James Hylton teams with John Carter's EM Motorsports team for ARCA
200
At 6:00 p.m. on December 26th, Santa made a late
delivery to the Inman South Carolina shop of James Hylton Motorsports in
the form of good news! John Carter, owner of EM Motorsports, informed
James Hylton that he was selected to drive the team's 2007 Dodge
Charger in the 2008 ARCA Daytona 200 on February 9th. Hylton tested the
2007 Charger at Daytona International Speedway in mid December and was
18th fastest with a best lap of 50.702 seconds / 177.508 mph. In 2005,
John Carter / EM Motorsports scored a 9th place finish in the Daytona 500
with a Dodge Charger driven by Kevin LePage.
The 2007 EM Motorsports Dodge Charger will be sponsored by
Rhino Energy Drink of Austria. Rhino Energy Drink and Food AG believes
that the affiliation with EM Motorsports and driver James Hylton will
help increase brand awareness and exposure of Rhino Energy Drinks in
North America. No stranger to motorsports, Rhino has been a sponsor of
Midland Racing / Spyker Motorsports in Formula One since 2006.
James was elated about the news, and said, "This news is
the best Christmas present a fellow could ask for! This car is a top of
the line Dodge Charger that was a pure pleasure to drive, either alone or
in a pack of cars. If this car gets even a sniff of a draft, it really
takes off! The car certainly has the potential to run at the front, and
even win this race. I was very happy to have had the chance to help John
Carter and his team out while we were down for the test. I appreciate
the effort that the EM Motorsports team put forth, especially Carl Long
acting as crew chief and Charles Swing as car chief. During the test, the
car got quicker each time we went out." James added," I really
didn't think that he'd select me to drive in the race, so to say
the least, I'm very pleased with this opportunity!"
Hylton has said that Speedweeks 2008 will be his
final run at Daytona as a driver in the ARCA/REMAX series. "There are
a lot of memories for me here at Daytona, this is where my career really
took off. This has always been one of my favorite tracks." Hylton
has recorded 38 starts at Daytona (36 NASCAR SPRINT CUP, 1 NASCAR Grand
American and 1 ARCA RE/MAX Series) during his career. Hylton won the
1970 NASCAR Grand American Series Citrus 250 and has 3 Top Fives and 17
Top Tens to his credit at Daytona.
James Hylton sees this effort as a great opportunity to
start the 2008 ARCA/REMAX season off with a bang. Hylton is also looking
for an opportunity to attempt a start in the 50th Daytona 500. With a
tremendous effort in 2007, James stunned the racing world with a strong
run in his 150 mile qualifying race. A balky clutch is the only thing
that kept him from becoming the oldest driver to participate in any
NASCAR points race. "Prior to the race, during, and after the race,
you wouldn't believe the response from the fans, the media, and my
ARCA/REMAX friends, encouraging me and wishing me the best. I never
thought that we'd draw the attention from the media and the fans that
we did. I've received thousands of letters, calls, faxes and emails
from fans, friends and strangers that said they supported me."
Retirement Living TV, a cable network that tailors it's programming
towards the retirement community came on board to sponsor James'
effort for the 2007 Daytona 500. "This opportunity brought to
light the number of older race fans that supported me. They remember the
older racers like Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison; and the
fan mail, calls from well wishers that I've received has been
overwhelming. Numerous anonymous fans made contributions towards our
efforts at Hylton Motorsports, and I am very appreciative of their
help!"
Looking forward to what could be the team's
best year in the ARCA/REMAX Series, James is working to put together a
partnership with a driver and sponsors "that allows us to compete for
the ARCA/REMAX points championship. We're entertaining all of our
options, talking to as many people as we can. I'd like to thank our
fans, sponsors, and friends who supported me in all of our efforts in
2007. I 'm calling on our fans, potential drivers, and sponsorship
partners who are interested in running in what has become the most
competitive stock car series in America, to contact me and help us get
off to a great start in 2008!"
-credit: jh
