IF YOUR DAD’S business is doing crazy things in cars, how do you top that? Joie Chitwood, Senior, (born as George and accidentally nicknamed Joie early in his racing career) was known for his automotive thrill shows: A fleet of identically painted cars and trucks performed a delicately choreographed routine of acrobatics that saw them narrowly avoiding one another while simultaneously performing stunts like jumps and driving on two wheels. A fractional second’s misstep or a momentary crisis in confidence — or even just a distraction — could spell disaster. It was all part of the show, of course, and although the Chitwood road show wrapped up in 1998, tribute acts are still running at fairgrounds today.
In its heyday, the Chitwood organization was in close cooperation with Chevrolet.
“My dad started associating with Chevrolet in 1955 and it ran through 1998. We signed 43 one-year contracts with Chevrolet,” Joel Chitwood, better known as Joie Chitwood, Junior, recalls. Those contracts were to supply cars for the thrill shows, no doubt with a marketing eye toward showcasing their durability in extraordinary service, but nothing said the operation was limited to buying just thrill-show cars.
The 1963 model year was a high-water mark in the history of factory participation in racing. After years of openly defying the 1957 AMA racing ban, Chevrolet and Pontiac were suddenly
