A Mississippi Racing Historian Passes Away
Jack Brown passed away Tuesday March 19th 2013 after a long illness. Jack was a good friend to many people. I personally think he knew everyone. Jack was simply an amazing man with a passion for life, love, people and racing.
MissChicken.com was created as a restoration website for our racecar. Jack single handedly added “and Mississippi Racing History" to this website name with his knowledge of Mississippi Racing.
I first met Jack at a car show in 2005. I had been searching for pictures of Miss Chicken from back when she raced in the 1960's. Someone gave me Jack's phone number and said he had old racing pictures, so I made the call. Turns out, he wanted to look over our racecar just as badly as I wanted to look over his pictures. We met at the Morton Day car show. Jack had the most impressive collection of Mississippi Racing pictures I have ever seen and his knowledge of the people and places was outstanding. Mississippi Racing History was born.
Jack's passion for racing started at a very early age. He would beg his dad to take him to the races every weekend. When he got older, he would travel to tracks all over Mississippi. He told me that every date he had with his wife (Charlotte) ended up at a racetrack somewhere.
His passion was not just limited to watching the races. A young Jack Brown made a name for himself in the Kart Racing world. Jack even raced a car in the Mini Stock Class at Jackson International Speedway. His most exciting experience on the track was not in a race. He had rebuilt the motor on his Mini Stock and had gone to the track early to get it setup. While making his final laps, Jack noticed a young Mark Martin getting ready to take some practice laps. Jack said he stayed on track a few extra laps just so he could say he was on the same track as Mark Martin.
Jack made many friends and acquaintances during his lifelong love of racing. His outstandng knowledge of Mississippi racing history, the people and the cars served him well as part time announcer at Jackson International Speedway.
Jack eventually moved from racecars to Street Rods when he bought his 1939 Chevy. He truly enjoyed the fellowship of fellow car enthusiast. As with everything in Jack’s life, he got involved to the fullest. He held several positions in the Mississippi Street Rod Association and helped this group expand and grow.
There will never be another like Jack Brown.
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Rattletrap II
The Dream Comes Alive
Jack Brown’s Rattletrap II racecar has been completed. Jack’s health has been failing over the past several years and progress on his B-Car had slowed to a crawl. A bunch of Jack’s good friends took it upon themselves to complete the car for Jack. Mike Summerlin, the ringleader of this bunch, talked Jack into letting him put the rear end back under the old car. Once Mike had the keys to the garage, this fine band of friends went to work.
Jack is a long time member of the Mississippi Street Rod Association. It was his dream to have his restored racecar at their big annual event, The Dixie Rod Run. Mike’s goal was to have the car ready for this year’s annual event which is scheduled for March 22nd, 23rd and 24th.
It took about 2 months of hard work and many extra parts to put the Rattletrap II back together. They returned the completed racecar to Jack the last week of February. Pictures of this joyful return can be seen on the Mississippi Street Rod Association website. To navigate to the pictures, click on “Events 2012 & 2013." Then click on “Jack Brown’s Race Car.”
We, at MissChicken, want to say a big “THANK YOU” to all who helped make this dream come true. Jack Brown is a major contributor to MissChicken. He donated many of the pictures of early Mississippi racing found on this website. Jack lived and breathed Mississippi Racing all his life and his knowledge of the 1950’s and 60’s is truly unbelievable.
Below is a list of those who gave of themselves to restore a piece of Mississippi Racing History and deliver a gift that means so much.
THANK YOU ALL
John Bolden, Clayton Morris, Eric Knight, George Phillips, Gene Roberson, Vic Boggs, Danny Slay, Jack Cox, Wayne Thomas, Henry Cooper, Garry Adams, Ware Hodo, Sheila Hodo, George Phillips, Anthony Phillips, Gene Roberson, Barbara Summerlin (photography), Mike Summerlin, What Ever It Takes (transmission parts).
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25th Annual Mississippi Racing Extravaganza was HUGE !!
Hats off to Bill Bissell for making the 25th Mississippi Racing
Extravaganza something very special.
Mississippi's living Legend, Ellis Palasini showed up with his famous "Black Widow" V-8. Back in the day, Ellis trilled the fans in his "Black Widow" in the supermodified class and Mr Bud Patterson's "Little Widow" in the B-Modified Class. Pictured here are two old friends reunited, Bud and Ellis.
NASCAR racing legend, Bobby Allison was also here meeting with fans and sign autographs.
This is not Bobby's first trip to Mississippi. He started racing dirt tracks back in the 1950's. He make many a trip to the Laurel Fairgrounds when the track was dirt and asphalt. He also made trips to Jackson Sports Arena and Jackson International Speedway. If there were a big race in Mississippi, Bobby would be there to win. Bobby Allison's outstanding racing took him all the way to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
The Racing Vehicle Extravaganza is THE Premier Auto Show in Mississippi. This year's show had over 150 Radical Custom cars, Race cars of all classes, classic Muscle cars, 4x4 Rock Crawlers and Mississippi's own "MONSTER TRUCK". If you missed it, you really missed something special. Don't make the same mistake next year. Mark your calendar now for the first week in January 2014.
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Another Racing Legend Passes Away
Longtime dirt track racer and National Sprint Car Hall of Famer, Hooker Hood, passed away on Dec 24, 2012. Hooker ran circles around everyone on Southern dirt track from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Click Here to read about his outstanding racing career.
Hooker Hood lived and raced out of Memphis Tennessee. When he arrived at a track with his fast number 99, all the other drivers had to take notice. You could bet the fans would also take notice. They could expect one wild and exciting night of racing with Hooker Hood, Ellis Palasini, Ival Cooper, Armond Holly and Bob Herrin racing in the Super Modified class.
Hooker Hood was a great ambassador for dirt track racing. He leaves us with many wonderful memories and stories. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.
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Mississippi Racing Legend
Ival Cooper
When you talk about the best Mississippi race car drivers ever, there are a handful of names that always go to the top of the list. The name Ival Cooper will always be near the top.
Ival Cooper learned the art of fast driving shortly after he graduated high school in Southeastern Arkansas. Ival discovered his driving abilities on Arkansas’ dirt roads from behind the wheel of a log truck. YES, I said a log truck !! Ival first real job was driving log trucks in Tyro Arkansas. He once said that he always wanted to get to where ever he was going before everyone else.
Sometime about 1950, Ival followed his brother to Jackson Mississippi to drive for a local trucking company. Ival said that he never really thought about driving race cars, until then one day in 1951, he heard an advertisement on the radio about racing at the Mississippi Sports Arena. He decided to go down and see what car racing was all about. The next week he was back at the track and got his chance to drive a race car when another drive didn’t show up. Ival said he didn’t get to race that night. Seems the car broke while he was running his time-trial but that evening he caught the racing fever. He was back at the track the next week and most every weekend afterwards until his death in July 1984.
Ival drove for many car owners from 1951 to 1953. In 1954 he teamed up with another Mississippi racing legend Chicken McCombs. Chicken McCombs built the legendary car #248 and Ival Cooper drove the wheels off of it. Ival Cooper will forever be known as the driver of the Chicken McCombs built cars, #248 and #631. They were the team to beat in the mid 50’s through the 1960’s.
Ival won races in modifieds and supermodifieds all over the southeast. Back in the 1950’s and 1960’s a racing team could race 5 days a week. Ival and Chicken’s skills were well known from Memphis to Biloxi and from Houston to Pensacola. Ival won races for many car owners especially after moving to asphalt full time in the late 1960’s. Toward the end of his career Ival was associated with car #30 the “Ardis Special”, built and owned by Johnny Ardis of Mobile AL .
Ival Cooper was not only an intense competitor but also a friend to most all the drivers. Ival was always looking out for his fellow competitor. If a driver seemed to be in trouble after a crash, he would pull over to help get him out of the car. Even if he was leading the race. Ival was also a force to be reckoned with in the pits. When drivers did something on the track that endanged another drivers, you could bet that Ival would be in their face before they could get out of their car.
Ival died doing what he loved, driving a supermodified racecar. It was reported that Ival had a heart attack driving the “Ardis Special” at Mobil International Speedway. Fans say they knew he was in trouble when he slumped over while racing down the back stretch. He never let off the gas and never made the #3 turn.
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Mississippi Racing Legend
Tommy Noblin - "The Mississippi Skeeter"
Tommy Noblin was born in 1940 in Clifton Mississippi. He went to his first race in 1958 and two weeks later he had his own car. As with all of the Scott County Gang, racing got in his blood quickly.
I’ve been told that Tommy could race thirteen months out of a year. He teamed up with car owners Rubin Finch and mechanic Udall Sessions and quickly made a name for himself as an initiator in the sport. Tommy knew that the lighter he could make the car, the faster it would go. He was always looking for ways to remove weight.
In the mid 1960’s, racing in central Mississippi went through a huge change. The asphalt tracks started drawing the larger crowds and faster cars. Asphalt tracks in Montgomery, Jackson, Laurel and Pensacola took their toll on the local dirt tracks. Tommy bought a car and tried asphalt racing for a short time but dirt track racing was his passion. One of the tracks that managed to survive the changing times was Whynot Raceway located southeast of Meridian Mississippi. Tommy started driving for car owner Richard Webb and they started winning races, quickly becoming a fan favorite.
Tommy loved racing and he also loved kids. He knew that the future of the sport was in the children and he always made time for his younger fans. One of those youngsters was Jody Walters. These days, Jody is a racecar driver from Meridian MS and has to be Tommy’s #1 fan. Jody always had a sign in the cockpit of his car that read “ Be a Hero to a Child – In Memory of Tommy Noblin”. Several years ago, Jody gave Tommy’s son that sign.
Tommy, like most drivers, had many tricks up his sleeve. One was also in his shoes. Tommy always wore an old pair of Hushpuppies to the track. He would walk the track in his Hushpuppies and they would give him a feel of how to set up the car for the race. I’ve been told that the more the track stuck to his Hushpuppies, the larger his smile.
1973 and 1974 were Tommy’s most impressive years. In 1973, Tommy won 15 of 16 races at Whynot in the sprint car class. The only man to beat him was Bubby Jones of Dansville IN. In 1974, he continued his winning streak. A $500 bounty was placed on Tommy to be given to any driver that could beat him. Marty Broadus was the Gulf Coast Sprint Champion in 1973. He came up from the coast to see if he could collect that bounty. He finished 2nd to Tommy that night. Others to come to Whynot and try to collect the bounty were Terry Broadus of Long Beach, Sammy Swindell of Bartlett TN, Bobby Marshall of Dallas TX and Jim McElreath of Fort Worth TX. All came up short. Tommy went on to win 16 of 16 races at Whynot in 1974 and collect the $500 for himself. The only man to beat Tommy at Whynot in 1973 and 74 was Bubby Jones. Tommy and Bubby went on to become lifelong friends.
Tommy’s abilities behind the wheel turned heads all over the nation. In 1974 he took his car to a Championship Race in Phoenix AZ. He qualified his car 4th of over 70 entries. Unfortunately he crashed his car in turn 1 after qualifying and could not make the race. Car owners started lining up to ask him to drive their cars in the big race.
Tommy discovered how to run Firestone 500 drag racing tires on his sprinter. He went to a Championship race at the Talladega short track and just walked all over the field. The next week he received a new set of Firestone 500s from Firestone. He called the company to let them know that he had not ordered any tires. They told him that they had sold over $40,000 worth of tires because of his showing in Talladega. They just wanted to say thanks !!
In 1975 through 1979, Tommy drove several cars for owner Bobby Davis and also for owner Bob Gillentine. These owners provided Tommy many opportunities to drive quality cars in big races all over the nation. In 1975 Tommy won track championships at West Memphis, Little Rock and Greenville. He also won big races in Kansas, Indiana, Texas, and Ohio. During this time, a group of Tommy’s racing friends started developing the foundation of what we call today “The World of Outlaws”.
On August 13, 1979, Mississippi racing lost a great driver. While driving an 18 wheeler from New Orleans back to his home in Birmingham, Tommy ran into the rear of another disabled 18 wheeler stranded in the middle of Hwy 98 near Tylertown MS. Tommy was buried in Birmingham, dressed in his race suit and helmet.
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