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some early sprint cars at big h


chipmunk

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Big H when it was dirt! Enjoyed racing there in sprints. Promoter Brad Pounds (I think that was his name) would give us $200 against our winnings to tow from Dallas. to race there. Ran a sprint feature there one night that was shorten due the flagman could not see the cars on the backstraight, due to FOG!

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the picture yall keep asking about is from big h it is in the pits the dirt was a lil different than the track surface. marc yes his name was brad pounds my bud is brads nephew brad and pat pounds are doing well saw them not to long ago.

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Do not ever remember Big H being any other color of dirt then red clay.

 

 

Some people still think of HMP as Big H with Asphalt.

 

And I am sure it's not the Bowl, Never been any building above the cushion. Definately not the Bowl, especially in 1987, which was when Doty drove the Silver Bullet sled.

 

Turn1and2.jpg

Turn 1 and 2

 

Turn3and4.jpg

Turn 3 and 4

 

Straights20infield.jpg

Front straight and infield

 

Pretty much hasn't changed since the moved from across Lawson Rs in 1972 when Lanny Edwards took over.

 

post-3-1198474832_thumb.jpg

 

The original Devil's bowl was down on South Buckner behind the Drive in. It was built in an old rock pit and had White Caliche Rock walls, when you hit them it was a done deal. Before that everyone raced down at the Fairgrounds.

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MFBARNES,

 

What is the date of those Devil's Bowl pics? I haven't been there since 2002, and it looks different from even then. They didn't have the fencing on the back side.

 

In the 80's, everyone remembers the big trees on the backstraight, and that big generator on the front straight. And also the mud hole that was the parking lot before they paved it.

 

They took the trees out in the 90's, and it shocked us as to just how close the airport was.

And the noise was better when they moved the generator down off turn 4.

 

I still have vivid memories of Mark Kinser running a 13.5 in a sprint car in late 1998.

The fast guys never lifted.

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Lanny moved the generator up off Turn 4, the back straight is still higher than the front. Up hill in turn 1 & 2, down hill in 3 & 4.

The trees have all been removed on the back straight (that God, I got tired of landing in them) and Lanny is building a pit area off the back straight. Well, he has been working the dirt for several years to move the pits? LOL!

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Ya'll may have a better eye for it, but it appears to me that they have lowered the angle of the corner banking. And the back stretch does appear lower.

But that place looks great, will have to get up there this year.

 

Marc, I watched several guys get into those trees; one year, we noticed a couple guys standing just beyond them. After a sprinter got into the trees, and parts went flying, they found them some new spots to watch from.

 

I have been to about 35 or 40 dirt tracks, but the Bowl is still my favorite, hands down.

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Yep Tom Been there, trees that is. Have video of me taking the Belmire #17 Sprinter into the trees after doing end over end 5 times first..OUCH! Need to come up to my place, pull out the old locked video cabnet and watch old racing footage one day!

 

Devils Bowl is the fastest track in Texas! 430 ci small block, 1600 lb sprint car, flat footing all the way around the Bowl, never lifting! Still the most exciting rush I have ever gotten! WooHoo! B)

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Those pictures are a couple months old.

 

Lanny has dumped a ton of money in the track. He's trying to bring big time racing back to Dallas. When the WoO stopped coming he first had an attitude towards it, then decided to do something about it. He's going to do for the bowl what Stewart did for Big E.

 

It's really a crying shame because Lanny took a chance on a dishes salesman named Ted Johnson and the rest is history. WoO got their first ever sanctioned start at the Bowl. He gave all the guys who could compete due to the politics of USAC a place to throw the rulebook out the door and RWYB. May the hand with the biggest testicles and the fastest sled win. Ted Johnson gave all he had to make the World of Outlaws the premier dirt racing series in the world. Before the World of Outlaws started, he would actually pay some of the drivers to come to a racetrack and he’d just be in the stands watching. Then he decided to be a promoter and he did it right. He lived out of the back of a dualie pickup the first few years, pulling a goose-neck enclosed trailer full of t-shirts and stuff to promote his product, he was a born salesman. He allowed guys to make a darn good living doing what most of us do for free, and in the process brought sprint car racing to the big time. If you think about it, before nascar got as big as it is now, there was a time that the WoO was right up there with them and the NHRA.

 

[resized by Nick Holt, 12/24/07]

post-3-1198520708_thumb.jpg

Here's your first ever WoO race at the Bowl and your eventual winner in the lead passing the Wolfman with 2 laps to go to win the forst show. You can see the trees and yaupons in the background y'all spoke of.

 

1982KinserSteve.jpg

Didn't take this kid long to get in the groove though, one the first WoO at Eldora Speedway, May 21, 1978. And 543 wins and 30 years later he is still the King of Dirt. Some people do not realize how dominating he's been over the last 30 years. 30 seasons and he's won 20 season championships. He's rode that famous high cushion line to more wins than most people have run races. Petty may be the King in NASCAR but Kinser is King of the Dirt. Hands down there is no legitimate argument for that fact. In 1987 he won 46 races in route to his 8th title. That's 46 features against , Doty in his prime, Swindell in his prime, Wolfgang, you name 'em, Kinser won almost half the seasons races that year. Unbelievable.

 

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Devil's Bowl. Raced many many races their. My dad ran down on Buckner, and out at the Fairgrounds. Lanny has always been real good to me, he'll give you the shirt off his back if he likes you. I owe a lot to him and Charles "Smiley" Sitton.

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