Top Ten Things I..........

emery16

emery16

ROUNDY-ROUNDER!
Top ten thing I was thinking about while at SFCR last sat.
By Dennis Jones

10.How many laps have the Montgomery boys turned here?

9.Why did they run out of beer?

8.Has Worley ever passed a car he didn't hit?

7.Has Jason Keith ever finished a race without crashing?

6.Has a sprint car feature ever went flag2flag here?

5.Why are they allways out of fried bologna?

4.For a BIG BOY "Tank" sure is fast!!!

3.Do those fancy concrete pads come with electricity?

2.I wonder if Tubby Black was at the first ever race here?

and the #1 thing I was thinking about was..........................................















1.WHY DID THEY RUN OUT OF BEER?????????????????????????
 
answers....
10. On race nights or are we counting all those practice nights........? J/K boys!

9. Fredericktown high school night at the races.....

8. Not Mine. But then, I didn't lift for him either.......Or are you referring to Jr.?

7. Surely once but I can't remember for sure?

6. Yes, Green2red. Several times.

5. Millsey works there.

4. Agreeable. Think what he'd do if he too only weighed 95lbs. soaking wet.

3. They should for the rent, along with a canopy and picnic table.

2. I'm pretty sure, it only opened in 1970. He'd only been racing for 20 years at that point. ;)

1. The night was sponsored by the highway patrol to kick off the new, lower BAC enforcement.......

Hope I didn't offend anyone, just being funny here.
 
I believe the answer to #7 is Yes!

Maybe if you weren't so concerned about the track running out of BEER you would have seen him carrying the Checkered Flag after his heat race earlier that night. He did finish 5th in points.

Good Job Jason! Wishing you the best of luck in 2006!!! Keep after it!
 
Same from all of us at HMS, Jason!! We wish ya lotsa luck!! And more McDonald's at 4:30 a.m. with windows DOWN!!!:eek:
 
Man this dude had me going for a minute, I really felt his pain about the beer! Then I got to trash mouths #7 and he set it off! Didnt you run 600cc mini's?? Or did I miss something and you were the World of Outlaws Champ last season??? Stick to the beer and bologna those two things you know a lot about! Lay off the 28 car or unload your heap at SFCR and cut a few laps!
 
Jason done just fine this year...he had a few bouts with bad luck,but he did a awesome job. Maybe some of the ones who get on here throwing trash around just needs to put what they got out there(if they have anything).... Alot of talk in here about what drivers do or don't do and they who post just have no clue as to what it's really like out on that track. We set in the stands and watch,but we have no idea the money those drivers spend each week to do this,not only because they enjoy it, but for us also...Thanks to all the drivers for a awesome 2005 season. I have enjoyed every Saturday that I spent with you! LQQKING forward to many more.
 
I knew that question 7 was really gonna get some people going! Jason you did just fine this year. You will be getting your 1st win in 06. I also hope Mr. Short gets one too!
 
The top 2 things we all wondered about

emery16 said:
Top ten thing I was thinking about while at SFCR last sat.
By Dennis Jones

10.How many laps have the Montgomery boys turned here?

9.Why did they run out of beer?

8.Has Worley ever passed a car he didn't hit?

7.Has Jason Keith ever finished a race without crashing?

6.Has a sprint car feature ever went flag2flag here?

5.Why are they allways out of fried bologna?

4.For a BIG BOY "Tank" sure is fast!!!

3.Do those fancy concrete pads come with electricity?

2.I wonder if Tubby Black was at the first ever race here?

and the #1 thing I was thinking about was..........................................

1.WHY DID THEY RUN OUT OF BEER?????????????????????????
Click to expand...


#2 Why didnt Emery16 choke on some bologna gristle?

And Drum roll please.............................................

#1 Why didnt Emery16 stay in O'Fallon that Sat. night???
 
# 2, Tubby Black

I can remember when tubby raced at the Bismarck track in the `50s. Any of you young guys remember that?
 
Mun11 said:
I can remember when tubby raced at the Bismarck track in the `50s. Any of you young guys remember that?
Click to expand...

So what was it like to hunt for food with all of the dinosaurs running around stealing most of it?
 
Mun11 said:
I can remember when tubby raced at the Bismarck track in the `50s. Any of you young guys remember that?
Click to expand...
The first race track I ever went to was the Bismarck Speedway!! My parents took me there as a surprise one night!!! In fact I wrote a story about the experience a few years ago. I just went back into my computer and found it. Here it is:

By JEFF MILLS
BISMARCK, Mo. -- Do you remember going to your first-ever race? I guess my first race made a much bigger impression on me than it did other family members because I’m the only one that remembers anything about it.
It was a really hot day and my dad told me we were going somewhere special that night. We first stopped at a little Dairy Queen style restaurant there in Farmington that used to be on Karsch Blvd. next to the miniature golf place for a “brown derby” (in other words a dipped ice cream cone). That in itself was worth the trip into town from our small farm, but I had no idea that our next stop would play such a major importance in my life -- the Bismarck Memorial Speedway.
I don’t know how many of you remember the Bismarck Memorial Speedway, but for me it was the track where I saw my first race. I guess it had to be during the 1964 season because that was the last year Gene “Tubby” Black raced there and I definitely remember him. I couldn’t believe they could call a guy “Tubby” without getting their mouth slapped. I don’t remember much about the actual races, I just remember how great it was to be there. Everything was so new and different to me it really made a lasting impression. The sad part was we never went back. I guess the next race I went to was when Empire Speedway (now the St. Francois County Raceway) opened in 1970.
What got me started on this trip down memory lane was a conversation I was having on stlracing.com with some friends of mine. We were talking about some of the old tracks and what all happened to them. So I decided to investigate what happened to my “love of racing” birthplace.
The first person I contacted is my living encyclopedia of racing information - Tubby. Like always he was a fountain of information and he directed me in the proper direction.
I decided to drive out to where the track was (right next to the Bismarck Airport) to see if anything was left of the track. When I got out there I was pleasantly surprised to see the gate that usually blocks the road off to the track was open! Well, I had to go through and check it out.
It was wild. It really was a trip down memory lane. As I made my way down the rapidly deteriorating road I could remember bits and pieces of my previous trip there so many years ago. When I got down to where the track used to be it was a bit upsetting. What once was a place that brought joy to hundreds of people is now basically a dump. The track area was so grown up with weeds and debris. I don’t know if I was actually looking at some of the track or if it was my imagination simply taking over. There was nothing left of the stands, the old railroad tie walls or even the announcers stand.
I headed for town to talk with some of the locals. Toba Welch and the gals down at City Hall were a big help. They had rounded up some old copies of the Bismarck Gazette (a paper I never knew existed) that had some old stories and photos of the track along with some of the ads.
I loved it. Admission was $1 with kids 12 and under free. The track, which opened in 1961 and closed in the early ‘70s, was actually owned and operated by the City of Bismarck and the Volunteer Fire Department.
I was told Dennis Mayberry, who operates a small auto repair shop in town (and just happens to be the mayor), would be a good person to speak with because he used to race there.
“I tell you, Don Klein and Tubby Black use to have some real battles out there,” Mayberry said. “They were always a treat to see.”
Mayberry said he raced the #13 modified.
“The last time I raced there my motor blew up,” Mayberry laughed. “That was back when a $100 was like a $1,000 today.
“That was a great old track. The stands were as big as Farmington’s.”
Mayberry said the demise of the track apparently was a money situation.
“It was an insurance deal I think,” Mayberry said. “They didn’t want to pay for the insurance. It was a money thing I think.”
As for Tubby, he remembers well his battles with Klein at Bismarck.
“He was racing a big Ford motor back then and I was running a little 283,” Black said. “He left there in ‘64. That was the year I thought I was ready for him. I had the first Hilborn injection engine ever run.”
When asked what did he remembered most about the Bismarck track, without hesitation Tubby replied, “The track would be so sticky it would pull your shoes off. We really liked racing there it was a fine track.”
I also got a chance to talk with one of the guys who actually built the track, Luther Tiefenauer of Bismarck.
“The Volunteer Fire Department did most of the work on it,” Tiefenauer said. “That was the bleachers, the concession stand and that stuff.”
Tiefenauer said he even did the announcing at the track for the first couple of years.
Luther said Earl Straughn, who was the Fire Chief of Bismarck and responsible for many of the duties at the track, had passed away just one week before our interview.
My next stop was Tubby Black’s house. You have to understand that Tubby’s house is like a racing shrine. I think he should move out and make it a racing museum. I had called ahead of my visit to see if I could get a picture and some other goodies he might have from Bismarck. Well as usual he came through.
Like always, Tubby also had some great stories to go along with the general information he provided. For instance, the track used railroad ties for their walls. Well, Tubby found a way to get over that wall.
In looking through some of the old memorabilia from the track, some of the names that kept popping up were Gene Burch of Farmington, Jim Knox, Ken Slade, Gervis Basler, Gordan Mallery, Bud Casteel, Oscar O’Harver and Ray Gowen. It would be virtually impossible to list all the names of the racers at the Bismarck Memorial Speedway, especially with the limited amount of information that still exists about the facility.
One thing is for sure, anyone who ever raced, worked at or watched a race at the old Bismarck Memorial Speedway will never forget it. I’m sure glad I was one of the lucky ones who at least got to visit there once. One very special time.

-------------
Below is an actual copy of a paycheck that Tubby got, a scorecard from the track and an ad that ran in the Bismarck Gazette!! I had a blast researching this story...
 

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Thanks for that, Jeff! I never got to go to Bismarck Speedway, but I have similar memories of Fredericktown. Funny how racing just sorta gets into your blood, isn't it?
 
my first race i ever went to was www.beechridge.com in 1969. it was a dirt track back then. i was 6 years old. my dad took me for a hair cut on that afternoon and it was at my cousins' barber shop in downtown york, maine. he had his 32 ford 3 window coupe that he ran as a modified outside the barber shop and i was all excited about it and he let me sit in it. well, that evening i saw my pop talking to my mom and then my dad said to go hop in the truck. we went to see my cousin race. i don't remember a whole lot about that night except durring a race my cousin was in, a real bad wreck happened right in front of where i was sitting and everyone stood up and i cried to my dad that i couldn't see. i told my dad about that memory a few years back and he said that he didn't want me to see the wreck for it wasn't pretty. a driver didn't survive. i didn't know that then and i fell in love with racing. luckily my cousin wasn't in the wreck.
 
Well since you guys are on the subject of your first race you went to, how about little springfield speedway in illinois? That track has some history there! Although I'm only 31 years old I still remember that track like yesterday. The track closed in 87 when Joe Sheenan (I can never spell that right!) passed away. My dad took me there and his best friend raced sportman cars. He helped on car so I was always in the middle of everything! Alot of great drivers ran that track. Jeff Gordon, AJ Foyt, Parnelly Jones, Steve Kinser, Fred Rahmer the list could go on and on. They ran on sundays and I remember when it was school time I would lie in bed and just listen to the cars, using my imagation of who was winning! I lived about a mile away from that place. It was great bonding time with my dad when we would go. I have a 14 month old boy now and now I know why I can't wait to take him with me to the races! I do have a very funny story to tell you all now! If my dad gets on here he will back me up on this one! (Screen name is Rebel42) Anyway, I was like 3 or 4 when this happened. Me and my dad went to the races one night. We sat in the stands on the front straight. It must of been a night that the sportsman cars weren't running. So as the race is going on I have to go to the bathroom. I told my dad and he said wait til the race is over then we'll go. Man I gotta go, dad I have to go! Once again, wait til the race is over, this is a good race! Now I don't remember doing this, my dad told me all of a sudden he felt his back getting wet. Here I am standing behind my dad and peeing all over his back!!!!! He said the whole front grandstand was laughing thier butts off!! He said he felt so embrassed we went and sat on the back straight grandstands for the rest of the night!! My dad never spanked me, but that night I think that it would of been ok to do so!! Oh the memories of little springfield. Great racing, great fighting and peeing on my dads back!! Man I miss that place!
 
My Grandpaw took me to all the local tracks, starting when I was about four years old. Weat to Fredrictown, Bismark, and Potosi all the time. Though I was only six at the time, I remember when Tubby went over the wall. Thought he must be dead, but grandpaw assured me he would be fine. Can't believe Tubby is still racing,but I see him myself when I go to farmington! Hope he lives forever! Grandpaw has been gone now for ten years. He lived to 91 and some of the best times of my life were going to the tracks with him! He quit going when he was about 70 because he couldn't get up into the stands, but he lived in Elvins and would sit outside and listen to the cars at Empire Speedway and ask how Tubby did the next day. We would video-tape the races and play it for him on Sunday. You can still tell where the track was at Potosi from the (new) highway (8), but when I went to the Queens Royal a few weeks ago, it looked like they had dozed away what was the back straight away recently.(new dirt, no weeds)
Sure were good times!
Mark
 
That was good stuff Millsey! You have done some digging I gotta hand it to ya there! That is a real shame the way the Bismarck track has been left to die out like that. I have been out there several times over the years since that was my first ever racing experience. Im not sure how far you ventured into the track area when you were there but did you happen onto the pit where they bury the dead dogs from the city pound? Thats not the way that track should have went out I can tell ya! I can remember the road to the track, back then it seemed to take forever just to get to the park at the end of the road. Now it seems like it takes no time at all!

Nice Work
 
Some old racetrack????

Hey does anyone know if there was once a track on Davis Crossing Road between Bismarck & "Elvins??" (at that time) I was told that there was and that it sat about a 1/4 mile of the road on the Hwy 32 side of Davis Crossing?

Any Help is Appreciated!
 
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