Howard Augustine "Humpy" Wheeler (born October 23, 1938) is the former President and General Manager of
Charlotte Motor Speedway, one of the premier auto racing venues owned by Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Better known as H.A. or "Humpy" Wheeler, he has long been known as one of the foremost promoters of
NASCAR auto racing.
Nickname
During an appearance on the
National Public Radio quiz show ''
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' in July 2006, Wheeler explained the origin of his nickname. He said that when his father had played football at the University of Illinois, he was caught once smoking
Camel cigarettes, earning the name "Humpy" for the camel's hump. His father's friends then began calling him "Humpy Jr." Growing up through high school, college football, and then racing, the name "Humpy" has stuck with him.
Early life
Wheeler was born in
Belmont
Belmont may refer to:
People
* Belmont (surname)
Places
* Belmont Abbey (disambiguation)
* Belmont Historic District (disambiguation)
* Belmont Hotel (disambiguation)
* Belmont Park (disambiguation)
* Belmont Plantation (disambiguation)
* Belmon ...
,
North Carolina. He began his promotional career at age nine, selling tickets for a bicycle race.
[Bechtel 2010, p.209-210] He was a defensive lineman for the
South Carolina Gamecocks in the late 1950s. His teammates included future NASCAR communications director
Jim Hunter (a running back), and Jim Duncan (later known as a marketing executive at Lowe's Motor Speedway). Wheeler was also an amateur race car driver during his early years.
Promotions
After becoming the president of Charlotte Motor Speedway, Wheeler earned the reputation for organizing publicity stunts. A few weeks after driver
Cale Yarborough
William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...
gave the less-than-complimentary nickname 'Jaws' to rival driver
Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, former national television broadcaster, and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series dur ...
, Wheeler bought a giant dead shark, placed a dead chicken in the shark's mouth, and had it driven around the track on a flatbed truck before a race at Charlotte (Yarborough's sponsor at the time was Holly Farms Poultry).
In 1984, the pre-race show for the World 600 was a reenactment of
Operation Urgent Fury
The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The United States and a coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, ...
, the invasion of
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
the previous year.
In 2007, Wheeler announced that the
Bank of America 500 would feature an "all-you-can-eat grandstand," where fans would pay a set ticket price, and would then get to eat as much as they wanted of the grandstand's food before, during, and after the race. The publicity for this event included Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest champion
Joey Chestnut at the press conference.
Retirement
The
Coca-Cola 600 held on May 25, 2008 was to be Wheeler's last race as President of the
Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Steve Byrnes of FOX Sports and Speed TV honored Wheeler before the race and Wheeler in turn gave a speech thanking race fans from all over the
United States in addition to people from foreign countries for coming to the race: "I owe a tremendous gratitude to you for buying tickets to our facility. If we meet again may you be in the palm of
God."
Although he had announced that he would step down as President and General Manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway soon after the race, Wheeler had hopes of staying on as a part-time consultant especially in light of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Speedway in 2009. However, apparently due to a falling out with Bruton Smith for reasons yet unknown, Wheeler's lengthy association with Lowe's Motor Speedway was unceremoniously ended. Smith thereafter wasted no time in appointing his son, Marcus Smith, as the new President and General Manager of the Speedway.
During an interview on Speed TV's "Wind Tunnel" on June 1, 2008, Wheeler stated that in addition to working as a part-time consultant, one of his primary projects during retirement will be working on a book devoted to his recollections of the numerous personalities he has known over his many years as a racing promoter at Lowe's Motor Speedway and prior to that during his years in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
and at the
Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
Recently, in an off-track but still automotive related pursuit, Wheeler provided the voice for "Tex," a 1975
Cadillac Coupe de Ville cartoon character, in the 2006
Pixar hit film ''
Cars'' and its 2017 sequel ''
Cars 3''.
On August 18, 2008, Wheeler announced the formation of The Wheeler Company, a consulting management firm focusing on general business, professional sports, and motorsports. Wheeler serves as chairman, with his son Howard III ("Trip") serving as president.
Wheeler was inducted into the
International Motorsports Hall of Fame on April 27, 2006 and to the
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on August 12, 2009.
[Humpy Wheeler]
at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
In April 2011, Wheeler appeared on an episode of The History Channel's ''
American Pickers'' in which he donated items to be placed in the
NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Grand Prix of America
In October 2011, Wheeler was announced as one of the principals behind the
Grand Prix of America, a
Formula One race to be run in
New Jersey starting with the
2014 Formula One season
The 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 68th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 65th Formula One, Formula One World Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula One cars, recognised by the sport's go ...
.
Speedway Benefits
In the fall of 2013, Wheeler once again made auto racing news as he announced the foundation of Speedway Benefits, a marketing and advertising partnership seeking to combine short-tracks across the United States into a single body for the purposes of contract negotiations with suppliers, advertisers, and business partners. Seeing such an alliance as a way to strengthen the bargaining positions of racetrack owners and to stymy the increasing power of NASCAR in North American auto racing, the organization seeks to "grow grassroots racing." By combining more than 1000 short track venues across North America into a collective body, Speedway Benefits argues that the purchasing power and fan base of short track racing exceeds that of other, established national sports leagues, thus potentially enabling short track owners to bargain more effectively and to pursue national level sponsorships of local and regional venues.
Hobbies and interests
Wheeler has had a longtime interest in bicycle sports beginning with organizing bicycle races in his early teens. He continues to be an avid cyclist and can be seen at numerous cycling trails and tracks around his hometown. Along with this he is a prized boxer having been involved in boxing his whole life. He has a 40-2 record as an amateur and was a Carolinas Golden Glove champion as a light heavyweight boxing out of Belmont, N.C and Columbia, S.C. He has been inducted into the Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame. Wheeler has maintained his boxing regimen and continues to stay in shape doing so.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
The Wheeler Company*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Humpy
Living people
People from Belmont, North Carolina
1938 births
Auto racing executives
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
NASCAR people
South Carolina Gamecocks football players
Charlotte Catholic High School alumni