James Bickford (racing driver)

James Bickford
James Bickford in the 2015 Interstate Plastics/Sunrise Ford Racing suit
Nationality	United States
Born	(1998-03-16) March 16, 1998 (age 19) Napa, California
Related to	Jeff Gordon (cousin)
NASCAR K&N Pro Series West career
Debut season	2014
Current team	Sunrise Ford Racing
Car no.	6
Crew chief	Bill Sedgwick
Starts	14
Wins	2
Best finish	1st in 2014
Finished last season	5th
Championship titles
2014	Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award
Last updated on: February 16, 2015.

James Bickford (born March 16, 1998) is an American driver. Residing in Napa, California. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, driving the No. 6 Ford Fusion.

Bickford was born in Napa, California to parents Tom and Teresa Bickford. Currently 18 years old, James is related to four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion and three-time Daytona 500 champion, Jeff Gordon. Gordon is James’ paternal cousin.

Throughout his career, Bickford has won over 200 main event victories and taken home titles including Rookie of the Year at Ukiah Speedway (2010), Legends of the Pacific Rookie of the Year (2011), Semi-Pro Legends champion (2011), NASCAR Whelen All-American Late Model Series champion (2013) and K&N Pro Series West Rookie of the Year (2014).

In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, Tom Bickford was making Quarter Midget parts for Ron Stanley race cars, and shortly after, began making parts for nephew Jeff Gordon, as Jeff and his father, John, traveled across the country to compete in Quarter Midget races. James began racing in the Quarter Midgets at the age of five. At this age, Tom referred to racing as a “fathers-sons-sport”. Bickford won 69 of 75 races entered in just one of three different Quarter Midget Divisions he raced during 2007.

By the age of nine, Bickford was racing 48 weeks out of the year. By 2010, the young driver, who attended St. Apollinaris Catholic school, had won 15 Quarter Midget championships: four local track championships, two Nor Cal championships, four regional championships, two California 500 championships, two Western States Mona championships and one Dirt Road National, as well as close to 200 main events.

Toward the end of this time, Bickford wanted to move up from Quarter Midgets to Bandolero cars, but needed to raise money to purchase the necessary equipment. In order to raise sufficient funds, he held a fundraiser called the "KGA" (Kids Golf Association) at age eleven. Tom Bickford noted, “It costs a lot of money making the step from little cars to big cars. But he definitely has the desire [to race]”.

At the beginning of his Bandolero season, James was eleven years old. In his first race at Ukiah Speedway on April 10, 2010, he won the trophy dash and came in second in the A-main. He then won the Bandolero race at All-American Speedway in Roseville, California on April 17, along with trophy dash and heat race. In late April, 2010 he raced again at Ukiah and set a new track record with a lap of 15.324 seconds.