Bunkie Blackburn

James Ronald "Bunkie" Blackburn (April 22, 1936 – February 28, 2006) was a NASCAR racecar driver.^[1]

James Ronald Blackburn
Born	(1936-04-22)April 22, 1936 Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	February 28, 2006(2006-02-28) (aged 69)
Awards	Inducted in the Pure Darlington Record Club (1964)
NASCAR Cup Series career
71 races run over 8 years
Best finish	26th - 1962 (Grand National)
First race	1960 Southern States Fairgrounds (Charlotte)
Last race	1970 Carolina 500 Rockingham
Wins Top tens Poles 0 14 0

Career

Blackburn's father owned and operated the Fayetteville, North Carolina, racetrack.

Blackburn later competed at the historic Nashville 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 a Smokey Yunick Z-28 Camaro at the Bonneville Salt Flats in a USAC/FIA event.

NASCAR career

Blackburn won the 1968 Permatex 300 from the pole.^[2]

Blackburn had fourteen top-ten and four top-five finishes in the Grand National Division. He drove in the series from the late 1950s to the early 1970s for Smokey Yunick and Petty Enterprises.

Blackburn almost won the 1961 Dixie 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in relief for Junior Johnson. He took Johnson's car to the lead with five laps to go after Fireball Roberts ran out of gas. However, Blackburn also ran out of gas on the final lap to hand the victory to David Pearson.

Blackburn retired after a racing injury.