[1] Born in Brownsville, Kentucky on January 17, 1925, he learned to be a mechanic in the Army during World War II.

In 1984, he was hired by Rick Hendrick to be crew chief for a team he was partner in, All Star Racing.

Hyde was then paired with new driver Tim Richmond, a young open-wheel racer from Ashland, Ohio, as Hendrick went to a two-car operation.

The brashness of the new driver from outside the southern stock car circuit did not initially sit well with the notably irascible Hyde.

Richmond won 7 races and finished third in points behind legends Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip.

Richmond, who was noted for womanizing, was diagnosed with AIDS during 1987 and missed most of the season with illness which he explained to the public as pneumonia.

The very next week he outclassed the field in the Budweiser 400 at Riverside, bringing home his final Winston Cup victory.

His race shop is still part of the Hendrick Motorsports facility, and a road within the complex is known as Hyde's Way.

Hyde died in 1996 of a heart attack brought on by a blood clot, and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2004.