Winfield, Kansas – July 27th, 1935 The five auto races, run on this afternoon, were the culminating events of Winfield’s annual four day horse racing sweepstakes. This was a return visit by George Rice Chitwood, Sr. (1912-1988), to the site of his first ever auto race that he had run on this track one year earlier. Remembering that George was from St. Joseph, Missouri, a racing publicist dubbed George “Joie” Chitwood and the moniker stuck.
1938-1939 Joie Chitwood drove the O’Day Offy (listen), a car that had an unbelievable price tag of $25,000.00 and is thought to be the most expensive Sprint car ever built to date.
1940-1941 Joie Chitwood ran the Indianapolis 500 two years in a row, but didn’t finish in the top 10.
In 1943, a driver named Lucky Teeter ran out of luck at the Indiana State Fair. Lucky tried a ramp-to-ramp jump, came up one ramp short and went to the big stadium in the sky. Lucky’s widow sold his stunt show to professional racer George Rice Chitwood, nicknamed Joie.
1946-1950 Joie Chitwood had three fifth place finishes out of his next five starts in the Indianapolis 500.
Joie Chitwood made his real mark barnstorming with thrill shows, eventually with sons Joie Jr. and Tim. For 55 years, until the show folded when Chevrolet withdrew sponsorship in 1998, the Chitwoods ruled the stunt-car business. Whether performing the Space Rocket Jump, dive bomber crashes, reverse spins or the Human Battering Ram, the Chitwoods were tire-squealing Americana, appearing at more fairs than funnel cakes.
1993 Inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa.
2004 Inducted into the High Banks Hall of Fame in Belleville, Kansas.
Joie Chitwood III (photo) and the United States Grand Prix
Do you just happen to know what the first name of Lucky Teeter’s wife was?
I do TEETER genealogy and have some data posted there.
Can add your site as a link on my site.