It doesn’t take a background in sociology or urban planning to understand the spatial organization one finds inside the Tulsa SageNet Center is a microcosm of any American city.
One could it is simply a reflection of the length of one’s transporter, or the size of one’s operation. That’s all true. Yet, the disbursement of race teams under the roof of this expansive building feels like one big Monopoly board. Everyone knows where to find Park Place and Boardwalk, but to find Mediterranean and Baltic Avenue takes a bit of exploration.
One caveat to this tale is important to note. If you think those who occupy the outer reaches of the building bemoan their fate or cower before others think again. There is a spirit and unspoken bond among this group. Even the measuring rod they use to determine success is uniquely their own.
The inside story of the occupants of the northern row of the complex has a long history. Collinsville, Ill., car owner Scott Robbins, dubbed by his friends “The Mayor,” picks up the story.
“A better part of 10 years ago it was cold in here and we were all complaining, so we sat around deciding who was going to go over there and bitch,” Robbins said. “So, I went over and said it is mighty cold and they told me they had the heat on. I told them that’s great, but you don’t have it on over on Peasant Row. When they didn’t understand I told them that the peasants over on the north wall would like a little heat. And we got heat.”
With that Robbins became the Mayor.
That was the rallying cry and now with their own special identification Danny Frye Jr. championed their cause. Frye had a sign made proclaiming the existence of the original Peasant Row, pronouncing that while some have all the money, this informal group has all the fun.
Yet, there is also an important message here. The Frye family has a deep midget racing legacy. Danny Frye Sr. is a member of the National Midget Racing Hall of Fame and he passed the torch down to his son. Danny Jr. was a St. Louis Auto Racing Ass’n midget champion and an early star at the Chili Bowl Nationals. Frye was a preliminary night winner in 1988 and finished second to good friend Scott Hatton in the finale that same year. All told he was in the starting grid on Saturday night five times.
Then the economics of the sport changed dramatically. By the time Danny Frye III began his career, it was difficult for a mom-and-pop team to have a fighting chance.
As hard as it is for some to fathom, during this week in the dead of winter the fact that some are fighting a dragon with a pen knife doesn’t matter.
“I love it back here. This is home,” said Danny Frye III. “We come down here to have fun. If we make a qualifier on our preliminary night that is nearly a win for us. If we make the A main on our preliminary night that is definitely a win.”
This is a group that hangs together.
“It’s like what happened the other night,” Frye III said. “C. J. Sarna had an issue with his transponder and Daniel Adler and I went and vouched for him. We showed people the video. That’s what we do back here. If one of us is having a great night, we get excited for them. It is us against the world.” Jumping in, Robbins added, “It is one for all, and all for one.”
It goes beyond that. As Robbins stood in the Frye’s trailer, he pointed in all directions noting, “We all help each other out. That guy has my torque tube and the guy down there has a box, and another guy has my Fontana power steering pump. He borrows it every year, so I asked him if he ever fixes it or if he just waits to come down here and borrow mine. My dad used to get mad about that. He would ask why I went and helped other people who might end up beating us. I said I don’t want to beat a guy just because he can’t get on the race track. Now we just bring two of everything in case we have to loan stuff out. Once in a while someone in the west end, we call that quarter-million dollar row also has to borrow something from us.”
Make no mistake about it, this group also has its own level of exclusivity.
“There was a gentleman who came over early once and asked people about Peasant Row,” Robbins said. “He got all offended. We asked what kind of motor he had and it was a Toyota. I looked around and said we have a millionaire stuck back here and he needs to get his ass back over there where he belongs.”
The relationships that have been formed over the years go way beyond the active participants. Chili Bowl officials understand where these teams long to be, and the members of Peasant Row extend support to track personnel.
“We know all the ladies who work the back door,” Robbins said. “We bring them blankets and a heater and they know they can come to us and get food, drinks and charge their phone.”
However, it must be reported that there was an incident that caused a great deal of consternation in the group. That was the night the Peasant Row sign was stolen.
“After they let us park last year, we came in on Saturday morning and the sign was gone,” Robbins said. “Well, I went straight to Daniel Robinson because he was just the one to take it. And he was straight-faced of course because he should have been an actor. He played it like it was nothing. Mr. Frye (Danny Jr.) was upset. The police came by, and we told them our sign was stolen and they said he would look into that. Later they told us they had him. They have cameras. They described him to a T. They knew what time it happened and they knew the guy had gone down and got a broom from A. J. Felker, and that he went back to a gray trailer.”
It was Robinson.
“We went down to his trailer,” Robbins said with a laugh, “and he said, ‘Dude, I don’t have it.’ I said look the guy had your Hawaiian shirt on and your loud pants. That’s when he said, ‘This is like CSI.’ We had the cop in on the act, he came down with one hand on his gun and the other on his handcuffs. That night we had a party at Daniel’s trailer and Matt Ward (Director of Operations at the Chili Bowl) and a bunch of people came by.”
Some ask why teams even bother to enter the Chili Bowl Nationals when they know they have no chance of winning. The citizens of Peasant Row have a ready answer.
“It is strictly a business trip for some guys,” Danny Frye Jr. said, “and it is strictly a vacation for us. Look at Keith Kunz in the middle of the night and see how stressed out he is. Then come back here and check us out.”
Danny Frye III agreed. “Here the camaraderie is second to none,” he said. “Over there they are ready to rip each other’s throats out, but over here we are having fun with everyone.”
Adding a postscript Danny Frye Jr. says, “I told my wife if I ever blow up this engine, I am still going to enter a car and have a cooler where the engine was just like Jim Hurtubise did with his Mallard at Indianapolis.”