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Topic: Tulsa Speedway mystery death in the 60s/70s
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December 02, 2008 at
12:46:57 PM
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Luther, you've got a great memory. I was only ten in June of '61, and if I wasn't there I don't remember. We didn't go to as many races then as when Dick Colvin took over, and I think Dad took us to the stock car races rather than the "bugs". Did the incident happen during hot laps? If so, I remember hearing about it, or reading about it in the paper. Also, was it still a half mile, or had they already shortened it to 3/8 by then? I do remember the old grandstands before they burned down, and I was a little bitty fart when that happened. They raced in Muskogee that year. I can remember attending only one midget race during that time, which is kinda weird since they had them all the time. I guess Dad was a stock car guy, so that's what we went to watch. I wish my memory was better.
mike
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December 02, 2008 at
12:59:15 PM
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The Bob Mays book lists Bill Dillard as killed at Tulsa in 1961.
Lee Booth
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December 02, 2008 at
10:00:55 PM
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Where was Harvey Shane killed at??
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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December 02, 2008 at
10:46:51 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: Racing From The Past on December 02 2008 at 10:00:55 PM
Where was Harvey Shane killed at??
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I remember he got hurt real bad years after he got banned, but don't remember that he died racing. Googled him but nothing came up. I just remembered I met him once outside the fairgrounds track at the fair in Tulsa. I think my brother and sisters and I went on some kind of tram ride and he pulled up outside the track, and my mom struck up a conversation with him. I remember him being kind of distant and quiet, but he had the coolest belt...It had race cars on it. I tried to do it with my woodburning kit, but it didn't look as cool as his. I was just a little kid.
mike
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December 03, 2008 at
09:39:50 AM
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Reply to:
Posted By: miketx on December 02 2008 at 12:46:57 PM
Luther, you've got a great memory. I was only ten in June of '61, and if I wasn't there I don't remember. We didn't go to as many races then as when Dick Colvin took over, and I think Dad took us to the stock car races rather than the "bugs". Did the incident happen during hot laps? If so, I remember hearing about it, or reading about it in the paper. Also, was it still a half mile, or had they already shortened it to 3/8 by then? I do remember the old grandstands before they burned down, and I was a little bitty fart when that happened. They raced in Muskogee that year. I can remember attending only one midget race during that time, which is kinda weird since they had them all the time. I guess Dad was a stock car guy, so that's what we went to watch. I wish my memory was better.
mike
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Mike,...I remember a lot about that night. The track was 3/8. There was a fair going on. We arrived early so my wife & 2 daughters walked through a crowded building behind the stands. My youngest daughter was about 18 months old so I carried her. A television station talked to us for several minutes with me holding her. We were near a display of concrete bomb shelters that were popular at the time because of the cold war.
The car I had there was my first race car shown on the message posted here with all the cars I built. It was a 272 Cu In flat head Ford with a Pontiac car rear end. The transmission was a Ford 28 tooth second gear making a final ratio of 6.5 to 1. That was to low a gear for 3/8 so I borrowed a pair of 6 ply 890 X 15 house trailer tires & took them. They were 105 inches around. Every other race car there was a small block Chevy. You imagine how I felt. (Have you ever pissed on your shoes?).
I ran close to where I lived on Sat night but my driver (Harlan Johnson) & another driver had a shoving match on the track & were barred for 2 weeks. I knew Al Weiland that ran the black & red #37 at Tulsa with Jack Belk as driver. He suggested I give Tulsa a try. We ended up 3 rd in time trials, 3 rd in the dash. I don't remember the heat finish but was running 3 rd a few laps in & the top radiator hose came off. That ended our run. The only other time I ran at Tulsa was the IMCA sprint race in Oct 1967. We ran 3 rd behind Jerry Richert & Jat Woodside. Ray Lee Goodwin was in my car.
I will add this. Jack Belk started driving for me mid-season 1964 and Harvey Shane replaced him in Al Weiland's #37. I did not know Harvey very well but ALWAYS knew when he was at the track. Every time he came off the track, he would rev, rev, rev, the engine about 12 or 15 times before shutting it off. That is what I remember about him.
I don't think he died in a racing accident but I remember hearing he died.
Luther Brewer
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December 03, 2008 at
11:28:41 AM
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A Moment in History
(1957)
Harvey Shane, Fort Scott stock car driver, made a clean sweep of the racing meet at the Miami County Speedway at Osawatomie last night winning the modified trophy dash, the modified fast heat and the modified feature. He was driving car No. 66 owned by Glen Sopnite of Nosh Falls.
Three Fort Scott drivers participated in the stock car races at Butler, Mo., Saturday night.
Dale McDaniel was fourth in the consolation and fifth in the "B" feature. Junior Sims was third in the third heat and second in the "A" feature, while Verlin Simmons finished fifth in the third heat. Harvey Shane had car trouble.
Fort Scott stock car racers who took part in the stock car racing last night at Iola were Junior Simms, Lloyd Tanner, Harvey Shane, Roscoe Wurtz and Dale McDaniel.
Also watermelon was going for 3 cents a pound in 1957.
Credit: The Fort Scott Tribune, Fort Scott Kansas
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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December 03, 2008 at
11:39:05 AM
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This message was edited on
December 03, 2008 at
02:02:50 PM by Racing From The Past
I believe somebody I was talking to in Parsons, KS a while back mentioned he was at the track where Harvey Shane was killed. Could it have been Coffeyville, (fairgrounds) Dewey, Iola. This conversation came up back when Bud Purkey passed away.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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December 03, 2008 at
12:57:32 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: Racing From The Past on December 03 2008 at 11:39:05 AM
I believe somebody I was talking to in Parsons, KS a while back mentioned he was at the track where Harvey Shane was killed. Could it have been Coffeyville, (fairgrounds) Dewey, Iola. This conversation came up back when Bud Purkey passed away.
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My first year racing was Osawatomie & Butler. Butler was the track that Harlan Johnson was barred from for 2 weeks. I knew Dale McDaniels, Jr Simms, Roscoe Worts. They raced when I did.
Luther
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December 03, 2008 at
01:06:47 PM
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Warren, I wonder if Bud Purkey is related to Morse Purkey, former owner of the Kon Tiki Koni and the Tiki Nook in Tulsa? http://tulsatvmemories.com/tulstiki.html#koni
Also, any consensus on the original question of the late 60s / early 70s purported incident of a driver deliberately clipping another car at the Tulsa Speedway, launching the car up over the wall and killing the driver?
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December 03, 2008 at
02:16:16 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: TulsaTV on December 03 2008 at 01:06:47 PM
Warren, I wonder if Bud Purkey is related to Morse Purkey, former owner of the Kon Tiki Koni and the Tiki Nook in Tulsa? http://tulsatvmemories.com/tulstiki.html#koni
Also, any consensus on the original question of the late 60s / early 70s purported incident of a driver deliberately clipping another car at the Tulsa Speedway, launching the car up over the wall and killing the driver?
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Don't know I never actually had a obit on Bud Purkey. It might have listed brothers etc.
I would imagine a bunch of former SE Kansas people move to the big city of Tulsa.
Posted from Lawrence, KS
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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December 03, 2008 at
02:34:02 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: Sprint97 on December 03 2008 at 12:57:32 PM
My first year racing was Osawatomie & Butler. Butler was the track that Harlan Johnson was barred from for 2 weeks. I knew Dale McDaniels, Jr Simms, Roscoe Worts. They raced when I did.
Luther
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Luther, Here's another moment in History. I ran into a person in receiving at the Topeka US Postal Service Center/ Warehouse. I had my RFTP cap on. He asked about the cap and I told him about the website. The first thing he ask, was about you and your cars and it they were on the site, they were his favorite. But then he said he went every weekend because he liked your daughter. It was his teenage days. So I don't know if he was a race fan or not.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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December 03, 2008 at
04:19:09 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: TulsaTV on December 03 2008 at 01:06:47 PM
Warren, I wonder if Bud Purkey is related to Morse Purkey, former owner of the Kon Tiki Koni and the Tiki Nook in Tulsa? http://tulsatvmemories.com/tulstiki.html#koni
Also, any consensus on the original question of the late 60s / early 70s purported incident of a driver deliberately clipping another car at the Tulsa Speedway, launching the car up over the wall and killing the driver?
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I'm picking up it was the Ron Lux-Arnie Knepper incident.
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December 03, 2008 at
04:45:55 PM
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I know Ron Lux died at the Tulsa Speedway in 1966 (not precisely the late 60s-early 70s timeframe, but close), and I saw a mention of Arnie Knepper involved in a lot of incidents in the 60s, but I didn't see it established that Knepper had anything to do with Lux' death. Can anyone pin this down?
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December 03, 2008 at
05:17:15 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: Racing From The Past on December 03 2008 at 02:34:02 PM
Luther, Here's another moment in History. I ran into a person in receiving at the Topeka US Postal Service Center/ Warehouse. I had my RFTP cap on. He asked about the cap and I told him about the website. The first thing he ask, was about you and your cars and it they were on the site, they were his favorite. But then he said he went every weekend because he liked your daughter. It was his teenage days. So I don't know if he was a race fan or not.
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Warren,....It was her teenage years also. Both daughters realy liked racing & made a lot of friends during that time. The youngest used to come our in the garage & ask to help me work on the car when she was 6, 8, & 10 years old. In fact she scored the highest mechanical aptitude test in class her senior year. She still gets a laugh out of that.
Luther
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December 03, 2008 at
06:03:05 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: Racing From The Past on November 30 2008 at 11:22:22 PM
In the book The American Dirt Track Racer by Joe Scalzo "Ron Lux got in the way of himself and tried something that didn't work on Arnie Knepper. Arnie escaped, but Ron took a fatal flip".
What does that mean tried something that didn't work on Arnie Knepper?
Was Ron an outsider trying to run with USAC?
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I have the book also, but I'll take Warrens word on it.
Joe Scalzo lived and breathed USAC racing and anything that even got close to it. Instead of driving or owning, he took to pen and paper.
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December 03, 2008 at
07:23:38 PM
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This message was edited on
December 03, 2008 at
07:38:18 PM by miketx
Reply to:
Posted By: brian26 on December 03 2008 at 04:19:09 PM
I'm picking up it was the Ron Lux-Arnie Knepper incident.
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I agree with Warren and Brian. So Brian, you can keep you donuts.
mike
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December 03, 2008 at
07:48:06 PM
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This message was edited on
December 03, 2008 at
08:16:06 PM by TulsaTV
According to Scalzo's book "Ron Lux
got in the way of himself and tried something that didn't work on Arnie
Knepper. Arnie escaped, but Ron took a fatal flip".
But the book portrays the event as occurring at Olympic
Stadium in Kansas City, rather than Tulsa (though he does say Tulsa was the next stop on the circuit).
Assuming Scalzo's account is correct except for this detail, it might fit the description, though 1966 is a bit early for the "late 60s, early 70s" time frame.
From another source, the name of Jim Vanbeber was mentioned as a possibility. Does anyone know more about him?
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December 03, 2008 at
08:17:46 PM
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Whatever accident it was or wasn't, this has been an interesting thread.
Mike
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December 03, 2008 at
08:55:22 PM
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This message was edited on
December 03, 2008 at
08:59:44 PM by brian26
I have noticed that many times "writers" tend to get close but not spot on as to pertinent details. I have been guilty of these mistakes many times. This site is from some very dedicated fans of where Ron Lux came from.
http://www.jakessite.com/07/notforgot/lux/lux.html
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December 03, 2008 at
08:59:04 PM
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Says he died July 16, 1966 at Tulsa.
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