Jimmie Lewallen photograph

Collection — Box: SFC3 [F09.090.03.01], Folder: 374

Identifier: MS0374

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Consists of a single black-and-white photograph of Lewallen, standing next to his race car. The date of this photograph is unknown, but could be around 1955.

Missing Title

NASCAR Grand National Series. History. Photographs.
Stock car drivers—United States. Photographs.
Lewallen, Jimmie, 1919-1995.
Lewallen, Jimmie, 1919-1995. Photographs.
Jimmy Lewallen photograph, ca. 1955.

Dates

Creation: 1955

Creator

Lewallen, Jimmie (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.

Biographical / Historical

During World War II, Jimmie Lewallen served in General Patten’s Third Army. Lewallen was twice wounded and earned the Purple Heart, the Silver Star and the Bronze Star. After the war, Lewallen was one of the founding members of NASCAR, participating in the earliest of its formative meetings at the Rex Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia on October 12, 1947. This meeting predates a better known meeting at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona in December of that year. It was at the Daytona meeting where the bylaws and rules of NASCAR were established. Lewallen raced in the first NASCAR Grand National Division race in Charlotte, North Carolina on June 19, 1949; finishing in sixteenth place, for which he won $25.00. Through 1960, Lewallen went on to compete in 139 Grand National races, though he never won any of those competitions. When not behind the wheel on the race track, Lewallen worked for the Vann York Pontiac dealership for 39 years. Lewallen finished his racing career in 1975, and later became a founding member of the Old Timer Racing Club. Lewallen died of cancer in Archdale, North Carolina on Monday, October 16, 1995.