Harry Hyde

The inspiration for Harry Hogge, the character played by Robert Duvall in the movie Days of Thunder (1990), Harry Hyde was among NASCAR's most colorful and crustiest crew chiefs. Hailing from Brownsville, Kentucky, Hyde served in the Army during World War II, and after the war he and his brother opened a salvage yard and transmission shop in Louisville, Kentucky. They and their nephew, Tommy Johnson, also raced at area short tracks, and Hyde's mechanical expertise won the notice of Nord Krauskopf, an insurance magnate from Indiana who wanted to form a NASCAR Grand National team. Krauskopf and Hyde formed a team, revolving around Dodges, in Louisville and began racing in 1966, running a limited schedule with limited success. In 1967 the team hired Bobby Isaac, a well-known short tracker from Catawba, North Carolina and finished second at Charlotte, a race that helped win the team factory backing from Chrysler. The team relocated to North Carolina for 1968 and Isaac finished second in Grand National points with three race wins. Isaac and Hyde went on to win 17 races in 1969 and in 1970 won eleven more en route to the NASCAR title. Along the way Hyde became famous for rules squabbles with NASCAR and also for his unique ways of motivating drivers; for example, such incidents as telling his driver to hit the pace car because he'd crashed everywhere else during a race and not to pit because he and the crew were relaxing eating ice cream bars, were used in _Days of Thunder(1990)_. Hyde's fortunes collapsed after 1977 after his team was purchased by coal miner J.D. Stacy. Stacy filed some 14 lawsuits against Hyde to poach his race shops and Hyde won them all, but was financially ruined by the lawsuits. He was then rescued in 1983 by Charlotte car dealer Rick Hendrick, who formed a race team and wanted Hyde to be its crew chief. Hyde and driver Geoff Bodine won three races in 1984, but it was when Hendrick formed a second team and placed Hyde in charge of Tim Richmond that Hyde's apex as a crew chief was reached. When Tim Richmond succumbed to illness after 1987, Hyde quit Hendrick Motorsports, and after four uninspiring seasons with team owners Micky Stavola, Harry Melling, and Larry Hedrick, Hyde retired from racing. He died in 1996 of a heart attack brought on by a blood clot, with a record of 58 NASCAR wins spanning 21 seasons, 1968-88.