Most of you have come to the realization that sprint car racing is where it’s at for us.In central Oklahoma, I came from an area where the best racing was the supermodifieds.
Most of you have come to the realization that sprint car racing is where it‘s at for us.
In central Oklahoma, I came from an area where the best racing was the supermodifieds. I grew up in the 1960s, watching Harold Leep, Jackie Howerton, Emmett Hahn, Bobby Reynolds, Grady Wade, Bobby Laden, Evard Humphrey, Bob Eichor and Carl Ferguson.
I finally got to drive at the Fairgrounds Speedway in Oklahoma City during the 1970s, but it was later that I realized how good sprint car racing could be. My dad was the promoter at Fairgrounds Speedway with the promotion company he assembled in 1957.
Bud Carson was a city engineer fresh out of the Army when the Oklahoma junior chamber of commerce, the Jaycees, talked him into organizing a soapbox derby event. It was a huge success and that set dad up for more promotions.
The Jaycee Dragway started out as a dream by city officials, my dad and the NHRA. The U.S. Nationals was run there in 1957 and ‘58.
My dad‘s city engineer job was good enough to keep him busy. Things were good, he was making money, he had four kids, insurance and a retirement fund. But the success of those promotions, led to him quitting the job.
In 1957, he and my mom, Mary, incorporated the Mar-Car company and he began to learn about racing. Entertaining the fans became his goal.
Dad became connected with the IMCA and sprint cars became one of the traveling shows he included during the State Fair‘s 10-day schedule of events. The IMCA was a traveling organization that had its own stars, but also drew many of the locals to race with them.
At age 8, I began selling programs at our OKC events, but I was learning about racing — and about sprint car racing.
Initially, I didn‘t think sprint cars were not all that exciting as they would run in the afternoon during the Oklahoma State Fair and the half-mile track was dry slick and dusty for those shows. I was not all that impressed, as our regular Friday night show had it all. The car count was good and the racing was excellent.
Bud Carson purchased the white No. 2 car from OKC‘s Aaron Madden for my brother, Scott Carson, it was a first-class supermodified built by Jelly Wilhelm that was originally Harold Leep‘s 1973 winning ride. But about halfway through the season that car became available when Leep retired.
I was looking forward to a big event at Lanny and Beverly Edwards‘ Devil‘s Bowl Speedway and I had a better tow truck than Scott, so I towed his car to Texas.
It was the 1974 Spring Nationals with our cars and the sprint cars running in a doubleheader.
That is when I realized how good sprint car racing could be. The track was heavy and very racy and I saw Jan Opperman, Bubby Jones and James McElreath running against Dallas‘ best — Bobby Marshall, Shady McWhorter and Norman Martin.
After that trip, my focus changed, as in my opinion the best dirt-track drivers were racing sprint cars. I wanted to race with them.
I was lucky enough to get noticed by Lavern Nance. He ran one of the biggest racing operations in the country and he wanted me to drive his sprint cars.
After a few hot-lap sessions at Dewey Speedway and Tulsa Speedway, he took me on the road. I made my debut during a two-day show at Colorado National Speedway. The races were won by Doug Wolfgang and Eddie Leavitt. We ran third and fifth, respectively, and we were on our way.
More than 40 years later, I look back on a driving and promotional career that was very satisfying. I‘ve seen the good and the bad through the years but never wavered in my love for the sport and business of sprint car racing.
Through those years I‘ve seen champions rise from humble beginnings and second- and third-generation drivers become superstars. Those drivers certainly had the advantage of having grown up in the sport.
Unfortunately, I‘ve also seen the bad. I‘ve lost many friends in racing have had others who endured career-ending injuries.
I laugh when I hear racing families talk about home schooling. Back in the day, it happened on the road in a truck or a van while traveling from track to track.
I was involved in the Mar-Car promotions at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds Speedway track since birth and I keep that promotion company going today.
My parents worked at the race track daily. It was a full-time job for both of them and they treated it that way. It‘s so sad now as that track is gone. As I mentioned, I started selling programs and later promoted my own events.
Those times when things didn‘t go right were very difficult days. It made me wonder how my dad was so tough being a race promoter all those years. I remember I would run out and get the Saturday morning paper that would have the story on Friday night‘s races and I would watch my dad read it. I don‘t know how he tolerated the media when they put their own spin on how things went down on a given Friday night.
Modern promoters deal with the same thing. They lay it all on the line and hope for good weather, a big crowd and a great race that will leave the race fans talking about it. But they also deal with social media, which didn‘t exist back in the day.
Today, the signature events are everywhere. They offer the best drivers. They pay the most money and hope to have the best races. The fans look forward to them. They plan their vacations around those events. The hope is those events will be talked about for months prior to their running, and for years after the checkered flag.
I continue to attend sprint car races. I do it not as a series consultant or a team advisor, though, I‘ve done both in the past. I am a fan who can never get enough of a good thing.
There‘s always that thought that the big race you miss, will be the best race ever, so I try not to miss them.
After all these years, it‘s still all about the racing.