Forum: Racing From The Past (go)
Moderators: Racing From The Past

Okay guys, it's been slow around here and we have a great gift from Warren so lets not waste it.

How about those cool, funny stories that you just can't fit anywhere else. Even those where 'I guess you just had to be there' kinds. I'll start off-

It was the late '60s at Lawton on a regular Saturday night when a new group came in with a '59 chevy Hobby Stocker. The unique part of it was the rear was jacked up at least 3 feet off the ground!

The thinking was that since drag racers at the time were doing this to promote traction, it only made sense to try it so one could get off the corners faster. After a while before even one lap was turned people were thinking this could be the 'next big thing' in setting up a car. My Uncle was looking at the family modified wondering how they could seize the oppurtunity early. He decided to wait and watch the '59 chevy as it made it's maiden voyage on the red clay.

Standing behind the Armco railing he mentioned "Ya know, it makes a helluva lotta sense!" to the crowd that gathered as the old chevy accelerated hard down the frontstretch passing a notable number of cars.

But then,......as it went off the track looking for the nighttime Lawton skyline never to return to action, my Uncle turned away and said...."I guess not".

On racing fan Finas McClanahan,

Finas if you are reading this, I'm sorry if I spelled the name wrong. Just in case you wonder who this is, my Grampa Ray ran the store very near to where you grew up. My Dad is the older brother.

Long before Finas found racing as an interest, he was just like any other small town boy. Eventually the lights of the big town nearby would come calling on Friday night and with his best friend he would take off to town to chase girls and drink a little beverage the Sunday morning Preacher would not approve of. Many miles and empty bottles later they would return to the sleepy little area late at night ready for shuteye. It was from these days that Finas got his greatest gift for being a mechanic.

Driving home one night short on sleep and long on beverage he saw the strangest thing- A TREE just jumped out in the road right in front of him! For no reason! Of course by the time the deputy showed up the tree had drug the car and its occupants off to the side of the road. or so it may have been implied.

Finas took the brunt of the injuries since his arm had broken in two places. Of course they set it at the emergency room and sent him home.

The next day Finas got to thinking about how close to death he had been and thought it might be a good ideer to go to church. There he found Jesus and took off on a new path that continues to this day..........But first, there was one thing he had to do.

The cast was reeeaaalllly uncomfortable and his arm itched all the time. Not to mention the only having one good arm issue. Since he had been forgiven, and he wanted to see what faith would bring him, he decided to let the Lord heal his arm. So, he cut the cast off after a few days.

Apparently the Lord had another idea for his arm. Since the cast was off, his arm healed- but with 2 crooks in it. Both were with an inward angle that made his arm sorta like a hook.

Finas was always great company, but .............when it came to getting that one thing that no tool, or any other man could get to, Finas could reach around with his crooked arm and do the job with ease.

If you ever meet a gearhead that knows Finas, he'll have a story too.

I think Bill Eslick drove Carl Gragg's first modified in Tulsa in '63. It was a 34ish Chevrolet three window coupe, orange,#82. Anyway, about half way through the feature,as he was leading, the left front wheel came off the car. It's been over 45 years ago, so I don't remember how many laps Eslick raced that car on three wheels, but it was a long time, and he was racing someone for the lead of the race. He finally spun. A photograph of the incident made the front page of "National Speed Sport News." That was wild, made all better because the crowd was going absolutely crazy. I was only 12 or 13 and I'll never forget that one.

Mike

1979, Regular Sat. night at Lawton Speedway, Eugene Hair of Wichita Falls, Tx. running the #7 car out of Amarillo, Tx. if I remember correctly, lost the left front wheel and ran nearly the whole A main with only 3 wheels and I think finished 2nd or 3rd that night and started towards the back with a high point avg. I thought that was pretty impressive and the crowd did to and he had a bunch of people down at his trailer after the show and he was signing autographs and I mananged to get over by the car and had a crew guy with a big flat head screwdriver picking out the red clay and rocks that had packed up around the hub and spindle and it was just one big glob of mud , someone asked him how he managed to drive it and he said the bigger the mud ball got the easier it was to drive and he said the constant adding weight to the LF as the mud packed on more and more and when he would get in the gas , it would actually lift the LF up which in turn sent the weight transferring to the RR and that helped the car get good side bite in the turns, kind of seemed like from then on , most of the guys that ran Lawton weekly came out and tried to start lifting the LF , guess they thought it was the fast thing to do since Eugene Hair did it, guess it was a monkey see monkey do deal back then too.

Hey Brian, I remebered that guys name that drove the Phillips 66 car at Lawton in the late 70's we talked about the othere day , his name was Frank Headley , he had that 66 station right next to Leo's Truck Stop, was cleaning up the spare bedroom and ran across some pics that might have his car in them , but have to find some time to look through all of them sometime, by the way ,seen on another message board , someone using your pic/icon , I don't believe it was you on this particular board , but there it is your pic of the 26 car . Just thought you might want to know that.

Just looking through those pics in that particular shoe box , ran across a pic on top of Delbert Bybee in the CH Malone Ford car from Apache,Ok. , got the 8" wheels on the RR and the gussets in the roll cage, the pic has faded some but I believe it was a Orange and yellow color combination and carried the #2 on it and of course ran a Ford.

That other guy might be Jason. His Grandfather owned that car after we traded it for a Volkswagon in around '71. On that note, I think it's okay.

Sure would like to think that car sits somewhere with a tree grown up through it to deter any thoughts of scrapping it before I find it. LOL

OK on the pic, Ya just can't tell nowdays Brian , guess ya just got to keep lookin.

Mike, this story brought a little tear to my eye. Bill Eslick was my grandfather, and my dad (Bill Eslick Jr.) has told me about this race many times. I had a copy of the photo (my dad has the original). He was racing Angelo Howerton that night, and he drove MANY laps before catching a tire on the inside of the turn and spinning. I really wish that I could have seen my grandfather race, but he had retired many years before I was born. My father still runs a Midget in and around the Texas and Oklahoma area. Thank you for retelling this great story.

Billy Eslick.

See guys and gals it's amazing who is reading this forum, welcome aboard Billy.

You start telling these stories you will bring out the lurkers.

I think Carl's daughter (or maybe granddaughter) checks in here once and while. She is part of the track crew at Grain Valley, MO I think?

Brian I noticed that the other day when I check in at http://microoutlaws.ipbhost.com/index.php?act=idx

Posted from Ardmore, OK

Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes

Jason emailed me the other day. You see his Grandpa was the guy who gave us the disease. He is a great man----Jearl Meeks aka Mighty Meeks. They had that car a lot longer than we did. We traded it to them for a VW.

Billy,

Glad you're here. We have a lot of fun and there are people like me who are just fans as well as people like Luther Brewer who built some of the best cars ever, as well as Warren and Brian who between them must have a million pictures.

I wish I could help you with pictures. I bought two pictures of your granddad in the 82 car from Danley Clow at the track in Tulsa. It's been SO long ago that they probably got lost or ruined or put in a scrapbook or something stupid a kid would do at 13. If I happen to find them I'll let you know.I saw a lot of races in Tulsa, but that one race still sticks out in my mind as being one of the most amazing racing feats I ever saw.

Also, are you the Eslick from Tulsa who races motorcycles?

mike

We all know who has the millons of photos and he will be at the Chili Bowl this year again I guess?

Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes

Mike, You would'nt believe all the car stuff I have done involving cars. I was involved in racing from 1961 through 1974. After I quit racing, I started buying rebuilders from insurance companies. (I was Postmaster in Drexel, MO & did not have enough to do). Since I had fiberglass molds & was comfortable with working fiberglass, I bought 13 Corvettes over the next few years. Two were damaged to much to rebuild. The ones I would like to have now, a 1963 split window (blue), a 1966 396 Convertable (red) & a 1967 427 Coupe (maroon w/ black hood scoop) with factory side pipes. I then started buying Chev/GMC 4X4 pickups & rebuilding them. My most recent project was an Excalibur Replica. I used a 79 Mercury Cougar frame, replaced the side rails with 2 X 5 .188 wall tubing, used a 76 MG Midget body (the Midget has a cowl to match a hood too) , 81 Excalibur front fenders, grill & side mount covers. Made the hood, dash, bumpers & other parts. Installed a 76 Nova, 305 Cu In Chev with a 350 automatic. Painted it 88 Corvette red & had a tan top made without cutting the corner windows so it would,nt look like a Midget. I have it as my screen saver. I sold it at a Mecom Auto Auction in KC & it went to DeSoto, Texas, in the Dallas area.

Luther

Luther,

I admire guys like you who work with cars. Other than rolling tires around for Frank Lies and Rick Reiner and helping a friend of mine with his stock car here in Texas, I know absolutely nothing about building cars. I just turned 58, and I guess when you get to a certain age you start having regrets and "if only's". Well, I'm there now, and unfortunately there's no turning back. My nephew asked me last night what I'd do if I was younger and could do anything, I immediately answered that I would race super modifieds or sprint cars. But, we all have a place, and my place is being a fan. Just think, if there weren't any of us fans, none of you would have gotten rich racing cars!

mike

Warren,

When you say Carl, do you mean Carl Gragg? I'd be interested in knowing more about her and her dad/grandad, or her mother/grandmother. I got to know them because Automatic Transmission Specialists sponsored my mom's bowling team. They were always real nice.

mike

Photo contributed by Marcy Adkins (Gragg)
Owner Carl Gragg (L) and driver Al Lemmons.

Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes

That picture was taken on playday, or whatever they called it then.  I believe the trophies were for best engineered car and  best dressed pit crew.  I think it was the cowboy hats that did it.  The picture was on a potscard.  I had one once.  Guys don't dress up in the pits any more do they?

mike