"Real" Bristol.... Asphalt, Guardrails & School Bus Jump!! 1980 Video - Jimmy the Flying Greek & Cale

I was thinking of some of Humpy Wheeler's best Charlotte pre-race shows and remembered Jimmy the Flying Greek and his school bus jump.

Little did I realize that before I ever saw him at Charlotte, Jimmy made a jump prior to the 1980 Volunteer 500 at Bristol. On hand as a "color" commentator was Cale Yarborough who said he "Wouldn't get out of the electric chair to get in that school bus!"

For those of you who've only seen a concrete Bristol ( poor underprivileged souls that you are ), you get to see what the place looked like when Cale, Dale and Darrell were sliding bias tires on the Bristol asphalt and slamming those Armco guardrails.

The rescue squad personnel and Piney Flats Fire Dept. are quick to respond when Jimmy barely misjudges his speed and sheers off the front wheels of the bus upon landing.

To me, just seeing the Bristol I remembered was as good as the bus jump.

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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/16/16 07:54:05AM

Fantastic! But attempting a jump like that makes me think his name should be Jimmy DOOFUS! And what was with Mike Adamle's post-jump voice jumping about 3 octaves (around 6 minute mark). You'd think HE was the one who made the jump.

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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.

I was there working on the Billy Hagan owned #44 driven by Terry Labonte. My wife Patsy and I were standing close to the exit of pit road at the front stretch pits.

They cut out a lot of the footage of the rescue people removing him from the bus. It took quite a while longer to get him out than it appears to take on the film.