No limits

Enthusiasm for auto racing speeds past 50

Jo Shiels knows everyone at Stockton 99 Speedway.

"That's my job," she said. "I keep track at the track."

Every weekend from spring through fall, the 59-year-old Lodi resident zips around the pits on her scooter before race time, answering questions, assigning car numbers and helping people find each other.

Stationed by the gate on her scooter, she greets them -- drivers, mechanics, families, owners. They all call her "Jo."

"If you're looking for people over 50, there's a lot of us out here," she said as a handsome driver in his 20s walked by.

"Hiya, Jo," he said, and put his arms around her.

Shiels hugged him back. "Hi, sweetie."

As he walked away, she lowered her voice and confided, "I get my hugs every week at the front gate, or they don't get in."

Once the races start, Shiels heads for the press box, where she tallies winners' points for NASCAR and provides statistics to sports writers.

Without her, she said, reporters would never know what lap it is and who's leading.

A voice squawked over Shiels' walkie-talkie, summoning her somewhere. "Gotta go," she said, as her scooter sped away. "But check out car 45."

Stocktonian Buzz DeVore owns and drives car #45, a Harris Grand American Modified. He's been racing since 1974, and DeVore doesn't think 53 is too old to be driving. There are drivers in their 70s, he said, and age doesn't mean much in racing.

"It's a speed thing. People think one way: If you're fast, you win. You don't quit by age; you quit when it quits being fun."

Racing is the most intergenerational sport there is, racers say, and families are the backbone. Every car needs a mechanic. And every pit crew needs someone to wash the car or run over to the next pit to borrow a gasket. It's about the only sport where everyone in a family can contribute to a win.

Gerry Glenn, 64, of Orangeville owns eight race cars. He and wife Delores, 63, enjoy racing and sponsoring their sons and grandsons as drivers.

Grandson Gary Glenn, 23,Western Late Model #50, values what Grandpa knows. "My grandpa raised me since I was 3 ... I've been racing eight years now, and it's his encouragement that keeps me going."

Generations working together create success, says Daniel Hood, 24, whose 360 ci Chevrolet methanol-injected Sprint Car took second in the main event at Altamont Raceway's season opener March 21. His father, Jamie Hood, 64, used to drive; his 30 years of racing experience are Daniel's foundation. Daniel Hood wouldn't drive without Dad as his crew chief.

A visit to the pits at any racetrack will bust a lot of stereotypes. People Daniel Hood meets think race car drivers are one of three types: Daredevils with a death wish, rednecks who drive drunk, or snobby, yuppie Formula One types.

Hood is none of the above. He's halfway through college, majoring in theology and teaching part time at a school for autistic children in Santa Cruz. The young speedster belongs to "Wheels for the World" and delivers wheelchairs he's collected at racetracks to Third World countries.

If 19-year-old Nick Hutto, #64 Pro 4 Truck, of Modesto is an example, young racers aren't shy about honoring their grandparents in public.

Hutto could never have afforded gasoline, let alone a car, so he went to his grandfather, Gene Hutto, 68, and asked for help.

His grandfather said, "I don't know how far my Social Security check will stretch, Nick."

Grandpa Hutto always says that when his grandchildren ask for something. "It's a running joke in our family," he said. But like any grandfather, he spoils the grandkids. He gave Nick Hutto the money for a car, which Nick painted black and, on the side that's visible from the grandstands, also painted, in big, pink letters: "Pops Social Security Check -- your tax dollars at work."

Every time the car goes by the grandstands, Grandpa Hutto smiles.

As much as racing attracts people who want to drive race cars, there are racing addicts who have never raced and have no intention of starting.

Jack Houston is 69, and he's been addicted since he was 16. He couldn't afford a dragster, but he belonged to a hot-rod club in the days of drag strips. "I started out in 1951 starting drag races at Kingdon Drag Strip, between Stockton and Lodi."

Since then, Houston has started races at more than 90 different race tracks in eight states and Canada. He flagged the first NASCAR Winston Cup race, and he's still going strong.

Today, Houston is race director for the Legends division of racing in California. He spends every weekend making sure things go smoothly at Stockton 99 Speedway, unless he's on the road with Legends.

"I guess you could call me a racetrack junkie," Houston said. "It's my hobby and a job. At any age, you can't ask for more than that, can you?"

* To reach Steve Barkhurst, e-mail features@recordnet.com