Apex Consolidated High School Class of 1965

James Lovelace Bullock is a 1965 graduate of Apex Consolidated High School where he cherishes his position on the school’s basketball team as a point guard.  However, after his graduation from Apex Consolidated, he has become famous for drag racing. First and foremost, Mr. Bullock is grateful the Apex High School / Apex Consolidated Hall of Fame views “car drag racing” as a sport and race car drivers as athletes.  He is honored to be nominated and selected as an inductee in the 2022 Apex High School Hall of Fame! 

His success stated when racing his 1966 Super Sport. He then started racing both Camaros and Chevelles with an Apex Chevy dealer, Bill Garringer, who provided a Camaro for him to drag at the track.  James later teamed with a friend on a 1968 Camaro which was a very fast car that no one else would drive – the Atkins & Bullock, big block Camaro. After becoming friends and car co-owner with Rick Hendrick (owner of the NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports and founder of the Hendrick Automotive Group with car dealerships in Apex), Mr. Bullock relocated to Charlotte to train for NASCAR.  After realizing he didn’t enjoy driving in ovals, he went back to drag racing. When Rick Hendrick ordered him a 1985 Corvette with a Reaher & Morrison 530-cu. in. engine and a Lenco trans, allowed James to run an 8.03 run. However, after Hendrick purchased a 615-cu. in. engine from Reaher & Morrison, it gave birth to the first seven second full-bodied care without NOS. In the fall of 1985 at the Rockingham Dragway (¼ mile), Bullock’s elapsed time was 7.70.  In the spring of 1987 at the Piedmont Dragway (⅛ mile), he drove the first full-bodied car to run the four seconds with an elapsed time of 4.92. His team was titled “The World’s Fastest Gasoline Corvette.”

In 1987 at the fall Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee, James Lovelace Bullock was the first African-American to win “Top Sportsman” with the final run of a .001 reaction time.  After this time he went even faster in a 1988 TM built Camaro at Darlington in 1989 with a 7.19 e.t. and 197 MPH.  His last pass down the 1/8-track with this Camaro was a 4.53 e.t. and 160 mph with a parachute to stop him!

After retiring from drag racing in 1991, Mr. Bullock was honored with “Trailblazer Award” by the AFMIM (Association for Minorities in Motorsports). Later in October 2007, Mr. Bullock was inducted into the “East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame.”  Enjoying his “toy,” a 1941 red Willys for many years, Mr. Bullock says, “I praise the Lord for all that He has provided me and for His shield of protection around me when I was behind the wheel.”   Today, Mr. Bullock still enjoys cars and participating in the Town of Apex parades as well as coordinating and being a part of Car Shows in Apex and surrounding areas. He gives back to the Apex Consolidated Alumni Association by contributing to college scholarships.

As a student at Apex Consolidated High School after a weekend day at the races, James says he would lie in bed still hearing the sounds of cars making a Doppler effect passing down the race track . . . and today, guess what?  HE STILL DOES!