Goodbye, Jimmy: New England Based Drag Racing Legend Jimmy King Has Died – 1971 Gatornationals Winner, Great Guy


Goodbye, Jimmy: New England Based Drag Racing Legend Jimmy King Has Died – 1971 Gatornationals Winner, Great Guy

In crummy news today, we are sad to report on the passing of New England drag racing legend Jimmy King, driver of the famed King and Marshall top fuel dragster and later their El Diablo nitro funny car. A member of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, and an all around awesome guy, Jimmy King’s impact wasn’t just felt in the New England region.

Built like a tree stump and twice as tough, King was the perfect foil for his far larger partner Don Marshall. The two Rhode Islanders teamed up in the late 1960s and sold all of their individual stuff to order a top fuel dragster from Don Long in California. They made the cross country trek to get the car and little did they know that it would be a trip they’d repeat in the future. King was the best driver of his time here in New England and was as good as anyone nationally. They destroyed the competition and track records regularly before hitting the road with their operation and competing across the country. As part of the AHRA Grand American series they made booking money to appear and then made round money as they succeeded. Perhaps their biggest triumph came at the 1971 NHRA Gatornationals when the little top fuel team from Rhode Island killed them all and won the event. Truly a massive accomplishment and something that people in this region love to death.

One other highlight grabbing moment was when King effectively wheelied his car over backwards on the step of the throttle at the 1970 NHRA US Nationals. Like we said, he was tougher than a 4-dollar steak.

The video below shows Jimmy in his natural environment, firing up the reborn King and Marshall car that he drove to successes all over the country and making a guy really, really happy.

Godspeed Jimmy, a load of us will be missing you at the drag strip.

Watch below as Jimmy King fires and monitors his own dragster as a fan sits in it –


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