More on Ms. Belevedere

[AMP]

Thought a few of you would enjoy seeing this mans photo and story of the Time Capsule.

I interviewed this gentleman near 36th Street North and Atlanta Avenue last week.  I was doing a story on the old Mohawk Speedway located near there in the early 1950s.  

The photo of this man represents two parts of Tulsa history. One he is standing 1/4 mile from the old Mohawk Speedway in north Tulsa. He remembers watching the drivers arrive on Saturday afternoons, however he never attended the races.

Part two he was the Lube Line mechanic for Parrish & Clark in downtown Tulsa. He performed lube and oil work on the Plymouth prior to it being taken to the Time Capsule.  He said Elmer Clark was in charge of most of the publicity of the car at their dealership.  



His name is Mr. Willard Oneal, he is 77 years old in 2007.

He worked for Parrish and Clark Dodge Chrysler Plymouth. He came to Tulsa in 1952. He remembers the racetrack being there between 1953 and 1957 as he lived in that area.

He ran the Lube Rack at Parrish & Clark for many years before he retired.

He said the Mohawk Speedway had lights and they ran on Saturday nights there.

[mspivey]

That's pretty slick. I've done a lot of research in the old defunct race tracks around Oklahoma City and we had a good thread on tham at Oklahoma Tidbits recently. There were tracks at Elmwood Park (an amusement park on Sheilds), Northwest Highway and Devil's Bowl (NE 23rd and MLK). Those were way before my time, but I've talked to racers who have raced there.

The Tidbits thread also had pictures of the track at the old State Fairgrounds where Douglas highschool is now, with pictires of many of the top drivers of the 50's. That track killed quite a few drivers.

I also got to be friends with Roy Coleman, who was the Wendell Scott of Oklahoma. He had some great stories to tell. As racist as people think racing and Oklahoma were in those days, he said he had very little trouble at the tracks.

I've been to Vera and Dewey back in the day. Watched Shane Carson run wheel to wheel with Rick Ferkel in his second sprint car race (driving the Nance 1n) at Dewey.

I've raced at defunct tracks at Goldsby, 2 in Ada, Ringling (a wonderful 3 cornered track that was only open a few weeks), Thackerville, Noble, Quartz Mountain, Faxon and Woodford. In fact, I've won A features at all of them except Thackerville and the big track at Ada.

I like the picture of the old gentleman. I worked in dealerships in the 70s and 80s and they were different worlds. Do you have any pictures of the Mowhawk track?

[Conan71]

There was also a track out in the vicinity of 61st & Memorial back in the '50's or early '60's.  I believe it was owned and/or maintained by the Tulsa Ramblers MC club and was for flat track motorcycle racing.

A friend of mine is another antique MC buff and I have seen results from that track in that friend's "archive".

There was also a paved oval, probably 1/8 to 1/5 mile just north of the I-44 Arkansas River bridge on the west bank.  It was still there when I was in my late teens.  I'm not sure if any of the original asphalt is still there or not these days.  A friend of mine and I took my Ford EXP around there early one morning, it was still a complete oval back then.  I believe that was called "Riverside Speedway" or at least that's what I was told one time.

Now defunct tracks I've raced at were: Mid-America Speedway behind the Harley shop in Bartlesville, West Siloam Speedway, the original Sweet Springs, Mo. track, 65 Speedway in Sedalia, Mo. (one of the nicest "small car" facilities anywhere.  It was owned by Bill Utz a former Knoxville and IMCA sprint car driver), Grand Lake Speedway behind a junk yard in Grove- first feature win ever, I actually got a sweep that night.  Probably several others I've forgotten about over the years.

MSpivey, do you know if the track in Lexington is still open?  They had the best gumbo clay and it would stay heavy all night.  Faxon was a great driver track.  I had fast time in '92 at their big spring race and ran 2nd in the feature.

[mspivey]

I said Noble, but I meant Lexington. Black Wieow Speedway next to thhe VW salvage. When I say I won a feature, that is a little mesleading. In the 90s they were trying to get it started again and I borrowed a car from a friend. The car was fast but handled terrible. I had to slow way down in the turns. Luckily, omly about six cars showed up. So I won, but..........

I sorta remember Bill Utz. he was big time in the 60s and 70s.

[mspivey]

Faxon, on the other hand was one of my favorites. I only raced there once, a 150 lap race. I fought tooth and nail with a purple Scirrocco for about the last 60 laps. It was about 110 degrees. I was so tired that if I hadn't been fighting for the lead i would have quit. I finally won, pulled into the infield, got out and made the ambulance give me oxygen. The promoter wasn't happy because after the Scirrocco cut me off about 40 times, I started booting him in the rear in every turn. Finally got around him. This time about 40 cars started on a very small track.

[Conan71]

Faxon was a tough joint in a winged car when there was significant wind straight out of the north or south.  One year, the winds were about 30 knots out of the south.  In turns 1 & 2 it would really hit the left sideboard and put the car over on the right rear.  In 3 & 4 it would lay the car down on the left rail and you could run through the turn without lifting.  Down the back stretch you could really feel the aero effect on the belly of the wing.  

That was a cool sensation!

Another favorite was Pea Ridge Speedway over in NW Arkansas.  Lots of room and very little lifting of the throttle.

Interesting side note- Breadburner from this forum used to help me on the race car in the '84 to '86 years, though I had no clue that's who that was until a couple of weeks ago.

[AMP]

Here are the photos of where Mohawk Speedway was at one time.  

Faxon was one of my favorite tracks, Charles Lupi had a handle on the prep of the clay there.  Flat out racing for the winged micros there.  Pete Frazier took the ASCS2 tour to Faxon a couple of times.  They raced motorcycles there as well.  Black Widow was also a Motorcycle raceway, as well as Buddy Cagle Speedway at Vera and Thunderbird in Foyil, Oklahoma north of Claremore.  DeAnza in Jenks was an oiled clay/sand short track motorcycle raceway located at the north end of the Jones Airport then Riverside Airport runway.  The late great Randy Cleek was one of hte track champions there.

I too remember the asphalt oval below I-44 on the North side near the river.  I had seen a few kart racers practicing there once in a while.  Not sure if it still exists, but will pop by there to take a photo if it does to add to the list.

The late Dutch Myers of Myers Harleydavidson owned the track you mentioned near 71st and Memorial.  It was where Woodland Hills Mall is now.  Myers son sold the land to the company that built the mall, cashed in and retired off to the Islands to the south Caribian.  

Curley Sutton was the promoter about the time I came along riding my Honda 90 when I was 14.  That was the first motorcycle race I had ever seen live.  Must of had a major influence on me, considering I have never stopped working in and around motorcycle racing since that day. LOL  Herb Hoo Doo Howard, Johnny McAnally, Joe Wilson among others raced there on big twin and 600cc single motorcycles.  It was a Hare Scrambles track that had some awesome burms built up almost like a bowl where they turned the bikes in left and right hand corners on the dirt track.  The announcers scoring press box was built from wood and painted white.  I always parked my motorcyle next to it and watched from underneath at first out of the sun.  Later I met Curley and he invited me to come up in the tower, then I started out working as a corner flag marshal in turn one at John Zink 1/2 mile near Skiatook, Oklahoma, Curley also promoted the races at the Zink ranch and at Thunderbird later on. I have announced motorcycle and micro races at Thunderbird, Faxon City, Port City Raceway among others.  

Joe Wilson became a district representative for Kawasaki Motor Corporation and was the person that got Herb {Hoo Doo} and Lucy Howard into the Kawasaki franchise in Tulsa.  Herb named it Action Cycles.  Dick and Sally Lane and Robert Foust (Frosty) later joined as partners along with Lonnie Godwin in Herb and Lucy's Kawasaki business.  They had separate locations and names for their dealerships then.  Sally and Dick bought out their shares and moved their operations to Grand Lake.  

Here are the photos of Mohawk.  Barry Grable and I are going to travel to Vera and Dewey next week if the rain slows down to capture stories and photos of those two tracks.  We may even swing by Thunderbird and get a photo of that one. Lights and fence is still up at Thunderbird, the club house is now a bar and a bait shop for the nearby lake.  Fisherman's Warf it is called.  



This is the intersection where everyone entered the Mohawk Speedway racetrack on Saturdays. You can almost see the cars on the open trailers lined up down the road.



This is Atlanta Avenue that led into the racetrack.  The Pit Entrance is on the left down this road.  This is looking North on Atlanta Avenue just north of 36th Street North in Tulsa, Oklahoma.


This is furher down the street. The street is Atlanta Avenue at 36th Street intersection. Track was on the left or west side of Atlanta between Atlanta and Lewis Avenue.
This view is looking back to the South from the end of Atlanta and pit road, track would of been on the right side of the road in this photo.



We believe this was turns 3&4 if the stands were on the West side facing East. This photo was shot from the Pit Road which is just West of Atlanta and intersects Atlanta on the South and North ends of the property.

[AMP]

Here is the final photo from the article above.

[Conan71]

I drove past the old Vera track some time back, maybe ten years.  I've tried to find Dewey Speedway and couldn't make anything out in the field where Leon Bacon said I'd find it.

I stand corrected on West Siloam being dormant.  I drove past there yesterday, they've built new stands and it looks to be in operation.

Actually, Dutch's son, Donnie, had a donut shop at 91st & Yale.  I met him around 2001 when I rode up there on my 1965 Harley Electra-Glide one morning to get an apple fritter.  I'd been in there many times but had no idea who the guy was until the morning I rode up there on a bike and he started talking about it and eventually told me who his dad was.  

He never mentioned anything about the Caribbean, maybe he blew his dad's money and moved back.  He had the donut shop and some sort of jake-leg construction company.  I brokered a deal for him on a complete leather-bound set of "Harley Enthusiasts" that spanned from the late '30's to the mid '50's.  He made out pretty well on that deal.

Barry Grable, always called him "Barely Able".  Tell him Conan says hello.  Don't know if he'd still remember me or not.

[AMP]

Couple of years ago you could still see one piece of guardrail at the Dewey track.  Track sits back on the rear of the property, if the grass was tall, you could not see the guardrail.  I saw it in the winter time.

Sad to think that we will be talking about Tulsa Speedway like this in the not too distant future.  Faxon City track is now a flat field, all bulldozed down.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by AMP

Couple of years ago you could still see one piece of guardrail at the Dewey track.  Track sits back on the rear of the property, if the grass was tall, you could not see the guardrail.  I saw it in the winter time.

Sad to think that we will be talking about Tulsa Speedway like this in the not too distant future.  Faxon City track is now a flat field, all bulldozed down.

[]  All of Lupi's work bulldozed.

Is Fort Cobb still open?  Running there was like running the Tulsa Shootout- couldn't ever hit the set up to save my life and if I did, the motor wouldn't run right. []

[AMP]

Yes Ft Cobb is still going.  After being closed for several years we re-opened it last season.  Ran Micros and Mini Stocks. Clarance Dutton is still there operating his tractor and the water cannons.  That is one of if not the smoothest tracks I have ever been around.  

I would of produced motorcycle and ATV events there had it not been for the fencing and guardrail systems used.  I was not comfortable with the DOT type barriers that used rebar on the tops for handling.  

Yes, Charles Lupi's places is history at Faxxon City.  That track had the best clay I have seen as far as being tacky and holding mositure.  Great for Micros they absoultly rocketed around that short track oval.  And it was safe with no guardrails and obstcles to hinder run off.

We are part of the Caney Speedway race production crew this season. I am there normally when I am not on the road with the Road Races.   Rain has postponed 7 of 9 races this season there.  However we ran two races two Saturdays ago when South Coffeyville rained out.  We had 56 cars and 3/4 full stands.  Not bad for just being opened 3 weekends.  It is a fast 1/4 mile with slight banking.  Nice people in that area, and the grandstands are made from the same galvanized metal as the Devils Bowl.  Lanny Edwards helped the owner purchase the replacement metal that once was wood there.   Good lighting and some dark gumbo clay that came from the strip pit behind the track, which now provides the water for the racetrack.

Rain is killing us at all the tracks this season.  Hopefully it will move out and we can go back to green flag racing.

[AMP]

Feel as if I live in Great Britan with all this rain.  Will it never end?

[Conan71]

The rain has been a promoter's nightmare for sure this year.

We ran at Caney a couple of times, I think.  That was what I called a "rock-n-roll joint".  Fast, pretty smooth.  As I recall we ran in the top five both times and won a heat the second time we were up there.

Ft. Cobb reminded me a lot of 65 Speedway in Sedalia, Mo., which was pretty much patterned off Knoxville, wide sweeping turns, gentle bank.  

Leon Bacon and I were waiting at the pay window, which was near the stands, one night after the races.  They used to let guys hot lap after the races, someone was letting his mechanic hot lap his turf car.  Every lap the guy kept coming wider off turn four, never lifting, and I told Leon that guy was going to "bust his donkey any lap now".  He'd already spun out once and re-started.  Sure enough, two laps later, busted the front stretch wall with the RR tire, sucked the RF into it and as he started to barrel-roll to the left, he was half out of the top of the roll cage.  Car landed on him and killed him instantly.  We knew he was gone as soon as the car landed.  That was a quiet ride home that night.  I can't remember what year for certain, somewhere between '92 and '94.  I don't think I ran there in '95 which was my last full year.

I found out later the car had cam-lock belts and they either opened on their own or he'd unbuckled to get the car back into gear when he spun.

Can't imagine my shock and disbelief when Pete Frazier died there in 2000.

[AMP]

I was announcing the Summer Sizzler when Pete was involved in his final accident on the front stretch right at the finish line.  

About 30 minutes later after they transported him, it was my  job to inform all the race teams of his status.  But we all knew what Pete would say had he of been there.  Don't stop on account of me, "Let's go racing", "Are we having fun yet?"

So we buckeled in the drivers and ran the $5,000 to win A Feature.