Early west coast Nascar legend Jack McCoy passed away last night.... Who was Jack, you might ask???? McCoy, who died Tuesday, April 15, was best known for his purple colored Dodge in the Camping World West Series. The California native was inducted in the inaugural class of the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2002. McCoy registered series championships in 1966 and 1973 – registered a record 54 series wins, along with a record 57 career poles in the series. Below is an exerpt from Stock Car Racing magazine on the early years: ___________________________________________________________ The Starting Point Early on, West Coast drivers had few options. They had the opportunity to move South and race, but the money wasn't what it is today. Chasing the dream of becoming a top-notch race car driver back East didn't take precedent over putting food on the table and feeding the family. Once the realization came that it wasn't too practical for the West Coast's elite to race back East, the racers began sanctioning the Pacific Coast Late Model circuit. The series visited historic tracks such as Oakland (California) Speedway, Balboa Stadium in San Diego, Bay Meadows Race Course in San Mateo, California, and Carrell Speedway in Gardena, California. The 1954 series schedule featured nine races, with the first event taking place at the 5/8-mile Oakland Speedway. The track was known as "The Oakland Wall" because of incredible 65-degree banking used for some events. While McGriff won the pole position, it was Dick Rathmann who drove through the field to win the 250-lap race in a 1952 Hudson. The series quickly began to grow, fueled by support from Detroit automakers. Thirteen races were held in 1955, followed by 27 events in 1956 and 32 in 1957. As the series expanded, the number of tracks on the schedule grew. The complexion of the series changed drastically in 1957, however, after the automakers pulled their financial support. In 1958, the schedule again contained only nine races. The popularity of the series began to rebound in the '60s with the help of premier racetracks such as Riverside (California) International Raceway. Drivers such as McCoy and Elder hit the scene, and things took off like gangbusters. "I spent 10 outstanding years of my life in the NASCAR Winston West Series, and I loved every minute of it," McCoy says. He holds the all-time series record for victories with 54. "At the time when I came up through the ranks people thought all of the action was back East, but let me tell you the drivers on the West Coast could also drive their tails off. You look at what I did with 54 victories in the series. I think it's a record that will definitely stay intact. Nowadays, if a driver from the West Coast is any good, he is going to North Carolina. With the money that is out there, who could blame them." Elder is second on the all-time win list with 47 wins, followed by McGriff, who has 35. When it comes to championships, Elder leads with six (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974 and 1975), followed by Bill Schmitt (1977, 1979, 1989 and 1990) and Roy Smith (1980, 1981, 1982 and 1988). Elder's team also made a significant mark in racing by becoming the only West Coast team in the modern era to win a NASCAR Winston Cup (then Grand National) race. Elder won the Motor Trend Riverside 500 on January 10, 1971, at Riverside International Raceway. He also won the Golden State 400 on June 18, 1972, at Riverside. "When Ray won those races it proved to a lot of people that the West Coast could definitely keep up with the major players in stock car racing," McCoy says. "Being out on the West Coast nobody really knew a whole lot about us, but all of a sudden we were getting the respect we deserved." From left are: Jim Insolo (#78); Ken Clapp, former NASCAR vice president of western operations; Hershel McGriff (#86); Jack McCoy (#66, #73); Ron Hornaday Sr. (#63, #64); Danny Letner (#55) and Cliff Garner. ______________________________________________________________ RIP Jack..... You are missed already ( *For Brian* )
Really sorry to here it. Is this the Jack McCoy who was living in Washington, raced in So. Oregon early in the 50's ? -Gary
Thanks for the pics. Must be the same Jack. Here's pics of a jalopy he used to race in Oregon and California. It was owned by Bill Beagle in Ashland, OR. I blew a chance to buy it this summer.
There were two Jack McCoys that raced on the West Coast in the '60s. Some of you guys seem to be mixing them up. I was at a PCLM race at Ascot Park, Calif in 1968 or '69 when both of them were in the same race. The Jack McCoy from Oregon was jokingly referred to as "McCoy of the north" by the track announcer. The Jack McCoy with the 54 race win record in PCLM/Winston West lived in the Modesto, Calif (more than 300 miles from Oregon) area for almost his whole life. He went to high school in Modesto and was building early modifieds to race in his auto shop class, according to his book,"Racings Real McCoy". His father owned a tire store in Modesto which Jack later took over and ran, later specializing in racing tires. He remained in the tire business long after he retired from racing around 1975.
Jack's winged '70 Dodge Daytona is owned by his former partner's (Ernie Conn) family and tours with historic race cars. Two of Jack's earlier Dodges were sold to the Elder family. See if you can get a copy of his book "Racing's Real McCoy" (an excellent book on early west coast racing with lots of rare pictures). In it he gives a history of all his race cars and what happened to them.
Ascot Park, Calif - 1968 PCLM race. Jack McCoy battling with Ray Elder who is driving '67 fastback Charger originally purchased from Jack McCoy.
Saw Him race at Riverside (was there when he won in 71 & 72) Always enjoyed seeing the local boys like Jack and Herschel putting it to the Southern boys. RIP It also irritates me when the marketing machines make statements like this "McCoy, who died Tuesday, April 15, was best known for his purple colored Dodge in the Camping World West Series". That is false and misleading. There was no Camping World when Jack was becoming a Hero. It's as bad as when they say Richard Petty is a 7 times Sprint Cup Champion - he is a 7 time Winston Cup Champion, you can't rewrite history because the sponsor changes
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I have to correct my posts #8 and #9 which I posted above. I misidentified the track as Ascot Park. Those pictures (as well as #12) were shot at the old San Gabriel Valley Speedway (also known as Speedway 605) in Irwindale, Calif.
IIRC, (Modesto) Jack McCoy was also the one who ran the Cannonball Baker Trophy Dash with the Chevy pickup that carried 100something gallons of fuel in the bed. That was the inspiration for the "nonstop" van in the movie.
in the 60s,my brother had 2 34 chevy sedans that jack came to look at.wanted bodies for racing.one was a pink shell,other was a really nice orig..jack only took the shell,said he just couldn't cut the other one.i used to run some of his tires,went right by the shop on my way home..r.i.p jack.
Most of the stuff on these boards is a lot older than that - fits in well with the dates set by the admins for historical stuff.
The Jalopy Journal
