Drag Illustrated Issue 140, January 2019 | Page 28
Dirt
the aforementioned ‘98 S-10 in 10.0 Index until
the end of the 2018 season. Early in the year he
also drove down to Tennessee after seeing his
old ‘94 Pro Stock truck for sale. Jacob brought
it back home with a plan to return it to the track
in Top Sportsman trim with a naturally aspirated
632, just when you thought he was slowing down.
Jacob raced at hallowed racing venues like
Memphis Motorsports Park and Orlando Speed
World Dragway. He raced down 1320’ of con-
crete and asphalt with traveling series’ named
NMCA, NOPI, Super Chevy, Power Festival and
Popular Hot Rodding Super Street Shootout. His
cars were always clean and show quality even
in race trim.
The pride he took in his cars was only sur-
passed by the pride he had in his family. His
family included his supportive and loving wife,
Georgeen, beautiful daughters Stacey, Kelly and
Jamie, and his grandchildren, who were his most
prized possessions. He was proud of them all,
from Jayden excelling on the field to Brendan in
the hockey rink. Some of his proudest moments
were when the boys began Jr. drag racing and
started turning on win lights of their own. One
of the most significant was when Brendan won
an NHRA Wally in 2017 in a dragster painted in
Jim’s trademark yellow, purple and orange paint
scheme. “Poppy” had passed the torch!
There are many so-called “larger-than-life”
people that some acquaint themselves with. They
might know their name and see them around
town or at a racetrack, but their lives aren’t really
affected by them. Then there are those few people
who go about their daily lives in a humble, blue-
collar manner and have the ability to personally
impact and touch the lives of scores more. Jim
Jacob was in that elite category and his passing
leaves a gaping hole in everyone that he touched,
but we are all better humans for knowing him.
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28 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 140
TRIBUTE: JIM JACOB