Jamesperkins
New Member
While Midwest Dirt Track Legends features drivers, we would like you to meet a gentleman who did a great deal for the Midwest Racing Scene from another role as we introduce to you a World 100 Winning Car Owner, Official, and Promoter, Jim Wilson.
Jim grew-up in the Des Moines, Iowa area and never knew the world of Stock Car Racing until 1967 at the age of 25 years old when he went to Stuart Speedway in Newton, Iowa to watch his cousin race. That night changed the life of Jim as the racing bug bit him. Not long after that, Jim built a car for the Claimer class and his career began as a driver. Known for his Auto Repair Shop in Des Moines, Jim knew the ends and outs of keeping a car well maintained and how to make it run. Staying in the economic class of cars, it was one night in 1968 that changed the role Jim would play in Short-Track Racing.
Jim used to use STP in his Transmission to keep the car in top shape, and back then drivers didn't have the Quick-Change or even 9 Inch Ford Rear Ends. Jim had a 4 Speed Muncie and was working on the rear end of the car to fix a problem. "Injun" Joe Merryfield was a friend of Jim's and wondered over to him to see if he could help and informed him that his race was staging. "Joe would come over to the shop and help on the car during the week" quoted Wilson. "I was covered in STP and told Joe to go ahead and race the car it was ready to roll." That would be the last time that Wilson would be behind the wheel of a car as an active driver.
Merryfield and Wilson became a team with Wilson as owner and mechanic and Merryfield as the wheelman." That night in Oskaloosa I saw what Joe could do behind the wheel. Beginning in 1970, the Wilson/Merryfield duo moved to Late Models and raced only at Des Moines, the hometown of both with rising success in the very tough Iowa Late Model circuit. In 1975, Wilson built a new car for Merryfield powered by a 454 big block as they began to run more in the Iowa area. The team was struggling with the new car and nothing seemed to go right. Then on a Friday night event in Oskaloosa, another Des Moines area top Late Model driver, Don" The Pizza Man" Hoffman suggested they go with some of the other drivers to Rossburg, Ohio for the World 100. "The car just wasn't working, but Joe said let's go, so we along with Hoffman, Ed Sanger and Verlin Eaker the Iowa convoy went to attempt the World 100." Said Wilson. "Back then we had a casket flat bed truck that I had made to haul the racecar. We pulled into Eldora and I changed the springs and we went to attempt to make the field. Back then it took all day to time in. You run 1 lap and pull in. There were 285 cars present and only the fastest 24 made the feature. No heat races, no last chance to get in and only a total of 60 cars overall got a chance to race for money. We qualified 10th fastest and made the feature. Weather was moving in so the track decided to run the consi races last and the Main Event first. Doug Kenimer of Georgia was fast qualifier and was running away with his Firestone Tires. On lap 42, Kenimer had problems and we took the lead and were pulling away. Back then they paid $10 per lap to lead and that was totaling pretty nice for us. Then on lap 91, the hood started coming loose on the Chevelle body he had. Up and down it went and I saw the flagman starting to reach for the black flag. Then a few laps later Joe hit a hole and the hood flew right off bringing out the caution. They picked it off the track and we grabbed the win worth $8580. We got paid in bills and WOW that was a lot. The following week the team went to a special in Michigan, which ended up being at a horse arena track as the promoter couldn't secure the racetrack. Joe was a smart driver and always listened in the drivers meeting. In this deal we had the track blocked in front of us and found a way to keep going without stopping and going to the rear by driving around the extreme outside and then through a gate to secure second place worth around $5,000 to us. In 1976 Wilson brought Bill Rice to Eldora, but they failed to qualify and that was his only experiences with the World 100 events.
As costs were rising, Wilson found himself in the right place and showed to be the man for the position in 1982. The RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company decided to move their advertising money to the racing scene and went to the short tracks as the Winston Racing Series was developed. With Wilson knowing the Iowa region, NASCAR went calling to start getting tracks together. In 1982 $25,000 would be offered to the National Champion and a total of 8 tracks joined the NASCAR family. It was Wilson along with Jim Hunter who did the legwork, talking to owners and promoters to get tracks on board. "Al Friedan in Iowa had 3 tracks and with That kind of money up for grabs, I explained that the National Champion would have a great shot at coming from his weekly racing events. Iowa driver Tom Hearst grabbed the top prize and NASCAR hired Wilson to help oversee the new weekly series."NASCAR grew quickly in he short tracks as drivers saw that they could win good prize money and stay close to home." We had to get a uniform set of rules and myself and Ed Bloom of Missouri's Capital Speedway owner did just that." They helped set qualifying rules for the feature events were drivers knew what to expect at each NASCAR Sanctioned Track. In 1985 after being business for himself, Wilson closed the shop and went to work Full-Time for NASCAR as the Weekly Series had grown to 26 tracks in 11 different states. With Jim heading the Late Model weekly racer in the right direction, he took on a new project called the NASCAR BUSCH Touring Series allowing drivers to traveling on special dates and compete for more purse money with a strong set of rules. NASCAR'S only traveling Dirt Series lasted until 2001 when sponsorship could not be secured along with new Regional Touring Series coming in the area. "In the mid 90's we had 100 tracks sanctioned in the United States with prize money for the weekly racer unheard of. My job as a regional director was to help keep things flowing smoothly. Visit the tracks and drivers. Assist in teching of the cars. We had a great thing going overall for the weekly racer and NASCAR and the tracks. My Regions were Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and wherever we needed to be. When the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company had to withdraw the sponsorship in all of racing it seemed to take a turn on the weekly short tracks. Jim was a man who felt that the weekly racer was the backbone of the sport overall. In 2002 after 20 years with NASCAR, Jim stepped out of his position and started his own Series in the Midwest called the World Dirt Racing League (WDRL). This series focused in the Central States and had very strong shows with talented drivers from the Mid-West as drivers who knew Jim would come and support his new Series and Jim had has many as 30 events a season. Jim had placed strong official staff together along with very strong sponsorship. After the 2009 season, the WDRL closed its doors as the economy was hitting a soft spot and the sponsor dollars were hard to come by.
In 2010 Wilson overtook another hard challenge as a track close to his home of Gilman. Missouri in Bethany came a calling. Jim and his wife Nancy prepared to take another adventure, but Mother Nature was winning this battle. Weather forced them to cancel 10 of the first 12 events.
The strong Midwest leader of the weekly NASCAR Series, a former World 100-car owner and Series and Track Promoter has not been to a weekly event in over 2 years. He still watches races on TV, but enjoys the relaxing time with his wife at home while driving a school bus part time.
"Money is killing the weekly racer. We could and would put rules in place to help the racer, but it still gets spent to make them faster. The Sport has got to have that level where the average working man can afford to go racing close to home, but with the way things are it is getting tougher and tougher. The early days were so much fun and are great memories. The NASCAR days were busy, but you got to meet new people and see things grow and develop.
Jim Wilson is one of the true Midwest Legends that didn't receive the spotlight, but was behind the scenes and working behind the curtain so that those drivers could achieve the applause, the cheers or even the boos which allows us to have those outstanding memories.By Ronnie Williams
Jim grew-up in the Des Moines, Iowa area and never knew the world of Stock Car Racing until 1967 at the age of 25 years old when he went to Stuart Speedway in Newton, Iowa to watch his cousin race. That night changed the life of Jim as the racing bug bit him. Not long after that, Jim built a car for the Claimer class and his career began as a driver. Known for his Auto Repair Shop in Des Moines, Jim knew the ends and outs of keeping a car well maintained and how to make it run. Staying in the economic class of cars, it was one night in 1968 that changed the role Jim would play in Short-Track Racing.
Jim used to use STP in his Transmission to keep the car in top shape, and back then drivers didn't have the Quick-Change or even 9 Inch Ford Rear Ends. Jim had a 4 Speed Muncie and was working on the rear end of the car to fix a problem. "Injun" Joe Merryfield was a friend of Jim's and wondered over to him to see if he could help and informed him that his race was staging. "Joe would come over to the shop and help on the car during the week" quoted Wilson. "I was covered in STP and told Joe to go ahead and race the car it was ready to roll." That would be the last time that Wilson would be behind the wheel of a car as an active driver.
Merryfield and Wilson became a team with Wilson as owner and mechanic and Merryfield as the wheelman." That night in Oskaloosa I saw what Joe could do behind the wheel. Beginning in 1970, the Wilson/Merryfield duo moved to Late Models and raced only at Des Moines, the hometown of both with rising success in the very tough Iowa Late Model circuit. In 1975, Wilson built a new car for Merryfield powered by a 454 big block as they began to run more in the Iowa area. The team was struggling with the new car and nothing seemed to go right. Then on a Friday night event in Oskaloosa, another Des Moines area top Late Model driver, Don" The Pizza Man" Hoffman suggested they go with some of the other drivers to Rossburg, Ohio for the World 100. "The car just wasn't working, but Joe said let's go, so we along with Hoffman, Ed Sanger and Verlin Eaker the Iowa convoy went to attempt the World 100." Said Wilson. "Back then we had a casket flat bed truck that I had made to haul the racecar. We pulled into Eldora and I changed the springs and we went to attempt to make the field. Back then it took all day to time in. You run 1 lap and pull in. There were 285 cars present and only the fastest 24 made the feature. No heat races, no last chance to get in and only a total of 60 cars overall got a chance to race for money. We qualified 10th fastest and made the feature. Weather was moving in so the track decided to run the consi races last and the Main Event first. Doug Kenimer of Georgia was fast qualifier and was running away with his Firestone Tires. On lap 42, Kenimer had problems and we took the lead and were pulling away. Back then they paid $10 per lap to lead and that was totaling pretty nice for us. Then on lap 91, the hood started coming loose on the Chevelle body he had. Up and down it went and I saw the flagman starting to reach for the black flag. Then a few laps later Joe hit a hole and the hood flew right off bringing out the caution. They picked it off the track and we grabbed the win worth $8580. We got paid in bills and WOW that was a lot. The following week the team went to a special in Michigan, which ended up being at a horse arena track as the promoter couldn't secure the racetrack. Joe was a smart driver and always listened in the drivers meeting. In this deal we had the track blocked in front of us and found a way to keep going without stopping and going to the rear by driving around the extreme outside and then through a gate to secure second place worth around $5,000 to us. In 1976 Wilson brought Bill Rice to Eldora, but they failed to qualify and that was his only experiences with the World 100 events.
As costs were rising, Wilson found himself in the right place and showed to be the man for the position in 1982. The RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company decided to move their advertising money to the racing scene and went to the short tracks as the Winston Racing Series was developed. With Wilson knowing the Iowa region, NASCAR went calling to start getting tracks together. In 1982 $25,000 would be offered to the National Champion and a total of 8 tracks joined the NASCAR family. It was Wilson along with Jim Hunter who did the legwork, talking to owners and promoters to get tracks on board. "Al Friedan in Iowa had 3 tracks and with That kind of money up for grabs, I explained that the National Champion would have a great shot at coming from his weekly racing events. Iowa driver Tom Hearst grabbed the top prize and NASCAR hired Wilson to help oversee the new weekly series."NASCAR grew quickly in he short tracks as drivers saw that they could win good prize money and stay close to home." We had to get a uniform set of rules and myself and Ed Bloom of Missouri's Capital Speedway owner did just that." They helped set qualifying rules for the feature events were drivers knew what to expect at each NASCAR Sanctioned Track. In 1985 after being business for himself, Wilson closed the shop and went to work Full-Time for NASCAR as the Weekly Series had grown to 26 tracks in 11 different states. With Jim heading the Late Model weekly racer in the right direction, he took on a new project called the NASCAR BUSCH Touring Series allowing drivers to traveling on special dates and compete for more purse money with a strong set of rules. NASCAR'S only traveling Dirt Series lasted until 2001 when sponsorship could not be secured along with new Regional Touring Series coming in the area. "In the mid 90's we had 100 tracks sanctioned in the United States with prize money for the weekly racer unheard of. My job as a regional director was to help keep things flowing smoothly. Visit the tracks and drivers. Assist in teching of the cars. We had a great thing going overall for the weekly racer and NASCAR and the tracks. My Regions were Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and wherever we needed to be. When the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company had to withdraw the sponsorship in all of racing it seemed to take a turn on the weekly short tracks. Jim was a man who felt that the weekly racer was the backbone of the sport overall. In 2002 after 20 years with NASCAR, Jim stepped out of his position and started his own Series in the Midwest called the World Dirt Racing League (WDRL). This series focused in the Central States and had very strong shows with talented drivers from the Mid-West as drivers who knew Jim would come and support his new Series and Jim had has many as 30 events a season. Jim had placed strong official staff together along with very strong sponsorship. After the 2009 season, the WDRL closed its doors as the economy was hitting a soft spot and the sponsor dollars were hard to come by.
In 2010 Wilson overtook another hard challenge as a track close to his home of Gilman. Missouri in Bethany came a calling. Jim and his wife Nancy prepared to take another adventure, but Mother Nature was winning this battle. Weather forced them to cancel 10 of the first 12 events.
The strong Midwest leader of the weekly NASCAR Series, a former World 100-car owner and Series and Track Promoter has not been to a weekly event in over 2 years. He still watches races on TV, but enjoys the relaxing time with his wife at home while driving a school bus part time.
"Money is killing the weekly racer. We could and would put rules in place to help the racer, but it still gets spent to make them faster. The Sport has got to have that level where the average working man can afford to go racing close to home, but with the way things are it is getting tougher and tougher. The early days were so much fun and are great memories. The NASCAR days were busy, but you got to meet new people and see things grow and develop.
Jim Wilson is one of the true Midwest Legends that didn't receive the spotlight, but was behind the scenes and working behind the curtain so that those drivers could achieve the applause, the cheers or even the boos which allows us to have those outstanding memories.By Ronnie Williams
