Jack Jackson - The Last of His Era

5/30/25

Cody Dinsmore

Jack Jackson, a pioneer stock car racer of Atlanta, passed away last week at the age of 96. Jack was truly one of, if not the last of his era. He was the bookend of some of the first hand experiences and knowledge that’s now unfortunately gone. Jack had a 20 year racing career that started in the early 50’s at the Peach Bowl Speedway in Atlanta. Jack raced with the best of them across three decades. He undoubtedly was one of the last ones that could say they raced against those legends such as Gober Sosebee, Charlie Mincey, Charlie Bagwell, all three Flock Brothers, Jerry Wimbish, Roscoe Thompson, Jack Smith, Billy Carden, Ed Samples and Jack Smith among others. All now members of the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. 

Jack first got behind the wheel of a stock car in 1951. The Peach Bowl Speedway in Atlanta was such a unique venue for it’s time. To read a more in depth history of the track, you can click here. It was a ¼ mile paved oval, almost in downtown Atlanta. Less than two miles from the Georgia Tech campus and the famed Varsity Drive In; the Peach Bowl wasn’t just a racetrack; in that era it was a social experience. People who weren’t even hardcore race fans would go as it was something to do and in turn became race fans. The Peach Bowl ran two and sometimes even three nights a week. In those times, going to watch a race there was as common as going to catch a movie or going to the drive-in. With a growing number of speed shops, garages and speed demon servicemen, the Peach Bowl was the place to be. While the track opened exclusively for midget racecars in 1949, stock cars were introduced a year later as well as paving the track. By 1951, track owner, Roy Shoemaker, had introduced an amatuer division for those wanting to race with no long term experience. It was also a great way to get young hot rodders off the streets and in a safe place to demonstrate speed. 

A young Jack Jackson, was in the stands one night and heard the familiar name of a childhood friend being called over the PA. The friend was racing in the amatuer division. Jack thought “well if he can do this, there’s no reason I can’t!”  

So within a few weeks, Jack and a group of his friends pooled together $150 and built a 1937 Ford racer. While he didn’t know much about racing at the time, he was mechanically inclined and had a small garage at his home where he’d tinker on his car. He also would hang around a few local garages and absorb as much as he could. Once the car was complete and lettered, it was off to the Peach Bowl to become the newest entrant in the Amatuer Division. One of his friends and partner in the racecar brought an air raid helmet that was much too large for Jack’s head, but it was better than no helmet at all. In fact, he first put on a bomber cap then the air raid helmet to try and make it more snug. In one of his first practice runs, Jack would flip his car down the front stretch. The loose-fitting air raid helmet went flying out of the car and rolled to stop a good distance from the car. The crowd went silent thinking they had just witnessed a head roll across the track, until Jack crawled from the car, still wearing his bomber cap. Needless to say, the track promoters soon began to hold ‘helmet dash’ races that awarded new helmets to ensure racers had the proper modern safety gear.

Jackson had a slow start to his driving career but soon found his footing. His first win came in front of a record crowd.  On July 4th,1952, before a sellout crowd of 5,000 spectators, Jack won the 50-lap Amatuer feature, under the lights at the Peach Bowl. And like most racers that take their time getting their first win, as soon as the first one comes, the next one gets easier to win. And Jack kept on winning. From July to the end of the season, he had accumulated enough points to be declared Amatuer Divsion Champion for 1952. 

In 1953, still racing weekly at the Peach Bowl, Jack had a new car, a 34 Ford Coupe, as he graduated to the Sportsman’s Division.  And while the Peach Bowl was his home track, he would carry his momentum from his prior year and would start to venture to other tracks around the state such as the Dallas Speed Bowl, Looper Speedway (now under Lake Lanier), Columbus Speedway and even the mile long Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta.

With a modest $250 sponsorship from the Blue Jacket Drive-In, Jack and his #11 coupe would be the star of the show in 1953. He was the top driver in the Sportsman Division, eventually winning the title in that division at the Peach Bowl at year end.  Being a smart and calculated driver, Jackson would continue his dominance into the following year and would win back to back titles, running the same car. 

Think about that…he entered his first amatuer race in the summer of 1951, and would go on to win three consecutive championships in 52, 53 and 54!

As a full-time employee for the City of Atlanta and a part time racer, Jack Jackson was good at what he did. In 1955, he sat on the pole at the Peach Bowl in a 55’ Chevy for a NASCAR Grand National Event. It was a big event for the little track. He would fail to visit victory lane, but he let his big-time competitors know what he was capable of. 

In 1957, Jack experienced some medical issues known as “Spasmodic Torticollis”. In other words, it was a nerve disease that would cause his head to lean right. There was no permanent cure at the time but different therapies helped. Jack took a hiatus from racing to focus on health, family and work. He returned to the driver’s seat in 1960 and relegated himself to solely run at the Peach Bowl. He would compete weekly there until it’s closure in 1971. His last great hooray at the famed ¼ track was in a Chevy ll, with his favorite #11 that he piloted for the last handful of years the track was open. He was the ‘old man’ amongst the new generation of racers from the late 60’s Atlanta area. By the time the Peach Bowl closed in 1971, Jack was over 40 years old. Many of his heroes he had raced against had long retired. In came the ‘young guns’ of the time that became Hall of Famers such as Billy McGinnis, Bruce Brantley, Mike Head, Bob Leach, and Russell Nelson. 

The beloved Peach Bowl Speedway would close following the 1971 season, and Jack Jackson would follow suit and retire from driving duties as well. By 1972 the city of Atlanta had acquired the property for their new MARTA bus repair station. A few years later, Jackson would retire from the City of Atlanta after over 30 years as a Civil Engineer.

One would think Jackson’s racing career was done, but in reality he spent longer preserving the history than he did living it. 

In 1988, while attending a funeral for a friend and former racer, there were numerous old racers that stood in the parking lot of the funeral home afterwards to swap old racing tales. This led Jack to think that he only saw his old racing comrades at funerals. He decided to plan a more pleasant meeting and in January of 1990, he brought together just under 50 former racers of the Peach Bowl at a local BBQ restaurant. The next year invitations were sent out to crewmen, mechanics, officials, owners, racers and their families and would meet at a rented out sports bar. The Peach Bowl Reunion quickly grew to a must attend event if you were a Georgia Racing History fan. The reunion was held at its original locale until 2010 when it moved to it’s current location for the last 15 years at the American Legion in Austell, Ga. 

Jack Jackson meanwhile, was the sole planner and organizer of the reunion for 35 years, minus a year for Covid. The track was only in existence for 22 years. At it’s peak, over 200 people attended his Peach Bowl Reunion. Comprised of those who competed there every week and those born years after the track closed. 

Jack was truly one of a kind. As I mentioned before, he was the last of his era. Even at 96 years old, he could tell you who he outran on track 70 years prior. He was inducted into the 2008 class to the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame amongst many of his fellow foes, friends and competitors.  Even today, you can visit the Hall of Fame in Dawsonville Ga and see a few of Jack's racing accomplishments on display, including his 1953 Peach Bowl Championship trophy.  He was also instrumental in getting a display together for the Hall of Fame, honoring his beloved Peach Bowl, that lists hundreds of names that ever raced at the track. 

He was the last of his breed. He outlived all of the guys that were racing when he started behind the wheel, and he also was able to outlive most of the ones he raced against in his twilight years as a driver. I believe the Peach Bowl Reunion will live on in his honor. And it's in large part to Jack, that racing reunions in general are a thing today.

Personally, I had known Jack since 2006, and I felt like he really took a liking to this young kid that appreciated the old racing history.  There were even several years that he invited me to be the host of his Peach Bowl Reunion after both former emcee’s Jimmy Mosteller and Captain Herb Emory had passed. I certainly wasn’t qualified for the job but Jack believed in me anyhow and what an honor it was. 

And finally, at the burial of a legend like Jack, I brought up the fact that he was quite possibly the last of his era. I just can’t think of hardly anyone else still alive that he would’ve raced against, except possibly 1960 NASCAR Cup Champion, Rex White, who also is in his 90’s.

For a history buff such as myself, it is very sad to think that the greatest generation of racers is quickly coming to a close. Pretty soon there won’t be anyone left that raced in the decade of the 1950’s. Guys like Jack Jackson were more than just steering wheel holders, they were true racecar drivers, and I am eternally grateful that I got to know some of them and hear their stories, especially Jack Jackson. 

I hope to carry it on to future generations of racefans. 

And with that, so long, Jack.