INDIANAPOLIS – C.J. Rayburn, a respected dirt late model chassis builder who was an inaugural member of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame, has died at the age of 81.
Rayburn had been suffering from phenomena caused by COVID-19 and was hospitalized Monday in Indianapolis. He died late Saturday afternoon.
Rayburn established C.J. Rayburn Race Cars in 1976. He primarily built engines, but soon saw a need for better race cars and began building his own brand of race car chassis.Â
Through the years cars built by Rayburn won the famous World 100 at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway 13 times. That’s on top of the countless other victories earned by drivers piloting cars built by Rayburn.Â
He was among those inducted as part of the inaugural National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame class in 2001. He was joined by a number of dirt late model racing’s greatest names, including Charlie Swartz, Earl Baltes, Mike Duvall, Rodney Combs, Freddy Smith and Jeff Purvis.