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| Jims Career Highlights | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| With a dream and passion of running sprint cars, Jim bought his first car a Gambler from Keith Butler a top TBARA driver and son of Stan Butler, Little 500 Hall of Fame driver. With much assistance from both of them and crew chief Ron Armstrong, the long learning curve began. 1996 was the year in which getting up to speed was a challenge. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997 All Star Winternationals started a promising year. A good run at the nationals showed we had some speed. The year progressed well with many top 10 finishes. 1997 would also be the year Jim got some 410 sprint car experience. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998 seemed to be the break out year. Started out strong with some top ten finishes and then a try with TBARA on pavement. We went to Hileah Speedway in South Florida and had our misfortune. The start of the heat a car to the inside pushed across the track and nailed us in the left side sending us into the fence and ending the season of any hope. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999 saw a change in the car and some good finishes including a few 7th place showings. We ran well with the All Stars at speedweeks and during the 360 Nationals. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It was 2000 and thanks to the help of Bob Thompson, crew chief, and Ed Jewell. The team came together. The chassis was sent over to Jerry Stuckey at Hurricane Chassis and the car was reconditioned nicely. The car now a Pepsi blue was finally getting some notice and some sponsorship. Rocky Pullano from Diamond Bright Contracting Service joined and so did T&S Lettering and Graphics in getting the car up to speed. Twister motors helped in the motor department and we thank Steve for doing that. The car was fast and we ran very good. We got our first top five finish and had numerous top ten showings. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001 started out good running the King of the 360 Nationals and qualifying up to the B main. Early season runs were good finishing in the top ten every race and a personal best 4th at East Bay. We ventured out to run at Putnam County Speedway in July for the USCS series event and disaster stuck. Moving through the field, Randy Helton lost it on the top side of the track and shot across and tagged us racing underneath. The car spun and was hit again. The car was never correct and we parked it for the year to put another one together for 2002. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002 the motor was pulled and a decision was made to make the big jump to run up front. With the help of Gambler Chassis, Twister Motors, and Gaerte Motors the car was put together to be a winner. We came out late in the year as we used this season as a rebuilding for 2003, numerous top ten finishes are now unacceptable. A struggle with the motor was due to learning the secrets to jetting a motor correctly. At Volusia Speedway in the fall at the USCS race the car and motor finally started to click but the season was over. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003 We put together some of our best equiptment. In the early part of the season we placed in the top 10 every night out. We looked strong in heats and A Features. We started to be recognized as a challenger and started up front many nights. The year was highlighted by a heat race win and a top 5 finish. In May the quick start turned upside down with a nasty crash in the heat race at East Bay Raceway Park. Contact with Joe Melnick hurt the car enough it was never the same. 2003 brought a record amount of rainouts and the team put together a new car and parked it for the season. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jim had to put racing on hold in 2004. His job became his top priority. Jim moved with Marriott from Orlando to Mobile,Alabama. Then shortly thereafter moved to Hilton Corp. in Virginia Beach,Virginia. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perricone Motorsports with Bob Thompson Racing have joined forces to form a new team. Jim will be running Maxim chassis with a Gaerte/Twister motor. We are backed up with a new Gambler with Don Ott horsepower. Sponsorship opportunities are being worked out at this point. Jim prepares to open the season by taking the trip from Virginia to Tampa for the 360 Winternationals. A limited schedule is being put together to run other shows throughout the season. Jim also wants to work with the Virginia Sprint Series(VSS) to secure a ride in a 305 sprint car. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||