Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Been thinking about J.W. ever since the post about the race down in Yuma in 92 that was posted on the SCRAFAN.COM forum. J.W. flew Hewitt in for that one, and of course everyone was glad he did.

I want to know if any of you guy's have any memories or story's about J.W. He was one of the best friends that sprint car racing has ever had.

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

That's odd I seem to recall that my boss at that time Frank Lewis was the one who flew Jack in to drive the team car to Lealand, also I don't think that J.W. was even at the races that weekend,as I'm sure that he would have come by and seen Lealand,myself and my father since he was one of our sponsers and we never saw him.

Yes,J.W. was a great guy to racers and I know this firsthand as me,my father and Lealand were on the recieving end of his generosity more than once.

One time at Chico in 1991 we were racing at the night before the Gold Cup when in the 4th heat race Lealand got over a wheel and flipped pretty bad seriously damaging the car,as we were fixing it J.W. walks up and calls Lealand over and says here is $500 dollars for the high flyer award and Lealand told him to put it back into his pocket and that J.W. could give it to him on the front strech after he won the race. J.W. chuckeled and said son if you do win the race not only will I give you the $500 but I'll kick in an extra $1000,well Lealand did win the race and when we were on the front strech for the trophy presentation they brought J.W. and the trophy girl out and J.W. told the crowd of his and Lealand's talk back in the pits,he then proceded to give Lealand the $1500 he had promised and then he turned to me and my father and said good job boys and handed us each a wad of cash which turned out to be a $1000 dollars a piece!

J.W.was a great man with a heart of gold and is very much missed!

R.I.P BOSS

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Maybe because J.W. and Hewitt were close, someone thought that he flew him in because that's what I heard at the track that weekend. Oh well, he's worth remembering anyway Terry.

"found this on another site:Though he was not a driver that I know of, the contributions of J. W. Hunt to the sport of sprint car racing -- and dirt track racing in general -- cannot be overstated. A strawberry farmer from Florida by profession, Hunt was perhaps the biggest fan dirt track racing ever had, and he spread his considerable wealth around to practically every driver in the sport. The familiar strawberry logo appears to this day on hundreds of race cars and drivers' helmets across the US.

You never knew when or where Hunt would appear, but when he did he would always spice up the racing by offering a little extra to sweeten the purse. I remember one particular night at Silver Dollar Speedway, when the CRA non-winged tour was in town for a Gold Cup support race. Lealand McSpadden had set quick time, but flipped in his heat race, ringing his bell and severely damaging the car. J. W. stepped up to the infield reporter's microphone and offered to add $1000 to the winner's purse if McSpadden could come back through the B main and win the main event! The offer met with roars of approval from the crowd. Looking a little shaky in a car that wasn't quite right, Lealand proceeded to run away with the B. A few minutes later, with the car now set up for the always-tacky Chico track, he won the main event to a standing ovation, and a beaming Hunt was there to greet McSpadden on the victory stand!

Hunt passed away in January of 1994 after a long and full life. But I'm sure he smiles down on America's dirt tracks every weekend."

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

Jack Hewitt has great stories in his book of "Mr. Hunt". Great reading.

One time at Chico in 1991 we were racing at the night before the Gold Cup when in the 4th heat race Lealand got over a wheel and flipped pretty bad seriously damaging the car,as we were fixing it J.W. walks up and calls Lealand over and says here is $500 dollars for the high flyer award and Lealand told him to put it back into his pocket and that J.W. could give it to him on the front strech after he won the race. J.W. chuckeled and said son if you do win the race not only will I give you the $500 but I'll kick in an extra $1000,well Lealand did win the race and when we were on the front strech for the trophy presentation they brought J.W. and the trophy girl out and J.W. told the crowd of his and Lealand's talk back in the pits,he then proceded to give Lealand the $1500 he had promised and then he turned to me and my father and said good job boys and handed us each a wad of cash which turned out to be a $1000 dollars a piece!

Was that the 91 car? I believe I have the hightlights of that from Speedweek or whatever the show was back in that day. They tweeked the frame in the crash but managed to set it up a winner anyways.

Was that the 91 car? I believe I have the hightlights of that from Speedweek or whatever the show was back in that day. They tweeked the frame in the crash but managed to set it up a winner anyways.

I'm sure it was.

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

that was such an awesome story. Thanks for sharing

many years ago Ihelped on two cars 1 was a sprint the other was a late model.we was at the old southern ohio speedway .it was a 100 lap race black boggs was fast time the car I help on was john osman we had a big block alum, motor we was like 6 fastest out of like 70 cars, any way j.w came up to use asking what kind of sponsors we had we said just us witch was like 6 guys racing out of are own pockets. we had old used tires shocks everything was used or old, jw went over to charlie trailer got a hole box of parts and gave us every thing we needed to race aginst the big boys.we ended up running like ninth that night .as we loaded up the car we gave him the box of parts back he didnt take them he even gave us 5 thousand dollars no ? ask . and every time he saw us at the same track he was at he always gave us what ever we needed.he was a man of man never no ? but he did like the beer we drank lol RIP the straw berry king aways mist but never forgot.

I was the video producer that sent that footage to Raceday and Speedweek!

I still have the entire event from qualifying through Vic lane that night.

Leland said he was so inspired to see Steve Kinser win at the '86 Gold Cup after flipping 3 times in qualifying. They could only get three wheels on the ground because the frame was bent so bad. Karl tweaked the car so the LF was the wheel off the ground and Steve drove it by everyone for the win.

Lealand said something like, I thought if Steve can do it, if we don't give up maybe we can do it.

Yes it was the 91 car,as a matter of fact we never straightend the car out at the end of the season leaving the front end twisted 3/4 of an inch down on the left side and ran that car just like that for two more seasons winning numerous features with it.Lealand liked the car so much that when we got a new car he asked me and my dad if we could somehow twist the front end on it to make it the same,we just laughed and told him the only way that would happen would be for him to go out and crash that car just right and maybe we would get the desired results he was looking for!

Terry James Jr.

Great story!!!! Now THIS is this kind of stuff I like to read about on the message board! I asked for a VHS to DVD converter from Santa this year. If he delivers I'll dig through the old VHS pile and see if I can find those highlights.

Glad you found this Terry, I thought you would.

Kenny

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

Back in the early 90's Eldora used to have a golf tourney to coincide with the Kings Royal, I think it only lasted a couple of years. One of those years a couple of friends came down from Canada in a motorhome with their wives and the ladies (both of them excellent golfers) went to play in the event. When they got back many hours later they were absolutely hammered, the drunkest I had even seen either of them and all they could do was laugh and talk about the 'old timer' they played with. Some hillarious old guy who was betting them on about anything and everything on many of the holes and they took a large pile of cash off him, I mean pockets full. They ended up having a nap (passing out) and neither one saw the race at all that night. They told some pretty fun stories the next day and they thought that JW was about the best guy they had ever met and their sides were still hurting from all the laughing they had done the day before....