Photo By Terrance Bell | Harris "Hurley" Haywood, a highly decorated endurance race driver, is one of several...... read more read more
FORT LEE, Va. (Nov. 30, 2017) -- Fort Lee has a long history of celebrity visitation and association:
President Barack Obama and Chef Emeril Lagasse taped TV shows here.
Basketball hall of famer Lenny Wilkens and the late comedian Dick Gregory marched within these confines as Soldiers.
Race car driver Harris “Hurley” Haywood, who also wore the uniform here, may not necessarily strike the bells of notoriety like those mentioned. His lack of name recognition and reserved nature, however, are striking contrasts to a racing record that roars like the powerful engines thrusting him to the pantheon of American automobile racing.
“I’m a pretty private person,” said the 69 year-old endurance racing legend. “When I go to Europe, I can be in street clothes walking down the road and people would come up and want my autograph because I won (the 24 Hours of) LeMans three times over there (in France).
“Winning LeMans in Europe is the equivalent of winning Indianapolis or the Daytona 500. You’re like a superstar over there and people don’t forget that. … When I’m on the street (here), it occasionally happens. I don’t have to deal with a lot of recognition on the public side.”
In addition to LeMans, Haywood’s triumphs (with other drivers) include five 24 Hours of Daytona trophies and two Sebring 12 Hours wins over a career spanning more than four decades. He also is a 1972 International Motor Sports Association titleholder and a 1988 Sports Car Association of America champion. Haywood started at Daytona a record 40 times. His racing exploits were such that Porsche built a rare model to honor his achievements.
Haywood’s ambition for automobiles began during his childhood. A Chicago native, he spent summers working on his grandparents’ farm west of the city, sometimes driving a pickup truck to help out. He was later given a car that he drove on the property, and it became an extension of his youthful passion for speed.
“I started driving a full-sized car around the farms when I was 12 years old,” he recounted, “so, by the time I got to be 16, I was pretty well-versed on how to handle an automobile.”
So well-versed, in fact, that while a college student in Florida, he beat the more experienced driver Peter Gregg in an autocross. Gregg, marveling at the stranger’s skills, introduced himself after the race, and they became friends, said Haywood.
“He helped me order my first race car, saw how I drove and decided to hire me,” he recalled. “I think all the stars lined up.”
Indeed they did. The two went on to win a race at Watkins Glen, N.Y. in 1969 – Hurley’s first – and several others, including two 24 Hours at Daytona races and one Sebring 12 Hours.
Shortly after the tandem’s win at Watkins Glen, Haywood, a draft lottery number holder, was called up for service. He complied, reported to Fort Leonard Wood for basic training and was shipped off to the war in 1970. He harbors no regrets about the abrupt interruption to his career but admits the experience was no Sunday drive.
“Things happened so fast – I mean it was like you’re ripped out of this sort of comfort cocoon and put into this unbelievable atmosphere, which is hard for a civilian to get their arms around,” he said.
Haywood, who is from a wealthy family, did not say whether or not he agreed with the war, nevertheless, he did not question the call for service. In retrospect, he said military service during the war was the presentation of an experience bearing the fruit of maturation way before its time.
“The military for me … well, you grew up pretty quickly,” said Haywood, who was assigned to the 164th Aviation Group located south of Saigon during the war. “I was in my early 20s when I went over there, and you had to grow up pretty quickly when you’re getting shot at. It tends to get you sober in a hurry.”
In addition to the dose of sobriety he needed to survive in Vietnam, Haywood learned discipline as a necessity to get things done. He also learned how to continuously refocus on something as a result of shifting mission dynamics.
“One of the things in the military I used every day in my racing career was the ability to adapt to change,” he said. “People say to me, ‘What trait does a racing driver need to have?’ I say it’s the ability to adapt to change because the environment was constantly changing in a race car, and if you don’t adapt to those changes, you’re going to go to the back of the pack.
“It’s the same thing in the military. If you get too locked into one thing, you’re not going to be able to react quickly enough. That part was hugely beneficial to me on the professional side ... I think that when I came back to the states in 1971 and started racing, I had a huge advantage over my peers at that point because they didn’t have that experience.”
Haywood, trained as an administrative clerk, was stationed here after his tour for out-processing on an early release request. Looking to resume his career, he bided his free time racing, unbeknownst to most. One weekend, he submitted a pass and drove at Virginia International Raceway near Danville. He was surprised to see a picture of himself in the Traveller newspaper the next day as the contest winner.
“Later that day, I got a message to go see the commander,” recalled Haywood, noting he was a bit concerned about the nature of the meeting. “I said ‘oh (expletive)! I’m in big trouble now.’ I went over, and he said, ‘Well, I had no idea. I went to that race. I’m a big racing fan. We’ll have to get your paperwork underway so we can get you out of here and start racing again.’’’
What came next now rests in the annals of racing glory.
Today, Haywood represents Brumos Racing as a driver and Porsche as a driving instructor in Jacksonville, Fla., and Birmingham, Ala, respectively. His stellar racing career – broken by his tour ending in 1971 – was built, in part, by what he learned the minute his feet landed in the jungles of Vietnam. It is a fact Haywood fully acknowledges during speaking engagements and a point of contention for what he thinks is necessary for success today.
“I think the discipline and respect for the chain of command is something that is lost with the youth of today,” he said. “Things are so scattered that everybody is going in a million different directions, but in the military, you had one direction. When you were ordered to do something, you did it and didn’t ask a bunch of questions or come up with a bunch of excuses.”
Although he may be far removed from today’s military, Haywood said raising one hand to protect liberty is something to be treasured. Many people did not share those feelings when he returned from war, he added, noting military fighting men and women today enjoy overwhelming public support. Vietnam is partly responsible for the change in sentiment, said Haywood.
"Now, when the Soldiers are returning from the war theaters, they are heroes,” he said. “It goes to show you that peoples’ attitudes change. The wars that we’re conducting now – which are multiple wars in multiple countries – are not favorable, but American civilians support the military and support the people over there that are giving up their lives to keep our freedoms.
“I think from the support that Soldiers have (today), I think we learned our lesson in Vietnam.”
| Date Taken: | 11.30.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.30.2017 16:02 |
| Story ID: | 256981 |
| Location: | JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 92 |
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