Satan’s Bowl Of Death — ‘The Original Jalopy Race Track’ I thought this was a neat article I would pass along. Maybe some of you have some memories of this place. From the Post- Journal http://post-journal.com/articles.asp?articleID=24547 By Karen E. Livsey and the staff of the Fenton History Center Satan’s Bowl of Death came to life in the summer of 1939. On June 28, 1939, the incorporation papers for the Auto Derby Club were filed in Mayville. This organization was the sponsor of Satan’s Bowl of Death. The six names on the incorporation papers are Kenneth D. Whitney, Panama, N.Y.; Norman P. Whitney, Panama, N.Y.; William J. Shaw, Lakewood, N.Y.; Paul M. Faulkner, Ashville, N.Y.; Carl William Chamberlain, Sinclairville, N.Y.; and C. Milton Jones, Jamestown, N.Y. The purpose was to acquire real estate, to develop the same for recreation and allied purposes, to own, operate and maintain restaurants, refreshment concessions, motordromes, motor race-tracks and motor derby courses, and to engage in the business of furnishing amusement, entertainment and diversion to the public. A racetrack was developed at the Frank Shaw Farm which was located on the Big Tree-Sugar Grove Road, two miles from Maplehurst Golf Course. One letter in the collection at the Fenton History Center claims Satan’s Bowl of Death as ‘‘the original jalopy race track.’’ Every Sunday during the summer at Satan’s Bowl, they held jalopy races during 1939, 1940 and 1941. The price of admission was 25 cents — children free when accompanied by parents and parking was free. There was a concession stand for eats and drinks. The photographs in the collection of the Fenton History Center show some bleacher seating plus area on the banks overlooking part of the track as well as standing room along part of the track area. The dirt track was more of an obstacle course than a smooth flat oval that would have been used for speed. Satan’s Bowl had a front straightaway that took the racers right to the mud hole in the creek bed, where they had to turn to go up a steep hill. At the top of the hill was turn two which took them between the large trees as they emerged along the back straightaway before turn three. Turn three took them back down the hill to turn four, heading again for the mud bath at the end of the front straightaway. It was World War II — with many of the young men entering the Armed Forces plus the rationing of gas and tires — that put a stop to racing at Satan’s Bowl and most other tracks in the country. Satan’s Bowl started again after the war, but we have nothing about that time period in the collection. According to ads in the newspaper, other attractions took place at Satan’s Bowl along with the racing. Parachute jumps from airplanes were advertised in 1940. Another feature was a balloon ascension with the Flying Allens. Seventeen-year-old Florence Allen would ascend 5,000 feet in the hot air balloon and then jump out. ‘‘To see her hurtling through the air, then the graceful unfurling of her parachute which brings her to earth safely, you’ll declare it a thrill of a lifetime just to watch her.’’ The photographs in the collection show large crowds, many in their Sunday best sitting on the ground under the trees on the bank overlooking the track as well as some sitting in the bleachers. Other photographs show the cars and drivers as they raced through dust and mud, overturned, crashed and vied for first place or worked on their cars between races. Next week we will have more about the drivers and the cars that raced at Satan’s Bowl of Death. If anyone has more photographs or information about any of the activities at Satan’s Bowl of Death, you are invited to contact the Fenton History Center and share your stories.
I love bowls of death especially if the dark lord SATAN is the sponser no seriously that is super cool and im guessing way ahead of its time we need more bowls of death in this day and age great story, cool read, thanks
Interesting read.Several members of my family lived in Jamestown and my aunt who will be 97 in April probably remembers it.She lives in Florida now so I'll have to give her a call and ask her about it.My cousin still lives there but he's only in his late 60's so I doubt he would know about it.
In this time of being so politically correct now a days..............you have to love that name .." Satan's Bowl of Death"........cool story.......thanks.
Damn my speed reading, I thought it said Satan's Bowels of Death which I could qualify for after chili night.
Very cool article. I'd heard stories about this place but this is the first factual piece I've seen. I wonder if this later became Jamestown Speedway?
Was born in Jamestown, never knew that existed. more known was probably the successor to this track a couple of miles south, Stateline speedway. Is on Kortright road, just off the Big Tree. 50's till present day (at least last I knew was still running). My Grandmother went to school with Lucy. Never laughed so hard when my wife asked about her once and my Grandmother (whose family ran a speakeasy) said "she was a slut"....
Thats cool...i grew up here in WNY and never knew that existed....then again that track opened up 36 years before I was born...
That's what I loved too, how non- PC the name was probably even back then! I also wanted to add the contact info to record memories or get more info: "If one of the items featured brings back some memories or brings up a question, please contact the Fenton History Center at 664-6256 or information@fentonhistorycenter.org to share your memory or get an answer to your question."
Very cool. There is still a Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven Vermont. It's a 1/2 mile dirt track about 400 miles away.
^^^^ What states have you "sectioned" out ( i.e., about 650 miles worth) to get the distance from Marietta to West Haven down to a comfortable 400 miles? Just curious. vic
my Dad was a Friends with Speed way Ace Frank"Satan" Brewer back in the 30's .He Raced all over the USA back in day . I doubt that in todays religious atmosphere that such a nick name would be bestowed on anyone..ha ha ha . and just how far bak did flame jobs go? this was in 1949 and he had similar paint jobs before this...
Some times called "''satans playground'" near Beathny center south of Batavia.. Indy Driver Al Keller Got his start at Satans Bowl of death race track.. Another track in Michigan was called "" Wiskey Ridge"" Cool name to me..
I've seen mention of this track before...thanks for sharing the story! I'm sure the name drew plenty of curious spectators.
I had heard of Whiskey Ridge before and our own Charlie Chops 1940 here on the HAMB named one of his recent builds the "Whiskey Ridge Special". He wrote this on another forum about that track: "A little history for you out-of-towners...Whiskey Ridge was a little dirt track out in the pucker brush NE of Muskegon about 15-20 miles. It's hay day was the 50's into the early 60's. Kind of a bowl carved out of the side of a big hill. They reopened one summer for a few races in the mid 70's. I went up there a couple times - it was pretty raw bone. A couple years ago I got some copies of a couple b&w prints from back when the track was popular. In one of the pics there are three '32 3 winder coupes being destroyed all at once. 5 or 6 years ago I picked up a little hand lettered sign at a swap meet in Grand Rapids that represented someones idea of a sign that might have been placed in the Yellow Cab office. It might be original but seems too nice. I had that sign next to the car at the show. Over the weekend I had 3 or 4 old geezers (older geezers than me) tell me their stories about Whiskey Ridge and their pal or brother or whoever that raced there. My favorite comment from one guy is that a lot of the racers drove their jalopies home - if they didn't wreck them too badly. Anyway, that little sign was one of the things that influenced the car being named the Whiskey Ridge Special. Charlie" <STYLE type=text/css><!--td.attachrow { font: normal 11px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color : #000000; border-color : #000000; }td.attachheader { font: normal 11px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color : #000000; border-color : #000000; background-color: #D1D7DC; }table.attachtable { font: normal 12px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color : #000000; border-color : #000000; border-collapse : collapse; }--></STYLE> Here is also a link about the track: http://www.waterwinterwonderland.com/speed.asp?id=1806&type=9 Plus there is a post with some Whiskey Ridge history here on the HAMB: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=223300 (thanks to Purplepickup for the links )
Looks like they are making these articles into a series. Here is a new one with an interview with one of the old drivers. Definitely a good read! Satan’s Bowl Of Death: A Look At Drivers, Their Cars By Karen E. Livsey and the Fenton History Center staff Photographs are a wonderful addition to the Fenton History Center collection. They bring the history of the area to life. But like the many photographs languishing in drawers, boxes and albums in our homes, part of the value is lost when the people, the place or the event is unknown. In the case of the small collection of photographs of Satan’s Bowl of Death, we know the place and we know the approximate time the images were taken. A few of the photographs have a name written on the back or a date. Only two of the drivers are identified —Don Okerlund and Carl Conti. One photograph is labeled Kenneth Whitney, flagman. The rest have a date of July 16, 1940, or there is nothing. To gain more information, this writer had the opportunity to speak with someone who drove a jalopy there. His story will be told over the next two weeks. He talked about the cars. The cars were old and beat up but still running. They were from the late 1920s or early 1930s. The drivers themselves — with help from their mechanic friends — got the cars going and kept them going. The creek bed and mudhole area of the track presented the problem of keeping the spark plugs dry. A few inventive measures were tried by these teams. When you look at the photographs many of the cars had the ‘‘back end’’ removed or at least the rumble seat was gone. All cars had the top of the car removed along with the windows including the windshields so that less glass could fly. Most of the cars had a roll bar or some kind of hoop that would hopefully protect the driver from having the car crash down on them if (or when) they rolled over. One undated newspaper clipping, but probably from 1940, informs the reader that ‘‘all cars are ‘hooped’ this year for safety’s sake and the jalopy drivers are required to wear helmets and safety belts.’’ One accessory added to some cars customized the top of the driver’s door. One person explained that it was a piece of old tire cut to fit over the door to act as a cushion for the driver’s arm or shoulder. The body part would often hit hard on the door when the car came back to earth after sailing through the air at the top of the hill. These drivers were competitive. They showed up out in the rural section of Busti, not far from Sugar Grove, Pa., week after week to add to their point totals. Don Okerlund was called the ‘‘1939 Ace’’ when the 1940 season started. Carl Pintagro, Billy Williams and Carl Conti had the highest point totals for 1940. Drivers from Jamestown, Lakewood, Niobe and Silver Creek, N.Y., and North East, Sugar Grove, Corry, Mercer and Youngsville, Pa., and elsewhere participated. Crackups occurred and a few drivers were taken to the hospital during the three years of racing. There were hot days at the track and despite the oil sprayed on the track, there were dusty days. There were also bicycle races on some Sundays. One week in July 1940, there was even a mud wrestling event held between Farmer Burt and the Masked Marvel with Farmer Burt declared the winner. It was reported that drivers ‘‘Carl Conti and Frank Spencer also mixed it up in the ooze.’’ There is one photograph in the collection of what seems to be mud wrestling and after reading the report in the paper, we can guess that the photograph captured one of these muddy altercations. The track had been widened and lengthened for the 1941 season. That season was slow to start because of bad weather. The races were postponed during some weeks if there were not at least 12 drivers entered and gas stations hours were cut back in August because of the gasoline transport problems on the east coast. The 1941 season seemed to just end in October with no report found in The Post-Journal on a final race. The entry of the United States into World War II stopped the racing at Satan’s Bowl of Death for the duration of the war. Some of the drivers that raced at Satan’s Bowl of Death include Don Okerlund, Carl Conti, Carl Pintagro, Busty Conti, Sam Conti, Jack Pintagro, Jiggs Lewis, Frank Phillips, Frank Spencer, Carl Johnson, Lee Capron, Billy Williams, Jack Pintagro, Bill Fales, Millard Bacon, Lloyd Bacon, Bob Clough, Bob Paul, Fred Christianson, Lloyd Moore, Don Thorpe, Vic Spitz, Al Tranello, Glen Cook, Charles Samuelson, Bernie Shaw, Ralph Woodard, Bob Lindstrom, M. Moore, C. Simmons, Lloyd Bacon, Adrian Walker, Marvin Rhodes, Tommy Thompson, Len Kibbey, Arthur Anderson, Roland Rapp, Harold Houghton and George Pickard. There were others participants not recorded in the newspaper clippings in the collection. The newspaper reported crowds numbering 2,000 and more for some of the races. But there was no report on the size of the purse for the winners. Undoubtedly it was not a large amount but enough to entice drivers to this track instead of any others in the area. If you know more on the subject, please give us a call so we can learn more about this exciting pastime and save it for future generations. If anyone has more information or photographs, particularly on the racing at Satan’s Bowl of Death after World War II, please contact the Fenton History Center and share the history. http://post-journal.com/articles.asp?articleID=24794 Like I said before, I encourage any of you who have any information about this track or photographs of the track to contact them at: Fenton History Center, call (664-3256) or visit the Center at 67 Washington St., just south of the Washington St. Bridge; Jamestow, NY
I meant 400 miles from Jamestown NY. I figured that was pretty obvious. I know Vermont's Devil's Bowl has been around for a long time, and it is run by the Champlain Valley Racing Assn. which also runs a track in NY state. Sooo... there may have been a connection bitd.
Here is a link to Stateline Speedway which is just a couple of miles from where the Satan's Bowl was. I'm gonna have to get down to the Staurday Morning Breakfast and talk to some of the Guys to see what they know about this place. The link goes to a page of Past racers, these are the Old Farts that I grew up with. http://www.stateline-speedway.com/5th_Turn/index.htm EDIT: Just found this about NASCARs Oldest Living Driver - He Raced at the Bowl. http://www.legendsofnascar.com/Lloyd_Moore.htm Dick
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