James Harvey Hylton (August 26, 1934 – April 28, 2018) was an American stock car racing driver. He was a two-time winner in NASCAR Winston Cup Series competition and was a long-time competitor in the ARCA Racing Series. Hylton finished second in points in NASCAR's top series three times. He holds the record for highest points finish by a rookie.

Although he had only two wins at the Cup level, Hylton collected 140 top-fives and 301 top-tens in 601 races. Hylton was in the championship hunt several times in the 1960s and 1970s, finishing second in points in 1966, 1967, and 1971. Hylton also holds the record as the oldest driver to finish a race in NASCAR's top three series when he raced at Daytona in the Xfinity Series (then the Nationwide Series), in 2008 at the age of 73.

Hylton was born on August 26, 1934, to a Roanoke, Virginia family farm; he was one of thirteen children. Hylton's early years centered primarily around farming but he soon found himself immersed in the world of stock car auto racing.

Hylton's career in auto racing began in the late 1950s when he began working as a mechanic for Rex White. Hylton, White and Louis Clements teamed to win 26 races and most importantly the 1960 NASCAR Grand National championship. In 1964, White scaled back his driving duties and Hylton began a tenure as crew chief for the Ned Jarrett / Bondy Long team. During the 1964 season, the team won 14 races and finished second in points. In 1965, the team won twelve races and won the NASCAR Grand National championship.

On July 8, 1964, Hylton made his first Grand National start at the Old Dominion 400 at Old Dominion Speedway at Manassas, Virginia. He finished 19th and collected $100 for his efforts. Things improved dramatically in 1966, as Hylton finished second in the points chase and won the series' Rookie of the Year award. Hylton also captured his first pole at Starlite Speedway in Monroe, North Carolina. Hylton again finished second in points during the 1967 season while driving Dodges for owner Bud Hartje. Hylton was a model of consistency during this two-year period as he had 46 top-five finishes in 87 races, finishing second to Richard Petty in the 1967 standings despite having no wins compared to Petty's 27.

Hylton won the NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 1966, and finished second in the season points standings, 1,950 points behind David Pearson. He won only two races over his career. Although, he only won two races, he was always in the thick of the championship hunt. He finished in the top-ten in the season points standings in ten of the twelve years between 1966 and 1977.

In the 1972 Talladega 500, Hylton won under interesting circumstances, when Goodyear supplied teams with a special tire for superspeedways. However, this tire design proved to shred after long distances under superspeedway conditions. Because Hylton's team could not afford the new tires they ran with the old ones. Hylton and Ramo Stott, another low tier driver who also could not afford the tires, skated around the other cars, and Hylton won it by less than a second.

In 1968, Hylton became a car owner–driver, a dual role that continued until his death. He found his way to victory lane for the first time on March 1, 1970, at the Richmond 500, driving the familiar No. 48 Ford. During the late sixties and early seventies, Hylton amassed an amazing consistency record that was rivaled only by those of Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough.