The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 8

8A WFPNFSPAY MAY 21 2008 FROM PAGE ONE THF CHARI OTTF OBSFRVFR I www charlotte com Motor Speedway chief to retire Wheeler ia Wilks Humpy Wheeler to retire Who could step in? Possible candidates to succeed HA Humpy Wheeler as president of Motor Speedway: Lauri Wilks (executive vice president of management and administration at Lowe's Motor Speedway) Comment: Has taken a higher profile in recent months perhaps grooming to take this step Eddie Gossage (Texas Motor Speedway president) and Ed Clark (Atlanta Motor Speedway president) Comment: Both worked here under Wheeler but both also are ensconced in their current roles Jerry Gappens (New Hampshire Motor Speedway president) Comment: Was vice president at Lowe's Motor Speedway until he left late last year to take over the New Hampshire track when Speedway Motorsports Inc purchased it Gossage Gappens PHOTO COURTESY ANITA RICH On page 172 of "Portraits of NASCAR" a book by Kannapolis photographer Anita Rich and Robin Dallenbach wife of NASCAR driver Wally Jr is this image of Humpy Wheeler on his watercycle Association Hall of Fame 2004 Like King the boxing promoter Wheeler can an event and make it seem like the biggest thing in the Gappcns said also has always had a vision of what the future is going to look like the way a Walt Disney or people like him Gappcns said certainly known for being a showman like PT Bamum somebody who has always understood the importance of always having something going on all of the Howard Alden Wheeler was born in 1938 in Gaston County He inherited his nickname from his father Howard Sr the athletics director at Belmont Abbey College who was first called Humpy by football teammates at the University of Illinois after the elder Wheeler wras caught smoking Camel cigarettes Wheeler played football at the University of South Carolina and was an amateur boxer but a lifelong fascination with the automobile eventually won out As a lad Wheeler hitchhiked to races at Charlotte Speedway the dirt track where strictly stock series now Sprint Cup ran its first race in 1949 He talked his way into driving his first race when he was 15 and before he graduated from college in 1961 Wheeler had won races at a quarter-mile track in Newberry SC After college Wheeler worked as a sportswnter for a local radio station and as a public information officer for the city of Charlotte He also promoted races at tracks in Gastonia Concord and Monroe He wound up as director of racing for Firestone which helped him gain knowledge and make contacts across a wide swath of the industry was my real degree in Wheeler said He came to what was then called Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1975 after Bruton Smith regained control of the track Smith had helped build in 1960 For the next 33 years Wheeler helped make Motor Speedway a model for the modern race track and build Speedway Motorsports Inc into a company with a maikct capitalization of $117 billion Wheeler shared in the wealth According to annual report 2007 compensation totaled $1185258 first World 600 was in 1976 and when Janet Guthrie failed to make the field in her bid to be the first woman to race in the Indianapolis 500 Wheeler helped arrange a car for her to drive in the NASCAR race that same weekend sold every ticket we Wheeler said Wheeler believed that most people who bought tickets to come to races led what he called lives want a little Technicolor in he said Wheeler provided it sending school buses jumping into stacks of smashed cars and employing a 40-foot tall fire-breathing careating robot in his prerace shows During one show Wheeler heard a couple of reporters asking what the track might come up with next one asked Wheeler thought it was funny and the next year staged a prerace circus on pit road With the 600-mile race on Memorial Day weekend extravaganzas in recent years have centered on saluting the American military Motor Speedway has more than doubled its seating capacity to around 160000 seats during tenure He was there when condominiums were built in Turn 1 when the track added a Speedway Club restaurant open all year and when Speedway Motorsports Inc went public Wheeler has been a friend an advisor and a mentor to scores of race car drivers Some like Dale Earnhardt went on to become the biggest stars He has helped many others get their starts in other areas of the industry has served on dozens of boards of civic organizations and has won countless awards for his service to racing and to his community Through it all however kept his perspective had a great event and we were sitting there talking one said Ed Clark another former employee who now is track president at Atlanta Motor Speedway looked at me and said start feeling too satisfied If you do put on some old clothes and walk down the street to see how many people will pick you up quickly realize no different from anybody else get too proud of what 25 off Entire stock Gold socks Orig 6 00-20 00 Sale 4 50-15 00 Shown 6 pk athletic socks orig 18 00 Sale 12 99 Fluffies 3-pk casual or Hampton 3-pk dress socks orig 15 00 Sale 11 25 Sale ends June 15 CARY 0 BRIEN gobrien chartotteobserver com Motor Speedway president A Wheeler chats with members of the Blastolene Brothers hot-rod organization during the recent AutoFair at the race track 4 i.