Miss Chicken Looses a Good Friend !!

Rayford Palmer (79), long time Morton resident and one of the best carburetor men ever, passed away suddenly on March 3rd, 2007.

Pictured here is the pit crew for Miss Chicken. From left to right are Chief Mechanic Buddy Taylor, Apprentice Mechanic Jimmy Lynn Chesnut and Carburetor Man Rayford Palmer.

It seems that you could always find Rayford playing with cars. He owned an automotive repair shop in Morton for many years. He was also no stranger at the race track. He knew how to make a car fly and turn left. He started as the mechanic for Sidney Wallace who ran modifieds in Jackson back in the 50's and 60's. He also worked on cars driven or owned by Bill Steadman, Larry "Killer" Keeton, Barnett Jones, Nolan Bennett and many others.

Rayford helped in the rebuild of Miss Chicken and even refereed a few heated discussions between Dad and I. Rayford also made it a point to be at every event where Miss Chicken was on display or took the track. He was a life long friend to my Dad and Bill Steadman. Racing with Miss Chicken will never be the same !!