The Beginnings
Mike Head (second from left) and his crew at Atlanta's Peach Bowl Speedway in the late sixties.
Mike Head went from local racer to traveling racer in one quick stroke. But where did he come from?
Michael Eugene Head was born in Grady Hospital in downtown Atlanta, Georgia on June 25, 1951. He became the third of four boys born to Helen Lou Music and Arthur “Wimp” Head. His father had come from a community in Gwinnett County known then as Pea Ridge near Lawrenceville. His mother came from Douglasville. His oldest brother Bobby died several years ago but his older brother Donald and younger brother Terry are still with him.
“Bobby was a commissioner in Henry County when he died suddenly,” Head said.
But there were no sisters.
“My mother always wanted some girls and I always tell people this – my mamma was a tough woman. She died when she was 62 years old and she loved us boys more than any mother on earth but she kept us in line. We went to the races in Phenix City one Friday. We had hugged in the driveway between our homes and left. She and my stepfather lived next door to where I still live right now; (Fairview Road in Ellenwood, Georgia). That night they came and got me at the track. She had gone inside and sat down in a chair and went to sleep and never woke up.”
“My mother always took us back to her mother’s church at homecoming,” Head added. “I can remember that like it was yesterday; all that food and singing. It was just so great. That was how we kept up with my mother’s family.”
Mike probably got his first taste of racing when his dad played at it many years ago.
“My mother always fussed at my ole man about that race of his,” he said. “He ran at the Peach Bowl and Lakewood back when Moby Dick was still a sardine, but never won anything to prove himself a real racer. Years later when I had started winning in the Figure 8 events at the Peach Bowl, they would have spectator races. Someone from the stands could come down and get into a race car. Of course he used my car. He didn’t start near the front but he came all the way from the back to win. He was flying by them on the outside and won. Maybe if he would have had better cars in his day, he could have won some too. My daddy was a good man in his own way and was trying to get through life the best he could.
Mike Head (54) charges to the inside of Mackie Motes (99) at Rome Speedway in 1977.
“I remember him telling me a story about when he worked at Atlantic Steel that there was someone stealing from the lockers. Each morning as you went in to work, you would put your valuables in a locker – watches, wallets or lunches and such. Someone there was going through them and stealing money and valuables. My daddy fixed his wallet so that it would blow up if you opened it. He was a demolitions expert in the Army so he knew exactly what he was doing. The thief lost a hand and hopefully his will to steal. That was really about his biggest job after the war.
“My mother always worked and I don’t know how she did it. We always had clothes on our backs and shoes on our feet. I remember she worked for White Provision Company right there near the Peach Bowl. They were a meat packing company. She didn’t learn to drive until she was 40 years old. We use to ride the bus everywhere – Soldier’s Park or Inman Park number 9 – I remember those signs on the buses as if it was yesterday. I remember us bringing home the groceries on the bus.
“My Aunt Mildred and Uncle Johnny were a great influence on my life. She doesn’t love her own children anymore than she loved me. I was always special to her. My uncle was a tough man. Us kids would stay with them while my mother worked. He would peddle vegetables from door to door in every neighborhood of Atlanta. I think that’s why my hands got so big from lugging those baskets around. But my aunt and uncle were very good people.”
“I grew up in a place called Cabbagetown off Memorial Drive, and then we moved on up the street to Capitol Homes,” Head said. “That was where I lived until my wife and I got married. I kept a shop down there after that – Henderson’s Transmission Service. I rented about half the space for my race car until about 1974 or 1975. We could race on Sunday nights at the Peach Bowl and sit around after the races and tell all the lies we could and still be home for the 11 o’clock news. I never was good in school and when I started this racing I knew it was the one thing I knew I could do. I went to John B. Gordon Elementary School, then I went to Roosevelt High School. As a kid we hung out at the Boys Club – played tackle football in the middle of Carroll Street – go to Lual’s Grocery to get snacks – it is still there – his son Leon run’s it now. Just whatever was going on in the neighborhood – but I was really only interested in one thing and that was that race car.”