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D. James "Jim" Shampine (March 25, 1941 – September 4, 1982) was one of the most successful drivers in Supermodified competition and an equally skilled racer in asphalt and dirt-track Modified stock cars. He won 92 feature races at Oswego Speedway NY, and with his innovative car designs captured 38% of the Supermodified events held from 1970 to 1979.

Racing career

Jim Shampine began drag racing in 1959 at the quarter-mile ESTA Safety Park Dragstrip in Cicero, New York. Then in 1962 he bought his friend Nolan Swift's championship-winning “Ten Pin” numbered modified, converted it to a supermodified, and renumbered it the enduring “8-Ball”. He went on to win seven (1967, 1970, 1972–1974, 1976 & 1979) Oswego Speedway track championships, as well as an International Supermodified Association championship competing at venues throughout the northeast.

Shampine concurrently campaigned his modified at New York's asphalt Fulton Speedway, Lancaster Speedway, Shangri-La Speedway, Spencer Speedway, and Utica-Rome Speedway. He also competed successfully in a dirt-track modified at Langhorne Speedway PA and Weedsport Speedway NY, and captured the 1970 track championship at the Rolling Wheels Raceway in Elbridge, New York.

Jim Shampine died in a Modified racing accident at Oswego Speedway on September 4, 1982. He was inducted into the Eastern Motorsports Press Association, the Northeast Dirt Modified and the New York State Stock Car Association Halls of Fame.

References

1. O'Brien, Dick (May 25, 2022). "Oswego Speedway opens 71st season Saturday with Jim Shampine Memorial 150". The Post-Standard. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
2. "Greedy and Shampine Deadlock for first place after Barnhart rescues York from feature event holocaust". The Palladium Times. July 14, 1969. Retrieved March 14, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
3. "Shampine prevails in Can-Am race". The Hour. September 10, 1979. p. 30. Retrieved March 14, 2024 – via Google Books.
4. Fusco, Andy; Caruso, George (2003). The Pine: The Authorized Biography of Jim Shampine, the Greatest Open Wheel Short Tracker of All Time. Speedway Press. ISBN 978-0967743851.
5. ^ "EMPA Hall of Fame-Jim Shampine". Eastern Motorsport Press Association. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
6. "Veteran stock car driver killed". UPI. September 7, 1982. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
7. Hill, John (March 17, 2004). "Shampine among Dirt Inductees". The Post Standard. p. 29. Retrieved October 15, 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.

• 1941 births
• 1982 deaths
• Racing drivers from New York (state)
• Racing drivers who died while racing
• Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame