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For all the trophies, titles and records Thomas Shinji “Tommy” Gima accumulated as a legendary stock car racer in Hawaii, it might have been a blown tire that helped best put his career in perspective.
After the latest in a series of frustrating blowouts Gima was approached by a father whose young son was such a fan that he wanted to donate a cherished piggy bank to help
his favorite racer buy
better tires.
Gima was touched by the gesture and when word got out, his family said, a tire dealer quickly stepped up as a sponsor of the trademark No. 14 car.
Gima, who died Monday at age 91, was among the last of the big-name drivers whose daring exploits and colorful personalities were responsible for packing Honolulu Stadium in the 1950s, an era when racing rivaled football as the territory’s biggest draw.
The week before Christmas 1954, a crowd of 15,000 turned out to see Gima win the territorial points title over rivals Jerry Unser, Ken Sakumoto and Jimmy Pflueger.
Unser, who was in the Navy at the time, had been the 1953 champion and went on to win the 1957 national USAC Stock Car Championship and race at Indy in 1958. The oldest of the famed Unser brothers, he died following a crash during a 1959 Indy practice run.
After returning from Europe, where he served with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Gima worked in the pits as a mechanic for a service friend’s car before getting his own entry, a 1931 Ford.
Gima raced at tracks on Maui, Kauai, the Big Island and Waiau before the sport found a passionate following churning up black dust and raising a din in Moiliili.
“Fans came to watch scores of sturdy 1930s and ’40s vintage autos jockey for position around the stadium — lurching over its makeshift dirt track, slapping against its railroad tie safety barriers,” Arthur Suehiro wrote in his book, “Honolulu Stadium: Where Hawaii Played.”
Drivers had nicknames like “The Scorcher” and “Cherry Nose” and Gima was sometimes referred to as “The Terror” for his aggressive driving style, which the Honolulu Record termed, “go for broke” and Advertiser called “madcap.”
That made him both popular with fans and well acquainted with the quirks of the country’s only square track, including the infamous “coffin corner” wall near the first base dugout. More than once he finished a race fender-locked with another car.
So compelling was the sport in its heyday that drivers here divided up some of the highest purses in the country, according to NASCAR officials at the time.
In 1960, when noise ordinances finally prompted a move from Honolulu Stadium, Gima gave up racing to concentrate on his trucking company.
Fourteen years later, at age 51 he came out of retirement to compete at Hawaii Raceway Park and it was testimony to his enduring status that another driver quickly agreed to let Gima reclaim the No. 14.
His “Golden Eagle” won 14 consecutive super modified trophy dashes in one stretch before Gima retired for good in 1981 after having touched another generation.
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Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
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