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Thinking of 'Harvey'
I have been thinking late this evening of my friend James Hylton and his son 'Tweety' that were killed last Saturday returning home from an ARCA race in Talladega. It seems so un-natural that he was killed on the highway after logging untold miles on a race track as I have personally pulled him from a crashed car on two occasions, as I have done on more than a few occasions with other drivers. I met 'Harvey' early in my racing career and we worked side by side in the garage over many years. He was the consummate pioneer in that he was the rare breed that built his own cars and the motors and was his own crew chief. We had travelled together on many of the west coast road trips, chatting on the CB radios to keep each other awake. What made me think about posting this thought on this site was as I was thinking about him this evening, it dawned on me that the first English wheel that I ever saw was in his race shop. He never used it. On one other occasion, he took me down to Cotton Owens garage in Spartanburg where I saw 'Roy' using a hand held planishing hammer to form small flares to the upper area of the Dodge Daytona front fenders. I had never seen one before, and 'Roy' would stop using it if he saw anyone looking at him while he used it. I was unable to attend his funeral as I had previously scheduled the Minnesota trip with Jim. R.I.P. 'Harvey' and 'Tweety'
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Will |
#2
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I was also very surprised and saddened to hear the news about the accident while we were having Sat dinner with family nearly 2 wks ago. I had met but didn't "know" Mr Hylton or his son. At the end of high school, the interior of my first Galaxie came from the old drive-in-turned-junkyard across the road from his shop. Another friend (Scott) opened an upholstery shop just past Hylton's a couple yrs later.
Even before I was getting my Galaxie interior, The Hyltons had a TR4 or two out front, which was one reason why I stopped while driving my TR3. Didn't know about their racing creds before I stopped.... They really did it all themselves vs others who specialized as owner or builder or driver. They were more unassuming than some of the other shops around here and more receptive to a naive kid asking questions whenever I stopped. Very cool stuff. Not many of the racing elders left here around here anymore. Things sure do change. Will- on the first news report there was mention of a third person (passenger) involved. After that, there was no such mention- just Mr. Hylton and his son. Do you know anything about anyone else that was in the truck?
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AC Button II http://CarolinaSculptureStudio.com https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzSYaYdis55gE-vqifzjA6A Carolina Sculpture Studio Channel |
#3
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Cliff this may clarify it a bit:http://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/st...on-son-charged
Just a real sad situation. Older I get the more I realize what we lose when someone from older generations passes away. God bless you Mr. Hylton and Son.
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Chris (trying to be the best me I can be) |
#4
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A mutual friend knows Terry's mother and it seems that both of Terry's legs were severely damaged to the point that there is little chance of full recovery of complete usage. I have first hand knowledge of such a concern.
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Will |
#5
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Very sad situation Bill. Prayers go out to all involved.
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Kevin B |
#6
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I told my Mama the other morning it seemed a shame James got killed on the highway after all those years in the race car. One of the last of the true independents, he kept at it without the big money backing.
Back in the early 90's, when I was fooling with the dirt cars, I would go and buy used inner tubes from him. Like Clint mentioned, he always seemed to have a little time for a young dumb kid.
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Barry Duckworth |
#7
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Will,
Thanks for posting this. Very sad for them to have departed so early. Leaves a big empty hole in hearts and lives. Sincere condolences,
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Kent http://www.tinmantech.com "All it takes is a little practical experience to blow the he!! out of a perfectly good theory." --- Lloyd Rosenquist, charter member AWS, 1919. |
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