Thrill Shows, Chitwoods et al - Joie Chitwood, Jr. 1970 TV Interview

Whenever I think of the Chicagoland Speedway I think of the Chitwood family. Back in the early 90s, Joie Chitwood III was VP/GM of a group named Raceway Associates, getting ready to build what became Chicagoland Speedway (in its pre-ISC days). Today, Joie Chitwood, III is President of Daytona and a formerpresident of Indianapolis, but when I met him, he'd come to our Richmond International Raceway because NASCAR told himPaul Sawyerhad built the best retaining wall (with no opening anywhere for a driver to get hurt like Don Mactavish at Daytona and Michael Waltrip at Bristol) and best catchfence, with a special angled chain link,on the NASCAR circuit and suggested he model the ones at Chicago after ours at Richmond. As our member Dennis Andrews will remember, Chitwood's father, Joie Chitwood, Jr., drove in the NASCAR Grand American circuit and his grandfather operated the famed Joie Chitwood Thrill Show, which once drew in excess of 110,000 spectators for a single Chicago Soldier Field performance.

The Chitwoods - Joie, Joie, Jr. and Joie III

Fair season is now upon us again. When I was a kid, one of the great attractions at our State Fair of Virginia in Richmond was the grandstand auto thrill show on the old half-mile dirt track. Booked by Cetlin & Wilson attractions who had the Va. State Fair contract, we usually had the Jack Kochman Hell Drivers most years. I couldn't wait until I was old enough to finally have permission to be allowed in. I think it was the same year my buddy and I saw our first Lion MotorDrome Wall of Death Show.

Jack Kochman Hell Drivers

I guess the most famous and one of the early auto thrill shows was the Lucky Teter show and I think he is supposed to have been one of the greatest stunt drivers.

Lucky Teeter at Richmond

Lion Motordrome Wall of Death act

Did you ever see an auto thrill show? Where? When? What Show?

Ever see a Lion MotorDrome wall of Death Show?

Here you go:

Yes Dave, I saw at least twofrom 1969-1970. I wish I could remember where but can't, saw one from the stands and one from the infield. At least one was the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show and Joie Jr. did compete in the Grand Touring/Grand American series. I remember the cars being older models (early to mid '50s) and very plain except for the lettering on the sides. Looked like every day drivers. The stunts were driving on two wheels all the way around the track. Two cars would go in opposite directions, both on the left side tires, and meet on the front stretch as the cars barely cleared each other. One car would fly off a ramp while the other car would cross underneath. It is funny the odd things that you remember, I remember thinking that it must have been harder to drive the car on the twoleft sidewheels and go around the track backwards and turning to the right than going the normal way and turning to the left while on the left side tires.

The other stunt I remember is when they drove the car through a big tube mounted on a trailer with ramps going into it and out the other side high in the air. I think it looked like a rocket ship and the exit end would elevate up over the truck. In the picture below you can see part of that stunt craft just behind the left rear of the #15 Cougar with Dad standing in front of it. This would have been 1969. The thing that impressed me about this was the fact that the diameter of the tube was not a lot bigger than the width of the car and they hit those ramps at a pretty good speed. Not much rooom for error.

Several years later I saw another thrill show that featured Camaros but again I don't remember the name of the show or where it was. I'm like Billy Biscoe, my rememberer don't work to good.

A few shots from back in the day at Nashville Speedway. As a kid, it was one of the craziest things I ever witnessed. My heart was pumping hard enough to tear through my chest.

(Nashville also hosted one of lamest events I remember seeing. A Uniroyal team of 3 people - with silly performance names of Uni, Roy, and Al.)

The Chitwood show was at the old Shrader Field<later named Lynchburg, Speedway here in Va. I have some old

news paper cliping. This was in the 1950's

I never was there. I live about three miles from Shrader Field Speedway. Earl Brooks Was in the show.

Thanks

Harlow Reynolds

Lynchburg,Va.

I had the opportunity to see the "Hell Drivers" many times through the years. Always amazed me the precision driving done by these guys. It was almost unbelieveable. An interesting note is that at Disney Hollywood Studios they have the thrill show which features many exciting feats by drivers of cars and motorcycles. I was reading, somewhere, how each action was perfected by exact and specific computer programs and although the vehicles are controlled by human drivers, it is through their knowledge of computer requirements that the tricks are accomplished. Back in the day of the Hell Drivers computers were not available. Everything done was totally humanly thought out and performed. Frankly, the human version holds much more appeal and excitement for me. Thanks for posting this Forum. Brought back a lot of memories.

Carnival of Speed: The Auto Racing Businessin the Emerging South, 1930-1950

RANDAL L HALL

By mid-October, the air in North Carolina has the crispness of autumn, and theleaves begin to turn bright colors under the harvest moon. For many people, itis time to head to the nearest fair. On October 19, 1939, about twenty-fivehundred spectators, including the local congressman, flocked to the WilsonCounty Fair for one of the favorite events at southern carnivalsautomobileraces. The races in Wilson were typical of those that took place around the nation,and in every southem state, during the 1920s through the 1940s. They weresanctioned by the American Automobile Association (AAA) and staged by Walter Stebbins of New York City. Six short qualifying races led up to tlie featureevent, a fifteen-mile contest on a Thursday afternoon. Joie Chitwood, a native ofOklahoma, held off Tony Willman of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to win. The localnewspaper breathlessly captured the reason the sport attracted (and continues toattract) crowds of eager fans: "A stocky little racing driver rocketing around like ameteor on the half-mile dirt track of the Wilson County Fair here yesterdayafternoon broke a world's record for the 15-mile distance on the half-mile dirttrack for single seated racers and smashed two track records at the same time. .. .There were plenty of thrills packed into the afternoon of racing and when it was allover everyone came out of it unscathed."'The motorized fun was not over for spectators in Wilson. Recognizing thedemand for racing and urged by the secretary of the fair's board, Stebbins phonedthe AAA and asked for sanction to repeat the card of open-cockpit races onSaturday afternoon. Buster Warke of West Virginia was the fastest in time trials, butin Saturday's feature he finished second to a nationally popular driver, Len Duncan.On Sunday afternoon, another four thousand encertait\ment-hungry residentstook in a second type of automotive spectacle. Carnival attraction "Suicide"Hayes and His Hell Drivers closed Wilson's sixth annual fair with a two-hourprogram. According to the Wilson Daily Times, it was a varied performance: "TheHell Drivers gave the huge crowd thrill after thrill as they drove speeding stockcars ovet inclines or ramps which sent them careening wildly ikwn the track;accomplished barrel rolls, crashed cars head-on, tumbled them end over end,crashed through flaming barriers, and successfully leaped a string of 18 cars in adaring leap with a stock car."- Onlookers in Wilsonand at untold numbers ofother fairgrounds dirt tracksbreathed in the clouds of dust that spurted frombeneath the churning tires. They could literally taste the excitement.Industrial America spawned automobile racing.

Excellent post! I went to see the Joie Chitwood showat the old Dixie Classic Fairgrounds Speedway in Winston-Salem during the fair back in 1972 and loved it.

Another of the auto daredevil shows not mentioned yet was Bill Holland's Thrill Show. Bill was the Indianapolis 500 champ in 1949, but was banned from the curcuit in 1950 for an unauthorized race appearance. He organized his own thrill show with Ford Motor Companyand took it on the road that year with his last date being at Peace Haven Speedway on October 1, 1950. The following year he was reinstated and when back to Indy Car racing.

From the 8-24-1956 edition of the Anson Record.

To go along with Wally's post:

From 9-10-1964 Anson Record

Here is a clip of a June 1970 interview with former NASCAR Grand American driver Joie Chitwood, Jr. at the same time he was racing in Grand American before a thrill show appearance at Victory Stadium in Roanoke, Va.  Joie's son - Joie Chitwood III - is now president of Daytona Speedway. From WSLS Television archives.