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1/15/13
HOOKER HOOD: THE TOP CAT OF MEMPHIS
GUEST TEAROFF by JOYCE STANDRIDGE
Research for the book
Win It or Wear It was closer to a racing fan’s idea of
nirvana than any definition of work. I started with a dream list of
people I thought would be excellent resources for our anecdotal
wander through the history of sprint car racing, and topping that
list was Hooker Hood.
My affinity began quite a few years
ago when I got to see Hooker drive. He was into his late 40s or
early 50s at the time, so some might say he was past his prime.
Couldn’t have proven that by the performance I saw then or
subsequently. He drove like the hungriest rookie, which meant a
great show for fans, even though this wasn’t at his beloved home
track of Riverside Speedway in West Memphis, Arkansas, aka The
Ditch. It was a typical performance when Hooker took to the road and
treated every track—and every group of fans in the grandstand—like
this was the one and only time he would ever be allowed to race. As
you might imagine, it was a show unto itself. High, wide and
hell-bent for the checkered flag, followed by epic socializing
afterward that excluded no one—even fierce on-track rivals.
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| Back in the day,
not only did Hooker Hood wear street clothes to
race–that's him by the right front wheel–but he gave
away nearly all his trophies to kids from the
grandstand. Talk about a smart way to build a fan
base, but with Hooker it wasn't calculated. He just
loved the smiles on their faces. (Hooker Hood
Collection) |
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“I just met so many good people (in racing). And I’ve had fights
with every one of them,” Hooker once said. “And an hour later, we
was out in the parking lot having a beer together.”
One of
Hooker’s legendary “fights” occurred following a Ditch race. No one
saw it coming as he strolled down the track, acknowledging the fans
with a wave and a big smile. But after he climbed the ladder to the
flagman’s stand—and cold-cocked the son-of-a-gun when he got lippy
with Hooker’s assessment of having been wronged during the race—the
grandstand went wild. Apparently, they concurred with Hooker’s
opinion and approved the resultant prone position of the flagman.
Hooker, just as calmly as before, climbed back down the ladder and
strolled on back to the pits. It was an extraordinarily satisfying
suspension that followed.
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Hooker playfully
posed for a photo reminiscent of his Golden Gloves
days, not to mention a few legendary fisticuffs at
the race track. But that was only a small part of
his big personality. In fact he says, "I fought with
everybody. And then we made up after the races and
had a beer together in the parking lot!"
(Hooker
Hood Collection) |
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You can’t have been from Hooker’s generation or raced as many
years without some pretty spectacular wrecks. A stuck throttle once
ran him off the track, through the fence and under the grandstand.
Most people scattered but to those who came to his aid, Hooker
yelled, “Get outta here! She’s got a full load of nitro and she’s
gonna blow!”
The most memorable wreck of his storied career,
he felt, was one in which he again ran through the fence. At The
Ditch, there were no grandstands at the ends, but there were
walkways for fans moving between the front and back stands. When he
went through the fence, unfortunately he pinned a pregnant woman
inside the wire walkway fence. Although Hooker himself was injured,
he refused immediate treatment, even from his imploring father. “I
can’t yet, Daddy. I gotta help this lady.”
Happily, the woman
was really just scared, with a few bruises and scrapes. After her
baby was born, she and her husband returned to the track, and to
Hooker’s amazement, “They became just the best fans I ever had.”
It’s sometimes said of racers that they were born too soon or
too late for their style of driving or how they lived their lives.
Hooker was born at exactly the right time. Drivers didn’t specialize
so much in his prime era, so as a result he drove everything,
including fledgling NASCAR rides—and cars loaded with hooch. Like
his friend, Junior Johnson, he got caught running moonshine, but his
jail time only added to the legend. While wearing street clothes he
ran errands for the warden and spent almost no time behind bars,
even at night. He got conjugal visits before anybody had even heard
of them, and his race track promoter secured early release because
it was racing season and a track without Hooker was a track minus
paying fans, too.
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| Two of the best ever, and
during Hooker's brief NASCAR career, they competed.
So when Richard Petty came to town for an
appearance, he had to spend a little time with an
old pal. (Hooker Hood Collection) |
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Even his nickname was better suited for his time. There are
people who claim he got the moniker when he was a Golden Gloves
fighter in the service, but he told me it came from being “hooked”
by a cow and tossed over a fence when he was a kid. But can you
imagine trying to secure sponsorship in the hoity-toity world of
big-time racing these days with a nickname of Hooker? People might
misunderstand. Personally, I love that alliterative one-of-a-kind
tag and it fit him much more comfortably than his birth name of
Clarence.
As it turned out, even after “Win It or Wear It”
was completed, I kept finding excuses to call, email and Facebook
Hooker, his wife Carolyn and daughter Stormi. I never wanted it to
end. But we are all given only so many laps.
Hooker’s
checkered flag waved on Christmas Eve. He’d been sick for a long
time, even astounding doctors by coming back from a heart attack and
stroke while in surgery several years ago. But the kids, including
fellow National Sprint Car Hall of Fame son Rickey, and the
grandkids kept him going better than any had a right to expect. He
lived in the same neighborhood of Memphis for over a half century, a
magnet of a little garage that includes a photo of Elvis sitting on
one of Hooker’s race cars in the back yard. Yes, that Elvis. Because
the King sometimes wanted to slip out of the grandeur of Graceland
and into the comfortable neighborhood where The Top Cat (he called
everybody, including Elvis, “Cat”) was the real star.
Race
Car Heaven just got a whole lot more fun. Put the beer on ice for
later and tune that car on the pole. Released of his aged, tired
body, Hooker will show ‘em how it’s done.
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First and foremost, it was
always about family for Hooker, pictured here with
many of them. The laughter says it all - this is a
wonderful, loving group who adored
their
patriarch. (Hooker Hood Collection) |
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© 2013 Joyce Standridge
If you were interested in this
Tearoff, you might enjoy the books below:
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