Some of those who saw the president of Daytona Raceway providing a news update on Saturday evening following the horrific crash may have recognized a familiar name. Joie Chitwood III is the grandson of Joie Chitwood, Sr. As a kid, we had the great fortune to have our family take us to the Reading Fairgrounds speedway to see the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show more than a few times.

This rollover stunt, accompanying a 1955 Reading Eagle article, was a regular feature of the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show. – SOURCE: Reading Eagle

Here’s an article from last year in the .

“Jim Beidler, a NASCAR racing fan from Marion Township, recently saw an interview with Joie Chitwood III, president of Daytona International Speedway.

“Joie III is the grandson of Joie Chitwood, the daredevil driver who founded the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show.

“Beidler wants to know if there was a Chitwood connection to Reading.

“The short answer: yes.

The Chitwood racing operation was located in Reading from the late 1940s to the 1960s, when Joie moved it to Tampa, Fla.

“Joie III, former president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, recently told the Daytona Beach News Journal that his grandfather left Reading because of Pennsylvania’s cold winters. Florida’s mild temperatures, he said, allowed him to work on cars year-round.

“George Rice ‘Joie’ Chitwood was born in Texas in 1912 – 100 years ago come April 14.

“He picked up the ‘Joie’ tag after it appeared as a mistake in a press agent’s news release. It stuck, and George Chitwood achieved racing immortality as Joie Chitwood.

“After running midgets and sprint cars in the late 1930s, Joie tried his hand at big-car racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In the 1940s, he drove in seven Indy 500 races, finishing fifth on three occasions, according to his grandson.

Joie Chitwood Sr. at the Indianapolis 500 in 1948. – SOURCE: Reading Eagle

“In the late 1940s, he founded the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show in Reading.

“Jan Murphy of Shillington, who drove for Chitwood, said Joie’s connection to Berks County was through his wife, Marie Harris from West Reading.

“‘Joie built the rocket launcher he used in the show in a barn near Wernersville,’ said Murphy, 57, who lay on the hood as a stunt car was driving through a ring of fire.

“As the ‘Hell on Wheels Show,’ Joie performed at the Reading Fair and Dorney Park near Allentown.

“In 1949, the Reading Eagle reported, Joie ‘smashed and crashed’ his way through $100,000 of new Fords at the Reading Fairgrounds.

“Chitwood Auto Daredevils opened the Reading Fair in a 1957 ‘homecoming.’ That year, he made 340 appearances.

“‘It was the most successful thrill show in the business,’ former thrill driver Jim Heck of Reading told the Eagle in 1988.

“In 1978, Joie set a world record by driving a Chevy Chevette 5.6 miles tilted on two wheels. He did stunt driving in ‘To Please a Lady,’ a 1950 movie starring Clark Gable.

“Joie III said his grandfather was not a full-blooded Cherokee Indian. ‘Big Chief’ Chitwood was merely a show-biz persona.

“Joie Chitwood Jr. followed in his father’s daring footsteps, continuing the two-wheeled stunt invented by his father.

“The Joie Chitwood Thrill Show closed a 50-year run in 1999.

“Joie Chitwood died in 1988 at age 75 in Tampa. He is listed in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2010.

“Joie Jr., 68, is retired in Tampa. Joie III, 42, was named president of Daytona International Speedway in 2010.”