No more humpy?

Question

from nascar.com today:

"As of next week, H.A. 'Humpy' Wheeler, Charlotte's maestro of motorsports, will have no role in the management of Lowe's Motor Speedway or Speedway Motorsports Inc."

the article also says that his "retirement" was not completely on his own terms...

did something happen?

in your opinion, what do you think was the most outrageous thing he ever promoted? the most successful? the biggest bomb?

Answer 1

:(  Gonna miss Humpy!

Nothing happened.  He's been doing the job for 33 years according to one article.  Another one said since 1980, which is 28 years.  Regardless, the man deserves to retire!

In recent history:

The dumbest was that stupid dinosaur or whatever it was.  He had it for the last few years and just sold it on Barrett Jackson.  

The most genious is the all you can eat tickets.  Smart man!  Guys + NASCAR + food.  Of course it works!!

Answer 2

I'm wondering if this could lead to another series?

ASA,Hooters Cup,STARS, are having troubles and  a promoter like Humpy could turn them around.

When he does the pre race at the World 600 that is worth the wait.

Answer 3

All I know is that Humpy never disappointed me.  Every promotion that he did seemed to be bigger and better than the last one.

As a longtime NASCAR fan, I'm saddened by the end of yet another era in the sport.  Good luck to Humpy's replacement; that's a tough act to follow.

Answer 4

All I can say is wow. interesting...wonder what happened

Answer 5

Didn't even see that one coming. Got on Yahoo sports this morning and there it was. Same with NASCAR.com. I've yet to see any particulars as to the whys and wherefores. I hope he's not sick. Too many of the old guard are checking out lately. My favorite was when he blew up the house. I think it was LMS. Can't remember the year. I think it was during the Paleolithic period.LOL Worst for me was the burnout competition last week. I like the concept, but the rules kinda screwed it up. I think they need a panel of judges(fans) that award points for style, length of burnout, amount of smoke, stuff like that. I'm glad to see one of Humpy's main men taking over. Hopefully he'll stick somewhat close to Humpy's plan but I worry about the direction in which NASCAR could go. I hear a lot of fans griping about the commercialism, the sponsors, the drivers being corporate puppets and even Humpy doing this just to get rich and not caring about NASCAR or us fans. But what they fail to realize is that without all of these "money hungry bast**ds" the sport would have ceased to be a long time ago. Well that's my two cents for whatever it's worth. C Ya

Answer 6

I'm glad this guy will be gone and he will never be missed by me.  He stands for everything that irritates me within Nascar.

Answer 7

It will be sad to see him go. He pulled off some crazy things there that's for sure. The most outrageous but brilliant thing was to run under the lights at such a big track. The most successful has to be the all-star race. Its always been a fan favorite. But I'm with Tom G I think the burnout contest was kinda lame but i enjoyed it none the less. Like the article said maybe he can hook on to being a consultant to Nascar, Lord knows they need some new ideas.

Answer 8

I wonder if he has a medical condition. He's getting on up there in age. They did a great job of keeping this quiet. I didn't hear anything until this morning. The first time I ever saw Humpy, he was out helping with the go kart track behind the backstretch. I couldn't help but think,"Here's the legendary Humpy Wheeler working at a rinky dink kart track." I guess that shows a little of his personality. Not too important to grab a shovel if someone needed a hand.

Answer 9

He'll be missed.

The most outrageous thing in my opinion is, the residents around the track didnt want Humpy to put in the drag strip for the NHRA to run on, he threatened to build a track somewhere else and just shut LMS down if they voted against it.  Needless to say, the city and the residents caved and let Humpy build his drag strip.  I laugh every time I think about it because that's having some folks by the go-nads!  Of course this was on Bruton Smiths authority.

Gotta love it!

Answer 10

It won't be the same without Humpy thats for sure.  I haven't heard that.

Answer 11

Bye Humpy, we'll miss you..

Answer 12

The biggest thing he ever did was to be the first to run a 1.5 mile speedway under the lights. Everybody thought he was crazy but that in hindsight was a big deal. I enjoyed the burnout competition but I think the format of it was terrible so I'll say he bombed that. He should have just let the drivers rip and tear it up and have a vote on Nascar.com the next day to determine the winner.

Answer 13

When he decided to levigate (oops, thanks. although it would have been pretty darn cool if it was levitated though haha) the Charlotte track, he ruined it and the races at Charlotte have sucked ever since. Good riddance.

Answer 14

wow......................that blowes...........................totally shocked.

well the nascar weekend last week was the best! you pick the best of the best to win the race for one million not to mention you have fun watching all the crew mambers fight it out! ...............gunna miss................hunpy!

Answer 15

Wow !!!

The most outrageous thing he's ever promoted at AMS was..

The semi-tractor races !!! I'd say ?  

That ! AND... Tempting us to sneak onto the track... when we were teenagers... by leaving the tunnel gate unlocked !!!