Jim McConnell

Car Owner, Competitor, Track Owner
CLASS OF 2009

Jim “J.B.” McConnell was an aircraft mechanic in the 1930s, but his passion was auto racing. By the 1940’s, Jim was part of a group of racers who competed at several local fairground tracks.

He bought a parcel of land in Scarborough, Maine, and, in 1948, set about building Beech Ridge Speedway. The gates first opened at Beech Ridge on Memorial Day weekend of 1949. Jim owned & operated the track for 24 years before selling it in 1973.

In the same year he opened Beech Ridge, he formed the Maine State Stock Car Racing Association, an organization that lasted for 35 years. Jim served as its president for four terms. J.B. was involved in the establishment of several other tracks, including Oxford Plains Speedway, Arundel Speedway, Star Speedway and Unity Speedway.

He was affectionately called “The Father of Maine Racing.” He was a member of the Beech Ridge Speedway Hall of Fame and was a 2004 inductee into the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame. He passed away on December 4, 2008 in his winter home in Sarasota, FL. He was 96 years old. His ashes were buried behind the scoreboard at Beech Ridge Speedway.