(The Center Square) – Visionary for racetracks and arguably unparalleled in promoting North Carolina’s signature sport of the last century, H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler has died. He was 86.
Wheeler was as legendary at the tracks as drivers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt were on them as NASCAR exploded from its boot-legging heritage of the mid-1900s into national prominence in the last three decades of the century. From his entrance in 1975 until his 2008 retirement from Charlotte Motor Speedway and Speedway Motorsports, the sport had none better at bringing in eyeballs through “over-the-top” prerace shows, transformative ideas for the race fan experience, and a passion to grow stock-car racing.
In a statement released by NASCAR on Thursday, Chairman and CEO Jim France said, “Humpy Wheeler was a visionary whose name became synonymous with promotion and innovation in our sport.”
In a 1997 interview with Raleigh’s News & Observer newspaper, Wheeler said, “I’ve never been to a big event, whether it’s a world heavyweight championship fight or an Indy 500 where there wasn’t a lot of tension before it, even among the competitors. You’ve got to have that. And part of this whole thing was to create an atmosphere that would entertain the fans but also get the competitors fired up.”
Bruton Smith owned the track in Charlotte and hired Wheeler as president in 1975. The 1.5-mile, 95,000-capacity venue was the first in the sport with condominiums on site, had a restaurant overlooking the quad oval, and was first to have lights for night racing.
His recipe to staff, the speedway said in a statement, was “tickets, traffic and toilets.” Translated – the fan experience.
The 1992 side-by-side finish of Davey Allison and Kyle Petty in 1992’s The Winston remains as iconic of a photo of the sport as the 1979 infield grass fisticuffs of Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison on the final lap of the Daytona 500. The former was an all-star race sponsored by tobacco kingpin R.J. Reynolds and first competition under the lights; the latter was an ABC Wide World of Sports televised event, with Richard Petty winning, that vaulted the sport forward.
The Belmont native was educated at the University of South Carolina, won a Golden Gloves light heavyweight title, and opted out of a boxing career after a tour of New York City streets with his father and legendary basketball coach Al McGuire, then the coach at Belmont Abbey.
He worked for Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. and was a promoter for small tracks prior to landing with Smith.