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.
(Note: Click on Picture and Underlined Text to view Pictures or Links)
Mississippi Racing Legend
Joe Caspolich Passes Away
Mississippi Racing Legend Joe Caspolich (79 year-old ) passed away at his home in Spanish Fort, Alabama on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. Joe was a native of Bay St. Louis, MS and drove race cars from the local Mississippi dirt tracks to NASCAR and even into the movies.
By my records, Joe started racing motorcycles in 1945 at the age of 15. After being injured in several accidents, Joe decided that Hot Rod racing would be safer. By the early 50’s, he had earned the respect of his fellow race car drivers and caught the eye of many owners. Joe Caspolich raced at all the Mississippi tracks and won big races at out-of-state tracks like New Orleans, Port Arthur, Dallas, Pensacola, Birmingham, Montgomery and Chattanooga.
In 1957 Joe teamed up with Pappy Crain of Biloxi and entered a car in the NASCAR race at Darlington SC, The Southern 500. Joe qualified his car 16th in a field of 50 cars. On the last day of practice, Joe turned in the 2nd fastest lap ever at the track. Many experts gave this rookie a good chance to win. On lap 66 of the race, Joe was running in 2nd and just behind the leader. He got a good run out of turn #2 and picked up speed down the back stretch. Knowing that turn #3 was the worst place on the track to pass, Joe went for the lead. Joe pulled along side the leader, lost control, hit the guardrail and crashed. It was a very bad wreck !! I understand that they pronounced Joe dead at the scene. While loading the body into the ambulance, someone saw him move. At that point they rushed him to the hospital. Joe Caspolich may have finished the race a disappointing 37th, but he won the respect of everyone at NASCAR. Joe had to sit out the 1958 NASCAR season because of his injuries. He returned to NASCAR at Darlington in 1959 with a solid 13 place finish. He also returned again in 1960 and 1961. All in all, he raced in 8 NASCAR events.
In 1960 he was asked to drive as the stunt driver in a racing move called “ Thunder in Carolina”. This film has tons of beautifully filmed vintage racing footage. It also includes loads of wonderful footage of the Darlington 500, scenes of crews prepping cars, and some risky practice driving through the Carolina Mountains.
I spoke with Joe back in October 2008 and invited him to the 2008 Mississippi Racers Reunion being held down on the Mississippi coast that month. He was excited about coming and seeing his old friends and fans. Unfortunately, his health turned bad and he could not make the trip. He told me that one of his most exciting moments “on the track” was racing against and beating an up and coming young driver named Clint McHugh at Speedbowl Park in Jackson back in 1955. He said that Clint was the best driver that he had ever seen and he had seen a lot of good drivers.
His most exciting moment “off the track” came a few years back. Joe said that the phone rang one afternoon and it was Roger Penske calling. Mr. Penske said that he had a young driver that he was going to put into a race car and Roger wanted to know if Joe would let the new kid use his old number. He told Roger that he could use his number once the kid had won 4 races in a row. Roger just laughed… Turns out the kid had just won his 5th race in a row. The car number was Joe's #2 and the kid was Rusty Wallace. The rest is racing history !!
I want to say thank you to David Gray (Joe's Nephew) for the pictures of Joe's NASCAR days. More of Joe's racing pictures can be seen at David Grey's web page. Joe Caspolich was a good man, talented race car driver, percisionist, hero and a true pioneer in Hot Rod Racing.
(Note: Click on Picture and Underlined Text to view Pictures or Links)
Little Widow & Miss Chicken Together Again
Boy What a Show !! Bill Bissell had his best Racing Vehicle Extravaganza ever with over 140 outstanding cars on display. The Trademart building was wall to wall with Race Cars, Trucks, Street Rods , Motorcycles, Go Karts, Boats and people. Everyone had a super time.
The "Little Widow" was there and owner Mr Bud Patterson had her ready to race. Mr Paterson had a wonderful time at the show. He said that he met people there that he had not seen in years. Mr Patterson told me, " folks don't have time to visit anymore. This weekend we visited with many old friends and talked racing".
This was the first time in 45 years the Little Widow and Miss Chicken has appeared at the same event. Mr Patterson told me that he built the car in 1957 from the ground up. He built the frame from the drive shaft of a ton and a half truck. He said that the driveshaft's gave the frame more flex which put more power to the track. He said that Ellis Palasini only lost 2 races in the Little Widow during the 1958 racing season. He also told me that the Little Widow started out as a 1934 Ford 5 window coupe just like Miss Chicken. To reduce wait and size he cut 15 inches out of the side and 15 inches from the middle of the body and welded her back together. I would have never guessed it even looking at the cars side by side.
The staff at MissChicken.com would like to give a big THANK YOU to Mr Patterson's grandson Caleb Langford. Caleb's coordination with the Miss Chicken staff insured the two cars could be displayed together. I understand that Caleb did a lot of work in getting the Little Widow to the Extravaganza. Without his persistence the Little Widow might not have made the show.
(Note: Click on Picture and Underlined Text to view Pictures or Links)