Having followed our favorite sport of auto racing for 50 years, this writer is well aware of burnout or the need to sometimes change direction. Situations change, people change and the world around us changes daily.
Longtime Florida sprint-car owner Don Heckman has reached one of those times of change.
On Oct. 6 at New Smyrna Speedway, Heckman and his driver, Wayne Reutimann, ran their final race together. It was also Heckman’s final race with the Tampa Bay Area Racing Ass’n as a car owner.
For the past two seasons, Heckman Motorsports — Don and wife Beverly — had only run a limited schedule with TBARA. Frustrated with some of the club politics and the escalating costs of competing in the state tour found the Heckmans taking a long look at how they wanted to continue with the sport that has been part of Don’s life for 43 years.
They decided to sell their operation, but not before one more race on their agenda. They will field a car for Doug Heveron in the 2008 edition of the famed Little 500 at Anderson Speedway in Anderson, Ind.
Both Heckman and Heveron wanted one more shot at the grueling 500-lap run on the quarter-mile oval in the Hoosier State.
Heckman was hooked on racing in 1962 when he began hanging around Rich Benn’s shop in Homestead. He began his driving career in an Anglia mini stock in 1964 at Florida City Speedway. A native of Berwick, Pa., Heckman was quickly drawn to the TQ midgets that also ran at Florida City, and his first ride in one of the tiny open wheelers came in 1967.
Other than the TQ midgets, open-wheel racing in South Florida was gone by the late 1960s, so for more action Heckman made the occasional trip to Golden Gate Speedway in Tampa to watch sprint cars.
By 1972, Heckman was driving a new Ben Cook sprinter for owner Harry Wilson. His time behind the wheel lasted for 16 years with his final drive coming in 1988 for owner Cal Krusen.
Just because he hung up his helmet was no reason not to continue to be involved with sprints, so he bought a car and hired his first driver, Scott DeSane. Success was elusive, and Heckman later hired Reutimann.
An accomplished veteran of coupes, late models, sprint cars and modifieds, Reutimann was extremely fast, easy to get along with and better yet, didn’t abuse the equipment.
Over the years the Heckman-Reutimann combo produced two TBARA titles and many feature victories. Others who have driven for Heckman include Sonny Hartley, Stan Butler, Jim Childers, Larry Tyler, Taylor Andrews, Gary Gimmler and Heveron — an elite collection of top wheelmen on Florida ovals.
As a car owner, Heckman won features at 15 different Florida tracks and an additional four as a driver, a record he’s very proud of indeed.
Don’t think for a minute that sprint-car racing has seen the last of Don Heckman. No sir.
For 2008, he will be the crew chief on a pair of cars for Florida Keys resident John Gilbert. Heckman has overseen Gilbert’s Hurricane built cars for the past five years, but for next season Gilbert will add a second bright green car to the stable as his young son moves up from the outlaw modifieds to sprints.
“I’ll have plenty to do keeping John’s cars in race ready condition,” Heckman said. “I love racing and sprint cars, but it was time for a change for Beverly and me. It’s getting harder and harder to field a top quality car with TBARA and when John mentioned that he wanted to put a second car together for his son, it was the perfect time for us to sell out.”
At 59, Heckman is a seasoned veteran, and he’ll put his years of experience to good use with the Gilberts and still be involved with the sport he’s loved since that day in 1962 when he wandered into Benn’s shop on the way home from school.
When racing is in the blood, it’s damn hard to just walk away. Fortunately for Don Heckman, he’s still got some years of chasing sprint cars around Florida’s ovals in his future.