James Bickford

In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, Tom Bickford was making Quarter Midget parts for Ron Stanley race cars, and shortly after, began making parts for nephew Jeff Gordon, as Jeff and his father, John, traveled across the country to compete in Quarter Midget races.

James began racing in the Quarter Midgets at the age of five.

At this age, Tom referred to racing as a “fathers-sons-sport”.

James Harrison Bickford (born March 16, 1998) is an American stock car racing driver.

Residing in Napa, California.

He last competed full-time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, driving the No. 6 Ford Fusion.

Bickford was born in Napa, California to parents Tom and Teresa Bickford.

James is related to four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion and three-time Daytona 500 champion, Jeff Gordon.

Gordon is James’ paternal cousin.

Bickford won 69 of 75 races entered in just one of three different Quarter Midget Divisions he raced during 2007.

By the age of nine, Bickford was racing 48 weeks out of the year.

Throughout his career, Bickford has won over 200 main event victories and taken home titles including Rookie of the Year at Ukiah Speedway (2010), Legends of the Pacific Rookie of the Year (2011), Semi-Pro Legends champion (2011), NASCAR Whelen All-American Late Model Series champion (2013) and K&N Pro Series West Rookie of the Year (2014).

By 2010, the young driver, who attended St. Apollinaris Catholic school, had won 15 Quarter Midget championships: four local track championships, two Nor Cal championships, four regional championships, two California 500 championships, two Western States Mona championships and one Dirt Road National, as well as close to 200 main events.

Toward the end of this time, Bickford wanted to move up from Quarter Midgets to Bandolero cars, but needed to raise money to purchase the necessary equipment.

In order to raise sufficient funds, he held a fundraiser called the "KGA" (Kids Golf Association) at age eleven.

Tom Bickford noted, “It costs a lot of money making the step from little cars to big cars.

But he definitely has the desire [to race]”.

At the beginning of his Bandolero season, James was eleven years old.

In his first race at Ukiah Speedway on April 10, 2010, he won the trophy dash and came in second in the A-main.

He then won the Bandolero race at All-American Speedway in Roseville, California on April 17, along with trophy dash and heat race.

In late April, 2010, he raced again at Ukiah and set a new track record with a lap of 15.324 seconds.

Regarding the Bandolero car, James said: “The cars are fragile and they bend easy.

Some drivers go out on the first day, crash into a wall, and total the car.

You have to be under control.” While driving Bandoleros, he won six main-events in just 14 starts and won Rookie of the Year at Ukiah Speedway.

James was required to race 40 Bandolero races before moving up to a Legends car.

Before getting his Legends car, James had the opportunity to test drive a friend’s.

Tom had bought James’ Bandolero car from Tony Stewart’s General Manager, Joe Custer.

At the end of a conversation between the two men in 2010, Joe had invited James to visit his home in Charlotte, North Carolina and try out his son, Cole Custer’s, Legends car.

Regarding Legends cars, Matt Scott, the 2010 Late Model champion and a good friend of Bickford’s, said, “If you drive a Legends car, you can drive anything,” due to the fact that it has a lot more horsepower than a Bandolero.

After his first Legends experience, James said, “When I hit the throttle on the straightaway, it threw me back in my seat and that was a rush of excitement I haven’t felt since I drove a Light B in Quarter Midgets back when I was eight [years old]…It is one of those cars you have to be very smooth with and also have to have good throttle control.

The tires don’t have much grip and it’s very slippery”.

James competed in his first Legends race on April 2 at Stockton 99 Speedway in Stockton, California.

He qualified third and finished the race in eighth place.

After winning the Legends Main event in late October, James clinched the Semi-Pro Legends Championship.

James also secured Rookie of the Year for Legends of the Pacific with a commanding 41-point lead with only three races left in the season.

For the 2011 season, James moved up to drive a Legends car for the Legends of the Pacific Series.

According to many stock car racers, Legends cars are among the hardest and most physically challenging cars to race.

Following his move to Legends from 2011-2012, Bickford had a big setback in August 2012 that ended his Legends season and disrupted his plans for 2013.

The day before he was to be fitted for a seat in a late model that was under consideration for this year, he broke his arm playing high school football (prior to his freshman year); at 5’3” and 120 pounds, James ended up at the bottom of a dog pile.

Although sidelined from driving, Bickford attended the last five races of his Legends racing season.