Joie Chitwood comes from family that's worked with Clark Gable, Evel Knievel, James Bond

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Imagine your grandfather playing the stunt double for Clark Gable in the 1950 classic, "To Please a Lady."

Or your dad performing stunts as Roger Moore in "Live and Let Die," where he also drives a taxi that picks up Moore's character, James Bond, before being killed by a dart to the head; and also serving as the stunt director for the pilot for TV's "Miami Vice."

Or the family business being featured in iconic television shows such as "Wide World of Sports," "Miami Vice" and "CHiPs" — and being credited as the reason daredevil Evel Knievel became a showman.

And because of that business, being featured in a televised skit with Knievel and then-ABC sportscaster Frank Gifford at age 8, and on the reality TV show "That's Incredible!" at 14. Oh, and driving the pace car at the Indy 500.

Now, imagine you are Joie Chitwood III, of the Chitwood Motorsports family. And after all those indelible memories, you go on to build the Chicagoland Speedway, and run the Indianapolis Speedway and Daytona International Speedway. Then you make the move into golf's executive world where you become tournament director for Arnold Palmer's event, one closely tied to Jack Nicklaus and the Presidents Cup.

And you are just 54.

"Extremely lucky," is how Chitwood describes his life.

No wonder.

"You learn a lot as you grow and mature, you think about your business," said Chitwood. "But I can't get away from the fact I feel extremely lucky that I had a chance to be part of iconic sports events."

Chitwood's next project is a one-time assignment to run the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches. Hired by the PGA Tour to run the 2026 Presidents Cup, he was tasked with taking Palm Beach County's largest sporting event into a new era with Cognizant replacing Honda as the title sponsor and the PGA Tour's Championship Management division taking over control of the event.

With his primary home in Placida, just north of Fort Myers on Florida's west coast, Chitwood has temporarily moved to Palm Beach Gardens for this gig. The Cognizant Classic will be held Feb. 29-March 3 at PGA National.

"Parachute in and spend three months down here," is how Chitwood explains the role. "I'm motivated. I love iconic brands. And I'm going to hand it off to the next person that gets the pleasure of sitting in that chair."

A stuntman and a daredevil

Joie Chitwood III recently was standing on a step in the still-under-construction grandstands overlooking the 18th fairway on the Champion Course at PGA National preparing to shoot a video when Palm Beach Post multimedia journalist Greg Lovett warned him not to take a step back.

A drop of about 2 feet was inches off his heels.

"That's OK," Chitwood said. "I'm a daredevil."

Anybody who watched black-and-white televisions powered by rabbit ears wrapped in aluminum foil, or remembers when stunt shows were featured events at state and county fairs, or Evel Knievel jumping the Snake River Canyon, knows the name Chitwood.

George Rice Chitwood, the patriarch of the legendary motorsports family, died in 1988 at age 75. He became "Joie" when a reporter mistook the Missouri town where George's race car was built, St. Joe, with his first name. When the story was typeset, an i was added by mistake to spell "Joie." That night, the track announcer identified him as "Joie."

A nickname was born.

Chitwood started the "Joie Chitwood Thrill Show," an exhibition of stunt driving, in 1942. The wildly popular show that toured North America for more than four decades — it was first broadcast on "Wide World of Sports" in 1967 — became the family business with Joie Jr. and Joie III following in their dad's and granddad's tire tracks.

"The whole family’s been racers all their lives," said renown race car driver A.J. Foyt, a family friend. "People like myself who’ve been around know the name real well and what they did. From racing at Indy back in the day to being stuntmen in the 'Joie Chitwood Thrill Show' to leading the big tracks, Indy and Daytona, everybody knew who they were."

Joie Jr. and his son both got into the business at the ripe old age of 5. When kids his age were learning the alphabet and swinging on the monkey bars, Joie III was driving a go-kart in a stunt show. Three years later, he was commanding a miniature Indy race car built by Evel Knievel's father. At 12, he was doing precision driving in a Chevy Chevette.

Oh, at 16 he was eligible to get his driver's license.

When Joie III was 14, "That's Incredible!" showed up at the Delaware State Fair to feature the youngest stuntman in the "U.S. or world." Joie III was unsure. "Pick whatever," he said.

Joie III did two stunts that day. The Human Battering Ram, which required him to perch on the hood of the car face down and be driven through a wall of fire. And the Aerial Wing Walk, in which he would climb out the passenger-side window and stand on the side of the car while his dad drove the car on two wheels.

Four years later, Joie III was commanding that car on two wheels.

Joie Sr. invented the two-wheel stunt. Joie Jr. perfected it and once did two laps around Daytona on two wheels. Joie III did a two-wheel lap around New Hampshire Speedway.

"He was good," Joie Jr. said about his son. Joie Jr., 80, lives in Apollo Beach, between Tampa and Bradenton.

"We practiced and practiced and practiced, really knew what we were doing with our stunts," Joie Jr. said. "We didn't consider ourselves daredevils. We were stuntmen because we had to do it every day. We felt very comfortable with it."

Though admitting he did not want to "simplify" the stunt, Joie III did say, "Once I know the feeling … it's like riding a bike."

While Joie Jr. once broke a foot and suffered compressed vertebrae, Joie III was much more fortunate. He never broke a bone doing a stunt despite a few mishaps. He once ended up upside down after a rollover stunt but was not hurt. Another time, a motorcycle stuntman landed on the windshield of his car, shattering the glass and requiring a Shop-Vac-like device to remove the glass from his body.

Joie III emerged in much better shape than the motorcycle driver. "He definitely got knocked silly and had to go to the hospital," Joie III said.

For nearly 20 years, Joie III joined his father and grandfather touring the country for "The Greatest Show on Wheels." They would leave home in Tampa in early June and shut down for the season in October. Joie III would manage to travel back and forth for school the last month or so.

"You're either driving to a stunt show, or you're driving to the next location to get ready for the stunt show," Joie III said. "And we would do that for five months a year, get back to Tampa in October, and then we break down the equipment, ship off the old equipment, get in the new equipment, book shows, go to fair meetings."

After receiving his finance degree from the University of Florida, Joie III left the family business.

With full support from his dad.

"I was OK with it," Joie Jr. said. "I felt the show was going to be coming to an end anyhow. I was glad to see him do something else."

The show ended about five years later. By then, Joie III had received his master's degree from the University of South Florida and joined the management side of the business.

First, it was on to Indianapolis to run the Indy 500. Then to Joliet, Illinois, to build the racetrack. Then to Daytona as president of the biggest race in NASCAR.

The stops at Indianapolis and Daytona were much more than jobs. They also were sentimental. Joie III's grandfather competed in seven Indianapolis 500s, finishing fifth three times. Now, 50 years later, his grandson was president of the speedway.

"I'm not sure much can top that," Joie III said.

What came close is holding the same title at Daytona.

The day Joie III was born, his father missed the birth. Joie Jr. was racing on the road course in Daytona. Legend has it that Joie III's birth was announced over the public address system.

And when Joie III was named president, he took a photo sitting in the front row of the speedway. The seat was part of the block his dad owned as a season ticket holder.

"It makes it all the more gratifying to be part of something that you know your dad or your grandfather touched in some way," Joie III said.

Racing off into the world of golf

"I hated to see him go away from either one of those tracks," Foyt said. "I think he was a big asset to them because he knew racing real well. It’s been in his family his whole life, so he grew up in it. He had so much experience from his father and grandfather and knew how to promote. That’s something you can’t just expect people to know.”

But Joie III was ready to shift gears. He traded race cars for golf carts. Joie III had little connection to golf other than taking the drive from Tampa to the Nestle Invitational in Orlando as a kid to attend what now is the Arnold Palmer Invitational as a spectator.

One of Joie III's many skills was understanding the family dynamic, whether it was his own or the Hulman George family in Indianapolis, or the France family in Daytona.

Next up was the Palmer family in Orlando.

"I always said this about family businesses and brands and iconic legacies … you got to be prepared to preserve it, protect it, and perpetuate it," he said. "And you've got to be nimble and flexible to read the tea leaves and help the family do one of those three things. At some point, you have to do all three if you want that legacy to continue."

More: Rory McIlroy commits to Cognizant Classic, event's highest ranked golfer in nearly a decade

Now, he's come full circle, all left-hand turns, of course. After leading the local tournament in its transition year from the Honda Classic to the Cognizant Classic, Joie III will return to Chicago, the site of his first major accomplishment as an executive in the motorsports world.

Joie III has been entrusted to run the PGA Tour's premier event, the Presidents Cup, in 2026 at Medinah Country Club in the Chicago suburb of Medinah.

And after spending two decades in the motorsports business, much of that as a stuntman, Joie III isn't so sure what he's doing now is much safer.

Figuratively speaking, of course.

"At least I was in control," he said. "And if there was a problem, I could blame myself. But when you're (at) Daytona dealing with a car going into the grandstands. … we transported 28 people, had a great emergency action plan, the staff did what they're supposed to.

But boy, there are those days you said, 'Man, I want to go back to be a stuntman.' "

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Honda-turned-Cognizant Classic run by former motorsports stuntman Joie Chitwood