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5/2/18, 10:04 AM   #1
I-70 Odessa Missouri
Chase Hightower
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Traveling to Fort Riley Kansas to visit my daughter and son in law. I stopped in here and took a few pics. If I remember correctly Eric Gordon owned this place, when he ran there everybody else towed for 2nd place.
Attached Images
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4C662243-54D8-4A7E-9255-3C7533446970.jpeg (1.47 MB, 153 views)
 
5/2/18, 10:17 AM   #2
Chase Hightower
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Now it won’t let me upload any more photos. If anyone’s interested send me an email and I’ll forward them to you to post. I’m not smart enough! Anyway, hate to see this track gone. I always liked it.
 
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5/2/18, 11:38 AM   #3
Re: I-70 Odessa Missouri
Stevensville Mike
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I remember the coolest thing about this place was back in the 90s, ASA used to run there regularly. The ASA races were televised on TNN - The Nashville Network, and later.... The National Network. Great stuff.

The biggest odd thing about it I remember reading in a book way back when, was when they opened the track, the banking was higher than your average track. The walls around it, however, were all perpendicular to the GROUND, not the banking. So the walls actually became a launching ramp for cars to go over and outside of the joint.

Subsequently the walls were re-done and were made perpendicular to the banking, like pretty much every other track.

But yeah.... the old ASA races there on TV were top shelf. Thanks for the post.
 
5/2/18, 1:39 PM   #4
Chase Hightower
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I got some neat pics. Just can’t figure out how to post them. The place is infested with snakes now. And I don’t like snakes😭 they’re all anacondas to me!
 
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5/2/18, 2:19 PM   #5
Re: I-70 Odessa Missouri
bigq11
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I don't like snakes either. They all look like rattle headed copper moccasins to me.
 
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5/2/18, 2:42 PM   #6
Re: I-70 Odessa Missouri
opnwhlmnd
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I was by there last summer and have several pictures also if anyone would like to see them.

Saw some World of Outlaw races there back in early to mid eighties. Greg Weld owned it at the time and covered it in dirt. One night Sammy Swindell and Kenny Schrader were using the wall as a cushion. Schrader took me up the banks after the race and showed me where he figured out to hit just right. Told me if he caught the back edge of the right rear and the rear bumper just right the wall would launch him down the back chute. LOL. Of course with Schrader the story was 20 minutes long not condensed like this.

.
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5/2/18, 2:52 PM   #7
Re: I-70 Odessa Missouri
Wizard 05
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My guess is with Kenny is there was a beer involved as well.. That guy to this day is still a hoot..Want to lose a day in life,, put him and Hewitt in a room and tell them to have at it.. the day will end long before the stories.. I too remember both the days when it was asphalt and you had that one,Winchester,Salem as well as dirt..
 
5/2/18, 4:33 PM   #8
Re: I-70 Odessa Missouri
BrentTFunk
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I went there I believe in 1984 when it was dirt. A 3 day WoO and MARA midget show on Labor day weekend. Track was a big half mile. Mike is right about the wall. Lee Kunzman was badly burned there when the wall launched him into the parking lot and a light ignited the leaking fuel. It was 106 degrees when we were there and we left very early on Monday morning for my first trip to Duquoin. Rained the whole way and we got there it was 58 degrees. Joe Saldana won after Ron Shuman blew a tire coming off of 4.
 
5/2/18, 8:06 PM   #9
Re: I-70 Odessa Missouri
Grocery Guy
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I made the trip to I-70 in about 1984 when it was dirt. I attended an NDRA Stroh's Beer national championship race. Robert Smawley was an incredible promoter back in the day. He had all the flair and paid the late model drivers big money for that series. As everyone says, the track had some incredible high banks.

The cool thing about my trip was I thinked I booked a Red Roof Inn. When I got there, it was like a big late model pit area. Many of the drivers were working on their cars in the parking lot. One even fired up his car and drove it around the lot. Eating breakfast I was sitting across from Rodney Combs, who was driving for J.W. Hunt back then. Had the big strawberry on his #5. Ahh the memories of great dirt track racing in the 80's.
 
5/2/18, 9:16 PM   #10
Re: I-70 Odessa Missouri
Stevensville Mike
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chase Hightower View Post
I got some neat pics. Just can’t figure out how to post them. The place is infested with snakes now. And I don’t like snakes�� they’re all anacondas to me!
You need a third party hosting site. Try:

www.postimage.org

It is free and easy to use. You place a pic on there and they will give you an internet link to the pic and it goes from there. Once you get the link, just paste it between [img] and [/img] on this site as you post.
_________________________________________________
Last edited by Stevensville Mike; 5/2/18 at 9:17 PM.
 
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