Ponca City
Circuit info:
- Circuit length:
- unknown
- Circuit type:
- Temporary parkland course
Circuit history:
The Ponca City Grand Prix was held on the lakeside roads of a County Park at Ponca City, Oklahoma, about 70 miles southeast of Wichita.
A mainstay of the SCCA club racing scene from 1961 onwards, Ponca City was a very popular track with drivers and spectators, often drawing over 20,000 fans each day thanks to a July 4 race date.
One driver who remembers it well is John Lee of Texas, who took part in several races at the venue in his venerable Triumph.
"The start/finish straight, through the first turn, was slightly down hill from a bit before the start/finish line and then, as you headed towards the second turn, and then past Park Ranger buildings, the track started going uphill a decent bit until the turn onto the back straight which was slightly heading downhill," he says.
"The turn onto the back straight was up hill, then there was a distinctive 'shift' going over a bit of a ridge or lip as you turned. The road you were turning onto was a bit off camber to the road you were turning off from, leaning away from the direction you were coming, so it was a little tricky. You were heading up one moment and then heading down the next - at an angle as you did so... Interesting!
"When you came down that back straight and headed to the last turn, it was exciting to say the least. It took a bit of guts to take it flat out. Just slightly off camber, too."
Fast and furious, Ponca City had its fair share of spectacular accidents, sadly with some of them being fatal. Stan Trumbower, from Des Moines, Iowa, crashed his Triumph TR6 during the 1974 runningof the Grand Prix. He had gone off the surface, was launched by a bump in the grass and struck a tree limb with his helmet. He died the next day of his injuries.
At first there were no guardrails on the outside of the first turn but in the later years, but one was eventually fitted in the mid-70s. But apart from a small section on the far side of the turn leading onto the back straight to protect the private property there, that was it.
"You were heading straight for the barrier when you came up to that turn," remembers John. "It was bent up pretty good because quite a few people hit it, but I think a lot were people who 'ran' the track during the rest of the year. High school kids were always wrecking their cars out there at night."
Ponca City fell by the wayside in the 1980s when it became impractical to update it to new safety regulations. The roads, of course, remain in everyday use.
Additional information by Rocky Entriken
