# Hal Prewitt

Harold D. Prewitt, Jr (Hal) (born October 1, 1954, in Hutchinson, Kansas) is an artist, photographer, race car driver, businessperson, inventor of personal computer products and early pioneer in the personal computer revolution. He resides in South Beach (Miami Beach, Florida).
Prewitt's art career started over fifty years ago as a teenager creating and selling his works then expanded to developing computer technology and racing. He has produced art in a wide array of genres and mediums, including oils, acrylics, pencil drawings and photography. His works are displayed in many public and private venues, seen in movies such as Steven Soderbergh's Mosaic on HBO, and found in videos, advertisements and high-end restaurants, and are available from a limited number of galleries. By 2017, it was reported Prewitt had in excess of 800 collectors and sold more than two million dollars of his works.
Prewitt competed in professional and occasionally amateur motorsport road races and has driven in nearly 200 endurance racing or sprint races worldwide. He was the No. 1 American and finished 4th of 819 international drivers from 58 countries in the 2015 International Endurance Series Championship. He has been a competitor in IMSA, Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and at international FIA races including 24 Hours of Daytona, 24 Hours Nürburgring, Dubai 24 Hour, 24 Hours of Barcelona and Silverstone Britcar 24-Hour.
In the 1970s and 1980s he was one of the early creators of personal computer products, developing popular software and hardware while helping build a new industry. He provided consulting services to IBM and is credited with inventing hard disk drives and world's first local area network (LAN) for their first portable computer, the IBM 5100, and their first desktop computer the IBM 5120.
He created the technology and trademarked Hotplug, the computer industry's standard method of replacing computer system components without the need for stopping or shutting down key parts such as disk drives, disk controllers or host adapters and power supplies. Prewitt's first patent details were disclosed in 1987 in the United States and Europe related to development of the technology, however, the filings were not completed. The trademark was issued by the USPTO and other countries in 1992 under "Computer & Software Products & Electrical & Scientific Products Trademarks".
Another trademark Prewitt created in the late 1970s and registered in the 1980s was "CORE", used to identify computers and related products. In 2006, after Prewitt's company was sold and the registration use was discontinued, this trademark was adopted by Intel to market their computer processors.
Skilled in computer programming and engineering, Prewitt founded and managed a number of technology firms. The largest and best known was Core International, a developer of disk array, computer data storage and backup products. Core created and in 1990 marketed the world's first disk drives, disk controllers or host adapters and power supplies that were hot pluggable or swappable. Prewitt was chairman and chief executive officer until 1993 when the company was sold to Sony.
Prewitt is the Managing Member of Prewitt Enterprises, a Florida-based agricultural and investment business.

## Early life
### Youth

Prewitt grew up in the Daytona Beach, Florida, area and lived there from 1963 to 1976. There he had his first exposure to auto racing; volunteering at Daytona International Speedway. He built his first computer in 1967 at 13. It performed simple math, which he disliked in school, and operated his phonograph.
He joined the Civil Air Patrol as a cadet and earned the second highest rank (Cadet Lt. Colonel), learning about the military, leadership, search and rescue, and the value of providing community service. Prewitt learned how to fly a plane, soloed at 16 and shortly thereafter earned his Private Pilots License at the youngest age allowed. He sold his first artwork, a painting, at the age of 16.
As a teenager, Prewitt learned sailing, fishing, boating and scuba diving and developed skills in mechanics, engineering, electronics, navigation and construction. After school and in summers, he worked at jobs building homes and in a restaurant washing dishes and cooking. In high school, he rented out the family houseboat. He was interested in painting and photography – producing and selling a number of images.
After graduating high school, Prewitt continued building boats, managing his business and began to focus on computer programming. Between 1972 and 1975 he learned various programming languages using an IBM 1130. In the early 1970s, Prewitt dreamed of designing, building and selling a generation of small business computers with a price tag much less than the going rate of $50,000. Convinced that there was a market, Prewitt unsuccessfully sought venture capital to get his plans off the ground. In 1975, he built an Altair 8800. That same year, at the age of 21, Prewitt obtained his first business applications customer when he sold, designed and wrote computer programs for the IBM 5100 and System/32 as part of the business he had started at age 16. He joined the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and participated in autocross events.

### Family

Prewitt was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. Prewitt's father joined the U.S. Air Force underage at 13 years old using his older brother's ID and then switched to the U.S. Navy at 17 serving in World War II and Korea. His father left the military after 18 years (1945–62), did odd jobs and then worked as a mailman for the U.S. Postal Service until his death. Prewitt's father was honored as a Kentucky Colonel by the Governor of Kentucky. His mother was a Registered nurse and lives in the Daytona Beach, Florida area.
Prewitt married his first wife Florine Andrews in August 1980 and divorced after 23 years in early 2004. They have two sons, Calvin and Tim. He married Corinne Brody (Loria) in October 2007. She has a son, Alex.

### Education

Prewitt attended All Souls Catholic School (1960–63) in Sanford, Florida, until 3rd grade while his father served in the military. He attended Port Orange Elementary School (1963–65) from 3rd to 5th grade when his family moved to Allandale, Florida. In 1966, his family moved to Ormond Beach, Florida, where he attended Osceola Elementary (1965–66), Seabreeze Jr. High (1966–69) and then graduated from Seabreeze High School (1969–72). At 16, he attended Burnside-Ott Aviation in Miami, Florida where he soloed. After high school, Prewitt attended Daytona Beach Community College (1972–76) studying business and computer science but left without earning a degree. He transferred to Florida Atlantic University (1976–78), Boca Raton, Florida, where he continued his studies in business and computer science. Prewitt dropped out of college to focus on his business.

## Careers

Prewitt's working career began at the age of 13. He started in construction helping build homes for an Ormond Beach, Florida builder. He also worked busing tables and washing dishes before a promotion to cook at a couple of local restaurants. At 16, Prewitt started his first business and as an artist sold his first painting. While attending community college, he built boats, worked as a painter, an accountant and for the yard crew at the Howard Boat Works marina. Prewitt's final jobs where he was employed by someone else were as a lab assistant helping students in his college and as a computer programmer for a company providing business applications on mainframes and minicomputers.

### Businesses
#### Ranger Systems

Quick Facts :
* Start: 1970 in bedroom
* End: 1975 dissolved
* Ownership: 100%
* Business: multi division – marine, auto & marketing
* Known For: Rent a Houseboat & early PC development
Prewitt started his first business when he was 16 and a junior in High School. "Ranger Systems", had four divisions: Ranger Manufacturing, Business World, Rent a Houseboat and Ranger Automotive Engineering.
He used the manufacturing part of the business to build electronics, computers and fiberglass boats from 13' fishing runabouts to a 40' houseboat. Business World did marketing, photography, printing and advertising. Prewitt wrote brochures, shot pictures, placed ads and ran a printing press. The biggest and most profitable division was Rent a Houseboat. Prewitt took the family boat and turned it into a rental business. He sometimes used a small boat to travel to school and quickly reach the houseboat. Prewitt did everything from writing contracts to maintenance. Prewitt frequently missed classes to unstop a toilet or revive the boat engine. The automotive division focused on repairs.
Prewitt operated Ranger Systems from 1970 to 1975 until his focus switched to computer programming and the personal computer industry.

#### International Computer

Quick facts :
* Start: 1975 in bedroom
* End: 1979 merged into Core International
* Ownership: 100%
* Business: custom programming and computer sales
* Known For: storage development for early PCs
In 1975, Prewitt created International Computer to continue building, selling, installing and programming computers. This was the period when he started developing storage devices which ultimately became his most successful products.
He had customers that were located from mid to south Florida in manufacturing, hotel, service, legal, medical, construction and agricultural industries. Prewitt flew to their offices by initially renting aircraft and then by using his own.
Prewitt started Southeast Computer Consultants with a partner in late 1977.

#### Core International (Core)

Quick Facts :
* Start: 1979 in workshop
* End: 1993 Sold to Sony
* Ownership: 100%
* Business: computers & equipment maintenance & supplies
* Known For: storage, backup & software for PCs
* Sales: +100 Million $
* Profit: +10 Million $
* 3 time INC 500 Fastest Growing Company
In late 1979, Prewitt as sole owner created Core International from the assets of International Computer and Southeast Computer Consultants. Initially Core was created as a for-profit association of owners and operators of small IBM computers. It sold mail-order computer supplies and developed software for users of the IBM 5100, 5110 and IBM 5120 systems.
Prewitt built his first computer storage product for the IBM 5100 series because the machines did not have hard disk drives. Prewitt contracted with Control Data Corporation to manufacture the key component. Even though it was a niche product, the product became popular almost overnight when IBM discontinued its 5100 series and their customers turned to Core for parts and supplies. Within two years, Prewitt had sold $2.5 million worth of disk drives.
Core's second hardware and major software product also catered to the IBM orphans, a device and software that allowed IBM 5110/20 users to transfer data and programs from old bulky computers into new personal computers, which in 1981 were revolutionizing the computer industry. Core's software was called PC51 and allowed any DOS personal computer to use, unmodified, any BASIC program written for the IBM 5110/20 series computer. IBM consequently approached Core to become an IBM dealer. Customers could buy an integrated IBM PC, which completely replaced IBM's 5100 computers, or optionally attach their 5100 to Core's local area network, connecting all machines. These were revolutionary products and Core was the only source.
The company expanded internationally to include offices in Europe and Asia. In 1986, Inc Magazine selected Core as 21st in their annual list (Inc. 500) of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. and were building computers and related products. By 1990, Core was well known as an industry leading developer of disk array, computer data storage and backup products. COREtest became the industry standard and most often quoted benchmark used to test, evaluate and compare performance of hard disk drives.
Many of Prewitt's products were the first of their kind, had no direct competition and were widely regarded for their superior performance and reliability. He was chairman and chief executive officer of Core until 1993 when the company was sold to Sony.

#### Prewitt Enterprises

Quick Facts :
* Start: 2004
* Ownership: 100%
* Business: agricultural, racing & investments
* Sales: +10 Million $
Prewitt is the Managing Member of Prewitt Enterprises, a Florida-based agricultural and investment business with offices in Boca Raton and Miami, Florida, and in Park City, Utah. The agricultural part of the business grows oranges and at its peak produced more than 1.5 million half gallon cartons of orange juice per year with much of it used in Tropicana's Pure Premium. The investment division is active in private and public businesses in both the U.S. and internationally.

#### Prewitt Management

Quick Facts :
* Start: 2012
* Ownership: 100%
* Business: artist & gallery
* Sales: +3 Million $
* Clients & Collectors: +800
Prewitt is the Managing Member of Prewitt Management, a Florida-based art business with offices in Boca Raton, Florida; Miami, Florida and Park City, Utah. Prewitt's art is in a wide array of genres and mediums including oils, acrylics, pencil drawings and photography. His production sizes range from small to greater than 20 feet. Most of his works have switched from traditional methods to modern tools. Some begin by using digital camera equipment and progress to special painting tools. The finished art is engineered to collect light and reflect the subject back to the viewer. These are designed to be durable and highly resistant to damages than canvas, wood and historic materials. His works are displayed in many public and private venues. Some of his artworks were displayed in his gallery on Main Street, Park City, Utah until the summer of 2017.

### Racing – Notable wins and finishes

Prewitt retired in 2015 after driving in more than 200 professional level (most televised or broadcast) and other events held worldwide. He qualified for a career total of 200 races (140 Sprint and 60 Endurance) and drove in 30 endurance events (24 hours or longer) at 33 tracks in races held by IMSA (part of NASCAR), and others in the US and international events. He has won 73 firsts, 30 seconds and 10 third places for 41% wins in 180 starts and for 63% podium finishes. He has a low 3.61% did not finish (DNF) incident rate.
He first became active in racing while growing up in Daytona Beach, Florida in the 1970s and driving in SCCA events. He became serious in 2004 after attending Skip Barber Racing School.
Prewitt was a professional level driver racing for many teams in selected International and North American Endurance road race events supporting his sponsors and EveryLapCounts.com, a global fund raising effort for children's charitable causes. He enjoyed Endurance rather than Sprint racing.
In his final year (2015), he finished as the No. 1 American and 4th out of 819 international drivers from 58 countries in the 2015 International Endurance Series Championship.
After 2007 and until retiring, he raced in many endurance races held worldwide and at most F1 tracks. Most of these were televised or broadcast.
For many years he drove mostly for Cor Euser Racing, frequently in BMW and Lotus Evora.
In 2006 and 2007, Prewitt won numerous 1st place and class wins while racing in Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR), Rolex Endurance Series and the Historic GT Series. He won the 2006 National Auto Sport Association (NASA) National Championship at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course while driving the Porsche 911 GT3 RS that won 2nd place in class for the 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans.
From 2004 to 2006, he captured numerous lap records in SCCA, PBOC Motorsports Club and National Auto Sport Association (NASA) classes and was overall winner in the PBOC 2005 and 2006 Race Series season.
Endurance Race Results (Greater than 3 hours) :
| Date | Race | Length (hrs) | # of Cars | Class Finish | Overall Finish | Car | Quickest Lap | No. of Laps | No. of Stints | No. of Hours | Other Drivers | Notes |
| 2012-01-26 | 24 Hours of Daytona | 24.0 | 58 | 28 | 41 | Porsche GT3 Cup 997 Grand-AM | 1:51.714 | 604 | 4 | 5.8 | Scott Rettich, Jon Miller, Matt Schneider, and Darryl Shoff | #12 Clutch fail 2.hrs Matt crash @ 6 hrs |
| 2012-01-13 | 24 Hours of Dubai | 24.0 | 73 | 7 | 47 | BMW 120D | 02:29.387 | 412 | 4 | 8 | Paul Follett, Richard Verburg, Yves Junne & Peter Morris | #126 DNF Failed driveshaft crossthreaded @ 19 hrs |
| 2012-01-13 | 24 Hours of Dubai | 24.0 | 73 | 16 | 61 | Lotus Evora GT4 | 02:12.123 | 298 | 2 | 2.5 | Richard Verburg, Alistair MacKinnon, Simon Atkins & Cor Euser | #131 DNF P1 @ 4hrs crash, failed transm @ 14 hrs |
| 2011-12-03 | 25 Hours of Thunderhill | 25.0 | 83 | 5 | 22 | Spec Miata | 02:07.656 | 615 | 3 | 8 | Jim Briody, Andrew Novich and Gordon Bentley (of Speed Secrets fame) | #98 P1 then hit @ 10 hrs turn 12 loss 1 hr |
| 2011-09-24 | 24 hrs of Barcelona | 24.0 | 59 | 5 | 31 | BMW 320D | 02:12.519 | 112 | 4 | 6.5 | Cor Euser, Jan Versluis, Trevor Knight | #61 failed brakes, non-stop tire and fuel issues. Lost ABS/Traction Cnt and 70% of braking control for half the race |
| 2011-10-01 | 24 hrs of Silverstone | 24.0 | 57 | 2 | 3 | Lotus Evora GT4 | 02:16.593 | 559 | 6 | 7.5 | Cor Euser, Dick Freebird, Alistair MacKinnon and Jim Briody | #57 Hit by idiot (BMW M3E46 #68) just after turn 1, on lap 1 – Tire issues & 2 penalties for time/speed pit errors |
| 2011-06-17 | 12 Hours of Spa | 12.0 | 49 | 2 | 22 | BMW 120D | 02:53.526 | 201 | 4 | 6.5 | Jim Briody, Toto Lassally and Cor Euser | Heavy rain |
| 2011-06-25 | 24 Hours of Nurburgring | 24.0 | 203 | 4 | 96 | BMW 120D | 10:47.425 | 116 | 4 | 8 | Jim Briody, Toto Lassally and Cor Euser | #184 Loss more than 1+1⁄2 hours due to three tire failures and one minor contact |
| 2011-05-22 | 24 Hours of Hungaroring | 12.0 | 4 | 3 | 8 | BMW 120D | 02:14.186 | 278 | 1 | 2 | Jim Briody, Toto Lassally, Frank Nebig and Cor Euser | Brake line cut and fire, steering and tire issues |
| 2011-05-22 | 24 Hours of Hungaroring | 12.0 | 4 | 3 | 6 | Lotus Evora GT4 | 02:00.825 | 287 | 4 | 8 | Cor Euser, Jim Briody & Toto Lassally | rear damage from contact, shifting/wiring failures and lost rear wheel from stud issue |
| 2011-01-14 | 24 Hours of Dubai | 24.0 | 85 | 7 | 74 | BMW 120D | 02:30.129 | 173 | 2 | 2.5 | Will Turner, Don Salama & Toto Lassally | #134 DNF Prewitt 2nd stint crankshaft pulley failure |
| 2010-05-15 | 24 Hours of Nurburgring | 24.0 | 197 | 7 | 179 | BMW 330D | 09:48.308 | 30 | 1 | 2 | Raymond Coronel, Toto Lassally and Cor Euser | #179 DNF Crash by Raymond @ 6 hr ended @ 13th hour retirement |
| 2010-01-15 | 24 Hours of Dubai | 24.0 | 75 | 1 | 34 | BMW 120D | 02:28.811 | 479 | 4 | 8 | Jim Briody, Toto Lassally and Cor Euser | #112 had 2 contact incidents Toto & Jim |
| 2009-09-12 | 24 Hours of Barcelona | 24.0 | ukn | 2 | ukn | BMW 120D | ukn | ukn | 4 | 8 | Jim Briody, Toto Lassally and Frank Nebig | #27 |
| 2009-05-23 | 24 Hours of Nurburgring | 24.0 | 172 | 6 | 73 | BMW 120D | 10:36.242 | 120 | 4 | 8 | Jim Briody, Toto Lassally and Cor Euser | |
| 2009-07-11 | 25 Hours of Spa | 25.0 | 151 | 58 | 86 | Funcup Beetle-style 1800cc | 03:13.018 | 363 | 6 | 6 | Jim Briody & rookies Rupert Jaron, Michael Garrett and Matthew Preston | out 45 mins due to rookie crash |
| 2008-01-26 | 24 Hours of Daytona | 24.0 | 68 | 27 | 45 | Pontiac GTO.R | 01:52.484 | 513 | 2 | 2 | Diego Alessi, Karl Reindler, Spencer Trenery and Vic Rice | #21 had some mch issues. Prewitt got sick & stopped driving |
| 2009-11-07 | 6 Hours of Miami | 6.0 | 20 | 1 | 9 | Golf GTI | 01:44.143 | 172 | 3 | 3 | Jim Briody & Toto Lassally | |
| 2009-11-07 | 3 Hours of Miami | 3.0 | 20 | 1 | 8 | Golf GTI | 01:44.143 | 95 | 2 | 1.5 | Jim Briody | |
| 2009-11-07 | 6 Hours of Miami | 3.0 | 20 | 20 | 20 | Spec Miata | 01:49.648 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jim Briody & Toto Lassally | Failed to start. Eng problem |
| 2007-12-02 | 4 Hours of Sebring | 4.0 | 40 | 2 | 22 | Porsche GT3RS | 02:14.640 | 45 | 3 | 2.5 | Doug Smith | #02 Loss 4th gear |
| 2007-06-09 | Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen | 6.0 | 45 | 23 | 42 | Pontiac GTO.R | 1:55.752 | 123 | 2 | 2.5 | Shawn Price | #21 DNF Overheated Eng |
| 2007-01-27 | 24 Hours of Daytona | 24.0 | 70 | 9 | 22 | GT3 996 Cup | 01:54.62 | 606 | 3 | 3.5 | David Murry, Tommy Constantine and Mike Borkowski | Playboy Racing; TC broke shifter and nose splitter |
| 2007-01-26 | Koni Cup | 3.0 | 104 | 4 | 4 | 350Z Grand-Am GS Class | 02:01.741 | 64 | 1 | 1.4 | David Murry | |
| 2007-01-18 | WinterFest | 6.0 | 62 | 1 | 1 | Porsche GT3RS | 02:09.375 | 147 | 3 | 4 | David Murry | |
| 2006-12-03 | Historic Fall Races | 3.0 | 20 | 1 | 7 | Porsche GT3RS | 02:09.699 | 74 | 1 | 1.5 | Elliott Forbes-Robinson | |
| 2006-01-28 | 24 Hours of Daytona | 24.0 | 66 | 17 | 32 | GT3 996 Cup | 02:01.088 | 490 | 4 | 4.8 | Steve Marshall, Danny Marshall, John Pew, Ben McCrackin | #81 Prewitt hit in turn 3 by DP rear bumper damage; RR tire fail @ 160 mph in turn 1. |
| 2006-01-19 | WinterFest | 6.0 | 50 | 1 | 26 | Porsche GT3RS | 02:14.275 | 114 | 2 | 3 | John Pew and Ben McCrackin | #02 DNF with eng failure |
| 2005-04-09 | Tropical 12 HR | 12.0 | 29 | 2 | 25 | Porsche 944 Spec Chev eng | 01:39.985 | 273 | 7 | 9 | Kevin Stadtlander | DNF with end failure |
| 2005-01-20 | Winterfest | 3.0 | 31 | 1 | 1 | Porsche GT3RS | 02:14.407 | 66 | 2 | 2 | Kevin Stadtlander | |
| 2004-04-24 | Rennsport II | 3.5 | 111 | unk | unk | Porsche DP 935 | 02:14.410 | unk | unk | unk | Ukn | DNS with eng problem |
| 2003-04-19 | Tropical 12 HR | 12.0 | unk | unk | unk | 944 Race Porsche | unk | unk | unk | unk | Kevin Stadtlander & unk | DNF with computer problem |
| Totals: 31 or 16 +24 hours, 5 12 hours, 4 6 hours & 7 3/4 hours races. Prewitt drove 138 hours. Data as of January 31, 2012 |||||||||||||

### Fishing

Prewitt is a sport fisherman. Over the years, he has caught and released more than one thousand Billfish with many of them tagged for science research. Most of these were captured "stand up", not using a fishing chair and on light tackle. Prewitt was selected as Atlantic Ocean Angler of the Year 1992, recognized and awarded by International Game Fish Association (IGFA) as the angler who Tagged & Released the most Sailfish in 1990, 1991 and 1992 and White Marlin in 1992. In 1989, Power and Motoryacht Magazine named him one of America's Top Ten Anglers of 1988.
In 1988, he won the Bahamas Billfish Championship (BBC). This annual award recognizes the overall champion of six tournaments located in the Bahamas held on Bimini, Cat Cay, Walker's Cay, Berry Islands and the Abacos.

## Politics and public service

Prewitt is philanthropic with many of his artworks by donating to nonprofits who often auction his art to raise funds for their organizations and display his works. Some of these are the National Ability Center, Park City, UT, Massachusetts General Hospital, Nuzzles & Co. in Park City, UT, University of Utah Health, Baptist Health Foundation for Baptist Health South Florida, Huntsman Cancer Foundation, The Playing for Life Foundation and Park City Hospital Foundation. Beginning in the mid-1990s, Prewitt served as a Commissioner on the Architectural and Code Enforcement Boards prior to his 2001 unopposed election to the Town Commission of Manalapan, Florida where he held office until the town was reapportioned in 2002. Prewitt served on the Florida Atlantic University Executive Advisory Board and Palm Beach Countywide Beaches & Shores Council.

## Personal

Prewitt is dyslexic, thus has difficulty reading and spelling.
In March 2009, one of the corporations Prewitt manages, bought for a real estate investment a house in Park City, Utah, that had belonged to Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney since 1999.
Prewitt's wife, Corinne, is a graduate of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and was an Assistant County Manager for the $7 billion Miami-Dade County government, overseeing strategic planning, human resources, and technology initiatives.