THE TAO OF JAC
from the EDITOR
By Justin Zoch A GOOD TWO DECADES AGO, I took an introductory Philosophy course at Gustavus Adolphus College that did little for my intellect other than convince me that there are a lot of different ways to see the world and that I wouldn’t remember any of them past the final exam. Proust just didn’t stick. I’ve found other thinkers through the years and most of them are geniuses that can turn a meaningful phrase and also put it to melody. Singer/songwriters like Todd Snider, Steve Earle, Greg Brown and Kevn Kinney have been my philosophers. Two others, unfortunately, were lost this year as John Prine and Jerry Jeff Walker passed on in 2020. Another legend isn’t leaving us forever, thankfully, but he is leaving the track. Jac Haudenschild is on his farewell tour and the lack of a Wild Child on the racetrack is yet to be fully felt. It’s not just his hard driving style that we’ll miss, although we certainly will; it’s the whole attitude that Jac has brought to the sport for over four decades that will be missed. Obviously, racing is a competitive sport that demands a sense of dedication and devotion to master. You cannot be successful in racing without a passion to win. Think of the greats – AJ Foyt, Dale Earnhardt, Steve Kinser, Tony Stewart; these are icons who simply refused to lose and struggled to accept any other result. We’ve been preached to that obsession is the only way to success in the sport but I think Haudenschild disproves that maxim. Yes, Haud is
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dedicated, wants to win, strives to win and has done everything in his power to win – including ripping apart cushions and race cars with equal abandon to do so. But, Jac also has an innate ability to let it slide, move on and simply race another night. Haud has always been Haud no matter the result of the race. A good decade and a half ago, photographer Dennis Krieger and I were having a beer in a pub just south of Volusia Speedway Park following a Speedweeks show with some racers and friends of ours. One of those racers was Haudenschild. I don’t recall the exact
Jac also has an innate ability to let it slide, move on and simply race another night. Haud has always been Haud no matter the result of the race. circumstances but I believe Jac had lost an engine, or was felled by some other gremlin, while leading the race just hours before. Now, Haud was drinking a beer and shooting pool as cool and calm as could be. He had a shot rim out of a corner and simply said something like “damn, I guess I’ve just been losing all night” and laughed it off. He’d moved on and was ready to chuckle at the night’s earlier misfortune already. Jac’s ability to always be Jac, regardless of win, lose or crash has endeared him to not only multiple generations of fans but to the myriad crew chiefs, car owners and crew members who have raced with him over the years. Sure, he’s ripped through a lot of car owners over the years, but if it wasn’t for the pure, peaceful Tao of Jac, he may have used
DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 04 - 2021
up his last shot in the hunks of twisted race cars in the late 1970s when he was refining just how high the Haud line could really go. Without his inherent affability and attitude, he may not have lasted four decades as a hired gun. The late Jerry Jeff Walker released a song called “Gettin’ By” in November of 1973, just months before Haud starting his racing career. Can you think of any better way to remember the Wild Child than these sentiments? Just gettin’ by on gettin’ by is my stock-in-trade Living it day to day Pickin’ up the pieces wherever they fall Just letting it roll, letting the high times carry the low I’m just living my life easy come, easy go
