Forum: Racing From The Past (go)
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There is a pole over at www.oklahomatidbits.com about racing at Enid, OK. What happen to, I remember Friday night racing. and Sunday also. Now days it seems like anything but Saturday night racing is the only way to go. What has changed.

What tracks that once ran on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday nights or even during the week.

Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes

Warren, I'll give it a shot at what I think, economy is first and foremost , tough to get fans and racers more than one night a week and not many will travel that run weekly at one track. Guess also there is just so much more to do especially for the younger crowd which I think promoters are just flat out not trying to get them to come to see a race at their track with promotions and so on, but that is a whole other topic.

Friday night weekly racing be tough on anyone to try and make it go at any track in the state with logistics and stuff, heard Clinton , Ok. is going to start running on Fridays , guess you see how they do on Cars and People , but heard from some that they struggle with cars and people on Sat. nights now , so just have to see on that one, I know Muskogee runs on Friday but they have done it for a very long time like SFS did and folks just plan for it and have done it for so long in that area and have that TRADITION of running on Fridays.

Sunday nights were tried by Emmitt Hahn back in the early 90's at Creek Co. and had success with cars and the crowd grew as the weeks went by and not really sure why he stopped it , maybe it was when ASCS took off and started running more regional stuff and was growing.

Outside of specials on holidays not many try to run other than Sat. nights. Still believe a show would work on a Sunday late afternoon, say start at 5 and be done by 8 and folks could be home by 9 to 10 , even with traveling fans and racers.

Just think costs of racing , the slow economy and so on make most racers run only one night a week and I guess promoters as well do not want to take a chance on anything other than a proven Sat. night show that all seem to run these days , No one wants to take a risk and try something else that might result in failure and losing money and so on.

We were at Creek watching the Wingless Sprints on Fri. night and they had a great crowd and the racing was great then we went to Lucas Oil Speedway and that place is just unreal and awesome , really nice place in Wheatland , Mo. and they had a huge crowd of at least 5,000 to watch the Wingless Sprints and Late Models and Factory Stocks , all classes were good racing and Sprints put on a great show. But in same time heard at Dallas for ASCS Sooner/Lone Star show that hardly had any people in the stands on Friday night, and had a better crowd on Sat. , so works in one place on Fridays but not another and both were specials ran , maybe it was promotion or lack of or what fans want to see , just a big HUH? on that one. Plus having a really nice/first class facility helps you tremendously , as Lucas Oil is in Wheatland in the middle of nowhere and they are able to get 5,000 plus folks there and talking to some Sat. night who attend shows there a lot , say the crowd is about normal for the place.

Still think with promoting it right and trying it and most of all Sticking with it that a Sunday show would work,majority of folks are off work and you could build your fan base , but you will HAVE growing pains and most promoters don't want to go through that to get where they need to be , but once there I believe the rewards would be good, only track running , no competition for fans or cars and so on. My 2 Cents on the subject

I believe Humbolt, KS ran on Wednesday nights in the 70's.

Chase KS ran on a Thursday night in the 70's.

Great Bend, KS ran on Sunday nights for years.

Topeka, KS ran on Sunday nights if I remember right.

Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes

Warren,,there is a track in Monett Missouri that has ran on Sunday nights none stop sence 1970 to pressent..41 yearrs

I think the reason it has done so well is it is half way between Joplin MO and Springfield Mo about 40 miles from both.....The Springfield track was at the fairgrounds and another track by the Airport it is running again and has been for 5 years or so.Joplin has a track but it is shut down 6 years now.....Both Sprngfield and Joplin had the problem of people complaning about noice and had time limits on when the races had to be over..So both Joplin and Springfield had several years they did not run ...

But Monett being in a small town and half way between Joplin and Springfield took care of both problems with both towns having a place to race.Alot of the guys just dont run anywere else because they can trust that Monett will be there and on Sunday nights.And it has the best competetion in the area for its classes. There are 7 tracks that run on Friday and Saturday within 70 miles of it and it has not hurt it....Also Monett carrys the respect like it has the SW Mo Nationals and the Tony Roper ,and Larry Phillips annuall races for all its classes.. They call the track the grand ol lady. Becauae of 41 years none stop.

But on there special races the best cars and drivers of the region for the classes they have are there.

Another reason it may have beat the test of time is the SW MO area has Bombers, Factory Stock(which is like Vintage Late models with open motors),,also it has 2 Modified classes B Mod and A Mod,,And then Late Models..These classes are cheaper to run than Sprint Cars.

The higher dollar racing like in the Sprints Cars etc left SW MO area in 1970 about the same time Monett opened..This area in 1970 imbrassed the Late Models when the Super Mods quit here. .That was the same time that Larry Phillps Late Model Legend,, and Dean Roper who was 3 times USAC Late Models Champ i beileve in 72 73 74 ,this was the same time they started going National and were very successfull....Like my Dad Jack Belk quit raciug in SW Mo and traveled to Tulsa after the 1970 year to stay with the Supermods.Open wheel,,,Jack did not want to drive the heavy tank cars TO SLOW...But he was going to start racing them in 1972 because there were so many offers for him to drive a Late Model and the class was growing very fast,,and it was close to home.,.,but he was killed in a racing accident in 1971.and only ran Late Models maybe a dozen times.....

.But look at what has become of Late Models now .SW MO was there at the start of the Late Models BOOM.And has the respect on a National level for it tuff Comptetion in the Late Models.. .. .

.Lebanon Mo ran 305 Sprints for about 3 years but they got droped 2 years ago and Springfield tryed for 2 Years and they got droped..Both tracks could not pay them 700.00 plus to win to keep them so they droped them at both places..The weekly races around SW Mo pay at the most 500.00 weekly, for there top classes.and the lower classes run for 100.00 to 250.00 to win ,but they have specials that pay alot more...

Racing today had become a sport were you cant really race for money like in the older days..For big money you have got to travel,,,alot..

But i think a track like Monett that has lasted 40 years and on Sunday Nights has to have something special...I think the reason is the cheaper classes that people can afford to race..

But like what if the Goverment took fuel away from use and said we could not race anymore,,we would probably be out there on Bicycles,,,, or for darn sure we would find somethimg to race.

Win as if you are use to it.And lose as if you enjoyed 
it for a change.Its hard to get to the top and alot 
harder to stay there.

Warren,,,, also the track that was in Joplin Ozark Speedway ran on Tuesday Nights from 1955 untill into the mid 70s...It was cool because it let all the top guys come race there without them missing there local shows in there home towns on the weekends.....In the late 60s the Tulsa guys came and ran there Emmitt Hahn and Pet York and others ran there weekly in 68 and 69... Dale McDaniels ran there form the early 60s untill 1970 everyweek,, and i beileve he won the Championship there in 1970 the last year for the Supermods,,in the Layne boys car ,,the Rodster..

I was looking at some of the old line ups even Harold Leep ran there in 1963 and 64 some,,Eddie Leavitt ran there in the later 60s. Jay Woodside ran there a few times. And there were many other big names that would pop in..There were some guys that owed cars would not know who was driving untill they waited to see who would showed up or who was walking around the pits looking for a ride..If nobody showed up they would drive themsleves.And they were pretty good drivers..They just could not beat the guys there so they they were alsways looking for someone better..

In the mid 60s a normal line up in Joplin was Jack Belk,,Chick Shaddox, Larry Phillips,Dean Roper,,Dale McDaniels,Bud Hatch,,Bud McCune,Harold Leep,, Fred Tullis,Wee Willie Crane ,,and then in the late 60s Hahn and York and other Tulsa guys added in there and there were several others ,,you never knew who was going to pop in..But man it was as good of racin as i ever seen..There are alot of National Championships and Track Championships in this list.With or with out finders..Closed and a Open Wheel

But it was the fact that they ran on Tuesday night that let these kinda guys make it there to race without missing there local shows or the big specials on the weekends..My Dad Jack Belk running there on Tuesdays let him travel to Topeka,KC and Tulsa and other places over the years on the weelends...Joplin packed the stands like Tulsa did,,,standing room only...People got there early to get a seat..One thing i miss about Joplin Racing back then was at the end of the National Anthun the whole crowd who Scream PLAY BALL....Most tracks today you cant even hear the speaker or they are running the races threw so fast they dont have time to say all the driver names..The promotor just want to get it over with..

We all should be very glad that we got to live during the great times on the 50s 60s 70s and 80s of Racing because it was the best..And we may never see that kind of racing ever again..

jdSprint71,, is right about Lucas oil speedway it is in SW Mo about 50 mlies North of Springfield,,, this area is a hot bed of racing...I think the Open wheel guys could make plans on coming there or to this area on a regular basis...Maybe not weekly but several times a year ,,..They love Open wheel here also..There are 8 tracks in SW Mo that are pretty close to each other and they have Ok car counts.More people will travel to Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland to watch the Open Wheel because it is a great Racing Stadium..

Win as if you are use to it.And lose as if you enjoyed 
it for a change.Its hard to get to the top and alot 
harder to stay there.

redbandana speaks the truth in his statement. Racing will never be the same and he said from the 50's through the 80's, I will say up to the mid 90's as I could still go load up and pull out of the front yard for about $50 to $75 then and if I ran up front it usually would pay for a tire , oil change and even other maintenance stuff like brake pads and so on as well, but then after the mid 90's it just seemed costs and time and other factors have just caused it to change and mostly for the worse. Now to load up and pull out of the driveway and TRAVEL to a place to race is about $200 to $300 just to travel and you have not bought anything else like rubber , oil change , etc. just travel expenses fuel for the tow rig, Pit Passes and fuel for the car as well in that amount. Most weekly tracks pay around $100 to $150 to start and series are about $200 or so to start but they require more travel to some tracks. So IF your lucky and run up front , you might just break even with travel expenses plus tires and liquids for maintenance etc. and hopefully you don't tear anything up and as the years pass by and it gets more and more expensive to compete and be competitive I often wonder if I am crazy to like doing this so much.

redbandana is correct when he says you cannot race anymore for money, purses at weekly and even regionally with series, there is just no way, tracks have no fans to speak of in the grandstands and Cars are slim on amounts as well , and sure not enough to make a profit margin , maybe and just only maybe break even.

I had probably 5 people sitting around us ask me at Lucas Oil Speedway last Sat. night when will OKC get another track and my reply to them was NOT anytime soon, it will take a great amount of $$$ to build a facility for folks in OKC to come out and watch races , SFS was a great place and a great location but wherever the next track is to be built then it will have to be somewhat on the line of LOS in Missouri or TMS dirt track in Tx. , because folks are not going to travel outside of OKC wherever that maybe and go to a facility that is not nice, just won't happen and I don't see anyone stepping up with that kind of money needed to put it into a long term investment and the long term before they see a profit back on their money. I have said this before to folks around here that the Indian Casino's could build a track and put about 5 to 8 million in it and not miss that and be able to look at the long term money making ability of it , IF it is run correctly and maintained. I just cannot see anyone individual or individual's doing that in this economy or even several years down the road from now.

I hear about a guy going to put a track in here or there around OKC and well a BIG Heart and BIG Desire is just not going to cut it this day and time ,Ya gotta have 2 pockets full of money , 1 to build the place and it be an A-1 facility and the other to run it as your profit margin will not be good for several years and I am probably being conservative on that statement.

redbandana, We went up 71 to 54 from Joplin to Wheatland and seen many full bodied cars , Late Models , Street Stocks and so on , I believe we seen the lights from a track in Nevada , Mo. on way back to Joplin Sat. night ,We even came across a sobriety checkpoint on 54 west of Weaubleau , Mo. Sat. on the way to Wheatland about 4pm and never been through one of them in the daytime.

I did not realize Missouri was Late Model country till I seen how many of those Limited ULMA Cars they had a Wheatland Sat. night , 26 or so and they put on a great show and also the Street Stocks were entertaining as well and I am not much on full bodied stuff but they were good and fun to watch and LOS is just unreal and seeing the place anyway other way other than in person does not do the place justice and that is why like redbandana says folks will travel to watch a Sprint show at the facility. sure glad we went.

Been seeing Lanny Edwards going through issues at his track in Dallas with Sprint Cars and getting enough to come run and put on a show at the place and he is fortunate to have that money maker in the Chili Bowl where he does not have to worry so much these days about making it go or surviving but still he has turmoil with Sprint classes and is jockeying around with them this season trying to get a count of cars as well as be able to be profitable for him.

I still enjoy racing the Sprint Car but with more costs to travel and all the other costs that have gone up it will make me sit down and rethink of where I will run and what I will run down the road.

You are very right about sobriety checks in Mo ,,they will do them at all times of the day..Even on the Lake in a boat,,they will haul you in for DWDB Drunk While Driving Boat,,,,Just as bad as in a car...They right alot of DWIs from people at the Lakes and leaving the Race Tracks.

Ya Nevada Mo,, Speedway has some pretty good races there on Saturday,its a little bull ring,,its hard to win there and hard to beat the locals there...Good racing,,,,

Win as if you are use to it.And lose as if you enjoyed 
it for a change.Its hard to get to the top and alot 
harder to stay there.

dewey's lakeside speedway used to race on fridays. then the guys would split and either go to tulsa or caney on saturday. humboldt, outlaw both race on fridays

It was kinda strange what happened in Joplin about 1970 when the Supermods left the Joplin area..Everything that was east of Joplin mostly went Late Models,,and everything west of Joplin went mostly Open Wheel.....When the Edmonds and Nance style cars took over it was hard for Joplin to make that change..It was easyer for Tulsa to go that way because of the way they controled the engines limit with 305 ..It was to far away. for the Joplin guys to get them kind of cars.Springfiled had always been a Hot Bed for the Late Models and when Monett Speedway open in 1970 it put the Joplin and Springfierld guys both 45 miles from the track..It was easyer for them to go to full Bodys and with alot of them working at or Owning salvage yards..It made it easyer.A whole Salvage Yard full of cars to pick from...You could biuld your favorite street in to a Race car..

Joplin had alot of the salvage yard owners in Racing and it made it easyer for them to go with Full Bodies ,,and it was about the same time the big blocks engines got kinda plentifull.

Corky Felker in Joplin is kind of a legend here because of his full body history that man could build anything,he was one of the the older Felker brothers,,,,,and then his brother John Felker owned 66 Truck and Foriegn salvage ,,they had the company American Made Race Cars that built IMCA Mods and Late Models....Pucky from Coffeyville had alot of success with there cars Regionaly in Late Modlels...............Jamie McMurray now in Nascar worked in there shop as a kid while his was racing go Karts....Jamies dad they called him Chicken Hawk,made Jamie work there to learn more about race cars..There shop was accoss the street from the Go Kart track were Jamie cut his teeth in Racing in Joplin...........................To back up the love for open wheel racing in Joplin the 2 youngest Felker boys today ,,one of them ran the Chilli Bowl the last 2 years and one of them made it to the B main this year in the last Chilli Bowl,,he did Ok and he is running the Midget Circut,,, the car is Sponsered by the same salvage yard 66 Truck and Foriegn.Salvage,,,.Danny Felker his dad runs the team.Which Danny raced some years back also.....And Danny had a brother named Denny Felker which did pretty well in Late Models,, i believe he won some races at Muskoggee and other place in the Late modlels in the 90s..

Joplin is kinda pulled both ways from Full Bodys to Open Wheel....My dad Jack Belk and Chick Shaddox and Bill Crouch and also John Ward all ran at Tulsa were the only ones from back in the day to stay with Open Wheel that were from the Joplin area....Everybody else went to Late Modlels...Now the one Felker boy is doing Ok with the Midgets...

Win as if you are use to it.And lose as if you enjoyed 
it for a change.Its hard to get to the top and alot 
harder to stay there.