July 4, 1944

On this day in racing history, Joie Chitwood’s Hell Drivers thrill show debuted at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Chitwood purchased Lucky Teter’s thrill show from his widow, Edna. Lucky died trying to break his own Ramp-to-Ramp record at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in 1942.

Joie Chitwood was an established race car driver who was the 1939 and 1940 East Coast AAA Big Car Champion. Chitwood went on to compete in a total of seven Indianapolis 500s finishing as high as 5th place, three times. The ballyhoo promoters of the time touted him as a full blooded Indian and called him Chief Wahoo.

With a $20,000 loan, Chitwood bought the Teter assets and put together a team to entertain crowds using the trademark thrills Teter had established – Roll Over, T-Bone Crash, Dive Bomber, and the Ramp-to-Ramp Jump, which ultimately took the life of Teter.

For the inaugural show, the driving team consisted of Chitwood, Lucky Carl Heffelfinger, Shorty McAndrews, Lou Heller, and Wild Bill Reams. Chitwood turned to longtime friend and race promoter Sam Nunis for the role of announcer.

In preparation for the debut, because of the war rations, Chitwood purchased fuel stamps from farmers and bootleggers. No one was seriously hurt at the Williams Grove show but the same could not be said about the cars used in the stunts. Five of the six cars were out of commission after the first show, which meant they had to be repaired and painted for the second show, the next week at Dorney Park Speedway in Allentown.