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VINTAGE CARS HERE ON SEPTEMBER 6TH

By Chuck Corder

Ricky Haugen has fond memories of coming to Five Flags Speedway as a child.

Grabbing a seat in the grandstands and eagerly anticipating the drop of the green flag to watch the weekend warriors wage war at the famed half-mile asphalt oval.

What has always resonated for Haugen, now 44 and an occasional Super Stock racer these days, is the heritage of Pensacola’s high banks.

“I always wanted to run at Five Flags as a kid,� Haugen said. “It’s surreal at times when you pull in and think of who all has been here over the years.�

He hopes to add to the history and lore of Five Flags come Sept. 6 when he’ll drive one of nearly 15 vintage cars in a special exhibition race.

The group of 1932 and ’34 Ford and Chevy open-wheeled coupes and trucks on fiberglass bodies will be part of that early fall show that featuring Modifieds, Super Stocks, Sportsmen and Bombers.

That night in the not-so-distant future, coupled with the track celebrating 60 years of racing this season, has got a lot of us behind the walls at Five Flags reminiscing about a bygone era.

So much so that we’ve posted a phenomenal gallery (which you can find here — Facebook Vintage Library — that highlights some of the speedway’s more indelible moments.

There are 119 images that are sure to take you down memory lane and into Victory Lane. In the coming weeks on 5flagspseedway.com, we’ll have stories detailing some of the more memorable photos that are in that collection (again, they can be found by simply clicking this link, Facebook Vintage Library.

Like, Bobby Allison acknowledging the crowd during Snowball Derby pre-race introductions. Or ol’ Red Farmer, his hat askew, grinning widely before the start of the 1975 Derby.

Newspaper clippings from a 1977 edition of the Pensacola Journal announcing the winning streak and exploits of a 20-year-old Junior Niedecken.

Action shots of cars battling high atop the speedway before the outside wall was ever constructed.

Clicking through the dozens of photographs that pull at the heartstrings of one’s youth, well it’s enough to give the average Five Flags fan goosebumps, much less one of the proud ones that call themselves a loyal fan of America’s Favorite Home Track.

It’s the sort of churning nostalgia Haugen had in mind when he approached Five Flags General Manager Tim Bryant about hosting the fledgling-formed Southern Vintage Racing Association not too long ago.

“I’m very excited about it,� Haugen said. “I hope it goes over well. Kudos to the association. Kudos to Tim for trying something new. I think the world of Tim. They are so well organized compared to the other tracks we race at. It’s a good family business and all of us in the SVRA are looking forward to racing there.

Haugen, a dirt tracker tried and true, first steered a vintage car when Milton’s Leonard Slay first brought them to race along the Gulf Coast in the late 1990s.

After a long respite, they came back several years ago at dirt tracks in Flomaton and Loxley, Ala. along with several more dirt tracks in the area.

Haugen hopes the appearance in September could breathe new life into the vintage cars while also becoming one of the much-ballyhooed featured attractions out at Five Flags.

“The timing is right for an introduction to a new class,� he said. “It’s something the older generation can recognize the appearance of the car. Plus, it’s something the younger generation hasn’t seen before, which makes it interesting. There’s a lotta potential.�

For more information on the Southern Vintage Racing Association, “like� them on Facebook and then come see them race Sept. 6. In the meantime, to whet your historical racing appetite, we remind you to please click Facebook Vintage Library and enjoy how Five Flags — both the track and its many characters — has changed over the years

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