Men Behind the Wrenches - Harry Hyde

his quick wit brought chuckles from the competition but his ingenuity with the race car left his rivals and NASCAR inspectors scratching their heads while his mentoring molded raw driving talents into title contenders today on men behind their inches we take a look at the career aperi hi [Music] growing up in brownsville Kentucky during the Depression Perry had developed a passion for automobiles he tinkered with cars as well as drove but it was also wartime world war ii broke out and at age 15 harry enlisted welcome two men behind the riches I'm Jeff Hammond your host after his stint in the Pacific Harry turned to auto racing for a living from that moment his genius would be unleashed touching all aspects of the sport from parts to people Harry Hyde was one of a kind underaged Harry joined his friends in the war overseas when he convinced his grandmother to sign off on it even though he couldn't swim Harry still survived his time in the Pacific made two beach landings and has one of his buddies that had went over with him they helping sneaking extra duffel bag and he used it kind of like a float and when paddling they kind of stayed together till they got to where he could stand up I guess and and shortly after that he was wounded so then he was transferred to the motor pool after he was wounded and they kind of got to split up there a little bit for the rest of the war but hey you know he seemed to make it okay after that while assigned to the motor pool Harry started to learn about automobiles I guess when he went to the motor pool he worked on him so me and learning a bit about him and they enjoyed it and it just took off from there as soon as he got out while he went to work for a tire Rubber Company in Akron Ohio for I think about six eight months or a year and punch the clock this wasn't his cup of tea so he he went back to working on automobiles and then in the salvage business and started out that way in 1946 pay tried his skills behind the wheels at first before realizing his true calling was working on the car not being able to drive didn't bother me because I just knew that I didn't have so I didn't try any longer than a couple of years I won some races and got booted up wrecked and the world's then you started sixty cars on a quarter-mile fraction and it was nothing but big wrecks from the car to Philly and I just rather fix the cars and I wouldn't drive carry state in the Midwest tinkering with the modifies of sprint cars when his path crossed with North Cross cop he warned the field a team and he wanted somebody that had had a good record prior to that and the Midwest so him and a guy was named Bob Hall a race promoter up her is the one that got those two together and it just seemed to take off somewhere about the mid 60s it was 1966 and Harry height is about to make his mark in stock car race after decided to partner with Nord krauskopf in 1966 Harry had packed up and moved to North Carolina most of your talented people was from this area there was a few of her but the miles of traveling back and forth was going to be astronomical so he left my mother up earth to watch that for business he least amount moved down here and started just you know she built it up from scratch Perry's noble attitude attracted good young mechanics to work on his cars during this time his reputation of creativity began to develop and the legend of his ingenuity begin he didn't give him the old phony answer fee you had the be straight up that you didn't have to be the greatest mechanic in the world he would train your lip but he didn't want no excuses or or lame answers when they just want you to be straight up and honest with him but he seemed to have a pretty good nakid picking people and keeping them together pretty much he was competitive he wanted to be you know go to the racetrack win the race that was that was what we're supposed to do we spent more time back then trying to find the competitive edge ever we did working on race cars I mean Harry would stay up all night I mean he and Tommy we've come back to work the next day and those guys have been in there doing something and so we'd say oh well what we're gonna do now so no it was it was trick as you know in racing you're never cheating till you get caught this you're sick we got the edge and he could do something that was in the grey area of the rulebook and grin about it and go on but in his mind that wasn't anything wrong it was just getting the edge interview me and you know I don't mind people interview billet it comes every interview me know what kind of deal the guy said well we didn't use the two rings going Pistons we cut the water pump way down until we loosen the band's up and we loosen this up with and that's just a qualifier that means your nerves really I didn't want nothing but some joke he's the only person they will go for they were pull a gun on me he did that one time when I wasn't racing for him and I guess he and I got to tickle over the incident that we really formed a friendship but I reach for something he had and he said he pull that thing that makes it I'd hate for you to make me hurt you but you know he was he was the type of guy he was a great storyteller and he remained a friend in 1967 dodge team driver Bobby Isaac with Harry on his number 71 team the duo click and it was a start of great things they had the same phrases the same terms for sync it just sort of clicked right off you know then after they worked together for a while it kind of knew what each other was thinking you know so that was once we got to feel what Bobby liked in a car and once he got some confidence in the team that just you know after that it was just automatic thing like personally they were very much alive they both wanted to win they would do whatever they had to to win they neither of them were this is not the right word social in the sense that they like to go out and party and have a big time and get a lot of recognition you have something a little very serious about them business anyway to win and they doing whatever I had to win it goes back to Harry's understanding of people he knew what made Bobby Isaac tick and he understood his driver he understood his driver as a person he understood Bobby's idiosyncrasies he knew how to get the most out of him the team of Harry and Bobby Isaac would soon bring championship result after winning 20 races and two seasons together Harry Hyde and Bobby Isaac winning the 1970 with high expectations with five races to go Bobby Isaac went into Charlotte with a 50 point lead three weeks later Harry and Bobby went into Rockingham determined to clinch the title he knew where he had to finish at Rockingham to win the championship and so Harry slowed him down and at one point he was actually driving on the inner circle of the racetrack he hated every second of that and so he won the championship and when I saw him after the race I thought he's gonna be so excited and happy about that and the only thing he could talk about was how he had to drive so what in that race to be sure that he had finished in the points because he would have been trying to win the race after finishing seventh at the rock Perry and Bobby were crowned grand national champions he didn't like bragging much I mean he you know he didn't blow his own horn very much he just he'd done his job that was hit you know he never has been a big guy little you pie person he just always felt like well that was our job that's what we was paid to do and we did it you know it was pretty much way he looked at me after the championship dodge became frustrated with some of the rule changes in NASCAR krauskopf decided he won't expose use in other areas of Motorsports so instead of running a full NASCAR schedule he offered Harry in the carrying case Dean new challenges they ran Bobby unser at Pikes Peak and Isaac at the famed Bonneville Salt Flats where they set 28 speed records that still stand today including a mile run at 216 point nine four six miles per hour we had never been to Bonneville never seen it didn't know anything about it and we took two truckloads of stuff out there and spent two weeks and literally worked ourselves to death but our problem was getting a hole to the ground and out there it's just like a real hard crust with Sam throat on it you're just you never actually get a good grip like you would on a pavement and in that particular class to stock classes in a wheel driven car it's I don't think the trash is there anymore as much as it used to be I could be wrong but I I would have thought they would have broke that record by now at least some of them but uh from what I hear they haven't so it's you know it is impressive that I never would have thought that s to dislodge well perry's marginal needs accomplishment the team focused on the stock-car circuit after 37 wins and 48 poles bobby isaac decided to part ways carrying the 71 team in 1972 I don't know that it was much bad relationship with Harry as it was that he knew they were going to have a second car and his pride just would not let him do that he just did not want there to be a second car there had always been a number 71 had always been one tank a car and I don't know if Bobby may have thought we was going to replace him but that wasn't idea at the time it was to make a two car team could help each other better than two strangers you know like they're doing today these multi car teams you can see what they've done bobby was just taught so bad because he had to face a milk okay she led $140,000 of music we'd won I think about 11 or 12 races you had some polls that a head had a good year and won a championship $140,000 they hit him for about 35 $40,000 you some taxes he talked about Bobby didn't understand then he said I'm just gonna retire I'll grab a half dozen races or a does races but that's all good I'm not gonna work with Doug I said Bobby if you don't make money you would have to fail now I I know you got something money left over that's yours no that ain't the way it is I I I ain't gonna do that so Nord hard Baker it was gonna let Bobby drive a part of us eat whatever he warned the driving because Norton was like that he wouldn't doubt them and get bad Bobby because we've had him five years ago and then Bobby couldn't stand Baker Buddy Baker assumed the helm of Harry's Dodge they got along good they really were there they surprised me I mean buddy was up and he was a joy to work with I mean he you know he cut up and carry on all timing now putting him in the car we had to make the drives part with twice as big you know we had to move everything in it to get him in it that had me and that 71 that Harriet had I mean it was so awesome it's incredible sure won a couple of Daytona 500 foreign for one to six hundred at Charlotte you know we won races together but the car itself and and no one hairy hot that was the most special part of the whole time that I was with them by 1977 after 43 wins Northcrest cough left the sport Perry had struggled over the next few years until he found his next big challenge by 1983 hair had been out of the sport for five years when he encountered the young boat racer basically Harry's the reason I got into racing you know we said that I stole my boat field when one of my drivers would kill and I was racing boats one day in the rain Harry said if I just had a chance it's a lighter than you feel one car I should own like a win again and so I mean I was just like a young guy listen to this guy it was just his father figure sitting there telling these stories and I'm eating it up I mean it no it was good and I believe and he did it but Harry just brought stability experience and a love for the sport like nobody else everything Ric has probably overshadowed that whole deal but really and truly Harriet was the mechanical guy behind the starter for that operation Ric was the money very how it was in your brain Hendrick Motorsports debuted in 1984 with Jeff bow down as a driver perry led the team to three wins in their first season Perry was back he was just so energized by Rick and so challenged to prove that he could assemble a team on a car and go and win and beat some of the guys that he braced against and Hatton raced against in the last several years you know just tremendous amount of experience you know he had done it for Ben Winston Cup racing for so many years he knew the ins and outs he knew a lot of this stuff that should be wrote between the rules but NASCAR hadn't wrote it down yet you know he knew what to do to get the most out of those cars by 1986 Hendrick expanded to a second team when he hired a hot shoe Tim Richmond Richmond talent was no secret but he needed a mentor to turn him into championship contender Rick decided to team Harry with Tim and no doubt man was it it was a strange association to put Tim and Harry together and we just needed a couple other things that that got switched on within the team and when that happened that success just was unbelievable out of explosion out of that you know that year they had to learn half of each other's lingo they finally got it squared away it was you know it was they'd make jokes about it later you know junk for each other Patty and Tim would joke with me because he knew I was the son you know I take care of the transporter and be taken care of Tim stuff and he said well guess it's time to go out here to see pop see what he's got on you know he'd call him pop and dad grew real close to Tim after that I mean it was kind of like a father-son relationship Harry's specialty was grooming drivers later on bringing drivers alone no one had to talk to him no one had a coaching Tim needed that from time to time you know he needed that from time to time Terry could get that habit I think if I had to recall and one of the main things read watch him and I made you I had to make a believer out of him and how to drive a car Pete he overrun the tars and refused to back up or let him get ahold or settle down late night he loved nobody run 50/50 weight this week he loved talk that's what he got out of the Indy cars but I he'll be back in and he would always pitch the car where he wanted and he raised and shut it far up all the fellas that's about all you had to do is put something in there yeah it wouldn't bottom out with him and give him a 50/50 weight get a little bit heavier back here nobody today in the circuit we brought him back you know what he's what Kim needed he he he keep team Tim kind of you know in the middle of the road and doing the race he talked to him but but Tim looked at Harry like [Music] big drill sergeant cos Harry was like that I had to teach him how to run the tire you know the tires weren't on there hold a certain place and then they start back up now you must ease off and let those cars run out of front tip see I've got a gauge and start sticking to his but everybody else is tar she would be running 260 with these early and 300 degrees and the 5s coming apart and the harder it tried to get away from him the harder he would fight it that was all a part of the deal where I said if you don't settle down and if you don't listen to me today we're not gonna make it and he finally settled down he said you tell me when to speed up Terry hey we tell you what he thought he didn't care who do you work I mean he I think he's known in the garage area I guess one time in Talladega he got mad at NASCAR took a mall and got on top of the car and beat the roof off one his cost so they didn't like it I mean you know he he was very vocal and and at the same time he you know he was any what he was doing but he was he was committed play he and when he believed in something you'd look out and he was exactly perfect for timorous in two seasons together Harry and Tim won nine times but their time together would be short very hot it formed a special bond with Tim Richmond during their two seasons together but Tim was suffering from a life-threatening illness and never recovered Harry was devastated he didn't tell me for a long time but when he did I remember one night was riding back he said you know he said you only get one or two drivers in a lifetime that you really know is special and he said I guess I've had the privilege of having four or five but he said this little fella here he said it's almost a crime for him to get ill like this because he said there's no telling how much talent he had left nobody will ever get to see Harry continued on working in the sport he loved until his death within NASCAR Harry remains one of the most beloved and respected characters whose innovations live on I'm he totally different from a lot of you that they like it and they love it but they want to make as much as they make in there they're in it to make a living they want to win too but Harry was then it could be loved very bright and just an absolute pleasure to talk to and had a lot of did a lot of things 15 years ago that people are doing that started doing eight or ten years after he started them a lot of innovations in the NASCAR Winston Cup like chicken build-up and tires one that they're doing before other people ever did it he was very innovative on a lot of things and he always kept you in the dark like he would go change a radiator and pick up a half a second I mean you're not gonna change the radiator and pick up a half a second if you could you wouldn't let nobody see you changes but he would make it obvious you know that he's changing his radio didn't go out to pick up enough half a second so you never knew where he was gaining his speed but he would hold court and and trust me when Harry talk to be listening and but he was very forgiving he trusts me forgave me a lot he was last monkey one of the biggest cheaters in racing and here again we all call it self-defense but you know what he had the bravery to do it and he's got the stats to back up it he's one of the greats a week before he passed away I was lucky enough that I had been to Hendrix and as I started out he was mowing around the lake there on this property right across from Hendrix well he just shut it off and we sit down and we talked for about an hour and to me that was the most special hours ever spent in my life because we kind of went back and recap the times that we raced together and he was the type of guy you kind of wanted to hug his neck he was mean especially with Hollywood's help Harry Hyde's legacy was etched in memories forever in the movie Days of Thunder the entire character of Harry Hall was based on highs flight and notorious shenanigans around the racetrack for Holly fans who always wondered yes he really did he ice cream in the pits Harry was a true character in the sport whose wrench could create magic on the racetrack for men behind the wrenches I'm Jeff Hammond and thanks for joining us [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: HODIUSDUDE

Views: 84,303

Rating: 4.8520408 out of 5

Keywords: Harry Hyde, Men Behind the Wrenches, NASCAR, Buddy Baker, Bobby Isaac, Buddy Parrott, Deb Williams, Tim Richmond, Rick Hendrick, Ken Schrader, Geoff Bodine, Benny Parsons, Leonard Wood, Days of Thunder

Id: Lq8N6w3WKxc

Length: 21min 56sec (1316 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 18 2018