C.J. Rayburn, the inaugural National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer and titan of the sport who revolutionized the construction of the modern-day Late Model chassis and whose colorful aphorisms were well known around dirt tracks everywhere, died late Saturday afternoon. | Arrangements

The legendary Kentucky native and Whiteland, Ind., resident passed away peacefully after battling Covid pneumonia, according to his daughter Carla Rayburn-Pohl. He was 81.

Rayburn Race Cars set the standard as the sport's first major chassis builder with race cars that won thousand of races throughout the United States as well as Canada and Australia, including 13 World 100s at Ohio's Eldora Speedway.

The lumbering Rayburn, whose racing interests began in drag racing and continued into Dirt Late Model racing as a successful if uneven competitor along with his chassis building, was no doubt proud of the Rayburn Race Cars biggest victories but relished checkered flags earned by unheralded drivers at the most modest of bullrings.

"I've had some really good people drive our cars, and they've all worked hard to win," Rayburn said in a 2004 interview in National Dirt Digest. "But I've also got my guys who fall into the Joe Average racer category who win races, and I enjoy that because those guys are the ones who have to spend their money smart and want to learn about a race car to make the bigger races and get better."

Often contrary with drivers who wanted to make small (or big) changes to race cars, Rayburn was famed for quippy quotes often related to that and other topics, including:

• "Race cars don't win races, people win races."

• "Everyone works too hard on the wrong things and spends too much money on the wrong things."

• "Maybe you should go to the hot dog stand."

Rayburn's hot dog stand suggestion was "because I see people go and run and win races, and then they'll get beat, and they'll go changing their cars. I mean, the car's the same, the track's the same or close to the same, so the only thing that changes is the driver," he once said.

Rayburn was admitted to Franciscan Health hospital in Indianapolis, Ind., on Monday and died at 4:16 p.m. on New Year's Day surrounded by family members.