Cherokee Speedway Back in the 90's

[racincowboy02]

How many of yall went to Cherokee in the 90's back then and watched the weekly shows when they had supers. I mean it was a stacked field almost all the time with Duvall, Freddie Smith, Petey Ivey, Ricky Weeks, Wesley Hood, Jeff Cooke, Rambo, and i can't remember the other names off the top of my head and then you had the thunder and lightning class that was extremely tough with wally fowler, billy bishop, earl strawberry davis, bill morgan and a bunch of other good cars and then you had the battles in limited sportsman and the 4 cylinders back then always put on a show and it was ever saturday night awesome racing and some pretty good slobber knockers in the pits afterwards lol

[SLIDING SIDEWAYS]

Good times right there

[racincowboy02]

Sometimes i sit and tell my kids about those days and show them some of the videos from youtube and they can't believe that the track used to be 1/2 mile and the racing was that good my kids love the track now and we go as much as we can and will go more once the weather straightens out and work schedule gets settled down a little bit more

[Slideways]

Yep, those were the days!!

[racincowboy02]

Have you been to Cherokee since they shortened it tell me what you think about it now and if you haven't been definitely check it out sometime either May 4th for the WOO show or July 6th i believe for the Lucas race the new track promoter used to race in the stock 4 division and he has done a pretty good job with things since he took over last year

[BloomerHarvickFan]

I went to several big races in the 90's there, (HAT, Blue/Gray, etc.) and I loved it. Going into turn 1 on the outside took some guts, running right up at the edge of the track...
I saw Gary Webb come to the front in a Consolation race, only to go off the edge, and over, and then go to the rear and come back up through the field and push it too hard and go over again...
I loved that it was unique. It wasn't just like everybody else. I wish they'd have left it with no wall in 1 & 2.

[racincowboy02]

Yea i know what you mean those were the days for sure and if you ran off coming off of 2 and missed the tires and edge of the backstretch wall you almost made it to the creek down that hill

[johnE]

I remember Mike Duvall running out of room between Ronnie Johnson and the beginning of the backstretch wall, the hardest hit I've ever seen.

I don't think Duval was ever the same after that crash.

Cherokee was my favorite track back then and it still is today. That little tweak that someone gave to turns one and two has helped the racing and cut down on wrecked racecars.

[SLIDING SIDEWAYS]

Someone said they might b putting new surface down. I cant conferm this but may b somebody else can.

[Trax53]

Grew up there every Saturday, I don't think we knew how good we had it back then! Now days I may only go there 2-3 times a year!

[EvelB7]

Duvall hit the same place off of turn two at the Blue/Gray 2 years in a row, hard wrecks for sure. Track had no wall except the front stretch when I first moved south, then wall down back and in 3&4, finally wall all the way around. I also thought it would be a good idea to shorten it....destroyed car in turn 1 first time I ran the shortened track (yes, they did finally seem to fix the entrance issues that it had in turn 1 recently!)

[super_latemodel_fan]

Have you been to Cherokee since they shortened it tell me what you think about it now and if you haven't been definitely check it out sometime either May 4th for the WOO show or July 6th i believe for the Lucas race the new track promoter used to race in the stock 4 division and he has done a pretty good job with things since he took over last year

So Lenny don't run the track anymore ?

[BloomerHarvickFan]

The last race I saw there was in 2001, on the big track. Hav-A-Tampa race. Bloomquist passed Rick Eckert with just a lap or 2 to go, on the outside in 1 and 2. Tough move.

[No_Weak_Links]

So Lenny don't run the track anymore ?No. It has been leased the last 2 or 3 years.

[One Man Gang]

Referring back to post #1 and the name Billy Bishop is that the same guy that was in a couple episodes of Moonshiners that was showing crazy Josh how to drive ? Hope he didn't show him how to cause that fiasco at Harris County couple years ago. Lol

[racincowboy02]

No Lenny does run it anymore Tony Adair and Scott Childress run it now and are doing a very good job and the track prep crew is one of the best i have ever seen.

Yes that is the same Billy Bishop

[jog49]

Everybody has an opinion but I like the racing better on the short version rather than the old 0.525 mile.

[racincowboy02]

Yea you are right about the opinion and although i do miss the big 1/2 mile the racing is better with the shorter version i just miss the names and battles that used to happen every week back then

[EagleDirt]

Was definitely the place to be on a Saturday Night!!
Good Times!

[Goodwrench]

Those were good times at Cherokee..

[No_Weak_Links]

Still a good track I go a lot. Must be popular with drivers, I follow them on Twitter and they had over 100 cars last week for a regular show that was postponed to Sunday afternoon race.

[racincowboy02]

Oh yea i think that gave some cars that may have raced on a saturday night elsewhere to come get some at cherokee too.

[DM92]

Oh yea i think that gave some cars that may have raced on a saturday night elsewhere to come get some at cherokee too.

The racing was awesome back in the 80's and 90's. No comparison.

[CarolinaDirt]

I used to like when Mike Duvall would win they would play the Flintstone theme song . After he got through with his victory lane pictures he would come up in the stands and sign autographs for the kids . Some great cars weekly . Ricky Weeks, Jeff Smith, Dennis Rambo Franklin, Jeff Cooke, Chris Madden , Petey Ivey and probably plenty more I have left out . I like the new track but I miss the big G.

[CageFaraday]

No Lenny does run it anymore Tony Adair and Scott Childress run it now and are doing a very good job and the track prep crew is one of the best i have ever seen.

Yes that is the same Billy Bishop

When it was still, "The Big Track" there was a traffic light hanging over the front stretch and the rule was when you passed under it you'd count "one-one thousand, two-one thousand" and then lift. The first time my friend Stan Massey went there in the 80's he said he went under the light and counted, "1-2" and lifted. LOL He qualified somewhere in the top 6 for the feature but then they inverted and put him starting pole beside Freddy and Buck on his bumper. They drop the green and he hammered on it for all it was worth. Building speed for like a week it seemed they thundered toward turn 1. Passing the light door to door with Freddy he carried it in turn one as far as he dared and then Buck Simmons gave him a shove and over the bank he went, coming to a rest in a black berry patch. He had to wait to be drug out by the wrecker before he could exit the car it was so dense. It was a special place for sure. Watched Buck Simmons school Bloomquist there in 90 or 91.

[MC92]

Dougman Davis. Petey Ivey. Billy Scott. Ron Parker. Ronnie Sewell. Ricky weeks. Billy Bishop, just to name a few. When Jeff Cooke and Dennis Franklin both raced 4 cylinders. The modified 4 class was the best 4cylinders anywhere. When Brian Conard drove a 4cylinder (Chris Ferguson’s dad) and Chris ran around in the pits playing in the dirt. And Walter was the best announcer on the face of the earth. The spectator races were always entertaining. I could go on for days. And at the end of each night the Eagles “seven bridges road” played through the speakers. Good times.

[racincowboy02]

MC92 i remember all those names just forgot to mention them holy cow those were the days for sure walter is the GOAT imo