James "Jimmy" Means is a former Winston Cup/Nextel Cup

NEXTEL Cup

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing . The series was originally known as the Strictly Stock Series and Grand National Series . While leasing its naming rights to R. J...

 owner/driver. Currently, he is an adviser for Front Row Motorsports

Front Row Motorsports

Front Row Motorsports is a team that competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The team began running part-time in 2004 as Means-Jenkins Motorsports under a partnership with Jimmy Means and restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, with Jenkins becoming the full team owner in 2005...

 and owns his own team, Means Racing

Means Racing

Means Racing is a NASCAR Nationwide Series team. It is owned by former driver Jimmy Means. The team primarily runs without sponsorship, and fields the #52 Chevrolet Impala.-Busch/Nationwide Series:...

. He competed in NASCAR for eighteen years in mostly his own equipment, posting seventeen career top-tens. He made three career Busch Series

Busch Series

The NASCAR Nationwide Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing. It is promoted as NASCAR's "minor league" circuit, and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organization's "big leagues"; the Sprint Cup circuit...

 starts in 1989, finishing 10th at Darlington Raceway

Darlington Raceway

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed the "Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition"...

. Following his retirement, Means worked as a crew chief

Pit stop

In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above...

 in NASCAR, working for Bud Moore Engineering

Bud Moore Engineering

Bud Moore Engineering was a championship-winning NASCAR team. It was owned and operated by mechanic Bud Moore and ran out of Spartanburg, South Carolina. While the team was a dominant force in the 60s and 80s, the final years were tumultuous due to lack of sponorship and uncompetitive race cars.-...

 and Moy Racing

Moy Racing

Moy Racing was an auto racing team owned by former Ford Motor Company employee Joseph Reilly which fielded entries in the NASCAR Busch Series. Drivers who piloted the Moy Racing Ford included Jimmy Kitchens, Andy Kirby, Carl Long , Bruce Bechtel, Dana White, Brad Teague, Ed Berrier, Donnie...

. Means was part the Alabama Gang

Alabama Gang

The Alabama Gang was the nickname for a group of NASCAR drivers who set up shop and operated out of Hueytown, Alabama, near Birmingham, Alabama. In the late 1950s, young auto racer Bobby Allison left Miami, Florida, looking for an area that had more opportunities to race. He discovered central...

 which included Bobby Allison

Bobby Allison

Robert Arthur Allison is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. His two sons, Clifford Allison and Davey Allison followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other....

, Davey Allison

Davey Allison

David Carl "Davey" Allison was a NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the #28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the Winston Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was the eldest of four children born to Bobby Allison and wife Judy...

, Red Farmer

Red Farmer

Charles "Red" Farmer is a former NASCAR racecar driver.-Racing career:His first race was at Opa-locka Speedway near Miami, Florida in a 1934 Ford in 1948. He became famous as a member of the Alabama Gang and he considered his hometown to be Hueytown, Alabama...

, and Donnie Allison

Donnie Allison

Dunkiny "Donnie" Allison is a former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. He was part of the "Alabama Gang," and is the brother of 1983 champion Bobby Allison and uncle of Davey Allison...

 and later Steve Grissom

Steve Grissom

Steve Grissom is a NASCAR driver. Grissom was the 1993 Busch Series champion and has eleven Busch wins in 185 starts. He turned down a scholarship to play quarterback at the University of Alabama to focus a career on racing....

 and Mike Alexander

Mike Alexander (NASCAR)

Mike Alexander was an American racing driver. He won the NASCAR Weekly Series national championship in 1983. He also raced in Winston Cup and in the Busch Series.-Career before national racing:...

. He is the father of Brad Means

Local track career

Means won dozens of late model

Late model

A "late model car" is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. The term is broadly used in car racing, and often appears in common use, as in "The officer was driving an unmarked, late model sedan."There is no precise...

 races in Alabama and Tennessee in the early 70's, including track championships at Huntsville Speedway and the historic Nashville Speedway USA.

Driving career

Means made his Cup debut in 1976 at the Daytona 500, driving the #5 Chevy for Bill Gray. He led one lap but finished 40th after an engine failure. He ran an additional eighteen races for Gray in the #52 car with sponsorship from WIXC

WIXC

WIXC is the callsign for News Talk 1060, an AM news/talk radio station licensed to Titusville, Florida, United States. It broadcasts on a medium-wave frequency of 1060 kHz. It is owned by Genesis Communications...

, finishing in eleventh place twice. The following season, Means drove twenty-six races and had a career-best six top-ten finishes, but due to twelve DNFs, he only finished nineteenth in points.

In 1978, Means began running as an independent driver, except for the Winston 500

Winston 500

Winston 500 may refer to the following NASCAR Sprint Cup races:* Aaron's 499, held at Talladega Superspeedway from 1971 to 1993 and in 1997* Good Sam Club 500, held at Talladega Superspeedway from 1998 to 2000...

, where he drove for Bill Champion

Bill Champion

Buford Billy Champion , is a retired American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher who played in 202 games in the Major Leagues from -. He would play for the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies.-External links:...

. He had two top-tens but improved three spots to finish sixteenth in points. He received new sponsorship from Mr. Transmission, but only had one top-ten in 1979

1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

The 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series began on Sunday, January 14 and ended on Sunday, November 18. Richard Petty won his seventh and final Winston Cup championship, winning by 11 points over Darrell Waltrip...

, forcing him to fall to 23rd in points. After a sponsorship change to Thompson Industries for 1980

1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

The 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series began on Sunday, January 13 and ended on Sunday, November 15. Dale Earnhardt won his first Winston Cup championship, winning by 19 points over Cale Yarborough. Jody Ridley was crowned NASCAR Rookie of the Year.-Season recap:...

, Means failed to finish higher than 12th, but he was still able to move up to 17th in the standings. Broadway Motors became his new sponsor in 1981, and after two top-tens, he continued to move up to fourteenth in points. In 1982

1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

The 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup season began on February 14 At the Daytona International Speedway and concluded on November 21 at Riverside International Raceway...

, he was able to garner an additional pair of ninth-place runs, and finished a career-best 11th in points. It also marked the first time in his career he ran every race on the schedule.

Means had the highest finish of his career in 1983

1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

The 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Season began on Sunday February 20 and ended on Sunday November 20. Bobby Allison was Winston Cup champion at the end of the season finishing 47 points ahead of Darrell Waltrip...

, when he had a seventh-place run at Talladega. Combined with two other top-tens, he dropped seven spots in the standings. During the 1984

1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

The 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Season began on Sunday February 19 and ended on Sunday November 18. Terry Labonte was crowned champion at the end of the season.-Notable Races:-Daytona 500:...

, Means suffered injuries in a crash at Talladega Superspeedway

Talladega Superspeedway

Talladega Superspeedway is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama, United States. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base just outside the small city of Lincoln. It was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in...

, forcing him to miss several races. He did not have a top-ten finish over the next two years, and he lost his Broadway sponsorship, picking up funding from Voyles Auto Savage in late 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. He also switched his manufacturer to Pontiac

Pontiac

Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...

 as well. In 1987, Eureka Vacuum Cleaners became Means' new sponsor, and he had the last top-ten of his career at Richmond International Raceway

Richmond International Raceway

Richmond International Raceway is a 3/4-mile , D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series...

. He dropped to what was at the time the lowest points finish of his career (30th) in 1988, and continued to struggle in 1989, failing to qualify for several races and dropping another spot in the standings despite a new sponsor in Alka-Seltzer

Alka-Seltzer

Alka-Seltzer is an effervescent antacid and pain reliever first marketed by the Dr. Miles Medicine Company. It was developed by Treneer in Elkhart Indiana. Alka-Seltzer is marketed for relief of minor aches, pains, inflammation, fever, headache, heartburn, sour stomach, indigestion, and hangovers,...

. Means had already chosen to skip two races in favor of Bobby Hillin, Jr.

Bobby Hillin, Jr.

Bobby Hillin, Jr. , is an American stock car racecar driver. Hillin's love for racing began when he was a young boy watching his father's USAC Sprint and Indy cars race across the Midwest. At the age of 13, after a short period of racing go-karts and motocross, Hillin drove his first race car in...

 in 1991
After being involved with J. D. McDuffie's fatal crash, he continued to relinquish the ride to Mike Wallace

Mike Wallace (NASCAR)

Mike Wallace is a NASCAR race car driver born in Fenton, Missouri. He currently drives the #01 Chevrolet for JD Motorsports in the Nationwide Series. He is a younger brother to Rusty Wallace, older brother to Kenny Wallace, and uncle to Steve Wallace...

 at the end of the season.

After losing the Alka-Seltzer sponsorship, Means continued to drive a part-time schedule, posting only one top-ten finish. After getting part-time funding from NAPA

National Automotive Parts Association

The National Automotive Parts Association was founded in 1925 to meet America's growing need for an auto parts distribution system. It is a retailers' cooperative that distributes parts to both corporately and independently owned auto parts stores.NAPA's parent company is Genuine Parts Company , ...

 and Hurley Limo, Means ran eighteen races before retiring from driving in late 1993.

Car owner

Means continued to own NASCAR cars through the 1990s and 2000s.