Toledo Speedway

CJ Rayburn, whose wild racecar creation stunned Toledo Speedway attendees in both the pit area and grandstands in the mid-1980s, passed away Jan. 1, 2022 at the age of 80 in Indianapolis. Rayburn was lightning fast in his winged, sideboarded dirt late model in “open competition” races in at Toledo in 1984 and 1985 but was unable to translate his raw speed into a victory as Bruce Vanderlaan and Butch Miller won in races promoted by Sonny Adams. Rayburn began his career as a dirt late model engine builder in 1976 but soon ventured into dirt late model chassis building, achieving such success that Rayburn Racing Chassis won the Eldora World 100 a record 13 times. Rayburn was an inaugural class inductee of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame.