These lakeside park race tracks in Kansas and Oklahoma are like if my imaginary race tracks I'd come up with riding my bike around the roads of the campground when I was a kid became reality.
Those wete the campground roads of my childhood was driving on what was the Lake Afton track yesterday ive hot lapped the track when no one was around would loved to have raced it
Born and raised here in Ponca. I can remember as a kid going out to watch races and being so mad at my parents for spending the day watching cars go in circles in the hot summer temps. Now I enjoy reading and watching old videos about it. A few years ago we had hope the races would return but run counter-clockwise with Chump Car but the cost to prepare the track and insurance requirements were too much and the plans were scrapped. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
The week leading up to the race weekend, many volunteers camped at the track to be there to make the track as safe as it could be. One example was the necessity of unbolting the Armco barriers and reversing the overlap. That was necessary in several locations. After the racing military Lt. Col., or maybe full bird col., died from running into the trees that at the time had not been pruned higher than the ground, the protruding limbs hurt him to the limit. He was racing a Triumph TR-6.That is the way I recall it anyway. I didn't spectate. I was a crewman on a lawyer's Datsun 2000 that ran D-production. Those weekends were ALWAYS fun for the most of us. Except for the human loses, which were so very few, thank you Lord!
to be picky, it was actually about 1 1/3mi. per lap. it was called 1 1/2 to allow more cars the start the races. i won there a few times in my hprod morgan and rx/7 showroom stock car. in '81 the rx/7 participated in a race with a lemans start, with a steward by each car who made sure the driver was belted in before they could leave their starting spot. i won that race and was surprised to get a check for a few hundred dollars! i also won the hp race and my class in the scca showroom stock race and set lap records in both--one of those wonderful everything-went-very-well weekends. mr. trumbauer died when his head struck a low limb on a tree just as his car hit the haybales in front of it. a tornado came through at the beginning of a later race weekend and took out most of the trees on the inside of the front straight, which made it much easier to see the entire straight. the other fatality occurred after the driver was released from the hospital and no one knew he'd suffered an internal bleeding injury. ponca and lake afton were truly wonderful tracks for a slow car like mine..ah the memories!
😲 Thanks so much for sharing! (I'm just starting to read your book). 'Definitely appreciate the additional 1st-hand context. I'd read some other details of that accident but elected to leave it at a high level for the video, TLDR - trees are dangerous. Weather-wise, I also heard that one year the broadcast trailer (18 wheeler) got blown over with people in it, no tornado, but still on-brand for summer in OK. We're also definitely aware of Lake Afton and it's somewhere on our short-list of historic tracks to visit (since we've now been to Lake Garnett and Ponca City in that region).
@@LapoftheWorld i have another book, 'steering with your knees,' that's only available from me; $55 and it comes with a bumpersticker and a t-shirt; it's in a larger format in a clear presentation box. we figured i lose a couple bux with each one sold, but it's a teensy willing sacrifice. be well! toly
Hi! My Dad was Stan Trumbower. This group has been so good for me and my sister to put together the pieces after all these years. If only the tornado had come earlier. Our parents were divorced and much of the information form the race was really kept from us. The 49th anniversary of his passing was on the day this video was released. Kind of crazy. We appreciate any knowledge or stories anyone has about our Dad or the race. Thank you!
I'm going to get even pickier about the track length. My SSB Scirocco measured it at 1.2 miles. Dozens of times. :) I only ran there one year (1976), finished 4th due to a mechanical issue... a wet distributor, caused by putting a wheel off (into a mudhole) on the exit of turn 6. Ran about 2 full laps on 3 cylinders. Boo, Hiss! I did set a new SSB lap record though, after the distributor dried out. :)
My grandmother lived in Ponca City and my father was raised there. I'm disappointed that I've never heard of this before. But, very grateful to have found this channel.
I grew up in Ponca City. Great memories with my Dad. My softball all-star team ran the concession one year. It was great watching the races and meeting people from all over the country.
Hi Richard, thank you for doing this video. My father was Stanford Trumbower. I have often imagined what the track looked like that took his life in 1974. I can see now more clearly how his accident happened and the dangers of the track. I am glad that racing does not go on there anymore. BTW- this video was released on the day he died. Wierd, huh?
Very sorry for your loss, and very appreciative of your comment. There definitely couldn't be a race like this today without padded concrete barriers and catch fences around the entire length, not to mention much safer cars.
I was there on the day your dad hit the tree. If I remember correctly he was driving an XKE. I also think I remember him being air lifted out. Do I have these two memories correct? Sorry for your loss.
@@blnokc6793 I am also one of Stan's daughters. You have most of it correct.....Stan was driving the TR6 #87 car that day. He did hit a tree and was airlifted out. The race community has been very helpful helping us piece together what happened 50 years ago this July. If you saw the wreck, anything you remember about that day would be helpfuL We appreciate your condolences it really means a lot.
@@susancrawford7654 Susan, I really don't remember too much, just the medical personnel tending to him and then being air lifted out. I just so happen to own a TR6, going on 45 years now. Wish I could add more but memory has faded a bit. Again, sorry for your loss.
I remember the race Fourth of July of 1966. The Shelby GT Mustangs were new and ran with Cobras and Daytonas. McLarens and custom mid engine cars abounded. All these A class SCCA cars were fantastic. What a fun time. Days of fun, every class was exciting. Memories for a lifetime. I'm so happy to have found this web site. Thanks so much.
I was born in 1961 and grew up in and around the Tulsa, OK area, about 1 1/2 hours from Ponca City, and I had no idea! What a cool piece of history I knew nothing about! Thank you!
My great-aunt and uncle(Emma and Roy Parson- they ran Parsons grocery Store back in the 50s and 60s- if i have my dates right) lived off LA Cann right off of one of the turns. Her yard saw a few wrecks. We couldn't play in parts of her yard during the race. '76 thru 79 That's how i spent my 4th of Julys. I the race, the fireworks, the people. And yes around LA Cann was the fasted part and there were wrecks. All in all i am so blessed that i watched from a small kiddie pool with my cousins. ❤❤❤
Thanks for sharing! Definitely some front-row seats there. I suspect a lot of folks would've been jealous of the kiddie pool given my experience with summers in/around OK.
It’s so crazy that i as an Okie was unaware of this awesome history. I live about 10 minutes from Hallett and im set to do the Extreme Experience next time its here
The Lake Afton track near Wichita used to hold SCCA races every year, and was considered one of the best natural road courses in the country. Tons of fun!
@@LapoftheWorld Well worth it. It's pretty much all still there as well. As a teenager/college ager, I was at races at Afton and Ponca (and was one of the very first to get to drive on Heartland Park before it even opened! Working in the automotive world in the 80s and 90s was great!)
@@CaptainSeamus Heartland Park Topeka was my fave race track. Didn't matter if it was sports cars, drag racing, NASCAR, sprint cars, carts, or bikes - I loved it there. Can't believe such a busy place is gone.
During the 80s local AM radio station WBBZ staff broadcast live play-by-play of the racing.. with the audio also playing on the PA system covering the entire spectator areas. For 6 years I was one of the DJs at the station. My track position was on the outside of Turn 1. I had a clear view of the cars coming at me from Start/Finish the as they navigated the turn. Many cars would try to cut too far to the left leaving the pavement, picking up dirt off the edge.. and when they tried to come back to pavement they’d lose control spinning counter clockwise and then off the outside of the turn just passed my position. After each race I would walk to the paddock to interview the winner, or any one unlucky to crash. The fans loved it. It was by far the best part of my radio career!!
I grew up in Ponca and attended annually for many year, first with my dad as a youngster and later on my own. I looked forward to it every year as I love motor sports and there was a special feeling in town when the races were going on. Parkhill was amazing in his McLaren, but I think Scott Leibler may have had the track record in his Formula Atlantic. Tragically, he died in the SCCA run offs at Road Atlanta in the late ‘80s. One of the cooler things I saw at the races (other than Candy Loving) was Danny Edwards racing (I think) in a Formula Ford while he was actively on the PGA Tour. He played out of Oaktree National and their logo was on the hood of his car. He was a pretty good driver as I recall.
Oh and thanks for doing this Richard. Brings back a lot of great memories. The Grand Prix created a lifelong passion for me and I’ve now done many laps at Hallett and was fortunate to realize a dram and do a bunch of laps in an F1600 at Laguna Seca last year. Probably a good thing the races in Ponca stopped. I’ve driven the track 100s of times, but would have been cool to compete there.
In late 1960s and then 70s female dates and I enjoyed many amatuer road races (my favorite sport) at Ponca course. Thanks for many swell memories Ponca folks. Fortunately, now my wife and I drive for less than an hour to greatly enjoy SCCA races at Hallett. I was able to enter Hallett track on a day many years ago when it was not open to public, with help of friend who worked there. The special event was for international great Emerson Fittipaldi's team, who rented track for him only to practice in Indy type car. Emerson was in his prime and I'll always remember being there to watch him put down super fast times on difficult course. Thanks Hallett.
Great memories. Thanks. My dad owned a motel “Four Winds) in Ponca in the mid 70’s. Got to know several drivers and attended with them as they would stay at our motel and also at our house
I really appreciate race nostalgia and your channel - especially as a former two times 1st gen. NSX owner. Sidenote: This racetrack is two days older than me. 😉
This was a yearly ritual for me, had to get the wheat cut before the 4th. so I could go to the races. Such a fun weekend watching friends race and the spectacle of the event. The 70's was such a great time to be alive, lot less rules and a free spirit were the theme. This is the event that got me hooked on Alfa Romeo's, had a 1974 GTV 2000 and still have a 1991 spider. Watching them spar with the the 911's was magic.
I remember these events as a youngster. Many good memories created there with family and friends while shooting fireworks and watching the races. Good video 👍
My dad was a long time member of the SCCA here in Oklahoma. In 1960 he drove his 1956 VW Karmann-Ghia in an SCCA economy run. His wife (my mom, durhh), was his navigator and pregnant with their first child. Hot summer with no AC... he put blocks of ice in the nostril vents of the car to make the drive more tolerable for her. I remember my dad taking me to the races at Ponca twice. The first time I was so young that I only remember that I went there. The second time must have been '87 because I remember being shortly out of high school (class of '86). It was an awesome and memorable day. I got to talk to a couple of Formula V (VW) teams about building engines for their class. One notable takeaway was the last race of the day, "Showroom Stock". After a full day of unmuffled, roaring, howling or whining engines, it was almost comical contrast to hear just (relatively) quiet revving and squawking tires.
Just stumbled across your channel. I remember going to Ponca City Grand Prix in the 70's with my dad. He was part of the Wichita Witches region SCCA. I met Paul Newman there back in the day. Great memories, unfortunately they quit racing there by the time I was old enough to get my license.
Grew up in Ponca City and this was an annual event for my family. Thought it was my dad’s idea but learned it was my mom who loved fast cars. She’d get us up early to get prime spot usually at end of main straight. Great memories thanks for this video.
This is great. I worked turn 6 for 3 years and raced there in 1978 in a Showroom Stock LeCar! Drove all the way from Savannah GA. Now I live 7 miles as the crow flies from Rd Atlanta.
I was a member of the scca in the seventies and heard a lot of stories from friends about Ponca but never made it over there. Car and Driver magazine did a very entertaining article on the race in the early 70s; maybe it’s archived somewhere! I did however spend several weekends at the Great Prairie Grand Prix at the old WW2 air base in Stuttgart Arkansas. I think it closed down in 1978 but it saw a lot of big time racers come through there over the years. I met Bobby Rahal and Jim Trueman there in 1974 when Bobby was driving Formula B and Jim was in a sports racer. You might check it out for a future article. Thanks for your story!
Shorty after separating from the US Air Force in 1974 - and three years before becoming the resident caretaker of the then brand new Hallett Motor Racing Circuit - I was living south of OKC, got in touch with the Oklahoma Region SCCA and soon found myself on "Mom" Taylor's corner crew working Station 4 (a spectator crossing on the back straight). Annually, "Mom" rented adjoining, 2nd floor rooms overlooking the pool at a nearby hotel where her team crashed, prepped and/or partied. One bathroom was dedicated to expected water closet duties while the other bathtub was filled with ice, watermelon, beer or other libations. After a day of flag & comm duties - and once the post-race track party wound down - the crew returned to the hotel to continue refreshing ourselves and to slice open those melons so we could make a mess consuming them and spitting seeds into the pool (most of the time)! My most memorable Ponca F&C duty was later in the 1970s at "flatiron," the square right that connected the stupid fast back straight to the front, S/F straight. I got to flag the "ground-pounder" race at flatiron from behind a trackside tree just upstream from the apex - something that would NOT be permitted these days! It was exciting being so close to all that horsepower and brake dust but I am indeed fortunate that no car got punted into the water barrels or the tree that had my back! While I began my stage rally career while living across the track from Hallett's main building and raced at Hallett through the 1990s, I never got to race at Ponca. Still, the memories from half a century ago are as crisp and clear as if I worked that race last year. BTW, scuttlebutt has it that measurement of the track included some innovative zig-zagging to make certain it measured the minimum 1.5 miles required to qualify for an SCCA National competition!
Thanks for sharing that! Sounds like a great time 😂. I did wonder a little about the lap length based on our own tripometer readings but assumed either something was slightly different or there has been a little rounding done on the number.
Algorithm: Here's a video from a channel you've never heard of before with Ponca City in its title Me: Ponca City as in... Oklahoma??? Guess I'll find out.... 2 minutes later: Hey it is Oklahoma! Welp, I'm already here, might as well see what this is about then
This is an awesome video. The Grove of trees on the side of turn one was pretty famous. There was an emergency room doctor from Wichita that hit one of those trees like two years in a row (he survived unlike Dr Earl Pearson who passed away in a years earlier race accident). After that they put a big sign up with a big red cross on it and called it “Doc’s Tree”. The Armco barriers are relics from that time. I was fortunate enough to meet one of the racers who came out to the airport where I worked to buy avgas and he asked if I wanted to help him as a pit crew over the weekend. He was a paleontologist for the University of Arizona who raced as a hobby. Also, it is pronounced L.A. Caaan (sounds like) Drive
Thanks for sharing the memories! Half the fun for me of making these is reading all of the stories that crop up in comments and I'm sure that's the same for many watching.
That was an event that I always looked forward to racing. Fun times, the town was all-in! though it was kinda funny, in hindsight, to see tress "protested" by a stack of old tires...it's fun to see that I appeared in the results in the 1990 Gazette... We just don't do 'em like that any more... EDIT: RIP John Saucier. He was a mentor to me in me SSA days, and he and his wife welcomed me into their home any time I was in the area. Miss those two.
I flipped an MG Midget END-OVER-END in Ponca, 'round the park! Just a SCCoA weekender race, but fun. When I switched to a FIAT X1/9, it was REALLY FUN! 80 MPH racing, but I ran away from the MG's, Bug-eyed Sprites and V-Dubs at Hallet. I could never get enough people interested in a "Formula Toyota 1.8L" class using the I-4 20R engine in the "kit cars". I think the cost of racing slicks became too steep. Breaking parts of a 20R or it's driveline shouldn't have been an issue @ 135HP level.
Growing up my dad had a 1960 triumph tr3-a that won this race in the early 60s. Always looked up info on this race. Thanks for this video! Didn’t know the layout was still there. Wonder if Ponca City has a list of race winners over the years.
This seems like the Isle of Man TT but for cars, and in the Midwest. Was this a pre-rod bearing video or is the black NSX back on the road!? Been waiting for a video of that whole story/process.
Crazy to think about! I read some about the old oil tycoon lifestyles while doing my research. Ponca City definitely has a more interesting history than your average oil boom town.
I was also horribly curious about that situation, but I did not find any official or 1st hand accounts during my research. If that was him and you find out more, please share!
Lot's of folks have mentioned Lake Afton so I'm moving that up on my "hit list" for somewhere to visit soon. I was aware of it but we aren't in Kansas very often.
Safety!! Harumph! More fun, adventure and excitement has sadly been taken in the name of safety. In the spirit of a famous WW2 general, “NUTS!!” Racing is dangerous, it should be. This ridiculous over concern with “safety” and litigation has deprived us all in this country of roadracing and rally stage events which somehow still manage to take place in Europe and other countries. I’m not saying absolute ‘caution to the wind’, but there should be a balance. I want the full, traditional Mulsanne straight! I want to see real roadracing on public roads. I want to see rally stages on some of our amazing public roads in this country, the same roads we can experience ourselves.
Ponca, Warbonnet, Hallett and Garnett, but you missed Lake Afton??? I grew up racing Karts in that area. Dad told stories about Warbonnet, but I never heard of Ponca City.
On-location stuff was shot on the way to NSXPO last fall. Took a while to go through the rest of the logistics, discovery, and editing. Soon though...soon :)
Good question. I haven't spent a ton of time digging, but I don't even see where someone's modded it into AC, and that's a bit surprising considered they have Greenwood Roadway etc. in there.
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These lakeside park race tracks in Kansas and Oklahoma are like if my imaginary race tracks I'd come up with riding my bike around the roads of the campground when I was a kid became reality.
Those wete the campground roads of my childhood was driving on what was the Lake Afton track yesterday ive hot lapped the track when no one was around would loved to have raced it
Born and raised here in Ponca. I can remember as a kid going out to watch races and being so mad at my parents for spending the day watching cars go in circles in the hot summer temps. Now I enjoy reading and watching old videos about it. A few years ago we had hope the races would return but run counter-clockwise with Chump Car but the cost to prepare the track and insurance requirements were too much and the plans were scrapped. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
The week leading up to the race weekend, many volunteers camped at the track to be there to make the track as safe as it could be. One example was the necessity of unbolting the Armco barriers and reversing the overlap. That was necessary in several locations. After the racing military Lt. Col., or maybe full bird col., died from running into the trees that at the time had not been pruned higher than the ground, the protruding limbs hurt him to the limit. He was racing a Triumph TR-6.That is the way I recall it anyway. I didn't spectate. I was a crewman on a lawyer's Datsun 2000 that ran D-production. Those weekends were ALWAYS fun for the most of us. Except for the human loses, which were so very few, thank you Lord!
Went there a few times!! What a July 4 weekend!!!
to be picky, it was actually about 1 1/3mi. per lap. it was called 1 1/2 to allow more cars the start the races. i won there a few times in my hprod morgan and rx/7 showroom stock car. in '81 the rx/7 participated in a race with a lemans start, with a steward by each car who made sure the driver was belted in before they could leave their starting spot. i won that race and was surprised to get a check for a few hundred dollars! i also won the hp race and my class in the scca showroom stock race and set lap records in both--one of those wonderful everything-went-very-well weekends. mr. trumbauer died when his head struck a low limb on a tree just as his car hit the haybales in front of it. a tornado came through at the beginning of a later race weekend and took out most of the trees on the inside of the front straight, which made it much easier to see the entire straight. the other fatality occurred after the driver was released from the hospital and no one knew he'd suffered an internal bleeding injury. ponca and lake afton were truly wonderful tracks for a slow car like mine..ah the memories!
😲 Thanks so much for sharing! (I'm just starting to read your book). 'Definitely appreciate the additional 1st-hand context. I'd read some other details of that accident but elected to leave it at a high level for the video, TLDR - trees are dangerous. Weather-wise, I also heard that one year the broadcast trailer (18 wheeler) got blown over with people in it, no tornado, but still on-brand for summer in OK. We're also definitely aware of Lake Afton and it's somewhere on our short-list of historic tracks to visit (since we've now been to Lake Garnett and Ponca City in that region).
@@LapoftheWorld i have another book, 'steering with your knees,' that's only available from me; $55 and it comes with a bumpersticker and a t-shirt; it's in a larger format in a clear presentation box. we figured i lose a couple bux with each one sold, but it's a teensy willing sacrifice. be well! toly
Hi! My Dad was Stan Trumbower. This group has been so good for me and my sister to put together the pieces after all these years. If only the tornado had come earlier. Our parents were divorced and much of the information form the race was really kept from us. The 49th anniversary of his passing was on the day this video was released. Kind of crazy. We appreciate any knowledge or stories anyone has about our Dad or the race. Thank you!
Holy crap! I know your name from when I was a little kid, hearing my dad tell stories of his times at SCCA events and Hallet.
I'm going to get even pickier about the track length. My SSB Scirocco measured it at 1.2 miles. Dozens of times. :) I only ran there one year (1976), finished 4th due to a mechanical issue... a wet distributor, caused by putting a wheel off (into a mudhole) on the exit of turn 6. Ran about 2 full laps on 3 cylinders. Boo, Hiss! I did set a new SSB lap record though, after the distributor dried out. :)
My grandmother lived in Ponca City and my father was raised there. I'm disappointed that I've never heard of this before. But, very grateful to have found this channel.
I grew up in Ponca City. Great memories with my Dad. My softball all-star team ran the concession one year. It was great watching the races and meeting people from all over the country.
Hi Richard, thank you for doing this video. My father was Stanford Trumbower. I have often imagined what the track looked like that took his life in 1974. I can see now more clearly how his accident happened and the dangers of the track. I am glad that racing does not go on there anymore. BTW- this video was released on the day he died. Wierd, huh?
Very sorry for your loss, and very appreciative of your comment. There definitely couldn't be a race like this today without padded concrete barriers and catch fences around the entire length, not to mention much safer cars.
@@LapoftheWorld Thank you!
I was there on the day your dad hit the tree. If I remember correctly he was driving an XKE. I also think I remember him being air lifted out. Do I have these two memories correct? Sorry for your loss.
@@blnokc6793 I am also one of Stan's daughters. You have most of it correct.....Stan was driving the TR6 #87 car that day. He did hit a tree and was airlifted out. The race community has been very helpful helping us piece together what happened 50 years ago this July. If you saw the wreck, anything you remember about that day would be helpfuL We appreciate your condolences it really means a lot.
@@susancrawford7654 Susan, I really don't remember too much, just the medical personnel tending to him and then being air lifted out. I just so happen to own a TR6, going on 45 years now. Wish I could add more but memory has faded a bit. Again, sorry for your loss.
I remember the race Fourth of July of 1966. The Shelby GT Mustangs were new and ran with Cobras and Daytonas. McLarens and custom mid engine cars abounded. All these A class SCCA cars were fantastic. What a fun time. Days of fun, every class was exciting. Memories for a lifetime. I'm so happy to have found this web site. Thanks so much.
Likewise thanks for sharing your memories!
I was born in 1961 and grew up in and around the Tulsa, OK area, about 1 1/2 hours from Ponca City, and I had no idea! What a cool piece of history I knew nothing about! Thank you!
I had no idea there was a Ponca City Grand Prix. Need to bring that back, immediately. I'd love to go watch. Or heck, build a car and race the thing.
My great-aunt and uncle(Emma and Roy Parson- they ran Parsons grocery Store back in the 50s and 60s- if i have my dates right) lived off LA Cann right off of one of the turns. Her yard saw a few wrecks. We couldn't play in parts of her yard during the race. '76 thru 79 That's how i spent my 4th of Julys. I the race, the fireworks, the people. And yes around LA Cann was the fasted part and there were wrecks. All in all i am so blessed that i watched from a small kiddie pool with my cousins. ❤❤❤
Thanks for sharing! Definitely some front-row seats there. I suspect a lot of folks would've been jealous of the kiddie pool given my experience with summers in/around OK.
It’s so crazy that i as an Okie was unaware of this awesome history. I live about 10 minutes from Hallett and im set to do the Extreme Experience next time its here
The Lake Afton track near Wichita used to hold SCCA races every year, and was considered one of the best natural road courses in the country. Tons of fun!
Lake Afton is on my list to visit next time we're through that region.
@@LapoftheWorld Well worth it. It's pretty much all still there as well. As a teenager/college ager, I was at races at Afton and Ponca (and was one of the very first to get to drive on Heartland Park before it even opened! Working in the automotive world in the 80s and 90s was great!)
@@CaptainSeamus Heartland Park Topeka was my fave race track. Didn't matter if it was sports cars, drag racing, NASCAR, sprint cars, carts, or bikes - I loved it there. Can't believe such a busy place is gone.
Wow. Learn something new every day.
During the 80s local AM radio station WBBZ staff broadcast live play-by-play of the racing.. with the audio also playing on the PA system covering the entire spectator areas. For 6 years I was one of the DJs at the station. My track position was on the outside of Turn 1. I had a clear view of the cars coming at me from Start/Finish the as they navigated the turn. Many cars would try to cut too far to the left leaving the pavement, picking up dirt off the edge.. and when they tried to come back to pavement they’d lose control spinning counter clockwise and then off the outside of the turn just passed my position. After each race I would walk to the paddock to interview the winner, or any one unlucky to crash. The fans loved it. It was by far the best part of my radio career!!
I grew up in Ponca and attended annually for many year, first with my dad as a youngster and later on my own. I looked forward to it every year as I love motor sports and there was a special feeling in town when the races were going on. Parkhill was amazing in his McLaren, but I think Scott Leibler may have had the track record in his Formula Atlantic. Tragically, he died in the SCCA run offs at Road Atlanta in the late ‘80s. One of the cooler things I saw at the races (other than Candy Loving) was Danny Edwards racing (I think) in a Formula Ford while he was actively on the PGA Tour. He played out of Oaktree National and their logo was on the hood of his car. He was a pretty good driver as I recall.
Oh and thanks for doing this Richard. Brings back a lot of great memories. The Grand Prix created a lifelong passion for me and I’ve now done many laps at Hallett and was fortunate to realize a dram and do a bunch of laps in an F1600 at Laguna Seca last year. Probably a good thing the races in Ponca stopped. I’ve driven the track 100s of times, but would have been cool to compete there.
@@user-ez6us2ow2d likewise thanks for sharing your memories and giving me a few names to look up as I keep learning new things about these races!
In late 1960s and then 70s female dates and I enjoyed many amatuer road races (my favorite sport) at Ponca course. Thanks for many swell memories Ponca folks.
Fortunately, now my wife and I drive for less than an hour to greatly enjoy SCCA races at Hallett.
I was able to enter Hallett track on a day many years ago when it was not open to public, with help of friend who worked there. The special event was for international great Emerson Fittipaldi's team, who rented track for him only to practice in Indy type car. Emerson was in his prime and I'll always remember being there to watch him put down super fast times on difficult course. Thanks Hallett.
Neat video man, it is like watching the history channel.
Hopefully back when it was good, 😅! They lost me with all the reality TV lately.
@@LapoftheWorld “ The real wife’s of geologist” would have done well though.
@@DriversTherapy That or a Drive to Survive clone with competing archeological digs or something, lol.
That sounds fun. Just like everytjing else in this town it goes away
Great memories. Thanks. My dad owned a motel “Four Winds) in Ponca in the mid 70’s. Got to know several drivers and attended with them as they would stay at our motel and also at our house
I really appreciate race nostalgia and your channel - especially as a former two times 1st gen. NSX owner. Sidenote: This racetrack is two days older than me. 😉
I used to go the Ponca City Gran Prix. Family and friends all went together and had great fun. Fabulous racing.
Never knew this either. I'm about an hour or so away.
Good video. Subscribed for more!
This is super cool I grew up in Ponca and never knew this .. nice little history trip!!
Always such a joy watching your track tours Richard. Hope to see you here in Kansas or Missouri soon. Safe travels!
Thanks! Definitely a handful we have yet to drive or visit in KS and MO, and will definitely keep you posted when we're back through the area!
This was a yearly ritual for me, had to get the wheat cut before the 4th. so I could go to the races. Such a fun weekend watching friends race and the spectacle of the event. The 70's was such a great time to be alive, lot less rules and a free spirit were the theme.
This is the event that got me hooked on Alfa Romeo's, had a 1974 GTV 2000 and still have a 1991 spider. Watching them spar with the the 911's was magic.
I remember these events as a youngster. Many good memories created there with family and friends while shooting fireworks and watching the races. Good video 👍
I've raced/chased a few speed demons on that track!😂😂😂
My dad was a long time member of the SCCA here in Oklahoma. In 1960 he drove his 1956 VW Karmann-Ghia in an SCCA economy run. His wife (my mom, durhh), was his navigator and pregnant with their first child. Hot summer with no AC... he put blocks of ice in the nostril vents of the car to make the drive more tolerable for her.
I remember my dad taking me to the races at Ponca twice. The first time I was so young that I only remember that I went there. The second time must have been '87 because I remember being shortly out of high school (class of '86). It was an awesome and memorable day. I got to talk to a couple of Formula V (VW) teams about building engines for their class. One notable takeaway was the last race of the day, "Showroom Stock". After a full day of unmuffled, roaring, howling or whining engines, it was almost comical contrast to hear just (relatively) quiet revving and squawking tires.
Just stumbled across your channel. I remember going to Ponca City Grand Prix in the 70's with my dad. He was part of the Wichita Witches region SCCA. I met Paul Newman there back in the day. Great memories, unfortunately they quit racing there by the time I was old enough to get my license.
Thanks for stumbling in and sharing the memories! Always fun to hear stories from people who were actually there in one capacity or another. 🙌
Grew up in Ponca City and this was an annual event for my family. Thought it was my dad’s idea but learned it was my mom who loved fast cars. She’d get us up early to get prime spot usually at end of main straight. Great memories thanks for this video.
This is great. I worked turn 6 for 3 years and raced there in 1978 in a Showroom Stock LeCar! Drove all the way from Savannah GA. Now I live 7 miles as the crow flies from Rd Atlanta.
I was a member of the scca in the seventies and heard a lot of stories from friends about Ponca but never made it over there. Car and Driver magazine did a very entertaining article on the race in the early 70s; maybe it’s archived somewhere! I did however spend several weekends at the Great Prairie Grand Prix at the old WW2 air base in Stuttgart Arkansas. I think it closed down in 1978 but it saw a lot of big time racers come through there over the years. I met Bobby Rahal and Jim Trueman there in 1974 when Bobby was driving Formula B and Jim was in a sports racer. You might check it out for a future article. Thanks for your story!
I had a friend that'd race the grand prix, I've heard all kinds of stories about the races.
I think it'd be awesome if it came back
A group used to race outboard hydrofoil boats at Claremore Lake about the same era.
Shorty after separating from the US Air Force in 1974 - and three years before becoming the resident caretaker of the then brand new Hallett Motor Racing Circuit - I was living south of OKC, got in touch with the Oklahoma Region SCCA and soon found myself on "Mom" Taylor's corner crew working Station 4 (a spectator crossing on the back straight). Annually, "Mom" rented adjoining, 2nd floor rooms overlooking the pool at a nearby hotel where her team crashed, prepped and/or partied. One bathroom was dedicated to expected water closet duties while the other bathtub was filled with ice, watermelon, beer or other libations. After a day of flag & comm duties - and once the post-race track party wound down - the crew returned to the hotel to continue refreshing ourselves and to slice open those melons so we could make a mess consuming them and spitting seeds into the pool (most of the time)!
My most memorable Ponca F&C duty was later in the 1970s at "flatiron," the square right that connected the stupid fast back straight to the front, S/F straight. I got to flag the "ground-pounder" race at flatiron from behind a trackside tree just upstream from the apex - something that would NOT be permitted these days! It was exciting being so close to all that horsepower and brake dust but I am indeed fortunate that no car got punted into the water barrels or the tree that had my back!
While I began my stage rally career while living across the track from Hallett's main building and raced at Hallett through the 1990s, I never got to race at Ponca. Still, the memories from half a century ago are as crisp and clear as if I worked that race last year.
BTW, scuttlebutt has it that measurement of the track included some innovative zig-zagging to make certain it measured the minimum 1.5 miles required to qualify for an SCCA National competition!
Thanks for sharing that! Sounds like a great time 😂. I did wonder a little about the lap length based on our own tripometer readings but assumed either something was slightly different or there has been a little rounding done on the number.
I live 30 minutes north in Kansas and I had no idea of the history of that park, thank you for the input!
Algorithm: Here's a video from a channel you've never heard of before with Ponca City in its title
Me: Ponca City as in... Oklahoma??? Guess I'll find out....
2 minutes later: Hey it is Oklahoma! Welp, I'm already here, might as well see what this is about then
Was just at Lake Afton yesterday miss the days of the gran prix i have a car built by an old course racer
The Lake Garnett Grand Prix Revival is the weekend of October 11-13 2024.
This is an awesome video. The Grove of trees on the side of turn one was pretty famous. There was an emergency room doctor from Wichita that hit one of those trees like two years in a row (he survived unlike Dr Earl Pearson who passed away in a years earlier race accident). After that they put a big sign up with a big red cross on it and called it “Doc’s Tree”.
The Armco barriers are relics from that time.
I was fortunate enough to meet one of the racers who came out to the airport where I worked to buy avgas and he asked if I wanted to help him as a pit crew over the weekend. He was a paleontologist for the University of Arizona who raced as a hobby.
Also, it is pronounced L.A. Caaan (sounds like) Drive
Thanks for sharing the memories! Half the fun for me of making these is reading all of the stories that crop up in comments and I'm sure that's the same for many watching.
Wow! I've lived most of my life in Oklahoma, and I never knew this!
I will have to make my way up to see that sometime.
That was an event that I always looked forward to racing. Fun times, the town was all-in! though it was kinda funny, in hindsight, to see tress "protested" by a stack of old tires...it's fun to see that I appeared in the results in the 1990 Gazette...
We just don't do 'em like that any more...
EDIT: RIP John Saucier. He was a mentor to me in me SSA days, and he and his wife welcomed me into their home any time I was in the area. Miss those two.
had no idea there was a track in ponca city
Those are two great-looking NSX's!
🙌 Thanks! 320,000 miles on the black one now('his), and ~160k on the red one ('hers).
@@LapoftheWorld impressive
The aerial views and the roadside stills present in this video certainly make the case that this track is unsafe to race on. 🤔
I flipped an MG Midget END-OVER-END in Ponca, 'round the park! Just a SCCoA weekender race, but fun. When I switched to a FIAT X1/9, it was REALLY FUN! 80 MPH racing, but I ran away from the MG's, Bug-eyed Sprites and V-Dubs at Hallet. I could never get enough people interested in a "Formula Toyota 1.8L" class using the I-4 20R engine in the "kit cars". I think the cost of racing slicks became too steep. Breaking parts of a 20R or it's driveline shouldn't have been an issue @ 135HP level.
Growing up my dad had a 1960 triumph tr3-a that won this race in the early 60s. Always looked up info on this race. Thanks for this video! Didn’t know the layout was still there. Wonder if Ponca City has a list of race winners over the years.
This seems like the Isle of Man TT but for cars, and in the Midwest. Was this a pre-rod bearing video or is the black NSX back on the road!? Been waiting for a video of that whole story/process.
The on-location recording was pre-rod bearing (on the way to NSXPO last year), but also yes and that story is coming soon!
You'd be surprised to also know that they held polos matches, fox hunts and gardens to rival the Gardens of Versailles here in Ponca City.
Crazy to think about! I read some about the old oil tycoon lifestyles while doing my research. Ponca City definitely has a more interesting history than your average oil boom town.
I know Fred Parkhill. He owned Parkhill’s Liquor in Tulsa.
Attended this event ln 1967.
I would be interested to hear more about the farmer on the corner. That’s probably my grandfather.
I was also horribly curious about that situation, but I did not find any official or 1st hand accounts during my research. If that was him and you find out more, please share!
There was also a race track in mannford it’s about a hour south of Ponca city, it’s a trailer park now.
Yup. "War Bonnet". We've been there! It's a while ago, so lower production value, but you'll find it elsewhere on the channel!
@@LapoftheWorld just watch that one too…
I remember the Lake Afton Grand Prix.
Lot's of folks have mentioned Lake Afton so I'm moving that up on my "hit list" for somewhere to visit soon. I was aware of it but we aren't in Kansas very often.
Can am cars running that place looks sketchy. All those trees...it is crazy
Safety!! Harumph! More fun, adventure and excitement has sadly been taken in the name of safety. In the spirit of a famous WW2 general, “NUTS!!”
Racing is dangerous, it should be. This ridiculous over concern with “safety” and litigation has deprived us all in this country of roadracing and rally stage events which somehow still manage to take place in Europe and other countries.
I’m not saying absolute ‘caution to the wind’, but there should be a balance. I want the full, traditional Mulsanne straight! I want to see real roadracing on public roads. I want to see rally stages on some of our amazing public roads in this country, the same roads we can experience ourselves.
Ponca, Warbonnet, Hallett and Garnett, but you missed Lake Afton???
I grew up racing Karts in that area. Dad told stories about Warbonnet, but I never heard of Ponca City.
Lake Afton is on the List, probably would've already gotten there but hit a bigger maintenance cycle than expected last year 😅
Later cars went WAY too fast for the facilities.
I have a poster from 1965
Hey I live in Ponca City
wait, is that footage old, or did you get your car back?
On-location stuff was shot on the way to NSXPO last fall. Took a while to go through the rest of the logistics, discovery, and editing.
Soon though...soon :)
Question is when in iracing?
Good question. I haven't spent a ton of time digging, but I don't even see where someone's modded it into AC, and that's a bit surprising considered they have Greenwood Roadway etc. in there.
@@LapoftheWorld get in contact with Dale Earnhardt jr
"PromoSM" 💞