This message was edited on
January 19, 2022 at
08:25:15 AM by texdel
A little off topic, but relevant to the conversation…
Oklahoma has a storied and rich history in open wheel dirt track racing.
The 1970’s and 1980’s were in my opinion the best era for the state. The formation of the NCRA brought all the tri-state area (TX, OK, KS) tracks under a single sanction for the unique 100-inch dirt track Super Modifieds. Nance Speed Equipment of Wichita, KS became the leader in chassis manufacturing for the area after Sammy Swindell took the family business to prominence with WoO titles in 1981 and 1982. Herb Copeland won the NCRA title in 1981 for Nance as well. In the early days the Supers ran a 305 engine with a carburetor. Then in 1981 the series moved to 360 ci engines with fuel injection and top wings. The WoO became the series to run, and over the years the likes of Shane Carson, Andy Hillenburg, Tommie Estes Jr., Greg Wooley, Shane Stewart, Daryn Pittman and others took their talents nationwide. An owner who loved dirt track racing was Lloyd K. Stephens from Tulsa, and owner of the beautiful orange and black Ofixco WoO and Silver Crown cars for Ron Shuman and others. Of course recent success of this era includes the rise to NASCAR fame with Christopher Bell.
Some of the well-known drivers of the 100-inch era were Shane Carson, Herb Copeland, Jerry Stone, Bob Ewell, Tommie Estes Jr. Greg Wooley, Ray Crawford, Jon Johnson, Mike Peters, Randy Willingham, Bob Cody, Lyndon Moss, David Brown, Eugene Hair, and many more. Tracks with weekly and/or NCRA shows included Amarillo, TX, Wichita Falls, TX, Lawton, OK, OKC, Tulsa, OK, Enid, OK, Wichita, KS, and Hutchinson, KS. Hutchinson, KS and the big big half-mile was the Nationals of 100-inch racing and was a huge deal.
Then in the 1980’s Larry Hill created the NCRA/USAC Challenge at the beautiful State Fair Speedway at the OKC Fairgrounds. The cars were close enough in dimensions, weight and power that it was the ideal challenge race. In the 4 year period it split down the middle with Copeland in the Nance 1n claiming the first race for NCRA, Rickey Hood claiming the next two for USAC in 1984 and 1985, and then Shane Carson bringing the title back to the NCRA in a very popular win in 1986.
Over time, the state hosted USAC, CRA, SCRA, WoO, ASCoC, NCRA, ASCS, AMA short track racing at venues like Lawton, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa. Of course the state hosts the famous Chili Bowl.
Today, the state has the OCRS 305 RaceSaver Series which is very popular. Of course the ASCS Sooner region hosts 360 sprint races around the state and Lawton is a weekly RaceSaver track. It’s not what it used to be, but Oklahoma is still a great racing state and breeds top-notch drivers through its micro-sprint racing notably at I-44 and Port City race tracks.
The WoO returned a few years ago and now run at Lawton annually. The All Stars ran some races in the state during the pandemic with great success.
Okie-Dokie
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