Kenny Bruce: Wheeler focused his career on entertaining the fans
By Kenny Bruce - Assistant Managing Editor
Thursday, May 22, 2008
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COMMENTARY
Humpy Wheeler can tell a good story. As a matter of fact, the outgoing president of Lowe’s Motor Speedway can, and often will, get sidetracked while spinning one tale and wind up telling two or three others en route to his original destination.
That’s the promoter in Wheeler, who will step aside after more than three decades at LMS with the completion of this weekend’s signature event, the Coca-Cola 600. Always give the public more than they bargained for. It’s that singular idea that helped turn the former small-town dirt-track promoter into one of NASCAR’s most recognized, most trusted individuals.
Wheeler’s always had a soft spot for the fans, understanding that without the folks in the seats, the sport wouldn’t have evolved into the multibillion-dollar industry that it is today. Given the option of having more suites for corporate sponsors lining the top of his track or clean, plentiful restrooms for the fans, Wheeler would opt for the latter.
His influence on the sport hasn’t been limited to Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Every track more than 1 mile in length that hosts a night race owes a debt to the Belmont, N.C., native, who was the first to broach the idea of night races for the sport’s bigger tracks.
Concerned that series sponsor R.J. Reynolds might consider moving the sport’s annual all-star race from Charlotte for the 1992 season, Wheeler and track officials traveled to Winston-Salem to meet with RJR officials.
“I said, ‘How about let’s light the place and run it on Saturday night?’” Wheeler said he told the sponsor.
Convinced that the idea had merit, Wheeler and his group were on the way home when he was asked by co-workers how he planned to light the track and have the project completed in only eight months time.
“I don’t have the slightest idea,” he said.
Less than a year later, race fans got their first look at the all-star race under the lights, capped off with winner Davey Allison and Kyle Petty crashing just past the finish line in a storm of sparks and smoke. The sport’s never been the same.
Wheeler has always had an eye for talent on the race track as well – realizing the potential of competitors such as Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch long before they began stacking up wins on the race track.
“Probably today, [Earnhardt] couldn’t get a ride,” Wheeler said in recalling his initial dealings with the seven-time champion. “[He was a] stringy-haired kid that always had dirty blue jeans on because he was always working on his car. He was shy. [He] just could drive the heck out of a race car. ...
“Helping him was probably the most interesting because of the mental barriers he had to confront that a lot of drivers today don’t. He had no money. He went broke. He didn’t have the sophisticated qualities of speech or manner that everybody is looking for today.
“All he could do was just drive the pure hell out of a race car.”
Trackside condominiums? They may not be for everyone, but for those who could afford the luxury, Wheeler was the first to step up and, with the blessing of track owner Bruton Smith, build them at LMS.
And the track’s prerace shows are nearly as legendary as the man himself. From all-out “invasions” featuring various branches of the military to daredevil jumps featuring cars, campers and school buses, Wheeler’s always pushed to keep the fans entertained.
“The challenge has always been, this place is so big and spread out, you need to do things that are spread out,” he said of the prerace festivities.
“You’ve got to take care of the spectators and make them have a good time. ... You’ve got to entertain them.”
For three-plus decades, Wheeler’s done just that.
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