It only took a quart of courage to inspire a man to take to the banks of Tazewell Speedway. That man was Harvey Fuson.

Back in the early 1970's he raced a 1962 Buick, a 1965 Impala and one mean Mercury Montego against the likes of Ken Holt, Larry Burke and others in the Bomber/Jalopy class. He was a self-proclaimed fearless driver who didn't care to see exactly what the car he was driving was capable of. He once drove a car at Tazewell for his friend Paul Snyder. On the side of that car was the words "The Trash Man" an indication of Snyder's buisness at the time. As Fuson built his own car and began racing it his nickname found the side of his machine and it was simply, "Wolfman." The nickname stuck until recent days where he is now known as, "Moondog."

Fuson finally got his first win at Tazewell and was surprised in victory by Curtis Crowe. Curtis looked at Fuson and said, "Congratulations, you finally won one." The visit actually meant a lot to the Wolfman. Fuson however, did not go on a streak and win hundreds of races at the Taz but he stated he probably won 4-5 races there.

He speaks of good times racing with Bobby Moore and with Neil Chumley. Chumley had built a car and it was ready to race except that it needed a set of plugs and oil. Fuson told Chumley that he would go buy those items for him if he would let the Wolfman drive it. Fuson was allowed to drive the car and he says it was the only time it saw the racetrack, a victim of a crash although he didn't come out and say it in those words.

His worst memory of racing at the Taz came before the race one evening. He was loading up the car with his wife of 43 years, Darlene. He let go of the clutch pedal to get the car moving up the ramps and the clutch exploded sending metal fragments through the floorboard. He found himself uninjured and looking for his wife. He did not see her and jumped out of the car thinking the worst. He laughs now and says, "I could not find her anywhere so I finally looked down at the house and saw her peeking out the door which she had ran behind after the loud bang of the clutch."

Fuson had built and raced a car in an era in which there were not many rules and he was able to sneak in a new quick change rearend that helped him get a few of those wins. Shortly thereafter the track started tightening down with a set of rules that did not match the Chevy engine he had built and intended to race the next season and his Tazewell Speedway career was for the most part over. He not only drove the large bodied speedway cars but he also had a lot of fun racing Karts and Honda Odysseys.

He began flagging Odyssey races but soon saw the fun and bought one to race. He and Curley Brooks built and raced them at several tracks all over the country including the Loretta Lynn Dude Ranch. He won several races in his Odyssey. He also competed with the best in karting at the Indoor Karting championships held in Hunnington, West Virginia. He said he drove around a corner one lap and for some reason the photographer was on his side of the hay bails and of course he ran into him. The photographer landed on Fusons back. Fuson looked up at him and asked him if he was ok and he was so the Wolfman was off to racing once again.

Fuson not only raced at Tazewell in big cars but he was a man who raced Odysseys nationwide including Newport and Atomic and also got to race at one of the most prestigious Karting events in the nation during those days.

His racing career speaks for itself as a great one but now he has taken over the family business. The Old Drugstore at 515 Collin Avenue in Cumberland Gap (since 1907) is where you will find the Wolfman/Moondog now. He and his wife Darlene will sell you a lot of collectibles, antiques, great milkshakes and the coolest motorized bicycles around but you probably won't find a quart of courage like the one that got the Wolfman into racing at the Taz.

Harvey Fuson on one wheel in a karting race

Harvey "The Wolfman" Fuson and his wife Darlene

If you know of a local legend you would like to have featured in the Claiborne Progress contact Allen Earl at pitchadude@hotmail.com or call 423-526-3480.