Harry Foote,
Jr. began his distinguished
racing career at the tender age of 12, when he and a childhood friend built
their first race car, a 1953 Chevrolet with a 6-cylinder motor, with no
adult help. Since Harry was too young to drive the car, he hired a host of
local drivers, including his father Harry Foote, Sr., Bill Cox, Junior
Sinclair, and others to drive the car for him.
Racing was a family thing to do; dad
Harry, Sr. raced for over 37 years, brothers John and Danny have both won
championships. Both of Harry’s sons, Todd and A.J. have carried on the
tradition, each winning multiple championships themselves. Continuing the
family tradition is Harry’s grandson KC Foote, who is now entering the
racing scene in the Pure Stock Division.
Harry continued to build cars until
he began driving at around age 18, driving for Don Cunningham. He has worked
in nearly every aspect of racing: driver, builder, mechanic, car owner, and
still enjoys the process of building and setting a car up so that it will be
competitive. Harry has partnered with John Shipe for many years; this
partnership has resulted in a varied and exciting career boasting over 250
feature wins, countless heat and other wins, as well as 8 championships
spanning a 30-plus year racing career that continues to this day. These wins
are in several divisions, from outlaw late models, modifieds, late models,
and even the old ‘flying stocks’, comparable to today’s street stocks.
At the time Harry began racing,
season points championships weren’t as emphasized as much as individual
wins. Even so, he has 8 season championships, spanning a time period from
his first season championship at Galesburg Speedway in 1977 to 2004, where
he won the championships at both Calhoun County Speedway and Spartan
Speedway, and in addition won the “Six-Pack Shootout”, a six-race ‘shootout’
run at both Calhoun County and Spartan Speedways, unrelated to the regular
season championship. He has won over 200 features in his career. In all,
Harry estimates that he has run at over 30 different tracks, some which have
since closed down.
Racing has given Harry many special
memories. He is a two-time winner of the Paul Beebe Memorial Race at
Galesburg Speedway, a three-time winner of the Harvest 100 at Spartan
Speedway, and winner of numerous season championship and other races at
tracks over southern Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. In addition, Harry was
named Sportsman of the Year at Galesburg Speedway for the 1986 season.
One weekend Harry is particularly
proud of took place around 2002, when he won the Harvest 100 at Spartan,
less than 24 hours after winning the season championship at Kalamazoo
Speedway. Both races were run in the same car, further showcasing Harry’s
talents both in the pits and behind the wheel.
Harry credits his wife Marge for at
least part of his success; for the 35 years of their marriage, she has
always gone to his races; in fact, Harry does not race if Marge doesn’t
attend! For her part, Marge has enjoyed the travel, and has friends at many
of the tracks she and Harry visit.
Harry Foote, Jr. ran a full 2007
racing schedule, this time in the modified division. Harry is considering
retiring after the 2007 season, but as he says, “You can’t really decide
until after the season ends.”
Harry was the 2007 Kalamazoo Speedway
Modified champion.
