Legends of Mud Racing: Perry Hicks

 

BY DUSTY DEGRAFFENRIED

Welcome to the legends of mud/mud racing hall of fame. The home to the many guys and gals who have made a rut in the sport of mud racing. This is the place where we will honor the men and women and machines who shaped the sport into what it is today and what it will grow into tomorrow. The mud racing hall of fame is open to all forms of the sport, hill-n-hole, bogging, fastrack, and side by side mud drags. We are always looking for potential hall of fame inductees so if you know of someone who has been mudding for awhile or who has done great things to help the sport out, drop me a line with how to reach them for their story and induct them into the mud racing hall of fame. In the future, most of these stories will be online at usamudracing.com- the home of The Legends of Mud: Mud Racing Hall of Fame.

MUD RACING HALL OF FAME: PERRY HICKS OF INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI

In the Midwest, there are two words that strike fear in the hearts of all bog pits. Those two words are Perry Hicks. Perry and his Jeep CJ-7 “The Mud Special” have been in every slop hole in the Midwest churning out mud and throwing rooster tails of mud showers to the delight of fans for nearly 30 years. Perry just doesn’t attack mud in the Midwest, his obsession with the mud has taken him to many of our united states as well as a trip into Canada.

Perry often talks fondly of a time he refers to as back in the day. Back in the day, there were thousands of spectators at local races, and most of the pits had bounties on them for whoever could make it out. Back in the day, the pits were so watery and deep that water would run inside his floorboard, thus a lot of waterproofing took place. Back in the day they built pits with humps in them and each stage the hole got deeper to where the last hole would be like six feet deep. Back in the day hardly anyone could get out of the pits.

Perry and his mother Anna, who many referred to as mom, have been a fixture on the local Midwest mud racing scene for many years. Anna, who passed away a few years ago, was always present at every race Perry attended and has recorded race results in a journal for nearly all of Perry’s 30-year racing career. Those journals are posted at www.Scotts4x4.com. As you view those journals, you will see the names of some future hall of fame members like Ron Pense, Jim McConville, Roy Butts, Jim Powers, Ernie Hibdon and others.

Perry is still going strong today, having raced in over four states already in 2009, and shows no signs of slowing down soon. There are too many stories and tales from Perry to tell here in this small section of print, so next time you see the legendary Missouri mud racer at an event, walk up to him and say Hi. Then the conversation will flow directly into mud racing and Perry is never short on words about the sport he loves, and most likely will pull out his old pictures and dvd’s of mud racing thru the years to share with you that are always ready to be displayed at events.

As a small boy, probably around age 5-6, I was at the local 4^th of July Annual mud bog in Adrian, MO. It was at this race that I met Perry and his family. I was walking around with my Dad in the pits taking polaroids of the trucks. I went up to Perry and asked him if I could take a pic of his Jeep. He agreed and then he asked if he could take a pic of me in his Jeep. I agreed and have since been a huge fan of Perry and the sport of mud racing. We are now good friends and get together every now and then and watch the vast video collection Perry has accumulated over the years from bogs to indoor races he has attended from the various states and Canada. It is with honor that I get to welcome Mr. Perry Hicks and Mud Special to the Mud Racing Hall Of Fame.

 

 

Legends of Mud Racing: Ennis Thomas

LEGENDS OF MUD – MUD RACING HALL OF FAME: ENNIS THOMAS

BY DUSTY DEGRAFFENRIED, EDITOR

Ennis Thomas -  Grovetown, Georgia - Years Pro= 28! - Racing since 1981 (and still on the throttle!!!)

First race vehicle: 1980 Chevy Blazer on 38 in mud grip tires and a 500 cid bowtie engine.
Current vehicle: Rear engine, tube framed, blown mud dragster. Favorite racers to race against:  Mark Lee, Gene Cutchens.  Organizations raced for: NMRO,PROBADD, and several other events and groups.

Ennis has held numerous record times and won many class championships in his storied career in mud racing. A successful career spanning 28 years, Ennis has seen and done it all. When he is not repairing autos at his business, Thomas Auto Repair, in Grovetown, Ga, Ennis is busy getting his race car ready to go to the races. He boasts of his 200 foot record with a time of 2.32 which stood from 1993 to around 2006. He set that record in Dresser, IL and all with a brand new unproven car. He loved going to the big race in Phoenix City, AL. which had a prize of $5000 to win. TO WIN!!, Ennis was  the first to win that big payday and repeated this feat 5 out of 10 times this race was held. Ennis remembers the heyday of mud racing when the pits were muddy and they were all over television and enjoyed numerous races with big time sponsors kicking in some big time paydays. The sport has changed a lot since then, the racers are spending big bucks and racing for less money with less television exposure. The road to the many successes Ennis has accomplished wasn’t without its bumps too. In 1991 Ennis had a terrible crash, destroying his car and nearly ending his racing career. In fact he did walk away from mud racing as a result of this accident. But as all of us mud addicts know, mud gets in your blood, so in 1999 Ennis and his wife hit the road and returned to pro mud racing as a driver again winning 30 out of 34 events that year. What an accomplishment!. Ennis hopes that even with a poor economy, he will be able to hit the road and chase another championship to add to his list in 2009 and enters his 28th year of racing. With 28 years experience, Id say Ennis knows a thing or two about mud racing, and what it takes to be a winner and a hall of famer. Thanks Ennis for all your years of great racing! We welcome Ennis Thomas to the Mud Racing Hall of Fame.

Banner Names:War Wagon, War Wagon II, Heartbeat of America I, Heartbeat of America II, Murphy’s Law and Mad Max.