Means grew up racing in Alabama and Tennessee, winning dozens of late model events in the early 1970s. He claimed track championships at Huntsville Speedway and the historic Nashville Speedway USA before graduating to NASCAR's top division.
Means made his Winston Cup debut at the 1976 Daytona 500, driving the number five Chevrolet for Bill Gray. He led one lap before an engine failure relegated him to a fortieth-place finish. That same year he ran eighteen additional races for Gray in the No. 52 car.
His best season came in 1977, when he drove twenty-six races and recorded six top-ten finishes — a career high. In 1978, Means shifted to independent operation for most races and improved steadily through the early 1980s. His best points finish was eleventh in 1982, the first year he completed every race on the schedule.
In 1983, Means recorded the highest single-race result of his career with a seventh-place run at Talladega. A crash at Talladega Superspeedway in 1984 sidelined him for several races and his form never fully recovered. He picked up a series of small sponsors through the late 1980s — including Eureka Vacuum Cleaners in 1987, when he recorded his final career top-ten at Richmond International Raceway, and Alka-Seltzer in 1989 — but struggled to qualify consistently as the competitive field deepened.
The deaths of Alabama Gang comrades Neil Bonnett and reigning Goody's Dash Series champion Rodney Orr during 1994 Speedweeks profoundly affected Means. Shortly after qualifying for the 1994 Daytona 500, he announced his retirement. He was winless in 455 career Winston Cup starts, with seventeen top-ten finishes across his career.
After retiring from driving, Means remained active in NASCAR as a crew chief, working for Bud Moore Engineering and Moy Racing. In 1995 he served briefly as team manager for the Bud Moore-owned No. 15 Ford Quality Care Thunderbird driven by Lake Speed.
Through the 1990s and 2000s Means fielded cars in the NASCAR Busch Series (later Xfinity Series) under his own banner, Jimmy Means Racing. In 2012 he was a part-owner of Hamilton Means Racing, which carried his traditional No. 52 car number.
Means later became an adviser for Front Row Motorsports. His son Brad Means has also competed in NASCAR.
As an independent owner-driver with limited funding, Means represented a breed of grassroots competitor that defined much of NASCAR's middle-field during the 1970s and 1980s. His Alabama Gang membership placed him within one of the sport's most storied regional brotherhoods, and his longevity — nearly two decades on the circuit in self-prepared equipment — earned lasting respect in the NASCAR community.