George Rice Chitwood, nicknamed "Joie", was an Americanracecar driver and businessman. He is best known as a daredevil in the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show. Born in Denison, Texas, he was of Cherokee Indian ancestry. He was dubbed "Joie" during his racing career after a newspaper reporter mis-took and misspelled his name in an article. The writer confused St. Joe, Missouri with "George", and when it was typeset, added an "i" by mistake to spell "Joie." The nickname stuck for life.
Racing career
Chitwood started his racecar driving career in 1934 at a dirt track in Winfield, Kansas. From there, he began racing sprint cars. In 1939 and 1940 he won the AAAEast CoastSprint car championship. He switched to the CSRA and won its title in 1942. Between 1940 and 1950 he competed at the Indianapolis 500 seven times, finishing fifth on three occasions. He was the first man ever to wear a safety belt at the Indy500.
Joie Chitwood Thrill Show
Chitwood also operated the "Joie Chitwood Thrill Show", an exhibition of auto stunt driving that became so successful he gave up racing. Often called "Hell Drivers," he had five units that for more than forty years toured across North America thrilling audiences in large and small towns alike with their death-defying automobile stunts. His show was so popular, that in January 1967, the performance at the Islip Speedway, New York was broadcast on ABC television's Wide World of Sports. On May 13, 1978, Joie Chitwood Jr. set a world record when he drove a Chevrolet Chevette for on just 2 wheels. His sons, Joie Jr. and Tim both joined the auto thrill show and continued to run the "Joie Chitwood Chevy Thunder Show" after their father's retirement. The Chitwood show toured the US from 1945-98. Joie Chitwood Jr. offers a great selection of and at . His grandson, Joie Chitwood III, is the President of International Speedway Corporation, and formerly the president of Daytona International Speedway and before that the president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Chitwood Family has 80 years in motorsports and a beloved icon for "Americana" The show was featured during season 3 of CHiPs in an episode entitled "Thrill Show". Joie Jr. did stunts for Miami Vice on several occasions. Joie Jr. also appeared as a guest challenger on the TV game showTo Tell The Truth. Joie Jr. worked in over 60 feature films and national commercials. Chitwood's show was credited by Evel Knievel as being his inspiration to become a daredevil when his show appeared in his home town of Butte, Montana.
Stuntman
Chitwood was frequently hired by Hollywood film studios to either do stunt driving for films or to act as auto-stunt coordinator. On a few occasions he appeared in a minor role, notably with Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck in the 1950 film about auto racing, To Please a Lady. In 1973, Joie Chitwood Jr. is credited as a Stunt Coordinator for the hugely successful James Bond filmLive and Let Die, where he was also the stunt driver and acted in a minor part.
Safety Consultant
Joie Chitwood Jr. also acted as a car safety consultant, intentionally crashing vehicles for subsequent investigation. He had intentionally crashed more than 3000 vehicles by the time he appeared on the game show I've Got A Secret in 1965. Joie Jr. and Joie Sr. test-crashed guardrails and breakaway Interstate signs for US Steel and aluminum light poles for ALCOA. The highways are safer today because of these tests.
