BIOGRAFI DOUG HOOPER
Motorsports legend Dick Guldstrand thinks of fellow Corvette racer Doug Hooper like a brother. "Back in the '50s and '60s, we Corvette racers were like an old gypsy caravan. It was just a bunch of guys moving up and down the West Coast of California, going from race to race," Guldstrand recalls. "Our massive
organization included two guys in a pickup truck towing their Corvette, accompanied by their small dog.
Motorsports legend Dick Guldstrand thinks of fellow Corvette racer Doug Hooper like a brother. "Back in the '50s and '60s, we Corvette racers were like an old gypsy caravan. It was just a bunch of guys moving up and down the West Coast of California, going from race to race," Guldstrand recalls. "Our massive
organization included two guys in a pickup truck towing their Corvette, accompanied by their small dog.
"I first met Hooper at a race in
Willow Springs," he continues. "He was driving his white '57 Corvette.
It was No. 119, the number he always used. Hooper was a very aggressive
driver, and he was my inspiration to get into Corvette racing."
Hooper's
close friend Noel Coward adds, "He was exceptional with fuel injection.
Besides being an excellent driver, he was a great mechanic. He could
really make a Corvette work. He opened up his own business, Hooper's
Corvette Service, and soon had a huge following from local Corvette
owners. Hooper's shop became the local Corvette hangout, and he was
known as the 'Corvette Wizard.' He could make a Corvette run like nobody
else."
Back on the racetrack, Hooper's tuning skills
allowed him to set up his car so it was extremely difficult to pass in
corners. "Hooper figured out how to get his car sideways in corners
without losing any time on the track," Guldstrand says. "This made it
extremely difficult to pass him; his car looked like a barn door in
front of you. He was difficult to deal with on the racetrack, a fiercely
competitive racer."
Coward
owned an ad agency and was able to secure a small sponsorship for
Hooper from one of his clients, Hanson Chevrolet. Another client, Mickey
Thompson, contacted Coward in 1962 to report that he had secured a
sponsorship from Chevrolet. The sponsorship included road racing a
brand-new '63 Sting Ray at the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix. Thompson,
being a drag racer, needed someone to pilot the car.
Coward
introduced him to Hooper, who went on to drive Thompson's Sting Ray to
victory in the Times event. After the race, Hooper continued his
association with Thompson, driving GM-backed Corvettes. Their dreams of
racing a Vette at Le Mans were dashed, however, when the company issued
an edict banning official racing involvement. Hooper eventually left
Thompson's organization, continuing to work at his shop and drive his
'57 Vette in local racing events.
In
1970, Hooper became a reserve police officer in the Los Angeles Police
Department. He found this part-time job both rewarding and exciting, and
Guldstrand believes it even helped him become a better driver. "He
learned how to lift the throttle when he had to and also push it down at
the right time. He was never crazy with a race car. He was very capable
of making spot-on decisions at critical times, [and] that allowed him
to win races."
Coward thinks Hooper's Hall of Fame
induction is long overdue, given the breadth and impact of his friend's
accomplishments. We tend to agree. With more than 50 years of
competition experience, Doug Hooper's contributions to Corvette racing
are arguably unsurpassed.
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