|
The best Racer on Racer story I've ever read in Sprint Car and Midget Magazine (Sept 2012),
summarized by me from many pages of a great great magazine story. Because all this is public knowledge thanks to the article, I shouldn't be embarrassing anyone, if I have I apologize.
One day after the 94 season one of the all-time great sprint car drivers, Hall of Famer Rip Williams went to his owner Jan Gaffney and told her "we might want to think about getting some new cars for next year". To his amazement she tells him she is getting out of racing, she's done. She did what she came to accomplish and is now done spending money. Rip Williams
could hardly believe what he just heard. Jack Jory has some money obviously, a construction company owner, and a guy who liked to hang out with the racers, loved sprint car racing, actually crazy about it like most of us, and he spent a lot of time in the pits around
Rip. Loved to hang around with drivers and crews in the pits. Jory finds out about Rip's owner selling out & asks Rip what it would cost to buy her stuff and run for a year, then after hearing an answer he says to Rip's surprise, "I can do that". Next, they are going to a race together in his beat up truck and small enclosed trailer and Jory says, we need a better rig.
Just out of the blue. We need a better rig. Rip tells him that they can get along just
fine with what he has and that rigs are expensive, then Jory pulls out a picture of a two year old Kodiak with a much bigger Chaparral trailer and says, "this is our new rig---I bought it".
Again, just out of the blue he does this. A few months later they are driving to another
race together and Jory says "why don't we get a new rig and trailer". Rip protested on all this spending money. He wanted to get thru the season without Jory going broke. "Lets fly over
to Iowa and look at new stuff" and sure as hell, Jack Jory buys Craig Cormack's transporter (Herrera and others had drove for Cormack in the WoO and used this transporter) and buys a brand new Volvo tractor and paints the transporter to match the tractor. Jory said jokingly,
"we might not win another race but we'll win the transporter race". He wanted to do everything bigger and better. New cars were next. New and better motors came too. Always buying equipment. Everything was new and better. They did this for several years until Rip got
hurt and was out for the rest of the year and tells Jack Jory he should get another driver to fill in to which Jory replies, "why don't we put Cody in the car". Cody was Rip's young son who had only driven in 8 or 9 Ford Focus midget races to date and Rip was against throwing his son
into a sprint car having had no experience but Jory was dead set on putting Rip's son in the sprint car and that's exactly what he did. Finally Rip heals up and says he's ready to
replace Cody to which Jory says "let's run two cars". Again, just out of the blue, "lets run two
cars" and he was dead set on it, no changing his mind. More years go by and Jack Jory says, "what are you going to do with Austin?", Rip's other young son who had just started racing Ford Focus Midgets. Again, out of the blue, Jack Jory says, "we'll put him in a 3rd sprint car next year, yeah, let's have 3 cars" and he goes out and buys more equipment.
His answer to why 3 cars? "They need us to have 3 cars out there". And by George Jack Jory was going to have his three teams. Rip tells about how Jory didn't ever want to see sprint car racing go away and was going to do all he could to keep plenty of cars on the track. Rip said Jory is the happiest when either at the races helping do what he could around the cars or when riding down the road in the hauler. Just loved being around racers and the action at the track. He also liked traveling long distances to new tracks. Last thing Rip said was "he treats me and my boys like gold and we never asked for anything from him---not once". He was the kind of guy who was always giving used but still good equipment and tires to other teams, always telling Rip, "just give the stuff to whoever needs it". Even new stuff to drivers needing
it---never expecting or wanting payment for it. He's told Rip several times including now at age 55 "you have a ride with me for as long as you want it".
This guy Jack Jory, who I had never heard of, is now in my top 5 favorite racing people. Rip Williams met a dream owner. Jack Jory has done the things most of us only dream of doing.
Lawlessness + liberalism = HELL - NYC, Detroit, Chicago,
Seattle, LA Who the H runs those cities.
|
