Peaceful Faith - The Jimmy Pritchett Story

Peaceful Faith  – “It makes you peaceful…” – Jimmy Pritchett

Before I tell you about Jimmy Pritchett, let me start with a personal note.  My dad and I raced together for many years until he passed away suddenly in 2011.  He did all the mechanical work, and I enjoyed the privilege of simply driving.  Dad could fix anything. Water heater broke ... call dad.  Mower won’t start … call dad. You get the picture. When dad pulled into the drive, peace was the result.  Dad was on the scene.  

Of course, I am paying for it now.  I am having to learn things I should have learned as a young adult. It’s a work in progress but I am slowly getting back in the lanes, and I owe a lot of it to Jimmy Pritchett. 

Long time mechanic, Jimmy runs his wrecker service out of Grimsley, Tn.  He began racing at the age of 16, running the trophy class at Buffalo Valley Dragway.  Jimmy recalls, “this big group of us would go and we'd watch. And then the next thing we know, we were actually racing, sometimes till three or four in the morning”. 




In those days Jimmy raced a 69 Camaro but says his first real race car was a 64 chevy II with which he ran Modified E.T. He quickly moved to Pro E.T. and finally to Top Dragster.  He won several track championships at Crossville Dragway and was multiple time I.H.R.A Sportsman of the Year. In 1989 he won the I.H.R.A World Bracket Finals and was the Southeastern Top Dragster Champion in 2004. 






One of Jimmy’s favorite stories involves meeting a 65 corvette in the finals at an IHRA points meet. “I had a triple O light and I spotted him quite a bit.  I was ahead of him at half track and I thought, well, what do I do now? I just pumped the gas a few times, and I thought, well, there'll be something wrong with that. I won the race and went to see him, because he was really funny. He said, ‘man, you wore me out on the tree’.  I looked, and he'd set on the light like five tenths. Not hundreds, tenths! I said, how in the world did you get to the finals with lights like that? And he said, ‘that's my best light all day’”.  






Jimmy recalls receiving Jesus as his Lord at about the age of 14. “Before I became a Christian, people were talking to me (about salvation) and I didn't realize it.” He credits his pastor at the time and a couple of elderly deacons with leading him to a decision to follow Jesus.  Now that Jimmy is a deacon at the same church he adds “I've done a lot more of that than I thought I did. I witnessed to people and didn't realize it until later on that that’s what I did”.  


That’s what Jimmy does, he talks to people.  They feel at ease. For example, children love Jimmy, thinking of him as one of their own rather than just another adult. I can personally testify to the fact that my children grew up thinking of Jimmy Pritchett as someone to invite to their birthday parties rather than as a church deacon. 







In a world full of stress and discord, God has gifted us with people that bring calm to chaos.  Something broke .. call Jimmy, he can fix it.  Jimmy’s favorite Bible passage is Philippians 4 where it states  “for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”. Jimmy adds, “every time I've ever needed anything, He’d supply it.  No matter how big or small it is, I pray about it”.   


That’s peaceful faith. 


When asked about advice he would give a new Christian he states, “It's a new life. I wouldn't push them immediately (but) they need to get out and witness.  Because eventually, they'll get as much out of this as the one they are witnessing to”. 


I  asked what advice he would give a new racer. His encouragement, “Don’t ever give up on it. And  have fun while they're doing it. You know. Not stress out. Nobody likes losing, but you gotta really understand, anybody can beat you, and you can beat anyone there.  


Jimmy recalls racing an elderly lady one night, “We got close to the line, I got pre-staged.  She rolled through the pre-stage and the stage.  So I waited, she backed back up. She did it about three or four times. And then finally, she got staged.  And then she just beat me like a dog”.  








To sum up peaceful faith, Jimmy takes a thought from 2 Timothy 4:7.  He says his tombstone should say “Fought a good fight, run a good race, ready for the next one”.  



Ready for the next one.  That is the only way to live with peace on this side of eternity.  A noted preacher once said that one is not really ready to live, till one is ready to die.  That only comes from being assured of one’s eternal destination. As I write, I pray for you.  I pray each of you finds peaceful faith. 


Race On


Dean

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