Wimpey
Brasstown – The start of the Tri-County Race Track developed from a conversation Jack Wimpey had with a local sheriff, according to Ray Cook, who started leasing the track from Wimpey in 2011. Both men were looking for a way for young people who wanted to drive fast after there had been several fatal car accidents in the area.
The race track was built in 1968. That is one of many things that made Wimpey a valued member of the circles he traveled in, and one who will be missed after his death on Feb. 24 at age 95.
“Jack had a lot of friends,” Cook said. “He did a lot for a lot of people.”
An early ad for the race track in the April 18, 1968, edition of the Cherokee Scout described Tri-County Race Track as having “clean modern facilities” and encouraging readers to “go where the action is … go to the action center of western North Carolina … go the Tri-County raceway.”
Racing was scheduled that night from 8:30 until daylight savings time, and ages 12 and under would be admitted for free. Though Wimpey didn’t own the racetrack at first, Cook said he raced cars and owned a few as well.
When his brother Clarence “Pug” Wimpey passed away, he ran the track and promotion with Phil Evans. When Wimpey leased the track to Cook, Cook said he would still come around as much as possible.
“I think he drove by everyday or every other day,” Cook said. “There wasn’t a day that would go by where you wouldn’t see him coming through and just checking everything out.”
It’s that work ethic that brought Wimpey success in multiple businesses. Before founding the race track, he established Wimpey Bulldozing & Trucking in 1955, then purchased the Murphy 64 Drive-In movie theater.
He also opened Wimpey’s Mobile Home Park in 1971, which is still operating today. Cook said Wimpey still owned equipment a few years ago, and even when he sold off a lot of his excavating and construction equipment he still kept a few things in case they would come in handy.
He combined it with a positive attitude, which made those around Wimpey incredibly loyal to him. Cook said he never saw him mad at anybody in the time that he knew him.
Longtime friend Jim Lambert, who worked for Wimpey at both the race track and his mobile home business, said he would do anything Wimpey wanted him to do. Connie White, his secretary at Wimpey Mobile Home Park, said sometimes Wimpey would do favors for friends, like helping them dig a new basement when they were building a new house.
On Fridays at Wimpey’s office in Peachtree, White said he would stop working at 5 o’clock, then talk with friends for hours.
“Most people would just gravitate here and hang out until sometimes midnight,” White said. “He’d just sit in there in the shop and shoot the breeze or whatever. He’d just have lots of friends.”
As part of his funeral services, Cook said there were plans to have Wimpey’s casket take a lap around the racetrack, but they had to settle for the parking lot due to rain. There are plans to honor him during the upcoming season, though Cook said he was still firming those plans up with his family. That season will include the first ever visit by the Sport Compact Dirt Racing Series on Friday and Saturday, March 24-25.
At the mobile home park, tenants are adjusting to life without Wimpey, though that may take a while. White said she used to drive Wimpey around the park, and he would interact with residents.
Despite some residents not being in the best places in their lives, she said Wimpey would always try to encourage them and push them in the right direction. One resident told White he was getting concerned one day because they were late for one of their daily drives. Then he remembered they wouldn’t be coming by anymore, which he would miss.
“He just had a big heart,” White said. “He was just always good to people.”