D.I. COLUMNIST
On the Road
with Van Abernethy
Oklahoma’s Sallisaw Outlaw
Drag Strip is a classic
example of someone deciding
to construct a dragstrip squarely
in their own backyard. This neversanctioned
track with tons of folksy
charm was built in the mid 1990s by
local car guru Ken Brown, who for
many years lived in a white frame
house directly behind the water box.
In the early days of the track’s
operation, locals would race to the
1,000-foot mark, although it had to
be scaled back to the eighth-mile
as cars swiftly became faster, and
with limited stopping distance. Ken
managed his backyard racetrack for
a while, but after he began allowing
others to take
the reins, things
seemed to spiral out
of control, even periodically
shutting
down from time to
time.
By the summer
of 2019 the track
was pretty much in
shambles when Bill
Brown (no relation
to Ken) posted on
Facebook that he
was going to lease
the track and invited
anyone who was
interested to come
out and help get the
place cleaned up.
Ricky Napper
was one of those
people who heeded
the call of duty and
came out to the
track wearing work
clothes and toting a
weed-eater. After a
while, Bill approached Ricky and
said, “Hey, you’re not part of my
regular crew...who are you exactly?”
Ricky explained that he saw the
Facebook post about trying to get
the track up and running and came
out to help. Bill was impressed and
the two hit it off immediately.
Before long, Bill named Ricky
moderator of the track’s Facebook
page and then named him track
manager shortly thereafter. “Bill
is not a people person. He’s a big
tough guy, being in construction and
all, and he’s just not polite when he
talks to people,” Ricky
laughs. Meanwhile, Bill
says Ricky has the ability
to cuss someone out and
make them smile while
he’s doing it, so he realized
pretty quickly that
Ricky was the person for
customer service situations.
There were many improvements
that the track needed last year when
Bill took over, including electrical
problems which plagued the facility
after its initial grand reopening.
“You could turn on the microwave in
the concession stand and it would
cause the lights on the track to go
out!” Ricky recalls. The plumbing
was a wreck as well, but one by one,
each problem was addressed.
The track surface was marginal at
best with bumps that more closely
resembled a motocross track than a
dragstrip! Bill’s construction company
came in handy with knocking
down the high spots, although they
never really wanted to make the
track pristine. “The surface is the
great equalizer...it has character and
it takes some skill and experience to
take a fast car down it,” Ricky smiles.
Sixty-four cars were locked in for
a no-prep race last year,
featuring 10.5 and smalltire
entries. The crowd
left that day feeling
they had definitely got
their money’s worth of
entertainment. Shortly
thereafter, along came
a classic Midwest tornado
that trashed the
place right before another big event.
Whatever adversity gets thrown at
Sallisaw Outlaw Drag Strip, they
seem to always find a way regroup
and rebuild.
A huge personal blow also came
late last year when track founder
Ken Brown passed away. Yes, he was
still living in the frame house onsite
and seemed to really appreciate
what Bill and Ricky were doing with
his backyard dragstrip. “Ken was up
in age, but he was always in good
spirits and good health, but suddenly
he just went downhill quickly
and passed away,” Ricky says. “We
really miss him and we’re going to
make a memorial for him on the
gate.”
Ken’s passion for a laid-back, nofrills
dragstrip in east Oklahoma is
certainly being kept alive by those
who share that same vision. Meanwhile,
Bill and Ricky have tried a variety
of events in their short tenure
to see what works, everything from
big-tire, small-tire, test-n-tune, noprep
and also bracket racing, which
was never prevalent at Sallisaw, but
is something they wanted to build
up.
“We sat down with a couple of our
good bracket racers and put together
a points program for 2020, but
then COVID hit and pretty much
derailed everything in the short
term,” Ricky says. “We’re still going
to have some paying bracket races
this year, but the points program
will have to wait.”
Regardless of what entertainment
the track is serving
up, Ricky says he’s
constantly getting
calls from around
the country from
someone who’s
heard about the
track or seen it on
social media and
wants to come race
or just be a part of
the action in some
form or fashion.
Recently, when
they booked in JJ
Da Boss from Street
Outlaws Memphis
fame, 10,000
people showed
up – although they
don’t have near
the parking to accommodate
such
a crowd. “People
were parking down
at the Dollar General
store a mile and a
half away and walking
down Highway 59 to get here,”
Ricky recalls.
Even during a global pandemic,
violent storms and periods of inactivity,
after Sallisaw reopened they
promptly ran out of sponsor boards
and had to construct a larger one
just to contain the local support.
“Car people are always gonna be
there to help you!” Ricky insists.
And while many believed that
large crowds coming to Sallisaw was
a thing of the past, it seems the passion
for cars and racing runs pretty
deep around these parts. DI
48 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com Issue 158