One of the nicer people I’ve met through the years is drag racer Jim Maybeck. When I met him, Jim was a salesman at City Chevrolet in Charlotte. As a kid, I spent a fair amount of time hanging out at City, and making friends with various dealership employees. Because of my interest in racing, cars, and because I was fixing up a 1968 Chevy truck to eventually drive, Jim and I would always have something to talk about. Having known several stock car drivers and even boat racers at a young age, I still didn’t have a lot of exposure to drag racers, so I found Jim particularly interesting. Thankfully, he was always gracious enough to put up with me and my hundreds of questions. I found Jim to be a great story-teller, and hearing about his driving career left quite an impression on me that has lasted until today. The main lesson was that as an adult in the racing world, kids may gravitate towards you and ask tons of questions. When they do, I remember the generosity and kindness given to me by racers like Jim Maybeck, and I try to pass that along to the next generation.

I’ve lost touch with Jim through the years, but I’ve never forgotten the lessons he taught me, his patience, and his friendliness. It meant more than he will ever know, and it inspired me to try to have the same impact on the next generation.

Link added October, 2013: https://vintage-nitro.com/jim-maybeck-and-the-patriot-chevelle/

The card below is of a 1972 Chevy Vega, but if you Google Jim Maybeck, you’ll likely see more about his time in a Corvair, Camaro, or Chevelle. You’ll also begin to see his impact with the names of the sites that come up – Hemmings, NHRA, Draglist, MotorTrend, and more.

EDITED September 27, 2020: Jim emailed me! He somehow saw this post and sent me an email yesterday to let me know he is alive and well, retired, and living in Florida now. It was great to hear from one of my childhood heroes! Hi Jim!