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The Story of
James Hylton's First Sponsor
 In
the fifties, Bill Drewry began his stock car racing career
competing on short tracks in the Richmond, Virginia area.
His passion for the sport grew to the point that in the
mid-sixties he decided to make the leap to the NASCAR Grand
National Division. Bill and his son Billy journeyed
to Charlotte in an attempt to purchase a car from legendary NASCAR
driver/owner Buck Baker. However, a chance meeting with
James Hylton in Richmond made Drewry change direction.
 James
Hylton, making a pre-race appearance at a Richmond Dodge
Dealership, was competing in the Grand National Series with an
unsponsored 1965 Dodge Coronet. Drewry and Hylton began
formatting a sponsorship deal that would provide Hylton with
additional funds as well as provide exposure for Drewry's small
chain of coin-operated washing machine outlets. "Bill was
a great guy" states the 73 year old stock car legend Hylton, some
forty years later "he wasn't just a sponsor, he was a big part
of the team. Bill would help out at the track with the car
and he worked hard to make the team successful". The whole
Drewry family got into racing as Billy Drewry states "My
grandmother used to sit by the radio each Sunday listening to
the races."
In 2006, Bill and his family made a
trip to Inman, South Carolina to visit his old racing
buddy James Hylton. At the time of this visit, James was
in the middle of his last full time season competing as a
driver. It seemed that things were coming full circle as
Hylton's first sponsor had came by to watch the 1966 NASCAR
Rookie of the Year begin winding his legendary career down.
Though Bill Drewry passed away shortly after the visit, his
passion for the sport is still felt by James and all those
involved in Hylton Motorsports. "If it wasn't for Bill's
early support, things might have not turned out as well as they
did for us in racing" stated an appreciative Hylton.
Bill and Sammie
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