Forum: Oklahomatidbits.com General Forum (go)
Moderators:  /  David Smith Jr

And now page three,

Many of the "old timers" retired when the wings came in. The wings(I hate them except for this next part) saved a lot of lives. They are quiet as to not upset anyone(Lord knows some did it plenty when they were driving). Their experienced notion is------wings took a lot of the driving out of it. Yet wings save lives. We cannot escape that.

I will add more later.

AMP in disguised? J/K!!!!!

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

interesting.

but yeah the closest I will ever to be knowing those old days is listenin to stories from my parents........... it's very interesting as to the attendance issue. I somewhat think there are just more things to do these days. but that sure is food for thought..........

How much would could a wouldchuck chuck if a 
wouldchuck could chuck would

Well, yes there are more things to do now. But we've come a long way. Of course dirt was already invented but we still had to deal with those pesky dinosaurs and invading cavemen from other tribes. Fire was new and we just couldn't wait to see what would be invented next.LOL

PS-There are those who claim Al Gore was not alone when he invented the internet.

OkC had cable tv. I-35 was fresh and new should you want to go to Texas. OU and high school football were good enough reason to end the racing season . There was miniature golf, big screen movies, several fine burlesque clubs. Several good strips of street that kids would cruise up and down and just look at each other. Frontier City, there were top names coming through in rock and roll at the venues appropriate. Hendrix played in OkC! I mean this was not a town lost in the boondocks, this was Oklahomas answer to Los Angeles. They even took a thing or two from OkC.

It was Boomtown central man! Oil money was in the air and the racers at OkC ,Tulsa,Lawton,Dallas,Dodge City,Wichita, Wichita Falls,Enid and other places were throwing rooster tails of mud to give it all a little contrast. This region was a destination for many who decided Indy wasn't in their cards.

Nothing against you brian but where does this come from in regards to your orginal post? I was following it pretty well till this post.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he 
stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Erich Petersen 

I got off track, I was trying to be a little humorous in response to the statement that there is more to do these days. Don't mean to sound crazy, can't help it sometimes. Been that way since they took all the sharp objects away in here.LOL

Don't get me wrong I actually like Mr. Edwards. If you read the opening paragraph, it said, Lanny used to be a good promoter. As of late he seems to be allowing less qualified people call the shots at SFS. These days the cost of tires, motors, wings, misc. parts, and travel have all increased. Yet the purse remains the same. When you buy a pit pass at a ASCS event at Mr. Edwards tracks you never know what the fee is until you arrive. It varies form $25 to $35, while the full bodied cars pay the same amount week in and week out. I fully understand the ASCS purse is greater than the weekly purse, but why are we asked to pay more at one track than the other. Furthermore, I was in the grandstands at SFS recently, it cost me $18.00 for two corn dogs and a two cokes. I also happened to notice they wanted $7.00 for a Hot Dog, not a Chili Dog with Cheese, but a Hot Dog. I don't have a clue how much a ticket into the grandstands cost to boot. No wonder attendance is down, how can the average family of four afford to attend.

$7.00 for a race track hot dog is pretty d--- high. What gives? Did they stuff it and mount it for you?

I've spent $3.50 for a 20 oz coke many times, but a $7.00 weiner?

EXCACTLY!

Of course if you look at employment in any job field these days, it's hard to find anybody who is worth a crap that will actually work. Granted he should not have to babysit them every night just so things will run smoothly, but something needs to be done. Lanny is not stupid. If he was, he wouldn't be as successful as he is, and he's obviously been doing it for a very long time. Do I agree with everything he does? No, and I'll admit he does get carried away at times. It's a very simple life leason...You can't make everybody happy! No matter what, someone will get mad for one reason or the other.

Christina
Air Max HVAC Systems

Like I have heard many times before if you dont like how someplace is ran go somewhere else.

Brian GA for the grandstand is 10 bucks. Econ 101 charge less at the gate to get the people in the gate and hammer them at the concessions. That is why you see 15 dollor hamburgers at six flags and other places like that. You got a captive audience that wants to drink something.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he 
stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Erich Petersen 

The original question is perfect for message boards and call-in radio shows because there is no answer, only opinions.

I never had much of an opportunity to run at Lawton.  The first/last/only time I raced there, we were going good in the heat and the managed to push a rod through the side of the block in the modified feature (100", not these 1/2 bodied stock cars you race now) .  The track was in great condition on a ridiculously hot night and I gotta tell ya, starting racing at 8:30 sure made it easier to get to the track from Norman.  They ran entry level mini-stocks that were raced on a time limit rather than just laps, so if the drivers screwed around with yellows and couldn't get lined up, they were only denying themselves the opportunity to race.  Keep the program moving and the fans happy.  Lanny seems to be pretty successful keeping people coming to the Chili Bowl.  I know Emmett is a big part of that, but I doubt Lanny is just sitting on his hands.

I raced with Bud on his second/final term at the Fairgrounds (I can not call it State Fair Speedway, it will always be "The Fairgrounds" to me).  Bud was great to sit and talk to about the old days.  He was nostalgic and sentimental.  He had a sharp mind for promotion and business, but was passionate about racing.  He was very successful at promoting the drag races at the fairgrounds until the fair board decided to shut it down (when they built the arena and shortened the deceleration lanes) and when he switched to the oval, things were equally successful.  Of course, he had the benefit of promoting at a time when auto racing was still enjoying booming popularity (no ESPN racing to distract fans, no environmentalist fussing about pollution or noise.)  We thought the world was going to come to an end when we had to start running mufflers because of the new noise ordinance!

Gas shortages, Vietnam and inflation seemed to mark the end of the golden era, but in reality, it wasn't any of those factors.  Bud was distracted from running OKC by spreading himself too thin and promoting another track (Enid?)  When Bud was running the track, it was good.  When he wasn't, it floundered.  Sheila remembered right.  The ORA tried their hand at promoting for a season or two in the mid-70s when Bud wasn't minding the store.  They may have considered it a success, but my memory was that it hurt the sport.  Bud was promoting Hobby Stocks and Late Models at the Fairgrounds on one night and the ORA was promoting Supers and Modifieds on another.  The crowds were split and I don't think they ever really recovered.  We were paid by the point and the payoff depended on the size of the crowd.  The ORA always wanted a guaranteed $2.00/point minimum and Bud wouldn't bite.  Some nights it was $2.50/point, others it was $1.45.  If you won big you went to Shotgun Sams and spent it all on pizza.

We never made it out for the 1979 season and we never raced with Larry Hill.  Came back as a fan and watched quite a bit thru the mid-80s.  Seemed like Larry benefited from the oil boom and NCRA points more than anything.  When the boom busted, nobody had money to race and Larry was gone.

When the fair board hired Bud to promote as an employee, not a contractor, he was ready to be retired, but instead focused all his attention and helped revive the program.  He introduced factory stocks.  He tried to put less expensive cars back on the track for beginners (limited modified 100" cars.)  But as per usual, we racers couldn't leave things alone.  Limited modifieds started with steel wheels and bone stock engines.  Factory stocks were literally junkyard cars with the glass and interior kicked out and a pipe post welded from the roof to the floorboard behind the driver's seat instead of a roll cage.  Bud was trying to keep it a $500 car at a time when Charlie Sewell was spending $12,000 on a Louis Boyd "street stock" engine with roller rockers and knife-edged cranks.  Remember "Enduro Racing?"  I don't know if Bud invented it, but he sure liked it.  Cheap cars that everyone could put together and races that were entertaining.  If the track wasn't blocked and no one was on their roof or on fire, the green stayed out.  That wasn't just an Enduro practice, that was the way Bud ran races.  I recall many times seeing yellow shirted MarCar officials running across the track DURING a race to remove debris rather than throw a yellow flag.  Now the insurance company has them throwing a yellow for a hotdog wrapper.  We were the ones that insisted on aluminum wheels, big tires that then needed stronger rods and cranks and magnetos and 1700 lb cars.  We priced ourselves out of the market every time.  It always happens when some guy running 10th in the points thinks he's making a career out of racing two nights a week racing for $300 to win, but if they pay $350 in Clinton, we'll go there ...

They truly were good ol days.  But time has a way of making the old days seem better than now, regardless of when "now" is.  Bud wasn't as universally loved in the mid-70s when things weren't going so good as he his now.  Lanny suffers the same fate. Heck, I've seen kind word spoken about Ray Lavely on websites.  When I was a kid, Ray Lavely was a dirty word around some of the old Taft Stadium racers.

We need to get happy about the time we live in NOW and stop constantly trying to turn back the hands of time.  Twenty years from now, my son will be posting on some message board how great is was to watch races at the old speedway on May Ave. and people will not know what or where he's even talking about.

I'll shut up now.  I really not as old as I sound.  I just feel that way sometimes.

HM

catpuppy,

that is the exact mentality that causes race tracks around the country to close and become WEED fields. The same mentality has lead to the demise of the Drive-In Theatre. Over priced admission, and over priced concessions along with the attitude IF YOU DON'T LIKE GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.

Guess what they did.

How many Drive-In Theatres have you seen or attended lately, not many left are there.

SFS is in our back yard and is one of the finest dirt track facilities in the country. Believe me I've been to alot of them. Why should any racer have to go somewhere else when their fans and SPONSORS are here. Most fans do not have the means to travel, and most SPONSORS do not have the time. Without SPONSORS most race teams would have to quit.

Race Car Drivers and their Teams are the product Race Promoters are selling. Without a product to sell any business is sure to fail.

So the "Go Somewhere Else" mentality is absolutely absurd, child-like, and one sided. It would make more sense, and be more profitable to all, to fix the problem rather than have an un-educated Redneck Attitude.

helpermonkey,

THANK YOU, thats exactly what started this deal. I may be a Rookie on this web site, but I have been attending and involved with Racing at "Fairgrounds Speedway" since 1967. There's probably only a handful of people that can claim that.

As a kid I used to love to go to Shotgun Sams for Pizza and Rootbeer after the races, I even got to play a games of Pool with the likes of: Jackie Howerton, (who drank milk with his pizza) Benny "Wahoo" Taylor, Terry Doss, Steve Foster, the Brotherton's and many others. I was a lousy shot , but that just goes to show, what gentilemen those drivers were, to take time to play a simple game of Pool with a kid regardless the out come.

DAMN! thats one of the best racing posts I have ever seen. What the "old days" are to me don't get talked about much and that was the mid to latter 80's. But man that was a great informative post. I don't think I disagree with any of that. You could not have said it any better on racers pricing themselves and their respectful classes out. can't say it happens frequently.........but that was a post I really enjoyed reading. Really it's been a pretty good thread period. thats cool.

I can't stand a ton of things about Lanny Edwards..........but I sure enjoy the hell out of ALL of his races. Only things I hope for -1) to continue to see great racing - and 2) improvement on how he is towards all of his racers - and hope that how it has been will not have long-term effects. But either way - I still can't wait to get out there this friday. Really I can't wait for all of Sept. and Oct. ASCS Sooner region runs 3 consecutive weekends. And then the big races at Devil's Bowl and Little Rock. And gettin to see all of it after watchin full daysof college football. PRICELESS.

How much would could a wouldchuck chuck if a 
wouldchuck could chuck would

I understand what you say totally but this is a business also. Lanny is not out there for his health he is out there to make money.. Look at movie theaters you pay 8 or 9 bucks for a movie but have to pay 15 for a thing of popcorn. The thing that killed the drive-in was the new multi screen indoor moive theater. People still go eventhough prices are crazy when they can sit at home and wait a few months and watch it on TV. Granted if Lanny runs all the cars off there wont be any cars left to make money off of but, not to piss anyone off here, there is always going to be someone wanting to run at SFS and fans wanting to be there. This is the only track, I think, that runs this engine for the super sprints. Wichita adpoted the ASCS engine rules and remember how many Kansas drivers would make a trip to OKC on a Friday night to run.

Uncle A you are tellling me that every track you have been too, not even one, has this type of mentality of you dont like it go home. When I was helping with a Super Sprint a few years ago, before Lanny, there was a Kansas driver drving over his head. Well the driver I helped went up to the person at the gate, we all know who, and said soemthing about it. The gate person said if you dont like how we run our track go somewhere else. The driver I helped has been around racing for a good many of years and he was pissed about that and said well if they dont want my car and my money there than they wont get it.

Dont get me wrong I love SFS, been going to the track ever since I was young and want it to stay. This problem rather it be prices for the food or track officials will not go away overnight but if you got people that are overall happy with the ways things are then it wont change . People in the stands, the ones that just come to the races to watch the races, dont know what goes on in the pits and alot of them dont even know this board is here. It will take something major to change the feelings of todays SFS. Like or not Lanny has a contract with the city for a few more years and unless something happens he is here for a few more years. 

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he 
stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Erich Petersen 

Helper good post. I have seen what you talk about. How the 1/4 mile track was the rookie track and had chain link fence all the way around to keep the drivers in. I remember the days when the factory stocks ran street tires but everyone wanted to be more like the big race cars.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he 
stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Erich Petersen 

Both the drivers and the promoter need to wake up and realize that, for the most part, this is a hobby to the car owners and drivers. I always looked upon my racing like I was paying for the opportunity to try my car and skills at someone else's facility. I never really fantasized that I was going to make a career out of driving. Almost all of my heros from the 60s and 70s were drivers that had "regular" jobs to pay the bills. Jackie Howerton and Bobby Walker may have been the only ones that could claim to be "professionals" and Bobby was so young at the time that he wasn't trying to support a family and pay a mortgage.

Today's owner/drivers fuss over prize money like they can't make a house payment without it. If you are counting on winning the A feature to pay your bills (I don't mean race car bills either) then you need to think again.

I think Bud always realized this and tried to keep it in mind that even though money changed hands at the end of the night, this was just an expensive hobby. I don't know Lanny well enough to say, but there are certainly a lot of promoters out there that think too much like their driver/owner counterparts and look at this a "professional" racing just because someone gets $25.00 for starting the A.

Sorry everybody,

I certainly was not trying to upset anyone here or at SFS. I just had a few things to get of my chest. Thank you all for your replies and comments, each and every one made sense.

If you think things are bad now, you should have been around for the reign of Bruce Holtz and Skippy boy. If anyone did anything to kill racing at SFS, these two did everything you could imagine and in todays view would be called terrorist.