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| James Ronald Blackburn | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1936-04-22)April 22, 1936 Fayetteville, North Carolina | ||||||
| Died | February 28, 2006(2006-02-28) (aged 69) | ||||||
| Awards | Inducted in the Pure Darlington Record Club (1964) | ||||||
| NASCARCup Series career | |||||||
| 71 races run over 8 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 26th - 1962 (Grand National) | ||||||
| First race | 1960Southern States Fairgrounds (Charlotte) | ||||||
| Last race | 1970Carolina 500Rockingham | ||||||
| |||||||
James Ronald "Bunkie" Blackburn (April 22, 1936 – February 28, 2006) was aNASCARracecar driver.[1]
Blackburn's father owned and operated theFayetteville, North Carolina, racetrack.
Blackburn later competed at the historicNashville Speedway USA against many future legendary drivers.
In 1967, Blackburn was part of a three driver crew that set a world speed record of 174 mph in aSmokey Yunick Z-28Camaro at theBonneville Salt Flats in a USAC/FIA event.
Blackburn won the 1968Permatex 300 from the pole.[2]
Blackburn had fourteen top-ten and four top-five finishes in theGrand National Division. He drove in the series from the late 1950s to the early 1970s forSmokey Yunick andPetty Enterprises.
Blackburn almost won the 1961Dixie 400 atAtlanta Motor Speedway in relief forJunior Johnson. He took Johnson's car to the lead with five laps to go afterFireball Roberts ran out of gas. However, Blackburn also ran out of gas on the final lap to hand the victory toDavid Pearson.
Blackburn retired after a racing injury.
Bunkie Blackburn … topped it all off with a wire-to-wire win in the 1968 Permatex 300 during Speed Weeks, proving that it was not smart to monkey with Bunkie.
