Jack Ingram, NASCAR Hall of Famer, Dead at 84

Jack Ingram, NASCAR legend who was inducted into the company’s Hall of Fame in 2014, has died. He was 84 years old. In his career, Ingram won five NASCAR championships and more than 300 races. He won titles in the NASCAR Sportsman competition in 1972, 1973 and 1974.

“There is no better way to describe Jack Ingram than ‘Iron Man,’” NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France said in a statement. “Jack was a fixture at short tracks across the Southeast most days of the week, racing anywhere and everywhere. He dominated the Late Model Sportsman division like few others. He set the bar for excellence in the Xfinity Series as its Most Popular Driver in 1982 and champion in 1985. Jack was an “old school racer” and his work on his own car helped propel him to Victory Lane hundreds of times. Of our current 58 NASCAR Hall of Fame members, he is one of only six that was elected based on his career and contributions in the grassroots level of our sport. On behalf of the France family and NASCAR, I offer my condolences to the friends and family of NASCAR Hall of Famer Jack Ingram.”

Ingram also won the Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) in 1982. “When I ran for the (Late Model Sportsman) championship in ’72, I ran 81 races,” Ingram once said. “In ’73 I ran 84 (races). … But in order to win a championship in those days, you had to run everywhere, including the weekly events … which still counted toward the national title.”

Ingram won his fifth and final NASCAR title in 1985 by beating Jimmy Hensley for the Xfinity Series crown. He placed second in 1983 and 1984. His final victory in the series came in 1987, and he retired in 1991. When it was all said and done, Ingram finished with 317 NASCAR-sanctioned career wins.

In a previous interview, Ingram talked about attending his first racing event when he was 14 years old. “I saw a poster on a utility pole (advertising) stock car racing,” He told RPM2night.com in 2014. “I was fascinated by automobiles already. Me and my friend decided we’d ride our bicycles to Asheville-Weaverville Speedway (to see the race). I didn’t even know it existed.”