Chitwood brings lifelong passion for racing to Daytona

Chitwood brings lifelong passion for racing to Daytona


By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(February 20, 2011)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—At age 14, Joie Chitwood learned a lesson that became a paradigm for his career in motorsports management.
By then, Chitwood already was an integral part of the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show founded by his grandfather and perpetuated by his father. The family made its living barnstorming around the country from its base in Tampa, where Chitwood was born.
“I remember at the state fair at Harrington, Del., I did the aerial wing walk for the first time, and the TV show ‘That’s Incredible’ came to film me,” Chitwood said. “My dad would drive a car on two wheels. I would climb out of the passenger window, stand on the side of the car like I was surfing, climb back in, and we’d set it back down.
“I’ll never forget practicing for that. We had the car set up on blocks, and I would climb in and climb out. I must have done it 20 times. And my grandfather would rock the car to simulate motion, and I’d be up there doing it.
“So I’m up there one time, and they’re filming it—doing a little B-roll—and my grandfather pushes the car back down on all four wheels. And I get thrown off the car. I kind of looked at him, and I said, ‘Chief—we always called him Chief—what are you doing?’ And he said, ‘You have to learn that, too.’
“From an early age, I knew it was a tough business.”
In 2009, Chitwood came to Daytona to work for International Speedway Corp. after resigning as president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, shortly after orchestrating the centennial celebration at the Brickyard. In 2010, Chitwood was named president of Daytona International Speedway.
He has personal ties to both racetracks, which he calls the “mother ships” of IndyCar Racing and NASCAR, respectively. Chitwood’s grandfather, Joie Chitwood Sr., finished fifth in the 1950 Indianapolis 500, seven years after founding the Thrill Show.
In 1969, Chitwood’s father, Joie Chitwood II, was racing at Daytona the day Chitwood III was born.
“That’s a story in itself,” Chitwood said. “He wasn’t at the hospital with my mom. He was racing a pony car around Daytona International Speedway.”
Chitwood took the Daytona job just in time to preside over a $20 million repaving project that marked the third time a surface has been laid on the 2.5-mile superspeedway. After the original surface was put down in 1958, and after the first repaving in 1978, historic races followed.
“When you look at the 1959 race—new asphalt, three-wide at the finish, and it took a couple days to figure out (Lee Petty) won. In ’79—new asphalt, and Donnie (Allison) and Cale (Yarborough) had a difference of opinion inside of Turn 3 on the last lap and let Richard Petty win the race. I look at this year—new asphalt, and we could have a barnburner of an event. There’s an excitement about that.”
There’s definitely a buzz about this year’s race, and Chitwood, who has a degree in finance from Florida and an MBA from the University of South Florida, is responsible for much of it. His passion for the sport is infectious.
“Last year we had some downs,” he said. “We had the bad weather. We had the pothole. I think we’re due for an up, and I think the new asphalt lends itself to it. We’ve got a great team here in Daytona, and we’ve been hustling, and we’ve been making sure people know how excited we are about what’s going to happen.
“It’s easy for me to get excited, and when I talk about it, I think I can get other people excited about it. That’s what we do—we promote. I think we’ve had a really good last six or seven weeks getting people fired up about what we’re going to do.”