Dirt Track Memories

Fred's Helmet

2012-02-05T13:55:00.002-06:00

Fred wore this same helmet for many years. I don't remember seeing him ever wear a different one. He couldn't wear a full faced helmet nor even a face shield. He wore goggles, and a red bandanna covered the rest of his face. The helmet is still stained today with red clay and it's been heavily dirt blasted!

Super Modified's At Ozark Speedway

2012-01-30T21:22:00.006-06:00

This is a photograph recently sent to me by Mike Pogue! Mike discovered it while viewing a friend's collection. Our family didn't have this picture making this a very cool surprise! The number 1300 is Benny Taylor. Their racing hard at Ozark Speedway in Joplin, Missouri!

Terry Beckham & Fred Tullis

2012-01-23T19:32:00.003-06:00

Another close second! The Beckham's, brother's Duane and Terry were two of Tullis' toughest competitors! This article is from a 71 Speedway Track Program in 1973.

A Few Of Fred Tullis' Trophy's

2012-01-15T20:06:00.029-06:00

Here are a few of the many trophy's Fred Tullis won throughout the years, some of which are Championship trophy's. Several are over 45 years old. Although stored, time has taken it's toll on them. Fred won several hundred trophy's which consumed practically every shelf in our home including the closet shelves!

Wow!

2012-01-09T21:29:00.003-06:00

This article is from The Joplin Globe, published August 26th, 1962. The track owner had a lot of great ideas making Joplin's Ozark Speedway the place to be on Tuesday night!

"Travelin Javelin" ~1979~

2012-01-02T12:46:00.010-06:00

Fred Tullis wins the Heat Race and the Feature Race at the Nevada Speedway racing in the Travelin Javelin Car #14 built by Corky Felker. That's James, (Jamie) Felker, Corky's youngest son inside the car. As a youngster it was always an exciting experience to climb into the race car after the races were over while folks were happily congregating in the pits. Oftentimes people would ask if they could get a picture of their child inside the race car and Corky never hesitated to boost them right into the driver's seat. {Article dated 8-25-79}

Tulsa Speedway Action

2011-12-26T16:42:00.004-06:00

Fred Tullis of Joplin and Dirt Coker from Oklahoma City side by side at Tulsa Speedway in 1968. {Picture by Mike Pogue}

Car #14, 1967

2011-12-22T17:39:00.005-06:00

This car was sponsored by Carl Dement, owner of Dements Service Station located on North Main Street in Joplin. The old station is still standing today just about 1/4 city block South of Zora and Main. I can remember going there and Carl would come out and pump the gas and clean the windshield. Joplin Missouri was on the move earning a reputation as Go Town USA! Corky painted the slogan on the back of this Super Modified #14. {Photo courtesy of Jamie and Jeannie Felker}

71 Speedway

2011-12-11T21:30:00.004-06:00

1969 was a great year for the team and Fred was at the top of his game! The team was on a mission! Corky built a super fast Camaro and set the car up perfectly. Fred Tullis won a lot of races that year. {Picture donated by James & Jeannie Felker} (Article dated August 8, 1969}

Ozark Speedway

2011-12-04T21:47:00.006-06:00

Here's a picture from the front straightaway of the Ozark Speedway in 1965. The Speedway was improved many times. I can see that the announcer's booth is small in the picture however I remember it being very big where the officials and scorekeepers assembled. I can also remember another tier of grandstands projecting much higher right beside the booth. They were the more expensive reserved seats. They provided an excellent view! 1965 was a great year for the sport of stock car racing in Joplin! Very exciting and action packed! I can remember the suspense of the feature race and how the flagman concealed the green flag, pointing at the drivers, gesturing for them to keep it cool and get an even start, as they exited turn #4. Sometimes the driver(s) in the front row might jump the gun and if that happened, the flagman would not throw the green but would instead hold up his forefinger to signal "one more lap". It was the flagman's decision whether or not to start the race. When the "one more lap" signal was given driver's would also immediately come out of the gas and raise one hand up through the top of the car to signal the driver's behind them of a restart which was very helpful in keeping these guys from running over each other! {photo generously donated by Mike Pogue}{Aticle dated May 23, 1965}

Fred Tullis' Modified 1964

2011-11-27T21:26:00.006-06:00

This is the 1st Super Modified race car built by Corky Felker for Fred Tullis in 1964. One day in 2001 James Felker, Corky's son, came to my workplace to visit my brother's and I. We were able to catch up and reminisce, it's always a fun time. When saying goodbye, James, (Jamie) pulled an envelope from his pocket with some old negatives inside and left them with us. We were able to hold the negatives up to the light and see that they were pictures of one of dad's Super Modified's. I put them into the family album. 10 years later I had the pleasure of getting an email from a gentleman named Mike Pogue who was the official photographer for the Tulsa and Muskogee Speedway's weekly Programs and a past Modified race car driver himself. Mike just happened to ask me if I had any old negatives laying around and those that Jamie had left with me popped into my head. I mailed the negatives to him and he developed several pictures. I was amazed! I love it when things work out like that! Many thanks to Jamie and Jeannie Felker and Mike Pogue! Blessings! {Article dated July 7th, 1964}

Special Events

2011-11-20T20:01:00.003-06:00

The Ozark Speedway promoted several special events every year and they were always awesome! The Tournament Of Thrills was an excellent show of eight identical Ford Mustangs that performed a variety of stunts. Car jumps, the two wheel stunt shown in the picture and by the way, during this stunt a man climbs from the passenger window and stands up! At one point they strap a man to the hood of a car and bash him head first through a wall of fire! It was wild! Destruction Derby's were fun as they still are today. I got the chance to be in one once. I worked for my mother who owned M & M Auto Salvage. I used a 66 Buick which was actually "the yard car", (the car we drove around the salvage yard to fetch parts). My friend and co-worker, Norman Gilmore decided he also wanted to compete so he dragged a Plymouth Fury out of the 'ol salvage yard and we both went about the cars with a blow torch. When the event started Norman took an immediate hit and his car caught fire. He bailed out through the windshield and the firetruck quickly extinguished the flames. I was excited to be one of four cars remaining and then I got smashed good and was out. They dragged my car to a pit area and I went about trying to get it running again so I could be in the final event. I was able to get the car running and limped into the field, left wheel wobbling. I was doing as well as could be expected and quite honestly having a total blast! I saw the opportunity to take a guy out so I put it in revers and hammered it. I mashed into him and surely took him out. The thing is when I turned to looked forward bad news was coming right at me. I was out. But it was a really fun time! You should have seen my car!

Opening Night Wins

2011-11-13T20:16:00.004-06:00

By 1966 the Ozark Speedway had gained much notoriety. Driver's were coming in from all over the place! The competition was tough! The inverted lineup rule created seriously exciting racing, as top driver's fought their way from the back of the pack through heavy traffic in hope of capturing the checkered flag! Action packed races which often came down to thrilling last lap finishes! In this article the Ozark Speedway was scheduled to open tonight, April 17Th, 1966 but it didn't happen for the next three weeks due to weather. When the season finally did get under way dad won the A Feature. He also won the A Feature on opening night at the 71 Speedway in Neosho.

Beaver Lake Speedway

2011-11-06T20:42:00.009-06:00

We always had a great time traveling to The Beaver Lake Speedway. Our family driving there on Highway 71 in the Galaxie 500. It made for a fun road trip. The #14 Felker Tullis Race Team competed at other Speedway's in Arkansas throughout the years including The Ozark Speedway in Springdale, and the Tri-State Speedway in Fort Smith. The drive to Fort Smith was exciting, driving through the Boston Mountains. It was very beautiful and scenic, and a little scary, especially coming home! Arriving at the track was thrilling. The facility was huge and modern. Fans packed the house! The racing was intense! {Many Thanks to Alan Ivey for sending me these articles!}

Spooky Humor

2011-10-30T14:25:00.005-05:00

Dad bought this Cadillac hearse and painted his car number onto it. He installed a bumper hitch onto the hearse, put a promotional poster in the window and hauled the race car to the track one night. There was quite a reaction. Anyone who knew Fred also knew how much he loved to joke around. The car was actually very beautiful but nobody in our family wanted to ride in it! Zoom in on the lower right window if you dare! Happy Halloween everyone!

Fred Tullis #99

2011-10-23T22:04:00.002-05:00

Fred Tullis pictured beside his Camaro car #99 at the 71 Speedway in Neosho. Dad owned this car. He built the engine himself. He knew full well how to build a fast, dependable engine. He had dozens of pistons magnifluxed to get 8 good ones for the engine in this race car. One of dad's life long friends was on the race team. His name was Jim Martin. Jim passed away a few years ago. He was a fantastic man. Dad and Jim met in college and were friends ever since. For the longest time I've found it to be a peculiar coincidence that I too have a life long friend whom I've known since high school and his name is also Jim Martin.

Blown Engine

2011-10-16T20:27:00.005-05:00

Dad and team 14 had quite a streak going in 1971 even maintaining the points lead after blowing an engine at Ozark Speedway in Joplin, Missouri. It never took Corky Felker, car owner and crew chief, very long at all to build another engine. He wasn't always happy about it! Tullis really put the equipment to the test!

Racing Action From 1965

2011-10-09T17:12:00.002-05:00

This article is from the Joplin Globe Newspaper, Sunday June 27th, 1965. The Newspaper published extensive coverage of racing action from Joplin's Ozark Speedway and Neosho's 71 Speedway. Driver's were in a tight battle for the points lead all season.

'72 Season Begins At Ozark

2011-10-02T16:13:00.009-05:00

The Felker-Tullis Race Team opened the '72 racing season with high hopes of a repeat Championship at Ozark Speedway. Stock car racing in the four states had become extremely competitive, to the point where rumor had it that some teams planned to enter the season with a "twin" race car. The idea, was that if something happened to the team's main racer, the driver would just jump into his second car enabling him to continue racing and accumulating points rather than losing positions in the point standings as a result of a dnf. I remember dad and Corky talking about it somewhat jokingly as though promoters certainly wouldn't allow it but if they did, of course Corky was fully prepared to build Fred Tullis a 2nd identical 1972 Chevelle. As it turned out, the rumor became truth and in fact, some teams did build twin race cars but promoters quickly ruled it out as an unfair advantage and the intensity of racing's close competition continued.

OVRA Driver Of The Month Sept. 2011

2011-09-25T13:04:00.011-05:00

Many thanks to the Ozark Vintage Racing Association as they recognize dad as Driver Of The Month for September of 2011. The Tullis family is joyfully honored. The OVRA web site is very cool! See it at www.ovraracing.com

June 1968

2011-09-18T17:39:00.003-05:00

These Super Modified Race Cars revolutionized the sport in a sense. Creating such a level of close competition which made for stock car races that are still remebered today as some of the best racing of all time. Top drivers' from Oklahoma began to race in Joplin and Joplin's best drivers' were racing in Oklahoma. Ray Pence is shown in the picture. The Pence family were great friends. Our family would sometimes go the their home and visit and vice versa. Bob Cooper is shown 10th in the point standings. Bob is a great family friend and he's a Pastor. We spoke just a few days ago and Bob shared some great memories with me. He said "Freddy I can remember when we'd race a day race in Arkansas then load up and drive to a night race. We'd race wherever we could!"

71 Speedway

2011-09-11T21:45:00.002-05:00

I recently found myself on Highway 59, the old Highway 71 between Joplin and Neosho and decided to see if I could locate the 71 Speedway. Lo and behold there it was! Now running with horses of a different breed!

#94 To The Front

2011-09-04T19:37:00.004-05:00

This was one of Corky's finest looking race cars a '69 Chevelle built for the 1970 season. The car was not only one of the most beautiful race cars on the track, it was bad fast!

Points Lead May '68

2011-08-28T17:15:00.005-05:00

This is an article printed in The Joplin Globe Newspaper from May of 1968. The picture was taken in the driveway of dad's Salvage Yard on North Main.

Graves Brother's~Tullis Team 99

2011-08-21T17:27:00.009-05:00

This was August of 1974, the year dad's co car owner Pete Graves was struck by a car spinning into the infield where Pete was standing as he gave dad hand signals. Dad was winning the race when two driver's got into each other coming out of the number 2 turn and full throttle onto the back-stretch. The car on the inside lane clipped the car to his outside, in the left quarter panel, causing him to spin out into the infield. There was a huge cloud of dust as the car spun sideways into the pits. Only those in the pit area were able to see that someone had been hit. The first person to get to Pete was Corky Felker, dad's previous car owner who had a reputation for being the first person on the scene of any accident, there to help in any way he could. Corky told me some years later that he was sure Pete had been killed after seeing the extremity of his injuries. The race was red flagged as the ambulance sped to the scene. The announcer mentioned that someone in the pit area had been hit. Driver's made their way to the front straightaway and those in the grandstands waited. Simultaneously as I remember it, dad pulled off the track hurriedly into his pit box as the announcement was made that Pete Graves, owner of Fred Tullis' car had been hit and he would be taken to the hospital. Dad jumped into the ambulance along with Pete's brother, team member and co owner of the car, Jim. Choppy Crane, another member of the pit crew and a close family friend, came into the grandstands to give my brother and I a ride home. Pete survived but it was tough. He was unable to return to the obligation necessary in order to continue as team owner and he and his brother decided to sell the race car to dad. The Graves Brothers-Tullis #99 Race Team started out the 1974 season winning but this accident, happening early in April caused many to wonder if the team would be back that year, if at all. It was two months before dad returned to the track but when he did, he came back very strong, even claiming high point honors and winning the 1974 Season Championship.