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

I would like to know why Fairgrounds Speedway in Oklahoma City had to run on Tuesday nights during the 1975 season.

Mike

Best person to answer that would be Shane Carson.

The ORA had a strike against Bud going over the amount of money being paid. Bud went to running fendered cars on Friday night and the ORA went to the fairboard for tuesday nights. The board was not too thrilled to do it, but the supers needed to run somewhere. It only lasted for a while, and the results were lousy for everyone.

Bud always paid 40% of the gate to the purse on top of what was guaranteed, and it would be so much a point.

For a top team it wasn't hard to knock off close to $1,000 on a great night. And that was in the mid-70's. If only they would have left Bud alone in those days.

Thank you Brian, I was up there when Eugene Hair swept the card one night. He was driving the Cope Miller- Ron Guffey Parson built super #12. Anybody remember that car?

Mike

Remember that car very well Mike, Red , White,Blue with the wing around the #12 ,even have some pics of it as well, car was fast and I believe that is when him and A.J. Little were bitter rivals at Lawton and running for the points championship, always liked Eugene as a driver and even liked him more when he wheeled the Don Palmer #7 car on three wheels one night at Lawton, lost LF wheel and packed the hub/spindle/brake full of red mud and continued to race and I believe won the A main that night. It was Classic Eugene Hair.

I can say this Glen Hunter does frequently visit this site and he was right in the middle of that ordeal back in 75 when the ORA ran the track and has often talked about it to me , he was the ORA Secretary and was from the 60's all the way up to this past May when he stepped down as Secretary , he said it was a BIG risk they took and really it was over power and money which is the usual things that causes issues. He probably can also add to what Brian has heard.

Thank you JD, Yes it really got heated between AJ and Eugene. It was just as heated in the stands too! Good ole Oklahoma vs, Texas battle.Cannonball and I helped Eugene's bunch. You have had to seen that three wheel race that Eugene won to believe it. I was lucky enough to have seen that. Good old Racing From The Past days.

Mike

Yes that rival was a very intense one, remember quite a few fans going at it in the stands , Tx.vs.Okla. battle was right.

I remember that night well when Eugene won on 3 wheels in the Don Palmer car, I believe it was about the most excited I ever remember Ken McKay who was the announcer at that time at Lawton (worked for KSWO radio), he was always pretty low key and would not get to excited but not that night , first time I believe I ever heard Ken get his voice in a high pitch because of excitement and the crowd got into it to when they seen he was going to race the car the whole A feature and even more when he moved up 2 spots to lead and then take the win.

Ken McKay , quite an annoncer , always called the Super Modifieds when they would pull onto the track in turn 4 , called them the "Heavyweights", him and Sheila Samples announced at that time and Sheila also wrote for the program as well.

Then Lanny hired a guy by the name of Jack Miller and he announced and did the PR and program in the 80's and went on to bigger and better jobs and he just recently passed away. (RIP) Jack Miller.

I remember one Friday night at Dewy in the summer of 1975. Larry Holman and Dale Parson towed up from the City to race at Dewey. Mike Peters won the feature in the 240" 6cyl modified and the guys from OKC thought that we had the 300" in,they just didn't believe that a legal modified could run that fast on a tacky track.

Ray

http://www.racingfromthepast.com/warren/oklahomalatemodelslap3.html

On the page above is photo of Bob Womack. The super is cropped out, but Mrs Womack said that year the supers and the late models raced together???? Did they do the same thing in 75?

Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes

i rember that Mustang ruuning a few times at The old Tulsa track, with the supers it closed after the 1973 season. I don't rember it runing with supers at the new track.

Ray

This Mustang only ran in 1969 with the supers at Fairgrounds Speedway (Mar-Car). I think that is the only year a late model ran with supers.

Mike

Bob ran the IMCA stock cars circuit also I believe. He sold Ford's in OKC. Maybe he just ran when they came to Oklahoma. I think IMCA made 3 stops at fairs at Muskogee, Tulsa, and OKC. Before that they stopped in Lincoln, Topeka and Hutch.

Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes

I remember that night as well.....but a little differently. I just got off the phone with Eugene Hair and he remembers it pretty much the way I did. Eugene had won the Lawton Speedway Super Modified Division in both 1974 and 1975.......but the three wheeled race was later.....Eugene said he thought in was maybe in 1977. Here's Eugene's account of the race. It was probably an NCRA race and Eugene did loose the left front off of the car coming out of turn number 4.....but actually was able to pick up a few spots and take the lead from Lynden Moss from Amarillo.....and then, when the red flag came out, Eugene's crew put another tire on the left front.....but then discovered that the left front brake had broken. Upon restarting, Eugene, because he had no front brakes, started fading back and wound up finishing about 5th. I had forgotten about me calling the Supers, the "Heavyweights"....but that's what they were. They were the fan favorites throughout the 70s....and my favorite class to watch and call. And then there was JACK MILLER.....the greatest auto racing announcer that I ever knew...or heard. He went to work for Lanny in the 1980 racing season for both the Lawton Speedway and the Devil's Bowl Speedway (also Lanny's track) in Mesquite, just east of Dallas. Lanny and Jack parted company during that season but remained friends. I don't know what I can say about Jack that hasn't already been said. He was in a class by himself....and he will be missed in racing circles (and ovals) for decades to come. Will close for now......Ken McKay, announcer, Lawton Speedway, 1972 through 1979 and 1982 till 1990.

Mr. Mckay , Thanks for getting it straightened out , guess I just remembered I thought he won the deal that night,heck I must have been so excited about the racing on 3 wheels , that was just pretty wild stuff to a 14 yr. old.

I thought Eugene started driving the Don Palmer #7 in 77 but did not run Lawton exclusively , he kind of ran Amarillo and Lawton and NCRA stuff from 77 to 79.

Mr.Mckay, Grew up at Lawton Speedway and listened to you throughout those years you announced the Super Mods, Mods, and even some Hobby Stocks

Lots of names you called at Lawton Speedway, Shady McWhorter,Bill Cates, Jr. Bruner,Johnnie Stinnett, Randall Busbee, Sherman French, Bobby Wainscott,Jerry Douglas, Bubs Fenner, Dorian Raine, Ken Sweet, I.L.Smith, David Newsom, Ken Hailey,Fred Dixon, Delbert Bybee,Clarence Dutton, Dr.Jim Hill, Terry Courtney,Billy Poolaw, Arnold Red Elk, Pete Kern, A.J. Little, The Lister Bros. Butch and Carl, Wayne Wickens, Clifford Cherry,Jerry Bennett, Charles Yarbrough,Buster Daughtery, and list can go on and and on , I remember you calling those names ,you made it exciting and I thought you were a great announcer as well and even more so from some that I listen to at todays tracks, I remember you also did some commercials for Waggoner Carpets, my mom use to work for them and I believe she met you several times when you were on a remote in that 5th Wheel Camper with KSWO at the Carpet Store I think it was when they had just moved out on NW Sheridan Rd. by Wolverton's Furniture.

Anyway like I said remember you well and the saying "Heavyweights",was just pretty cool to a teenage kid back then. Be fun to hear some of your take on Lawton back then, got any good stories to share, be fun to hear some of them and maybe you can help me out on a name what was the Pit Steward name who kind of ran the show back then, Donnie ???, worked at Pontiac Dealership as a Service Writer on Cache Rd. I Believe??? , he worked it and for Lanny for a long time in the 70's ,I got a pick of him in the back ground in an old Program from the mid 70's and just can't remember what his last name was???. J.D.

Hello again......the pit steward's name was Donnie Wilson......he has had used lots for years and is currently in business at Cache Road and 53rd street. He goes by Donald Wilson these days. Donnie, that's what I still call him, was at one time service manager for Cecil Lawson Buick Cadillac in Lawton. I believe he also sold cars for Cecil Lawson after he was service manager. You've either got a GREAT memory....or you've got an old Lawton Speedway program. I think you named off over 20 drivers, many of which I knew well....and also many of which have passed on. I'm sure I've got some stories to tell but that will have to be at a later posting. I'll be at the Racer's Reunion in Wichita Falls on Saturday, October 16th.....hope everyone who reads this can make the reunion. Thanks....Ken

Ken,

I'm with the Racers Reunion committee, but I live in Lawton. Did you happen to catch the radio show on Thursday morning with Alan Liebl, James Skinner and Don Phelan talking about the Reunion on October 16th? They did a pretty good job.got a couple questions. What ever happened to Larry Hathaway? Who was your favorite driver? Mine was Gilbert Hutson.

Mike

Thanks for the name Mr. McKay, Donnie Wilson is the name.

Those names are from Memory , remember them all , watched them every Sat. night growing up as a kid and still have some old programs from the 70's as well, probably could name a few more as well.

I am with Mike what happened to Larry Hathaway and even one more the flagman before him Jackie Whiteman??

Mike or Ken, Do you remember when Jr. Bruner , Johnnie Stinnett and Randall Busbee all worked at the Sear's Automotive Center on 11th and Gore back in the 70's , remember use to see their race cars parked out front on a Friday sometimes back then. Thought it was just pretty cool, ya just don't see that anymore.

JD,

Yes, lots of the racers worked at Sears Tire and Auto Center in the '70's. Two more names to ad to that list, AJ Little and Charles Yarbrough. I got some photos of Little's Jelly built #10 car on the open trailer in front of the store in 1974 where all these drivers worked. I'm glad I did take those photos now. Sears Tire and Auto Center is just a memory now. I got to looking at my model collection and it hit me like a rock that most of those models I built and still have were built when the real cars were running. Hope you can get to our reunion in Wichita Falls.

Mike

Mike, I am just about ready to get back to some ol school racing as well, sure been looking at this E Sprint Class, Wingless with a Spot Mod motor in it , have seen them run about 1/2 dozen times this season and really think they might be what I do in the near future. The Winged deal costs has just gotten out of hand and just hope that the promoters have the foresight and instinct to keep this E Sprint class under control and keep costs down or in the future it will be just like the rest of them in costs but right now they are reasonable and a working guy can build one and race it without going broke.

Heck even thinking of breaking out my old non down tube Stealth Sprinter and putting it together for competition instead of saving it for restoration, not real sure yet but thinking about it. The non wing deal is becoming more and more appealing to me both for the racing and especially the costs.

E-sprints, 305 sprints, 2bbl sprints, 360 sprints and 410 sprints. Everybody was happy in the 70's with what we called the 100" supermodifieds. In the 70's the highest CI. allowed was 312 with carbs. That was in the late 70's. I believe it was 302 through most of the early 70's. I would have to look at the rules per NCRA. We had no wings. Remember when some started playing with roofs and foils on the side bars. That lasted only a while. There was no tire rule as I remember. You could run Goodyear, Firestone, McCreay or even some ran MRT (Marsh).

Now most look down on anything that is not atleast a 360 CI./FI. (some look down on that class) or 410. Leep and the heroes were pretty darn exciting back when in basically what we call a 305 now.

Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes