Racing, my era and before Part 1 - By: Gary Boggan

Posted Jody Shannon on December 19th, 2007 | Filed under Articles, Gary Boggan, The DRC

If you have been around any kind of dirt racing for any period of time you have heard of names such as Sammy Swindell, Jeff Swindell, Jerry Inmon, Don Hester, Greg Hodnett, Rickey Hood, Hooker Hood, etc. Well, these are all drivers that are either from Memphis, or came through here to make it big. Well, let me take you back to my era, a time when Eddie Gallagher, Jamie Dacus, and now Jeff Swindell is making his return. A time when big money, and big balls, takes the glory. I want to let you in on a little bit of my local racing, as well as stories I have shared, and have been shared with me, tracks I have been to, and bits and pieces from my own career.

My home track is Riverside International Speedway located in the truck stop capital of the world, West Memphis, Ark. If you have never been to Riverside I will try to set the scene for you. Going down Broadway, its very easy to miss the first gravel entrance on the West Side, so a lot of people turn down by the old American Legion and go in on the East Side. My first memory of the track was walking up the steps to the bleachers on the West Side, walking all the way to the entrance of turn 3 then up to the top. As I would walk along the bottom of the bleachers, I had to watch my step, if not I’d fall through. Some of the old wooden boards looked as though they haven’t been replaced since its establishment in 1949. I remember watching hot laps on the tight, sloppy wet, ¼ mile gumbo dirt track, seeing cars pitted in the infield and watching Shorty Chambliss in the #40 for Shorty 360 winged sprint car pitch his machine halfway down the back stretch going into three. I pulled for Ray Bugg in the #25 360 sprint car for a while, then mom says I liked A.G. Rains in the #3 machine, then Eddie Gallagher, nicknamed “1Fast”, in the #1 ride. Still to this day I’m a huge Eddie G. fan. Of course I liked late models, I pulled for Eddie Ray Alexander in the F-80 machine, is seemed the car was always black with yellow numbers. Stock cars my favorite was Dan Ward, and Wimp Gatlin. The rest I really can’t remember.

It was that way for several years. My dad also drove a push truck on Friday Nights at Memphis Motorsports Park in Millington, Tenn. The week I was born was the week of a 3 or 4 day World of Outlaws Sprint Show, and yep, you guessed it, he was at the track every night while mom was in the hospital and at home with me. He has told me a bunch of times he would come home, and tell me everything that happened, of course I don’t remember. MMP went through 5 different dirt tracks before closing the doors after the 2005 season. MMP is where I grew up, I can remember bits and pieces of the action from the ½ mile, 7/16 mile, and 3/8 mile. That track was replaced by the NASCAR ¾ mile asphalt oval. In, I want to say 1998, maybe 1999, they built a ¼ mile gumbo paperclip track. They hosted shows such as ASCS, USCS, Sprint Bandits, USAC, MARS, Busch All-Stars, and the World of Outlaws Late models. I raced there once in 2004, and about 5 or 6 times in 2005, finishing 10^th in points in ‘05.

But, my racing career didn’t start there. I started racing karts in 1998, since then I have amassed 23 main event wins, 3 track championships, and a 6^th place at the Indoor Kart Nationals in Tunica, Ms. I spent several years racing door to door with, now USAC ace, Kevin Swindell. Kevin is the son of Sammy Swindell. Sammy started his career at Riverside International Speedway racing against Hooker Hood, Ricky Hood, and whoever else happened to show up. Sammy raced “B” Cars, our version of the Super Modified, and “A” Cars, our version of the sprint car. Sammy also raced in the “C” Car class, our version of the super late models of the 70’s. In 1971, at the age of 15, Sammy won eleven feature events in his rookie campaign. Most consider Sammy to be a self-taught engineer, as he is a mechanic on his own rides. Most don’t know that he did go to college for physics and engineering. Among Sammy’s stout list of accomplishments, one that really stands out to me is the 4 feature wins at the Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Pure dominance in this race.

But I guarantee it didn’t come easy for Sammy. A lot of drivers were just as good as him. Hooker Hood, a legend at Riverside, and possibly the winningest driver in the sprint car and B car class at Riverside. Hooker would qualify for the Daytona 500, but an early race crash would hold him in 43^rd position. Hooker has a spot in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, IA. In the period of 1965-1968 Hooker would claim over 100 wins. A record of 20 wins in 22 stars in ‘66, 57 wins in 63 races in ‘67, and 48 wins in ‘68. In 1954-1955 Hooker would run a handful of NASCAR Grand National races at the old Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in Lehi, Ark. In 1962 Hooker finished 8^th in points at the old Lakeland Speedway in Lakeland, Tenn. Sam Swindell, father of Sammy and Jeff, raced some that year in the NASCAR Modified division. Hooker started in 1948 racing motorcycles, and midgets in the Memphis area.

Ricky Hood, Hookers son, also made a name for himself. After spending years battling it out with Sammy Swindell, he moved out west to pursue a wingless career, which would land him a ride with Joe and Martha Herrera. Ricky was the ‘83 USAC Rookie of the Year, ‘84-85 USAC Sprint Champion, ‘85 Silver Crown Champ. Ricky has 31 USAC Wins, 34 All-Star wins, and 3 World of Outlaws Wins.

Along with those drivers Chuck Amati, Rick Ungar, Robby Unser, Brooke Tatnell, Jason Sides, Greg Hodnett, Lee Brewer Jr., Bobby Davis Jr., Jeff Swindell, and several other made the trek through West Memphis, Arkansas on the way to claiming fame in the top circuits of Sprint Car Racing.