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Jesse Lay Back in Action, But It’s Car #63; The Story Behind the #63

Veteran Dirt Late Model driver Jesse Lay of Walton, KY will make his first appearance with the Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series Fueled by VP Racing Fuels on Friday July 19at MRP Raceway Park in Williamsburg, OH at the 4th Annual Dustbuster 40, that will pay $7,000 to win and $1,000 to start.

Lay has been around the track’s all season long, serving in the role as crew chief for his son, Austin Lay, who currently sits sixth in Valvoline American Late Model Series points. Lay has been waiting for a motor his team was having built and just took delivery on the powerplant early last week and installed the engine and shook the car down at Florence Speedway in Union, KY last Saturday evening, coming home with a tenth place finish.

One notable difference on Lay’s MB Custom Race Cars entry was the number on the car. His traditional #33 (also the number his son Austin uses) had been replaced by the #63. The number change may have been new for some fans, but it is not the first Jesse had used the number and the number has special meaning to the Lay family.

“There was a guy named Gene Crittenden, who was a real hotshoe in this area back in the early 1970’s. He and my Dad (Joe Lay) became friends (they were neighbors) and Dad started going to the track and helping Gene, so that kind of got Dad involved in racing and Gene ran #63 on his car”, said Lay. Crittenden would lose his life in a racing accident at the old Tri-County Speedway in West Chester, OH and Jesse’s father was there that day, but it didn’t thwart his love for racing. “Dad and Sonny King started racing together and later on Press Sandlin (former Florence Speedway track promoter and performed the track prep at Florence Speedway for many years even after his promoting days) got involved in the Lay racing efforts and Press owned cars that were driven by Joe Lay, Jack Rice, and Vic Rouse among others”, added Jesse Lay. The key point was all the race cars sported the #63.

“I’ve used the #33 most of my career and when we got Slicker (Michael LeFevers) to letter our cars this year, they looked almost alike and I thought, we needed to do something to make the cars different to help track officials in identifying the cars, so I decided to go back to the #63”, added Jesse Lay, a former three-time Florence Speedway track champion. “After Press passed away, we ran the #63 on the car that season as a tribute to our close family friend, so I thought, why not bring that number back and put it on my car. Austin said he would even drive my car with the #63 on it”, commented Lay, who has series wins with the American Late Model Series, Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series, and Northern All Star Late Model Series during the course of his racing career.

“The #63 has always had a close meaning to our family over the years and if I hadn’t chosen the #33, I probably would have used that number. We have got the #63 back on the car now and who knows, I may just keep that number on my car and just end my driving career using that number in the next year or so”, concluded Lay.

For more information about Jesse Lay and his Austin Lay’s racing endeavors, visit their racing website at www.jessejameslay.com and keep track of where Outlaw Racing LLC will be racing in the future.

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