car number | 8-Ball |
| Championships | 8 |
| Finished last season | 1982 |
| Previous series | |
| 1959-1961 | Drag racing |
| Championship titles | |
| 1977 International Supermodified Association Champion | |
D. James "Jim" Shampine (March 25, 1941 – September 4, 1982) was one of the most successful drivers in Supermodified competition and an equally skilled racer in asphalt and dirt-track Modified stock cars. He won 92 feature races at Oswego Speedway NY, and with his innovative car designs captured 38% of the Supermodified events held from 1970 to 1979.[1]
Racing career
[edit]Jim Shampine began drag racing in 1959 at the quarter-mile ESTA Safety Park Dragstrip in Cicero, New York. Then in 1962 he bought his friend Nolan Swift's championship-winning “Ten Pin” numbered modified, converted it to a supermodified, and renumbered it the enduring “8-Ball”. He went on to win seven (1967, 1970, 1972–1974, 1976 & 1979) Oswego Speedway track championships, as well as an International Supermodified Association championship competing at venues throughout the northeast.[2][3][4]
Shampine concurrently campaigned his modified at New York's asphalt Fulton Speedway, Lancaster Speedway, Shangri-La Speedway, Spencer Speedway, and Utica-Rome Speedway. He also competed successfully in a dirt-track modified at Langhorne Speedway PA and Weedsport Speedway NY, and captured the 1970 track championship at the Rolling Wheels Raceway in Elbridge, New York.[5]
Jim Shampine died in a Modified racing accident at Oswego Speedway on September 4, 1982.[6] He was inducted into the Eastern Motorsports Press Association, the Northeast Dirt Modified and the New York State Stock Car Association Halls of Fame.[5][7]
References
[edit]- ^ O'Brien, Dick (May 25, 2022). "Oswego Speedway opens 71st season Saturday with Jim Shampine Memorial 150". The Post-Standard. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
- ^ "Greedy and Shampine Deadlock for first place after Barnhart rescues York from feature event holocaust". The Palladium Times. July 14, 1969. Retrieved March 14, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ "Shampine prevails in Can-Am race". The Hour. September 10, 1979. p. 30. Retrieved March 14, 2024 – via Google Books.
- ^ Fusco, Andy; Caruso, George (2003). The Pine: The Authorized Biography of Jim Shampine, the Greatest Open Wheel Short Tracker of All Time. Speedway Press. ISBN 978-0967743851.
- ^ a b "EMPA Hall of Fame-Jim Shampine". Eastern Motorsport Press Association. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
- ^ "Veteran stock car driver killed". UPI. September 7, 1982. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
- ^ Hill, John (March 17, 2004). "Shampine among Dirt Inductees". The Post Standard. p. 29. Retrieved October 15, 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.