Went to Jimmy's to film a video about his shop (he's been in the same spot for 40 years) and he started pulling out all this stuff 😂 Check out Jimmy's time capsule 1970s race car hauler! th-cam.com/video/j5JzhyDKW1o/w-d-xo.html FULL SHOP TOUR VIDEO: th-cam.com/video/KzmAejDcasA/w-d-xo.html If you like the hoodie I'm wearing you can find it at stapletonautoworks.com
What you are doing with these videos is a service to NASCAR and fans alike. Once these guys have passed, their knowledge and memories of the past goes with them. Hearing them firsthand is a treasure.
@@des782 You're dreaming. In racing, everybody does things to get an edge from the lowest classes on up. That's just a fact of life and if you think about it that stuff is a competition in its self.
Absolutely true,Travis Dean Ministries. These interviews are verification of facts. Sadly,each time one of the greats passes,out comes the "revisionist history" tellers. Folks who weren't even around then but will call you a liar (online) because you actually "were there."
@des782 because most racers were doing it it's done and love it or hate it it's part of a rich history of NASCAR and now we can look back and laugh every driver/team was trying to win at any cost and with teams with bigger budgets they would inevitably do better than the guys on a shoestring budget so they had to try something, that's just my thoughts I'm not saying it was wrong or right but it was fkn exciting
If NASCAR would just get out of the way and regulating everything to death there would be no reason to have to cheat. Would love to see actual stock cars racing again and not this roll cage template with stickers nonsense. I stopped watching a long time ago and won't be back. NASCAR is too far gone. Cheatin stories indeed!
@@Longsnowsm I beg to differ. There weren’t many “regulations” or rules back in the 60s and 70s, yet cheating was more rampant than today. I agree, NASCAR has lost it’s shine these days, but I think their biggest issue is getting the young folks involved. It’s a common theme across all major sports with a possible exception being American football. It’s largely an attention-span problem. Baseball is too slow for the instant gratification people of today. Soccer is constant action. It’s the way of the world and we are slowly getting on board. I’m a drag racer at heart and raced twice a month for nearly 12 years. It hurts to see the low attendance at national NHRA events. They way it’s going, I’d bet the NHRA as we know it won’t exist in 10 years.
@@charlieromeo7663 If NASCAR does not get back to it's roots of stock cars and this massive over regulation and political correctness BS it is finished. You are not going to attract young people unless they identify with the cars and drivers on the track. No one identifies this roll cage, template with stickers as a car people can buy. Race fans typically are car people. The stuff running on the tracks should be something people can buy, modify, and build. That bridge is gone. Keep the regulations minimal and run stock cars. What wins on Sunday will sell on Monday. Cheating? Whatever, That is part of the game. Just do our best to keep it honest and let them race. Young people are not going to watch this stuff because it has no connection to them or anything that inspires them. It isn't that young people aren't interested in cars and racing. The are just taking it to the streets and no longer identify with the sterilized corporation called NASCAR. I don't blame them, I can't stand to watch it and I love racing. I quit watching a long time back now and glad I freed up my Sunday afternoon to get things done. This channel reminds me of when there was actual racing, but you can see the slow morphing of NASCAR into the dead lifeless thing it is today. It is sad.
Cheatin stories from any racing discipline,really. I love hearing how the know they cheating,and how to get around it. Someone could literally make a "Racing Cheaters Only" channel.
Jimmy Means is a legend of nascar. He represents what I miss about racing, built his cars, independent driver, friendly as hell. Thank you Logan and Mitchell, you keep outdoing yourselves!
All the old guys talk about it Dale Jr. Talking with DW if you ain't cheating you ain't trying. Putting the led shot in the frames with wax plugs to make weight. As I was writing he was talking about it n the water tire lol
Stories like this are what make NASCAR so great. You do a little cheating in other sports, and people act like it's an attack on the entire sport. We LOVE cheating stories, part of the culture of competition
So true. I guess with stick and ball stuff it's not as comparable because the building of the equipment as an aspect of the competition in itself is nonexistent. Racing has so many more facets than typical sports and that is why I love it. It is so much more intellectual than anything else and ill argue that until I'm blue in the face
@@Stapleton42 I searched your video library and couldn't find a video on Jimmy's 1982 Race Shop. Do you have a video on that ? Thanks so much for this one !!
This is amazing! Jimmy is the true embodiment of a underdog racer with grit. A lot of innovative parts to stay competitive during one of the toughest eras in NASCAR competition. Can’t wait for his shop tour video!
What a creative thinker. Dale Jr loves Jimmy and now I see why. Thanks for the video Mitchell it is great that you are documenting these events that took place over the years in Nascar.
Guys! Jimmy Means! Ha! AWESOME!! You know Dale Jr. Is going to be watching this! Fan Boying out! I am so excited! So excited for you guys and can’t wait to see it! Thank you!
I watch all your videos and when these old cats start grabbing items off a shelf or out of a dusty old box and get excited because that's where all the good stuff is. I also think about that might be the last time they ever touch that again. Keep up the great work. Your hard work does not go unnoticed.
My old shop teacher won a lawn mower race. He made a statement to the local paper and his quote was "the winner is the person who cheated the most and didn't get caught". Hilarious
LOVE these old stories. NASCAR is too far gone and has been for a long time to be saved. Stopped watching so long ago I can't recall. Seeing these guys and the stories brings back some great memories. If NASCAR ever got back to it's roots of stock car racing and would get out of the way and let racing happen I would be back. They would attract young people. People that want to play with and modify their cars would watch actual stock cars racing. What wins on Sunday would sell on Monday once again. But not the way it is today it won't. Automobile racing will vanish at this rate. Thanks for sharing this.
Jimmy gave me the 👍🏼’s up at pocono right after a wreck that happened at the inside wall ! I was standing alone with my can of BUDWEISER! Dude tore up the 52 and still had good spirits 💪🏼 MEANS IS A CLASS ACT ,,,ONE OF THE GOOD OL GUYS OF NASCAR ! I Miss the 52 JIMMY ‼️
It was great to meet you both at PRI on Saturday. Thank you for taking a few minutes to talk with me and it was nice to tell you both in person about my new project for my channel. I've already got some companies lined up for that project in Jan of 2023.
I grew up watching Jimmy at Huntsville and Birmingham running Sportsman 65 chevelle, that was late 60’s and 70’s. Stands were packed and so was the field. Hell, I’m old. The competition was fierce. Alton Jones my favorite, Neil Bonnett, Bobby and Donnie Allison, Red Farmer, and lots more. “ Little “ Jimmy Means is what he was called
I'm not a NASCAR guy but I absolutely love how in every one of these videos the guys are so proud of their ingenuity in cheating. Amuses me to no end to hear these stories 👍
The funny thing about it to me is that this same stuff was happening in every race series around the globe, but only NASCAR guys are proud and open about it. F1 cheats still deny all of it. (and to be clear I LOVE the innovative engineering and just consider it trying hard to win)
@@Scoots1994 yep, exactly! You also hit the nail on the head as to why my interest in IndyCar is waning, what with their vintage cars and lack of engineering development
I remember the time jimmy drove a Hendrick car at charlotte. Always thought he needed 2 to 3 more races and look out. For what he had. He was the man. Lots of respect. Awesome video again.
Another great video showing the secrets of how the guys made extra speed back in the day. Thanks to you and Jimmy as well for letting us in on how it was done!!
When Jimmy raced in Huntsville Alabama in the early 70’s his race shop was next door to my dad’s shop who was a painting contractor! Every time I went to my dad’s shop with him I would hope Jimmy would be there and on a couple occasions I got to go in and look at his cars! He was so nice and friendly and would show me the cars! One of my best memories because I was a big race fan as a kid and use to race quarter midgets myself! I’m 63 now ! Jimmy was top dog at Huntsville speedway back then!
Wow, these NASCAR mechanics & crew chiefs were just plain innovators!! Great video, keep more of these interviews coming. This is info that needs to be recorded for sure! 👍
I did not want this video to end. Can't get any better than your videos of old NASCAR. Please keep up great work. You consistently ask best questions coupled with own racing knowledge.Thanks
I love it! What you are doing is preserving a time when computers didn't control the world and racing was about hard work, ingenuity, and dedication. Nascar has allowed foreign automakers into an American sport now. I refuse to take part. I am thankful for your work and historical documentation which reminds me of when watching Nascar was fun and exciting in the past! Not now. Thanks again.
Thank you so much for these videos. NASCAR needs more Jimmy Means, JD McDuffie, Elmo Langley's. I'm afraid that the days of the independent, owner/driver are long gone.
Like so many of his generation Jimmy will lull you to sleep meanwhile he's out thinking you and out engineering you. He has also helped so many young drivers gain a foothold in the sport and they often think that many of them forget to thank him publicly for everything that he has done.
More top shelf content! Thank you guys very much for having the initiative to go out and ask these legends of the sport to show us their stuff! This is truly T!Ts out of 10!
I met Jimmy Means in 2004 when I first went to work in the Busch Series. In 2005, I worked for Johnny Davis (drove the hauler) and we always parked our hauler near Jimmy’s in the garage (lined up by owner points). Great memories from that time…we were all like family. Sad to see Jimmy’s gout has gotten so bad. Working hard is all he’s known.
Man, I loved that baby blue Alka-Seltzer car! I rooted for Jimmy all day at Bristol just because I liked the look of his car… I think he was running white wheels on it that day. I needed a few Alka-Seltzers the next day…
That stuff should really be in a museum. The ingenuity, creativity and intelligence these fellas are is remarkable and should definitely be appreciated more
Bro I love Jimmy he's one of my favorites from the good old days. Lol his interview on Jr's podcast is my favorite and I've told myself before I wish you would get him on here and you did it.. you're the man. I wish the algorithm would work more in your favor with this type of content. By getting this kind of stuff out you will get more kids into racing than people doing content on current racers.
And this just was how it was just like the moonshiners running product. They had tricks to go fast and when had getting their product out there and winning is winning no matter what. I love it!
I had the privilege of talking to a guy who did a lot of stuff like this, at one point he was building cylinders of nitrous that fit in your pant leg for qualifying in nascar. He also hid a tank of nitrous in a removable seat for a Walker Evans stadium truck. But he had a bunch of storys like that but he had such a long winded way of telling storys, he would go off on someone elses life story and then about a half hour later we'd get back to the cool thing i wanted to hear about😂 SOOO much cool history if you can wade through all the junk nobody cares about
I've heard about and even messed with a couple of much cruder (probably because we could get away with it, allegedly) ways of "drag reduction" with decklid spoilers and wings, but the winch is a first and a pretty cool one at that. Actually seeing examples of the ways people have come up with to mitigate air inlet restrictors is always a good time. Keep up the good work and keep doing these kinds of things. Like everyone says, once these guys are gone, all the stories will fade and things like the decklid and the intake manifold parts will be just old dusty crap in a corner to someone who doesn't know what they're looking at. I dunno, it probably wouldn't attract a huge crowd of visitors, but if someone were to gather up as much of this kind of stuff before it's gone forever to put on a display somewhere along with all the stories that go with them as a "Hall of creative rules interpretation", I'd definitely visit and I doubt I'd be the only weirdo who's interested.
Jimmy don't know if you remember me, however Benji and I helped you in Bristol back in '07 I believe. Had a great time Derek Cope drove the car. I really enjoyed hearing all of your race story's and memorabilia you had collected throughout the years.
My dad has a good cheating story from his days in SCCA. Cars were supposed to be 4 speed, but they had a trick shift pattern to get into a 5th gear. Completely dominated, officials were counting the shifts, could clearly hear 5. In tech they tried everything to find the 5th gear, but could only get 4 and reverse. Audio evidence wasn't enough for a DQ, and they took the W.
"If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying" I won two track championships thanks to my fluidless converter I devised for my 2 speed powerglide. Racing is part winning on track and part winning in your garage.
Over the years we in the racing community have occasionally seen a run of the mill car come out of a pit like they had added extra cylinders or something. Much faster, sometimes obviously so. Figured it was fuel additive, I see now that it could have been Hundreds of pounds taken off. Thanks for the insight.
Earnhardt jr's interview didn't even get this story. Good job and it's such a treasure to have these type of videos that will live on forever. With the new cookie cutter cars and parts these tricks are gone. Keep up the good work for the next generation.
Thats why I was pretty shocked when he pulled this stuff out. I don know why he didn't say it back then. Maybe since he still was regular in Xfinity? He seemed iffy on the status of 2023 for his team.
The work Jimmy and many others did to get the signal to the carb just right.. to get that recip assembly to make strong horsepower. These guys were innovators before computers did a lot of the work. Killin' these vids. Merry Christmas you two!🙏👊
" Jimmy Means" Making Nascar Great Again" ! If you look up the definition of "Fabricator" they got a picture of Jimmy Means. He just happens to be a HECK of a Driver too. Great human being
What a coincidence, I just made a video about the Gant spoiler, and this shows up in my recommended videos today haha! Great interview, I really enjoyed it. Keep it up!
Thank you for doing these videos and the hard work you put into them. The stories and mechanical examples the men that are from the Winston Cup era can tell and show are fascinating to me as this era was by far my favorite time in NASCAR history. They weren’t the dumb hillbillies a lot of people like to say they are and were. They were visionaries and mechanical geniuses in some cases. It’s just great to hear them tell their stories of the good ol’ days that I and many people miss very much. Thanks again and keep up the good work man.
Jimmy means is a really nice guy. He was crew chief for bud Moore in the mid 90s and knew him well then being Greg Moores best friend. Great guy Jimmy is
Outstanding ! More History / Tech of NASCAR past, I do remember Jimmy and the 52 car back in the day. Fact is I can look at a old poster with a bunch of driver on and name most or all of them, today I am doing good to recognize a few of the kids now days. I am soo Ready to watch the Full shop tour! Thanks for all your hard work doing video's keeping the way cool history.
I love how he wears a Pete Bicknell racing shirt . I watch Old Pete at my local dirt track on Saturday nights and his workmanship is very well known now in drag and circle track racing manufacturing small components
Jimmy Means nearly killed me and my father in a crash at turn 6 at Riverside raceway when I was 7 years old. 1980 I think. I've read about the race and that crash but have never found video. He got forced inside on turn 6, into the dirt which had been worn away during the race causing a lip at the start of the short shoot down to turn 7. It launched his car airborne directly towards the bleachers of which I believe I was in the second row. I remember looking up at his car as people then began to scramble before the car crashed nose first into the wall. It's why at that young age I ALWAYS remembered Jimmy Means in car 52. I just would love to see video to see how tame that crash probably was compared to how harrowing I remember it to be :)
My uncle worked on his pit crew and we went to Huntsville to visit. My brother and I cleaned wheels and helped in the shop for a day. Jimmy let us have wrecked fenders, timing chains and a practice tire of AJ Foyt. Jimmy would buy AJ's used practice tires. Nice guy and we had fun.
It's funny that you're putting this out there. There was a lot of fun stuff that we used to work out and try back years ago. Of course our theory was, "if it ain't in the rule book, then it's legal". It's a little awkward feeling for me thinking back to the early and mid 80's and thinking of those as being "back in the day". 😄😄😄 Sonny was my hero. Now that cat, if you could've gotten an interview with him, that wouldda been something. He was pure genius.
Thanks for sharing. I like how upfront he was. The winch I never heard. We had two helmets one with lead in 1980. Never got caught. Nascar late models.
I could sit all day and listen to these old generation guys talk about how much cheating went on. I can remember my father and grandfather telling me when I was a kid with the crap they did. Love the history. Thanks. Jimmy Means has been around for a long time.. funny how the guys with the least always were the backbone of NASCAR and worked hard to be there every week.
Another awesome video! Some of the cheats seen here i had never heard about before. I had heard about springs in spoilers, but not the actual, Let's just call it " dial a spoiler" lol Never heard about the water tricks with the inner liner's either, nor the winch-a-matic in the back. Awesome stuff!! Great video! :)
great stories... I met a guy by the name of BV Alvarez (was a client of mine) that told me tons of these old stories... I really regret not writing them dow n...
Your videos of the old stuff are so interesting and helps us understand how much the old guys knew! The didn't have computers and flow benches and still made more HP!!!
Jimmy got a photo of his son Brad and Dale Jr. in his office from the 1980's. Brad and Dale Jr were buds at the track when Jimmy and Dale races on the weekend's. Jimmy shop got a lot of history. The back building of his shop is where Front Row Motorsports started in. When I worked there in 2016 Morgan Shepherd 2013 New Hampshire cup car that Brad Keselowski was owning a cup team at the time was stored at Jimmy shop.
I race dirt track super late models my deck lid has heavy springs attached,the faster you go the more it lay's down,I also strap a small NOS bottle to my leg with a quick connect line under my seat, long as there's racing there will be creativity 😎
Thank you so much for making all these videos! I miss racers like Jimmy. I started watching Winston Cup racing around 1985, so these bring back some great memories.
I had a well meaning crew member on my low budget late model team that bought an ultra downforce body which had been outlawed after the first year and running one was an additional 200 pound penalty. But I wanted to race so bad that we took the car to the snowball derby with the additional 200 pounds and it was pulling a trailer with that extra weight. Qualified near the back and got caught up in an early race wreck. Wasn’t worth it but still has SOME fun.
It's so interesting- this information about the past, things that were paramount at the time, in the sport, that will end up being lost. Lost because we can't memorialize everything. The physical, actual cars and engines and such- that are owned by aging owners are going to be lost. It's sad. We can only share the past by way of this: videos, interviews, etc. of those still with us.
There’s something that can actually be taken from all these cheating stories… these guys all found ways to improve their vehicles in ways that people who want to mod their street cars at home today can take some ideas from. Weight reduction, aerodynamic mods, squeezing extra HP out of seemingly nowhere. Some of this stuff is brilliant.
I like the story some racer told me about putting pieces of coal in the rear springs. They go through tech and measure height. Somebody pushes down on the car before it goes on track and the coal breaks. The car and spoiler is now lower for qualifying.
Great stuff as usual. I love all the tech stuff, and especially the cheat stories. I worked for a successful cup team a few years ago, and I can tell you that as of then there was lots of it still going on and you wouldn't be competitive otherwise. I'm sure that's still the case.
Went to Jimmy's to film a video about his shop (he's been in the same spot for 40 years) and he started pulling out all this stuff 😂
Check out Jimmy's time capsule 1970s race car hauler! th-cam.com/video/j5JzhyDKW1o/w-d-xo.html
FULL SHOP TOUR VIDEO: th-cam.com/video/KzmAejDcasA/w-d-xo.html
If you like the hoodie I'm wearing you can find it at stapletonautoworks.com
Howay y'all
I want Jimmy's Bicknell Chassis Sweat Shirt.
@@jimmyjackass1805 I'm also loving Jimmy's BRP shirt
Its ashame he never got caught, What he's saying is he couldn't win without cheating
What you are doing with these videos is a service to NASCAR and fans alike. Once these guys have passed, their knowledge and memories of the past goes with them. Hearing them firsthand is a treasure.
Thanks Travis. I’m blessed to be able to do both provide a service and enjoy it first hand
Why ?
They are cheats
How about racing without illegal modifications
@@des782 You're dreaming. In racing, everybody does things to get an edge from the lowest classes on up. That's just a fact of life and if you think about it that stuff is a competition in its self.
Absolutely true,Travis Dean Ministries. These interviews are verification of facts. Sadly,each time one of the greats passes,out comes the "revisionist history" tellers. Folks who weren't even around then but will call you a liar (online) because you actually "were there."
@des782 because most racers were doing it it's done and love it or hate it it's part of a rich history of NASCAR and now we can look back and laugh every driver/team was trying to win at any cost and with teams with bigger budgets they would inevitably do better than the guys on a shoestring budget so they had to try something, that's just my thoughts I'm not saying it was wrong or right but it was fkn exciting
I could listen to old NASCAR cheatin’ stories all day long.
If NASCAR would just get out of the way and regulating everything to death there would be no reason to have to cheat. Would love to see actual stock cars racing again and not this roll cage template with stickers nonsense. I stopped watching a long time ago and won't be back. NASCAR is too far gone. Cheatin stories indeed!
@@Longsnowsm I beg to differ. There weren’t many “regulations” or rules back in the 60s and 70s, yet cheating was more rampant than today. I agree, NASCAR has lost it’s shine these days, but I think their biggest issue is getting the young folks involved. It’s a common theme across all major sports with a possible exception being American football. It’s largely an attention-span problem. Baseball is too slow for the instant gratification people of today. Soccer is constant action. It’s the way of the world and we are slowly getting on board. I’m a drag racer at heart and raced twice a month for nearly 12 years. It hurts to see the low attendance at national NHRA events. They way it’s going, I’d bet the NHRA as we know it won’t exist in 10 years.
@@charlieromeo7663 If NASCAR does not get back to it's roots of stock cars and this massive over regulation and political correctness BS it is finished. You are not going to attract young people unless they identify with the cars and drivers on the track. No one identifies this roll cage, template with stickers as a car people can buy. Race fans typically are car people. The stuff running on the tracks should be something people can buy, modify, and build. That bridge is gone. Keep the regulations minimal and run stock cars. What wins on Sunday will sell on Monday. Cheating? Whatever, That is part of the game. Just do our best to keep it honest and let them race. Young people are not going to watch this stuff because it has no connection to them or anything that inspires them. It isn't that young people aren't interested in cars and racing. The are just taking it to the streets and no longer identify with the sterilized corporation called NASCAR. I don't blame them, I can't stand to watch it and I love racing. I quit watching a long time back now and glad I freed up my Sunday afternoon to get things done. This channel reminds me of when there was actual racing, but you can see the slow morphing of NASCAR into the dead lifeless thing it is today. It is sad.
Cheatin stories from any racing discipline,really.
I love hearing how the know they cheating,and how to get around it.
Someone could literally make a "Racing Cheaters Only" channel.
@@LeeePowers His record leaves a lot to be desired. Apparently his cheating ability is equal to his driving
Jimmy Means is a legend of nascar. He represents what I miss about racing, built his cars, independent driver, friendly as hell. Thank you Logan and Mitchell, you keep outdoing yourselves!
I love these old ‘compromising to be competitive’ stories. Hope there is a part 2. We need to hear more from Jimmy.
Part 2 part 3 part 4. I want more
All the old guys talk about it Dale Jr. Talking with DW if you ain't cheating you ain't trying. Putting the led shot in the frames with wax plugs to make weight. As I was writing he was talking about it n the water tire lol
Stories like this are what make NASCAR so great. You do a little cheating in other sports, and people act like it's an attack on the entire sport. We LOVE cheating stories, part of the culture of competition
So true. I guess with stick and ball stuff it's not as comparable because the building of the equipment as an aspect of the competition in itself is nonexistent. Racing has so many more facets than typical sports and that is why I love it. It is so much more intellectual than anything else and ill argue that until I'm blue in the face
Cheating is such a ugly term. I prefer to call the way we did in the 60’s and 70’s creative rule interpretation. Lol 🙄😎
It's not cheating if you don't get caught. Jimmy Means was a genius
Somebody said, " If you ain.t cheatin, you ain't tryin !!
@@Stapleton42 I searched your video library and couldn't find a video on Jimmy's 1982 Race Shop. Do you have a video on that ? Thanks so much for this one !!
This is amazing! Jimmy is the true embodiment of a underdog racer with grit. A lot of innovative parts to stay competitive during one of the toughest eras in NASCAR competition. Can’t wait for his shop tour video!
Thanks man!
What a creative thinker. Dale Jr loves Jimmy and now I see why. Thanks for the video Mitchell it is great that you are documenting these events that took place over the years in Nascar.
Thank you for being here Mike!
Jimmy and Dale Sr. was great friends. That's why Jr. likes him so good.
@@williamwalker5904 You may know Jimmy's son Brad hung out with Dale Jr. when they were about 10 or 12, they became B.F.'s
Guys! Jimmy Means! Ha! AWESOME!! You know Dale Jr. Is going to be watching this! Fan Boying out! I am so excited! So excited for you guys and can’t wait to see it! Thank you!
I watch all your videos and when these old cats start grabbing items off a shelf or out of a dusty old box and get excited because that's where all the good stuff is. I also think about that might be the last time they ever touch that again. Keep up the great work. Your hard work does not go unnoticed.
Thanks Felix
My old shop teacher won a lawn mower race. He made a statement to the local paper and his quote was "the winner is the person who cheated the most and didn't get caught". Hilarious
My dad's saying has always been "it ain't cheating till you get caught." Coincidentally, my dad also raced lawnmowers back in the day.
@@SamMaciel❤
@@SamMaciel🎉 17:49
LOVE these old stories. NASCAR is too far gone and has been for a long time to be saved. Stopped watching so long ago I can't recall. Seeing these guys and the stories brings back some great memories. If NASCAR ever got back to it's roots of stock car racing and would get out of the way and let racing happen I would be back. They would attract young people. People that want to play with and modify their cars would watch actual stock cars racing. What wins on Sunday would sell on Monday once again. But not the way it is today it won't. Automobile racing will vanish at this rate. Thanks for sharing this.
thanks man we are glad you're here!
I love these. Like Andy Petree told Dale Jr. and Mike, "If you built a car by the rule book, you wouldn't even know where they went."
Jimmy gave me the 👍🏼’s up at pocono right after a wreck that happened at the inside wall ! I was standing alone with my can of BUDWEISER! Dude tore up the 52 and still had good spirits 💪🏼 MEANS IS A CLASS ACT ,,,ONE OF THE GOOD OL GUYS OF NASCAR ! I Miss the 52 JIMMY ‼️
Simply amazing.
He is a true gem in the NASCAR world!
Keep the stories coming.
Thanks bob we will
It was great to meet you both at PRI on Saturday. Thank you for taking a few minutes to talk with me and it was nice to tell you both in person about my new project for my channel. I've already got some companies lined up for that project in Jan of 2023.
Thanks man!
I grew up watching Jimmy at Huntsville and Birmingham running Sportsman 65 chevelle, that was late 60’s and 70’s. Stands were packed and so was the field. Hell, I’m old. The competition was fierce. Alton Jones my favorite, Neil Bonnett, Bobby and Donnie Allison, Red Farmer, and lots more. “ Little “ Jimmy Means is what he was called
I'm not a NASCAR guy but I absolutely love how in every one of these videos the guys are so proud of their ingenuity in cheating. Amuses me to no end to hear these stories 👍
Thanks man we’re glad you’re here
The funny thing about it to me is that this same stuff was happening in every race series around the globe, but only NASCAR guys are proud and open about it. F1 cheats still deny all of it. (and to be clear I LOVE the innovative engineering and just consider it trying hard to win)
@@Scoots1994 yep, exactly! You also hit the nail on the head as to why my interest in IndyCar is waning, what with their vintage cars and lack of engineering development
A lot of these ideas aren't technically cheating until they make a rule against the specific thing.
@@jondoe4667 it's more a spirit of the rule thing
I remember the time jimmy drove a Hendrick car at charlotte. Always thought he needed 2 to 3 more races and look out. For what he had. He was the man. Lots of respect. Awesome video again.
Another great video showing the secrets of how the guys made extra speed back in the day. Thanks to you and Jimmy as well for letting us in on how it was done!!
Thanks for letting us have a glimpse into Jimmy's shop. He's a home town hero here in Forest City, NC.
When Jimmy raced in Huntsville Alabama in the early 70’s his race shop was next door to my dad’s shop who was a painting contractor! Every time I went to my dad’s shop with him I would hope Jimmy would be there and on a couple occasions I got to go in and look at his cars! He was so nice and friendly and would show me the cars! One of my best memories because I was a big race fan as a kid and use to race quarter midgets myself! I’m 63 now ! Jimmy was top dog at Huntsville speedway back then!
That’s awesome!
We need to know more about this. You are barely scratching the surface. This guy seems so solid.
Jimmy Means!! Always was a fan of Jimmy's!! Did what he needed to do to race!! This man is a mechanical genius!!! A true Nascar LEGEND!!!!
Wow, these NASCAR mechanics & crew chiefs were just plain innovators!! Great video, keep more of these interviews coming. This is info that needs to be recorded for sure! 👍
This is a man that has forgotten more about engines and racing than most people will ever know
Jimmy, you were always one of my favorites. The small guys were the real racers...
I did not want this video to end. Can't get any better than your videos of old NASCAR. Please keep up great work. You consistently ask best questions coupled with own racing knowledge.Thanks
Thank you Benny!
I love it! What you are doing is preserving a time when computers didn't control the world and racing was about hard work, ingenuity, and dedication. Nascar has allowed foreign automakers into an American sport now. I refuse to take part. I am thankful for your work and historical documentation which reminds me of when watching Nascar was fun and exciting in the past! Not now. Thanks again.
Thank YOU for being here for it!
Thank you so much for these videos. NASCAR needs more Jimmy Means, JD McDuffie, Elmo Langley's. I'm afraid that the days of the independent, owner/driver are long gone.
You start to realize these people are the last of an era and a dying breed. These videos are all perfect timing
Were out to capture the stories while they are still here!
Like so many of his generation Jimmy will lull you to sleep meanwhile he's out thinking you and out engineering you. He has also helped so many young drivers gain a foothold in the sport and they often think that many of them forget to thank him publicly for everything that he has done.
More top shelf content! Thank you guys very much for having the initiative to go out and ask these legends of the sport to show us their stuff! This is truly T!Ts out of 10!
Our pleasure! We appreciate you Dan
I met Jimmy Means in 2004 when I first went to work in the Busch Series. In 2005, I worked for Johnny Davis (drove the hauler) and we always parked our hauler near Jimmy’s in the garage (lined up by owner points). Great memories from that time…we were all like family. Sad to see Jimmy’s gout has gotten so bad. Working hard is all he’s known.
Man, I loved that baby blue Alka-Seltzer car! I rooted for Jimmy all day at Bristol just because I liked the look of his car… I think he was running white wheels on it that day. I needed a few Alka-Seltzers the next day…
Another great one, Mitchell and Logan. We love you guys for what you're doing. Making people smile on a regular basis.
Thanks joshua!
That stuff should really be in a museum. The ingenuity, creativity and intelligence these fellas are is remarkable and should definitely be appreciated more
Bro I love Jimmy he's one of my favorites from the good old days. Lol his interview on Jr's podcast is my favorite and I've told myself before I wish you would get him on here and you did it.. you're the man. I wish the algorithm would work more in your favor with this type of content. By getting this kind of stuff out you will get more kids into racing than people doing content on current racers.
Thanks Jesse I feel the same way
And this just was how it was just like the moonshiners running product. They had tricks to go fast and when had getting their product out there and winning is winning no matter what. I love it!
I had the privilege of talking to a guy who did a lot of stuff like this, at one point he was building cylinders of nitrous that fit in your pant leg for qualifying in nascar. He also hid a tank of nitrous in a removable seat for a Walker Evans stadium truck. But he had a bunch of storys like that but he had such a long winded way of telling storys, he would go off on someone elses life story and then about a half hour later we'd get back to the cool thing i wanted to hear about😂 SOOO much cool history if you can wade through all the junk nobody cares about
I've heard about and even messed with a couple of much cruder (probably because we could get away with it, allegedly) ways of "drag reduction" with decklid spoilers and wings, but the winch is a first and a pretty cool one at that. Actually seeing examples of the ways people have come up with to mitigate air inlet restrictors is always a good time. Keep up the good work and keep doing these kinds of things. Like everyone says, once these guys are gone, all the stories will fade and things like the decklid and the intake manifold parts will be just old dusty crap in a corner to someone who doesn't know what they're looking at. I dunno, it probably wouldn't attract a huge crowd of visitors, but if someone were to gather up as much of this kind of stuff before it's gone forever to put on a display somewhere along with all the stories that go with them as a "Hall of creative rules interpretation", I'd definitely visit and I doubt I'd be the only weirdo who's interested.
I’ll start my own museum someday
Jimmy don't know if you remember me, however Benji and I helped you in Bristol back in '07 I believe. Had a great time Derek Cope drove the car. I really enjoyed hearing all of your race story's and memorabilia you had collected throughout the years.
Y’all are still killin it! If there are no more videos coming out in the next week or two I wish you both a Merry Christmas!
My dad has a good cheating story from his days in SCCA. Cars were supposed to be 4 speed, but they had a trick shift pattern to get into a 5th gear. Completely dominated, officials were counting the shifts, could clearly hear 5. In tech they tried everything to find the 5th gear, but could only get 4 and reverse. Audio evidence wasn't enough for a DQ, and they took the W.
damn how DID he get it into 5th
"If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying"
I won two track championships thanks to my fluidless converter I devised for my 2 speed powerglide. Racing is part winning on track and part winning in your garage.
Over the years we in the racing community have occasionally seen a run of the mill car come out of a pit like they had added extra cylinders or something. Much faster, sometimes obviously so. Figured it was fuel additive, I see now that it could have been Hundreds of pounds taken off.
Thanks for the insight.
Dale jr and Brad Means use to 'fined' stuff for Jimmy. box of plugs or stuff like that from sponsors when they use to run around the garage area.
I loved "Smut!" He used to come up to the Nashville Fairgrounds in the 70s. Drove the orange number 92 Chevelle in the LMS division.
Gotta thank Jimmy for making NASCAR what I was. Without guys like him it would have been only 15 high dollar teams not filling the track. Legend.
Exactly!!
Earnhardt jr's interview didn't even get this story. Good job and it's such a treasure to have these type of videos that will live on forever. With the new cookie cutter cars and parts these tricks are gone. Keep up the good work for the next generation.
Thats why I was pretty shocked when he pulled this stuff out. I don know why he didn't say it back then. Maybe since he still was regular in Xfinity? He seemed iffy on the status of 2023 for his team.
That's because NASCAR eavesdrops on jr
I have always heard everyone was cheating and if your not cheating your not trying. Seeing a video like this is just awesome
Thanks Tim. It’s all true 😂
No matter what you do for the next subject matter it always turns into GOLD!!!
The work Jimmy and many others did to get the signal to the carb just right.. to get that recip assembly to make strong horsepower. These guys were innovators before computers did a lot of the work.
Killin' these vids. Merry Christmas you two!🙏👊
Never forget.... SOMEBODY told the computers what to think.
Put it in a museum? That would be the 'Smokey Yunick Creative Rule Interpretations Museum' :D
YES! Not only would I love to just have a few beers with this man, I'd love to work for him! Thank you so much for doing what you do!
Thanks man!
" Jimmy Means" Making Nascar Great Again" ! If you look up the definition of "Fabricator" they got a picture of Jimmy Means. He just happens to be a HECK of a Driver too. Great human being
What a coincidence, I just made a video about the Gant spoiler, and this shows up in my recommended videos today haha! Great interview, I really enjoyed it. Keep it up!
That's cool! Thanks man
Raced with him and his family 97 in the Hooters ProCop division learned a lot by just watching
.
Love these old stories I could listen to them all day, thanks for sharing.
Man there's alot of cool stuff in that garage
Thanks man we are glad you're here!
Thank you for doing these videos and the hard work you put into them. The stories and mechanical examples the men that are from the Winston Cup era can tell and show are fascinating to me as this era was by far my favorite time in NASCAR history. They weren’t the dumb hillbillies a lot of people like to say they are and were. They were visionaries and mechanical geniuses in some cases. It’s just great to hear them tell their stories of the good ol’ days that I and many people miss very much. Thanks again and keep up the good work man.
Jimmy means is a really nice guy. He was crew chief for bud Moore in the mid 90s and knew him well then being Greg Moores best friend. Great guy Jimmy is
Outstanding ! More History / Tech of NASCAR past, I do remember Jimmy and the 52 car back in the day. Fact is I can look at a old poster with a bunch of driver on and name most or all of them, today I am doing good to recognize a few of the kids now days. I am soo Ready to watch the Full shop tour! Thanks for all your hard work doing video's keeping the way cool history.
Thanks Steve 💪🏻
I love how he wears a Pete Bicknell racing shirt . I watch Old Pete at my local dirt track on Saturday nights and his workmanship is very well known now in drag and circle track racing manufacturing small components
Jimmy Means nearly killed me and my father in a crash at turn 6 at Riverside raceway when I was 7 years old. 1980 I think. I've read about the race and that crash but have never found video. He got forced inside on turn 6, into the dirt which had been worn away during the race causing a lip at the start of the short shoot down to turn 7. It launched his car airborne directly towards the bleachers of which I believe I was in the second row. I remember looking up at his car as people then began to scramble before the car crashed nose first into the wall. It's why at that young age I ALWAYS remembered Jimmy Means in car 52. I just would love to see video to see how tame that crash probably was compared to how harrowing I remember it to be :)
My uncle worked on his pit crew and we went to Huntsville to visit. My brother and I cleaned wheels and helped in the shop for a day. Jimmy let us have wrecked fenders, timing chains and a practice tire of AJ Foyt. Jimmy would buy AJ's used practice tires. Nice guy and we had fun.
he's in huntsville, al?
Awesome video I worked for Jimmy when we built this car. It had a welded up compartment the master cylinder was in. Was pretty slick.
Smut, you represent Huntsville well. Always loved watching you and Johnny Brewer at the south’s fastest quarter mile.
The 52 powder blue racing champions, was my favorite!
It's funny that you're putting this out there. There was a lot of fun stuff that we used to work out and try back years ago. Of course our theory was, "if it ain't in the rule book, then it's legal". It's a little awkward feeling for me thinking back to the early and mid 80's and thinking of those as being "back in the day". 😄😄😄 Sonny was my hero. Now that cat, if you could've gotten an interview with him, that wouldda been something. He was pure genius.
This guy was an auto racing genius thank you for posting
youre welcome Shane we appreciate you!
Thanks for sharing. I like how upfront he was. The winch I never heard. We had two helmets one with lead in 1980. Never got caught. Nascar late models.
I could sit all day and listen to these old generation guys talk about how much cheating went on. I can remember my father and grandfather telling me when I was a kid with the crap they did. Love the history. Thanks. Jimmy Means has been around for a long time.. funny how the guys with the least always were the backbone of NASCAR and worked hard to be there every week.
Another awesome video! Some of the cheats seen here i had never heard about before. I had heard about springs in spoilers, but not the actual, Let's just call it " dial a spoiler" lol Never heard about the water tricks with the inner liner's either, nor the winch-a-matic in the back. Awesome stuff!!
Great video! :)
Thanks man!! These were new stories for me too lol. The winch blew me away
great stories... I met a guy by the name of BV Alvarez (was a client of mine) that told me tons of these old stories... I really regret not writing them dow n...
The stories about cheating back in the day are my favorite NASCAR story videos.
Some of the best interviews I have ever seen you’re doing a great job. 😊 Thanks for sharing.
Man, your videos are amazing! Nobody else gives a shit enough to do what you are doing. You keep old school nascar alive and I love it, thank you!
LMMFAO 🤣 I loved the whole transition from Did you ever cheat like that......"No, But what I did do was....."
yes me too lol a classic moment
@@Stapleton42 indeed it was!!!
Your videos of the old stuff are so interesting and helps us understand how much the old guys knew! The didn't have computers and flow benches and still made more HP!!!
Jimmy got a photo of his son Brad and Dale Jr. in his office from the 1980's. Brad and Dale Jr were buds at the track when Jimmy and Dale races on the weekend's. Jimmy shop got a lot of history. The back building of his shop is where Front Row Motorsports started in. When I worked there in 2016 Morgan Shepherd 2013 New Hampshire cup car that Brad Keselowski was owning a cup team at the time was stored at Jimmy shop.
This video is so damn cool, and best served by a cool old guy who was there for it all. Outstanding video sir.
Thanks man. That’s what we do here 💪🏻
Not a huge NASCAR fan but these stories fascinate me to no end. Keep it coming.
Thanks man we will!!
This is definitely going to be a good video, since I have listened to interviews with Jimmy Means before.
I race dirt track super late models my deck lid has heavy springs attached,the faster you go the more it lay's down,I also strap a small NOS bottle to my leg with a quick connect line under my seat, long as there's racing there will be creativity 😎
Jimmy is cut from the same cloth as "Smokey" Yunick. Super nice and honest... in current times.
Great video Stapleton42.Nice tee up with Jimmy.Again,the good old days with Nascar.Maybe Nascar should go back to those days.
Thank you so much for making all these videos! I miss racers like Jimmy. I started watching Winston Cup racing around 1985, so these bring back some great memories.
You’re welcome Brian
I love all of this Nascar history. Thank you both for all of the hard work to make these videos.
That was a great time in the sport. Being "creative" was part of the game. It's like tuning up the cars and hiding shine to outwit the cops.
I had a well meaning crew member on my low budget late model team that bought an ultra downforce body which had been outlawed after the first year and running one was an additional 200 pound penalty. But I wanted to race so bad that we took the car to the snowball derby with the additional 200 pounds and it was pulling a trailer with that extra weight. Qualified near the back and got caught up in an early race wreck. Wasn’t worth it but still has SOME fun.
It's so interesting- this information about the past, things that were paramount at the time, in the sport, that will end up being lost.
Lost because we can't memorialize everything. The physical, actual cars and engines and such- that are owned by aging owners are going to be lost. It's sad. We can only share the past by way of this: videos, interviews, etc. of those still with us.
Doing the best we can!
some of them pieces should be in a museum
There’s something that can actually be taken from all these cheating stories… these guys all found ways to improve their vehicles in ways that people who want to mod their street cars at home today can take some ideas from. Weight reduction, aerodynamic mods, squeezing extra HP out of seemingly nowhere. Some of this stuff is brilliant.
Absolutely! Everyone did it
I used to see Jimmy Means at Huntsville Speedway and at Talladega Superspeedway back when NASCAR was still cool.
I like the story some racer told me about putting pieces of coal in the rear springs. They go through tech and measure height. Somebody pushes down on the car before it goes on track and the coal breaks. The car and spoiler is now lower for qualifying.
Great stuff as usual. I love all the tech stuff, and especially the cheat stories. I worked for a successful cup team a few years ago, and I can tell you that as of then there was lots of it still going on and you wouldn't be competitive otherwise. I'm sure that's still the case.
Mitchell and Logan you are documenting history so it will not be lost with the passage of time and that is a very good thing!
Thanks man we are working hard!
This was awesome. I’ve always thought Mr. Means was a cool dude and very smart and you can definitely tell he is. Cant wait for the next one!
All those cheater parts need to be in a museum somewhere! The good old boys were smarter than the average bear! Love it!
Jimmy Means is a living museum. I love him
Keep making these when ever possible these guys are great and the history will be gone if you guys don’t save it like you have been Thanks
Jim we appreciate you 💪🏻