Jax Reynolds And His Limestone University INEX Legends Race Car To Appear In S.C. Peach Festival Parade July 15

INEX Legends Series driver Jackson “Jax” Reynolds and his race car will make a special appearance in the Peach Festival parade July 15 to promote a “Saints 500” fundraising initiative for Limestone University.

Reynolds, 17, of Marietta, Ga., is currently ranked 13th out of 240 drivers on the semi-pro Legends racing circuit sanctioned by INEX. He competes in Thursday Thunder Legend series at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. He just joined Miller Performance Motor Sports team in Anderson.

His blue and gold No. 9 Legends car is sponsored exclusively by Limestone University and the RM Hines Group Inc. Limestone’s sponsorship of the car is made possible through a donor.

Reynolds has already won several races this season in the semi-pro Legend racing series. A win in a Thursday Thunder race on June 16 at Atlanta Motor Speedway stands out as a memorable moment.

“It took us a few races to get the Limestone car into victory lane,” Reynolds said. “I ran in the Top 5 for most of the night. I was able to pull out in front on a restart off a green, white checkered flag at the end of the race. It was pretty exciting. It’s definitely been one of the highlights so far.”

Reynolds has been involved in competitive racing for five years after he tried his hand at baseball and basketball in youth leagues.

After watching NASCAR races, he started to notice several of today’s top race car drivers cut their teeth in Legend Series Racing at Atlanta Motorsports. Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, and David Ragan are just a few drivers that started out on the tricky quarter-mile course in Legend cars before moving onto race at the highest level of motor sports.

“I thought driving a Legends car would be a great way to start racing and make it to the next level,” Reynolds said. “It’s really fun to be able to drive fast.”

The first Legend Car was unveiled at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1992 in an effort to create a fun and affordable “spec” class of racing for anyone to participate in racing.

Resembling a 1930s Coupe, Legend Cars are 5/8-scale fiberglass versions of the famed NASCAR modified race cars. The cars weigh 1,250 pounds with a driver and are powered by a sealed Yamaha motorcycle engine.

Reynolds started his racing season with no sponsors until RM Hines Group in Atlanta came on board. RM Hines Group was started by former Limestone Board of Trustees chairman Randy Hines, honorary golf coach of Limestone’s 1984 national championship team.

A donor stepped forward from Limestone to sponsor the car, leading to Reynolds’ promotional appearances for the “Saints 500” fundraising initiative.

Additional sponsorships are available for the Limestone Legend car. His father, Keith, said this will provide additional funding support down the road to allow Jackson to race the Limestone car in as many race events as possible.

Reynolds said he is looking forward to his first taste of the Peach Festival in Saturday’s parade. It comes in a rare break in his summer schedule between his next Thursday Thunder race July 20 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and a July 27 race in Braselton, Ga.

Reynolds plans to compete in races in the Carolinas and make additional appearances in the area to support Limestone’s “Saints 500” fundraising initiative.

“It’s really exciting to be able to plug Limestone and help them out,” Reynolds said. “It’s great to have the chance to do this and help the community. It’s an exciting deal. I’m looking forward to it.”

The “Saints 500” fundraising initiative seeks a commitment from 500 donors to invest $1,000 per year into Limestone’s Annual Fund for the next five years.

Once completed, Limestone officials said the “Saints 500” will provide the Annual Fund with $500,000 per a year and a grant total of $2.5 million over five years.

To join the “Saints 500” Challenge, visit www.limestone.edu/donate-now and select “Saints 500” from the dropdown menu.

Thanks to the generosity of a Limestone donor, those who participate in the “Saints 500” will be entered into a drawing to win four tickets to the 2024 Cola-Cola 600 NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. Additional prizes will also be announced soon.

(Article by Scott Powell, The Gaffney Ledger, July 12, 2023)