Update:
This story has been updated to clarify the date the business changed locations.
‘You can’t tell a man to slow down’: Inside the Devil’s Bowl Speedway
Race car drivers came to North Texas for high speed thrills.
Editor’s note: Take a look back into The Dallas Morning News Archives.
At one time in Dallas’ not-so-distant past, there was a place where race cars charged around a black clay track as thick dust billowed from their tires. The engines roared, drowning out the sound of thousands of fans, as each machine fought to make it to the front of the pack. When the white flag flew, signaling the last lap of the race, they sprinted toward the finish line.
The original Devil’s Bowl Speedway, on Buckner Boulevard in Dallas, was a popular racing site for Dallasites who appreciated the speed and the sport. And The Dallas Morning News covered the major events at the one-time racing destination. From big wins to injuries and promising careers cut short, the old Devil’s Bowl had a major impact on local racing history.
Background
The Devil’s Bowl Speedway: This was first mentioned in The News on March 16, 1941, in an article that called it “a newly constructed pit for the purpose of racing junk cars.” It had an oval dirt track, grandstands and weekly events during the racing season. Its popularity was thanks in part to businessman Roy Carter, the track’s promoter. He bought the racetrack’s concession rights in the early 1940s and eventually gained complete control. The News credited him with turning it into one of the country’s most active by the 1960s.
Dallas Racing Club: During the 1960s, the club was a home for hot rod enthusiasts, both car owners and drivers. In 1960, when the club formed, according to a legacy filing with the state, The News said it had 200 members. But by 1968, that number had dropped to 67 registered super-modified sprint cars.
The club and the speedway: It was one club and a half-mile of dirt. The Devil’s Bowl was the club’s home base and, according to a 1960 article, the club organized events and helped make the racetrack’s rules.
Big wins and events
The club’s events ranged from serious to spectacular. One had local DJs competing in a destruction derby, while on another weekend, the club sponsored the Southwest Championship Race, drawing drivers from across the Southwest.
For a time, fans had a shot at winning a race each week. A lucky few were chosen to compete in a spectator race in whatever car they were assigned.
In 1962, the International Auto Daredevils, a stunt driving group, dazzled fans at the Devil’s Bowl with jumps, spins and rollover exhibitions. Some years, including 1966, championship meets ended with a 100-lap race, meaning durability of the race car and the driver’s skill were of equal importance.
Club events were not limited to men. Women, often the wives of Devil’s Bowl drivers, raced jalopies. They were built of salvaged parts to keep costs down because of the high rate of crashes during races, according to author Rae Tyson.
After the move, tragedy
By the late 1960s, the Devil’s Bowl was attracting fans in large numbers, thanks to Carter’s efforts to expand seating, and The News reported on race results, star drivers and the racetrack’s move to its current location in Mesquite. The coverage was positive, but for a brief time in 1968, the tone changed.
That year, the Dallas Racing Club lost three of its members: A.D. Trowell, William Merle “Bill” Rogers and Jim Lunday. All three were killed while racing at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Devil’s Bowl veteran A.D. Trowell
Beginning in the 1950s, racing coverage in The News often featured A.D. Trowell and his brother, Jiggs, who dominated the sport with a style called “smooth-riding.” A.D. Trowell won the Devil’s Bowl stock car racing championship multiple times and, while he was mentioned in The News less frequently by the 1960s, he was a top driver.
On April 26, 1968, Trowell, 46, was killed while warming up at the Devil’s Bowl. The Tyler Morning Telegraph reported that his car slid and flipped as officials began calling drivers off the track because of rain. At the time of his death, he had been actively racing for 20 years. The Mexia Daily News called him “one of the best in the profession.”
On May 5, 1968, Ricci Ware started his racing column in The San Antonio Express-News with, “It’ll be a shortie this week: I’m just not in the mood to write, or race. A.D. Trowell is dead.”
William Merle “Bill” Rogers
Two months after Trowell’s death, Euless’ Bill Rogers, 29, was killed during a race. Leeroy “Red” Allen, the club’s director of competition, blamed the death on the track and disputed rumors that it was caused by failed brakes. He told The News that “there wasn’t any question in our minds about brakes involved. He didn’t get into the wall until he got into the air, and brakes wouldn’t help there.”
According to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Rogers died during a race after losing control of his car, which flipped and crashed into a fence.
Jim Lunday: From boxing to racing
Early coverage in The News focused on Jim Lunday’s boxing career. However, on June 25, 1968, he said that when he was boxing, “I had my eyes on a race car. To drive one was something I always wanted to do.”
The 1968 article “Ring to Race Track: Ex-Glover Lunday Turns to Auto Racing” detailed Lunday’s move from boxing to racing cars from his start at Thunderbird Speedway in 1965 to an injury at Cowtown Speedway in Fort Worth. Despite the injury, he set his sights on the Devil’s Bowl.
His promising racing career was short-lived. On July 19, 1968, during his second season at the Devil’s Bowl, Lunday was killed during a race.
The aftermath
Lunday’s death, the club’s third at the track in three months, led to allegations of racetrack hazards, according to a July 21, 1968, article. Club leaders, called the Dallas Racing Association in this article, said the track was unfit for high speeds. Roy Carter, the racetrack’s promoter, disputed the claims.
Club members voted to boycott the Devil’s Bowl until changes were made to lower the track’s high speeds from a possible 120 to 90 miles per hour. Shady McWhorter, a Devil’s Bowl veteran, told The News that, “Let’s face it, we run on it (Devil’s Bowl track) because it’s the only one we have to run on. And, you can’t tell a man to slow down.”
McWhorter won the race during which Lunday was killed.
Carter was not deterred by the boycott and continued to hold races. One week after the vote, the club backtracked and returned to the racetrack.
The Devil’s Bowl today
The Mesquite location of the track is the self-proclaimed most famous dirt track in the Southwest. Since the move and after changes in leadership and racing stars over the years, it has continued to offer fans what it always has; high-speed car races and a lot of dirt.
