Henry ‘Hinky’ Lee Eanes, Jr., 64, of 112 Ridgeway Drive, Danville, VA died Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 5:19 a.m. in Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center after losing a hard fought battle with cancer for the past 6 months.
Eanes first racing was with the late Layton Bacon and the Kentucky Fried Chicken car driven by the late Jimmy Griffin of Eden, NC. In early 1978 he began working with Junior Johnson’s team with Cale Yarborough as the driver. They won three consecutive NASCAR Championships with Cale. In 1981 he went to work for Travis Carter with Hal Needham and Burt Reynolds ‘ Skoal Bandit team with Harry Gant as driver. In 1990 he worked with the team owned by Bill Edwards which had been purchased from Hal Needham. With this team he and Travis Carter worked with Rick Mast as driver. In 1990-1992 he worked with drivers Butch Miller and ‘Mr. Excitement’ Jimmy Spencer. From late 1992 and 1993 Hinky worked with Bill Davis Racing with Bobby Labonte as driver. In 1994 reunited Hinky with Travis Carter and teams sponsored by R. J. Reynolds Camel brand cigarettes with Hut Strickland as driver. Jimmy Spencer later became the driver for the team. In 1999 Darrell Waltrip joined the team with Jimmy Spencer. He worked with Travis Carter’s team through the time of Travis’s retirement in 2003. When his dear friend Travis retired, Hinky too retired. He did not want to race any more without Travis Carter. He enjoyed so much reliving all their fun experiences at every track they visited throughout the years. He never met a stranger and loved everyone and was loved by all who knew him in the NASCAR community. Hinky did continue to help Travis with his son Matt Carter racing in the Hooter’s Pro Cup series through 2007. Hinky served in the United States Air Force from November 1966 to November 1970, serving during the Viet Nam conflict. Service info and full obituary atnorrisfuneral.com.(7-31-2012)
