At this point in racing history, a number of Oklahoma open-wheel racers have made their mark in the sport, some having garnered a national reputation.
At this point in racing history, a number of Oklahoma open-wheel racers have made their mark in the sport, some having garnered a national reputation. Ray Crawford, who passed in October at the age of 79, rarely strayed far from home over the course of his remarkable career.
Because of this, his name may not have been recognized in every corner of this land. Nonetheless, those who were privileged to watch him race, and understood the depth of the competition he faced on a regular basis, can attest to just how good he was.
Without question, Crawford was a giant in Sooner State racing circles, a status earned by the way he performed on the track, and how he conducted himself with others.
Every successful racer who calls Oklahoma home has benefited from the open-wheel racing foundation he helped to create during one of the true golden ages of racing in the great southwest, and the Plains region as well.
Crawford was born in Broken Arrow, Okla., in 1941, and began dabbling in racing near the time of his graduation from high school in 1959. His first interest was in drag racing, and he fell into circle track action nearly by chance.
When friend Harvey Hunter asked him to do a little work on his race car, the hook was set, and Crawford suddenly was interested in more than going in a straight line.
In 1965 he began competing in the modified ranks at Tulsa Speedway, and after getting the hang of it his career took off. He would build his own car and from there reel off three successive Tulsa Speedway track championships starting in 1966.
Having mastered the six-cylinder machines, he was anxious to move into the premier class. His wish came true when Melvin Jarnigan gave him a shot in his powerful supermodified. Crawford did not disappoint.
At season‘s end, he was named Rookie of the Year and, significantly, he also garnered the Sportsmanship Award.
He continued to climb the ladder when he jumped into James Plunkett‘s supermodified, and was a strong performer at Tulsa and also with the recently-formed National Championship Racing Association (NCRA). However, his fortunes truly turned north in 1976, when he hooked up with an old high school friend named Harold Hillenburg.
The successful oilman fielded a beautiful black No. 55 supermodified, and with his new driver, as well as mechanic Billy Cowett, the team was an instant hit. Ray conquered the big five-eighths-mile Tulsa Fairgrounds oval seven times on his way to the championship and added four more victories at Oklahoma City for good measure.
As today‘s younger fans line up to enjoy the Chili Bowl Nationals at the Tulsa Fairgrounds, many are only dimly aware of the drama that unfolded summer after summer just to the east of them.
As Crawford was coming into his own in the supermodified ranks, suddenly a full-blown rivalry erupted that produced night after night of must-see events.
Current Chili Bowl co-founder and promoter Emmett Hahn was as tough as they came behind the wheel. Armed with a stout machine campaigned by former Indy 500 owner/champion Jack Zink, Hahn was in no mood to give up his turf lightly.
As Hahn reflected on the life of Crawford and the era when they had hammer and tongs battles with regularity, he said with a laugh, “He and I were very competitive competitors. Out there for about 10 years it was either Ray or Emmett.”
As a promoter, now Hahn knows exactly how attractive this show was for fans and why the place was packed to the rafters.
“He was the good guy,” Hahn noted with a laugh. “And I was the guy that 50 percent of the people loved and 50 percent of the people hated. But that put 10,000 people in the grandstand for a weekly show. See, back then, we didn‘t realize what we had racing in front of a crowd like that. I got to spend about an hour-and-a-half with Ray just before he passed. I told him back in our day we didn‘t realize how much fun we had.”
One might surmise that a part of Hahn‘s story is a reflection of the work of a savvy publicist doing what they could to drum up business. The problem with this narrative is that it obscures a central part of the Crawford legacy.
Ray was truly so genuinely good with people that he was referred to as “Captain Nice.”
Champion racer Jerry Stone went wheel-to-wheel with Crawford for years, and he underscores that Crawford’s reputation, and popularity, came honestly.
“I knew him for 40 years,” Stone says. “He was an elbows-up driver for sure, but a really nice guy. That‘s why he won the Most Popular Driver nearly every year.”
Stone isn‘t exaggerating. In 1981 Crawford captured the Most Popular Driver Award for the fifth time in six years.
By that time, he had pocketed so many watches from nearby Moody‘s Jewelers that he respectfully asked that in 1981, one be fashioned for his wife Glenda instead.
Crawford ultimately won the 1978 NCRA championship, and capped his career by snaring the Tulsa Speedway championship in 1980 and 1981. His 1981 season was particularly satisfying, as his squad won 11 features at Tulsa alone.
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