Jimmy Ingram

James Edwin Ingram Sr. (February 23, 1928 – December 8, 1998) was an American pilot and stock car racing driver. He made a number of starts in NASCAR's Winston Cup Series, several in the early 1950s and the last in 1980; the 27-year-gap between his second and third races are the longest time between starts in the series' history.

Flying career Ingram served in the United States Navy aboard the during World War II, where he was part of an aviation unit before being honorably discharged in 1946 as a seaman first class.

Ingram recorded over 11,000 flight hours during his career as a pilot for Southern Airways, Air Haïti with type ratings for the Convair CV-240 family, Martin 2-0-2 and 4-0-4, and Douglas DC-3. A member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Ingram operated out of Cheraw Municipal Airport for 30 years, including a stint as its manager. He was a charter pilot for area industries and was a crop duster/aerial applicator for area farmers for 30 years, flying such aircraft as the Pawnee, the AgWagon, and a Bell helicopter. His second start came at the 1952 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Racing a 1951 Nash Ambassador, he started 52nd but crashed on lap 104. Ingram had lost control of his car, spinning before rolling three times. He was taken to the hospital after being extracted from the car, with an Associated Press report saying he was "bleeding profusely from face cuts before he could be released." Officially, he was classified as finishing 57th. His daughter inherited the property after his 1998 death; in 2020, she sold it to the Town of Cheraw, which operates the adjacent Cheraw Municipal Airport. Ingram operated his agriculture dusting and spraying business from a hangar adjacent to the speedway.

Ingram returned to the Cup Series in 1980 at Dover Downs International Speedway with his daughter Lynn Ingram as crew chief and friend and neighbor Willie Cassidy as the only other crew member. With 27-and-a-half years between Darlington and Dover, it was the largest gap between starts in Cup history and the first of two instances where a Cup driver had at least a 25-year pause. Despite the hiatus, he qualified 33rd and two miles per hour faster than the 34th and slowest car before finishing 15th. However, he did not qualify for the event. He graduated from Cheraw High School in 1943, after which he worked as an electric welder on a shipyard in Brunswick, Georgia, prior to joining the Navy.

Ingram was briefly married to Betty Hodge. He later married Betty Jean Lee in 1953; the couple divorced in 1980.

Besides flying and racing, other ventures included running businesses in home construction, trucking, logging, and tire recapping. 1952 26 Nash PBS DAB JSP NWS MAR CLB ATL CCS LAN DAR DSP CAN HAY FMS HBO CLT MSF NIF OSW MON MOR PPS MCF AWS

CCS LAN DSP WIL HBO MAR NWS ATL PBS

166th 0 Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Pts Ref 1980 Ingram Racing 32 Chevy RSD DAY RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT TWS RSD MCH DAY NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV NWS MAR CLT CAR ATL ONT 86th 118