Has there ever been a better promoter in motor racing than Humpy Wheeler? Howard Augustine Wheeler, Jr., nicknamed Humpy, was general manager at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the 1.5-mile oval adjacent to zMAX Dragway in the city of the same name for more than 30 years. The showman died of natural causes at the age of 86 on August 20th, his family said.
Wheeler was more than a showman and more than a promoter. He had an innate ability to understand what fans wanted and how to get the experiences they desired to come to life for them. It’s often been said he was the “P.T. Barnum of Motorsports” and that’s not far from the truth. Wheeler spent nearly his entire working life in the racing trade, starting with his stint with Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. that transcended, in 1975 to his positions at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“Humpy Wheeler was a visionary whose name became synonymous with promotion and innovation in our sport,” declared Jim France, NASCAR chairman. “During his decades leading Charlotte Motor Speedway, Humpy transformed the fan experience through his creativity, bold ideas and tireless passion. His efforts,” France emphasized, “helped expand NASCAR’s national footprint, cement Charlotte as a must-visit racing and entertainment complex.”
Wheeler’s dedication to the aspect of fun for fans in the stands before, during and after each race at Charlotte helped spread better promoting and fan experiences throughout the sport. Without his influence, promoters like Eddie Gossage at Texas Motor Speedway – a Speedway Motorsports/Bruton Smith-family facility like Charlotte – might never have had the ideas to promote pre-race shows that, like Wheeler’s, thoroughly captivated fans.
Recognizing his stature and status in the sport, J. Douglas Boles, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president noted, “It was personalities and energetic promoters like Humpy Wheeler who helped broaden the appeal of of auto racing by focusing on the entertainment the racing events could provide spectators. Humpy set the bar high for other tracks and other events, and his efforts to make racing popular and grow its fan base changed the way promoters thought about racing.
“Much of what you see today,” Boles reminded, “from building the personalities in our sport to adding activities to racing weekends that engage fans off-track, have roots in the example Humpy set for the sport. He will be missed, but his spirit, energy, passion and focus on fan experiences will continue to be a reminder that racing is so much more than just what happens on the track.”
Wheeler, born in Belmont, North Carolina, was named recipient of the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR for the Hall of Fame Class of 2026. He entered the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009. As one of his first loves was boxing, he was a member of the Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame. He was the voice of the 1975 Cadillac Coupe de Ville character “Tex” in the 2006 cartoon classic, Cars, and the 2017 franchise extension Cars 3.
Wheeler spent 33 years at Charlotte Motor Speedway, leaving that track and the balance of eight venues helmed by Speedway Motorsports in 2008. His vision for pre-race extravaganzas included school-buses leaping rows of junkyard-bound cars to Robosaurus, a fire-breathing, car-crunching mechanical robot.
“I thought big events should have a lot of fanfare with them,” Wheeler told the Raleigh (N.C.) News and Observer in 1997 when the paper interviewed him at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “I’ve never been to a big event, be it a world heavyweight championship fight or an Indy 500, where there wasn’t a lot of tension before it, even among the competitors. You’ve got to have that. And part of this whole thing, was to create an atmosphere that would entertain the fans – but also get the competitors fired up!”
“In his more than 30 years on the job,” team owner Rick Hendrick said upon hearing of Wheeler’s departure from Charlotte in 2008, “he never failed to entertain us and he has always put the fans first. Humpy’s contributions will go down as some of the most significant in our sport’s history.”
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