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Thread: Jay Cox

  1. #1
    Team Member Smokin' Joe's Avatar
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    Default Jay Cox

    My first meeting with Jay was a surprise. Before a 1959 race at Three Rivers (Knoxville, NOA) another
    AristoCraft/Mark 58A went by me like I was tied to a pole. I ran about 40 mph, he must have been running 45.
    There was no body, only a head barely visible from the rear, and the boat looked like mine but strange. Turned
    out it was 12', not 14'! That was Jay Blake Cox at about age 12. He was a small kid, took me to meet his parents. He
    raced the first time next year, took over for a driver who'd been banned and won the Ft. Loudon 100 mile Marathon
    in 40-50 with a Lakeflite/Mark 58A. Jay lived in Maryville and grew up knowing Paul, who was then in Alcoa. Jay's dad,
    an Alcoa machinist, made us the first transom jacks in '59. Jay never drove the wooden Allisons but drove the first
    13' glass Allison with Merc 500 in 40-50 in 1961. I think he won his class at the Orange Bowl Regatta in the early
    1960s. We reconnected in 1976 when i got back into racing and we straightedged many a winning Allison in his back yard
    in the Smokies foothills outside Maryville. After I won both EP nationals in 1977 he wanted to drive, so I
    bought an old 13' Allison/1975 Stinger from Louis Collins (paid for by Jay) and rebuilt the motor. Meatball had run that rig too, and Meatball
    Murray belongs on this list. Jay (#39) ran mainly NOA but won the APBA EP cc Nationals in 1978, and won GP driving Paul's
    old 1969 wide pad 14' with a Mariner 80 in 1979. In Oct. 1980 he set the GP record at nearly 74 mph with an AllisonXR-14/Merc 850XS at
    Waco. The rest is history.

    Photos
    1. Eufaula 1979, Jay's #39 and my 853
    2. Jay's horsetrading position, one foot on the trailer yakking away
    3. Jay at age 13 (bermudas, no shirt) at Three Rivers, 1960. Two wooden
    Allisons in background, one with Johnson 75, another with twin Scott 60s.
    4. Allison factory 1977 before Eufaula. My EP rig and the GP boat Jay rigged
    for me to drive. The GP boat was 7 sec/lap faster than anything on the course
    but the transom jack broke at the start so I watched the race from the innfield.

    Jay's favorite activity was horsetrading with one foot on a boat trailer. He had a good Tennessee sense of humor. His favorite saying of someone who looked
    competitive was 'That boy didn't drive all the way down here to go 'bar' huntin' with a switch!'. After following Edgar in a rental car at Guntersville Jay walked up and asked him 'Edgar, did you get your drivers' license at Sears!?' Around 1985 Jay built a tunnel bass boat that ran, then sold the company. The name 'Shadow' belied the origin, it was molded from a wrecked STV. By that time we'd pretty much parted again. One last tale. Jay was a story teller. In 1979 or so on the way home from Guntersville (I was staying over the border in Ky. those summers) Jay started telling a
    tale as we left the race site, it went on and on, and as if magically the tale ended just as I pulled into his driveway at 1 AM. I had another hour and 45 min. to go.
    Attached Images Attached Images     

  2. #2
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    In picture #4 is that a 411 for a tow vehicle? Brave man or blind faith in German engineering!!!

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    How fast was the wooden allisons in pic 3?

  4. #4
    Team Member Smokin' Joe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Glenn Coates View Post
    In picture #4 is that a 411 for a tow vehicle? Brave man or blind faith in German engineering!!!
    Yep, only towed in 1977 with the 411, no A/C. Towed 1978-1985 with a 1977 VW bus, excellent tow vehicle
    for EP or SE. Wouldn't work for mod VP! We now tow EP and SST45 with a 2008 Chrysler PT Cruiser, excellent tow
    and touring vehicle.

  5. #5
    Team Member Smokin' Joe's Avatar
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    The Scott self-destructed, never ran. The Unlimited record was held by a Johnson 75 on a 12' Allison
    in 1960 at about 56.5 mph til we upped it to nearly 62 mph with 13' Allison and Merc 800 with
    Sportsmaster gearcase. The Allisons in the picture would run maybe 53. The Johnson was geared
    20:23, the Sportsmaster 2:3.


    Quote Originally Posted by Smokin' Joe View Post
    Yep, only towed in 1977 with the 411, no A/C. Towed 1978-1985 with a 1977 VW bus, excellent tow vehicle
    for EP or SE. Wouldn't work for mod VP! We now tow EP and SST45 with a 2008 Chrysler PT Cruiser, excellent tow
    and touring vehicle.

  6. #6
    Team Member Master Oil Racing Team's Avatar
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    Joe....that's a great story followed by some good pictures. I like also the old Holiday Inn signs in the background. That was the trademark during most of our racing days, and it brings back a lot of memories. Memories of driving into the parking lot at night and greeting friends from far places who just arrived. And memories of returning from the pits to turn into the Holiday Inn with wet tennies, and ready to shower and head out for a night of fun and food. keep up with the stories and photos Joe.



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