"OUTLAW"

[Budman]

Around American Auto racing you hear the term "Outlaw" kicked around all the time. Outlaw this, Outlaw that. Where or how did this term originate in racing? When did it come about? Exactly what does it mean? I'd love to hear from ya'll on this. I think it could be a very interesting discussion.

[supertx]

Budman

I first heard the term back in the early seventys. Where I heard the term the most was around sprint car racers that chased money and would run anyplace anytime.

[NeilTPS]

Budman

 

"Outlaw" is defined as....a habitual or notorious criminal or....a fugitive from the law.

 

In auto racing, the term "Outlaw" was how United States Auto Club officials labeled one their regulars when he bolted from the USAC circuit and left to run"Outlaw" races at individual tracks or start up regional touring series in the midwest or west coast.

 

The most famous organization even established their organization's name as "The World of Outlaws". The title in itself was a departure from the standard titles which usually used words such as Racing Association, Auto Club etc in labeling their series.

 

Little known fact: the Texas Pro Sedans started operations in 1976, two years before "The World of Outlaws" was founded and organized as a sprint car touring series.

 

Neil Upchurch

[ProTree]

the true outlaw-"Jan Opperman"-was hell on wheels-lived where thunder hides-

[Mel]

The original "Outlaw" that I remember was Terrible Tom Williams. I'll bet txtom can tell us some good stories about Mr. Williams.

[txtom]

Tom Williams definitely was one of the more colorful characters around here in the 70's. Never saw him without that "Waylon Jennings" outlaw hat.

I remember about the only time anyone ever got in his face without a fight happening was when he got into Freddy Fryar at San Antonio in practice. Fryar made his point with a pointed finger and a lot of one-sided conversation. Funny to see Tom with his hands held out and a kind of "I didn't mean it" look on his face. Maybe Tom had heard that Fryar was at one time a golden gloves boxer.

I can think of a couple more, but I think Larry Bendele probably has a few great ones, as he worked with Tom back then.

[dirtdobber5B]

Tom Williams definitely was one of the more colorful characters around here in the 70's. Never saw him without that "Waylon Jennings" outlaw hat.

I remember about the only time anyone ever got in his face without a fight happening was when he got into Freddy Fryar at San Antonio in practice. Fryar made his point with a pointed finger and a lot of one-sided conversation. Funny to see Tom with his hands held out and a kind of "I didn't mean it" look on his face. Maybe Tom had heard that Fryar was at one time a golden gloves boxer.

I can think of a couple more, but I think Larry Bendele probably has a few great ones, as he worked with Tom back then.

 

 

Hi Ya'll I have a version of the outlaw story may not be how it got started but Outlaws we were.

I ran dirt at Moody /Clary # 5b modified so did a lot of other good drivers Nolan Frankie

Bill Gordon James Jimmy and many more great guys. I don't who how or anything else but

some one came up with the idea to hold a race in Waco at the Heart of Texas spdy.on the

Sunday before Memorial day.

It was an open compition run what you brung all out race and a lot of fun. The boys from

Dallas showed up some from San Antonio and Lord knows where else. and the place was jumping.

Fast track fast cars quiet the experance. Lots of first for me at that place .

 

5b

the wandering Buffalo

Danny Wilson

[mfbarnes]

 

 

This here piece of paper and many more like it, was the origin of the "Outlaw" term being pitched about on the racing circuit. The big paydays were few and far between, and 90 % of the big ones fell under the USAC banner. And like most dirt daubers in the south, if you wanted to make it to the Brickyard in your career, USAC was the road there. Only thing about USAC though, was they didn't like to share the spotlight with any other sanctioning body. So the in no uncertain terms, barred any USAC licensed driver from driving in any non-USAC sanctioned races, and those who did risked losing their USAC license. No license, no big check paydays. So drivers went to entering unsanctioned events under fake names, so their would be no paper trail to lose their ticket over. Thus the term "Outlaw" was born.

[Dzu-Fast]

The term "outlaw" has been used since back in the 1920's to describe fellows who didn't run in certain sanctioned races. Here is a story from the Saturday Evening Post from 1923 where you see a driver referred to as an "outlaw" regarding AAA and IMCA

 

“A smooth-talking individual came to me...and asked me if I would like to drive a

race car for him in dirt-track races. Would I? You bet I would! He offered me a straight

salary of fifty dollars a week, win or lose or not race at all, if I would join his crew of

eight drivers. He explained that he contracted with state-fair managements to put on a

series of races, either the last day of the fair or as the wind-up of every day of horse

racing. He agreed to assume complete charge of the automobile racing program, from

getting out the entry blanks to paying the prize money. Presumably he sent out the

blanks, and was always assured of the eight entries of his own cars. He didn’t refuse to

permit local amateurs to enter the races, because they didn’t have a chance to beat his

experienced drivers.

 

“The promoter made up the slate the night before each race and gave his drivers

orders who was to win. But he also gave orders that the races were all to be fast. There

was a lot of jealousy among his team because he did not pay all of them the same wages.

He had two stars, and they were always carded to win the big races of the week. This had

the effect of making the second-string drivers drive hard in an endeavor to show the

promoter that they were entitled to be advertised as stars and therefore get more money.

And if the man who was supposed to win should have some trouble that would slow him

up, the rest of the drivers knew that the race was anybody’s who could step out and win it.

That made things interesting too. I learned all this later.

 

“The boss explained that he wanted me because as mechanician of the winning

driver at Corona I would be good for lots of advertising. I was anxious to join the outfit,

because the boss promised that I would be started in the short races first and that the

competition would be so arranged that I would have my reputation built up. By the end

of the season, if I played the game right, I would be advertised as the young man who

was not satisfied to be the mechanician of a big driver, but had given all that up in order

to start at the bottom and become a great driver myself.

 

“What tickled me was that I was to be paid fifty dollars a week for getting all that

experience.

 

“I told my good luck to another mechanician, much older in the game and wise as

a serpent.

 

“`You lay off that guy,’ he told me ‘he’s an outlaw. If you race with his outfit,

you’ll have a hard time getting back into the Three-A, and that’s the only place you can

make real money. The Three-A wouldn’t mind taking you from the outlaws and giving

you a Three-A mech’s card if you never had one before. But you’ve got yours now, and

it’s too late to think about that. You’d learn a lot; but forget it!

 

“I did; not because I understood all my pal’s reasoning in the matter, but because I

knew he knew more about the game than I did.”

 

 

Here is a link to a newspaper clipping from the 1930's where Sprint car driver Ted Nyquist is referred to as "King of the Outlaws"

 

http://www.thevintageracer.com/nyquist/tn_1_031.htm

[supertx]

I can tell you this much If you have never raced like an outlaw you have missed an experince,race in one state one night load up leave that race and drive 5oo or 600 miles grab a nap in back of your truck race that race and head down the road for the next payday that was racing.