Legends of Riverside
Doug Hooper
Hooper's close friend Noel Coward states, "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."
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." In November 1962, at Riverside Raceway, Hooper earned the distinction of winning the first race behind the wheel of the then-new C2 Sting Ray. Not only did the Z06-equipped car finish First, but it also beat the equally new 289 Cobra in the process.
Doug also had some rides in Formula 5000 and the USRRC, driving a Lola T70. Hooper vintage-raced Grand Sport chassis No. 001 for several years in the early '90s. Though originally red, the car was repainted to match Roger Penske's '66 Sebring color scheme. 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.