Mon, 25 Oct 2004, 09:47 PM Where In The World Are Eddie & Ercie Hill

By Bob Frey

Eddie with one of his planes.

It seems like I am not the only one who gets questions about Eddie and Ercie Hill these days. The folks at Speed TV, and especially Dave Despain on his “Wind Tunnel” show, said that they constantly get questions about the popular duo and, as a result, they will be on Dave’s show later this week. Ironically, as they were preparing that show, I was talking with both Eddie and Ercie to find out what they are doing, are they planning a return to the sport and do they keep tabs on what’s happening on the POWERade drag racing tour. While it may not be the same as seeing them on TV or watching them at the track, at least this will answer some of those questions for drag racing fans all over the world.

First of all, Edie and Ercie are alive and well and very happy living on their 400 acre ranch in Wichita Falls, Texas. Or as Eddie put it, “We’re doing exceptionally well for our age and condition.” They spend most of their time, or at least Eddie does, running his motorcycle shop, Eddie Hill’s Fun Cycles, in their home town. The store, which Eddie has been involved with for over thirty years, is doing very well. “I founded the shop years ago and then, when the racing started taking up most of my time and attention, I had a partner who ran it. Well, now that I’m not racing, I bought my partner out and now it’s all mine.” The store, which takes up most of a full city block in Wichita Falls, features Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Polaris vehicles and is doing “very well.” One thing that folks like about the store is that, in addition to the usual array of bikes and water vehicles that they can find there, they can also see some of Eddie’s favorite racing vehicles on display. Among them are the “first in the 4’s” top fuel car and the boat in which Eddie set a record back in 1982. “Most fans remember the four-second run but I also set a record back at Chowchilla, California in 1982 when I went 229 miles per hour in a boat. I’m pretty proud of that accomplishment, too.” What Eddie didn’t mention was that he set that 229 mph mark in a propeller-driven boat. Now that’s fast, but I digress.

Ercie on one of her horses.

In addition to the store, Eddie spends a great deal of time working on and playing with radio controlled airplanes, and since some of these planes use nitro-methane for fuel, Eddie still gets his nitro fix. “Some of these planes have wingspans up to eleven feet,” Eddie said. “They’ re a whole lot of fun.” Eddie owns over fifty of these planes and he even has some radio-controlled helicopters and he puts on a couple of one-man shows each year in his home town. “My neighbor has a real size landing strip and I put some smoke and classical music in the show and the people really enjoy it and I have fun.” For her part Ercie says that the transition from racing to civilian life wasn’t easy at first. “It was strange to go from the life style that we had been used to for so many years to not even going to the track. But now we’ve learned how to get off the treadmill and be regular people. We get to go to weddings and parties that we never had time for before. It’s nice to be able to get up and see the sunrise or watch the sunset. Life is good.” The obvious question for this popular couple is, do you keep up with drag racing and do you have any plans for a return? I asked Ercie that and she said that they don’t watch the races on TV and they try not to go to the races because they know they’d get hooked again. “That would be like taking a starving man to a banquet and telling him that he can’t eat anything. It’s just wouldn’t be fair. We did watch Indy on television this year and that was tough. We know the people, the track and everything about what’s going on. It’s so real to see it again and it’s hard knowing that you’re not there. We really miss the races, the church at the races, the fans and all of our friends,” she said. “After watching the race we just sat around and had a pity party.” When the party was over Ercie went back to working with the Tennessee walking horses that they own and keep on the ranch.

When I asked Eddie if he had any plans to return to racing he said that he would certainly like to get back in the sport but in the capacity as a team owner. “We sold our race car shop and all of our equipment so we would have to start over from scratch but yes, I would like to come back. I feel that we have some unfinished business over there. I didn’t exactly leave the way I wanted to leave.” At the present time Eddie has nothing in the works that would hasten his return but that’s nothing that a few million dollars couldn’t take care of. “I’d like to be a team owner and tuner and hire some really good driver for my car. I think we could show them a thing or two. But I wouldn’t come back unless I could do it right. But yes, I’d like to do it again.” And the fans would like to see him do it again.

Eddie Hill started racing when he was just seventeen and he’s been successful at every level of competition. Besides the historic four-second run and the boat records, Eddie also was the first drag racer to go over two hundred miles per hour in a gas powered vehicle and he once set the mile per hour record on water at a higher speed than the land record. Of course his drag racing accomplishments speak for themselves. Still, with all that he has done he would like to get back to his first love, drag racing. Or I guess I should say his second love, since Ercie is his first. And in case you folks think that romance is dead, don’t forget that Eddie and Ercie were married in 1984…on Valentine’s Day.

I’m sure that Dave Despain will have some great questions for Eddie and Ercie this week and I know that drag racing fans all over will be glad to see this famous duo again, even if it is only briefly. And who knows, maybe after the show some really bright C.E.O. of some major company will say, you know what, I always liked Eddie and Ercie and they deserve to be out there racing. Yes they do.