Tullis 1971

Corky built this sharp looking 1971 Chevelle for the 1971 racing season. At one point early in the season Tullis trailed in the point standings to Johnny Bowman but Fred regained the lead in May and never looked back, winning the Season Championship at Joplin's Ozark Speedway.

Coming Soon!

I was talking to my big brother David awhile back and he mentioned that he happened to get in on the end of a video promotion on PBS about the history of racing here in the Ozark's. He said he could have sworn he saw a picture of dad! I went to the website and sure enough there is a tv show coming soon. I clicked on the trailer and to my amazement there's video of dad racing at the Springfield Fairgrounds Speedway in the Chevelle #94 in 1970! He's flying down the front straightaway and into turn #1! I'm looking forward to watching the show! Here's the link! www.optv.org

Hi Mom!

Mom won this trophy in her debut, and only, Powder Puff Derby at the Ozark Speedway. Mother's Day, (yesterday) reminded me of what a cool mom we had growing up. You rarely here much about the wife of a stock car driver but it's not hard to understand the sacrifices they make especially when you see it first hand. Mom was always there for dad supporting him and helping him any way she could, all the while raising 7 children! She loved to watch him race but she never really got overly excited. I remember when she was interviewed by a reporter. Among several questions she was asked how she felt about dad giving a kiss to the trophy girl. She was not a big fan of the kiss but she knew dad loved her with all of his heart so she never let it bother her. Some driver's would really lay a big fat long kiss on the trophy girl, causing the crowd to whoop and holler but dad always made the kiss a quick peck. I think that was just for mom.

A Great Friend

HomePro's FastLane Department where I work, is dedicated to Fred Tullis, Sr. and his amazing stock car racing history. A few days ago a gentleman came into the FastLane and asked my name. I said "hello, I'm Fred Tullis, Jr.". He said, "it's real nice to meet you Fred, my name is Clarence Danner". I was very surprised and delighted to meet Mr. Danner whom I knew from his several years of racing with dad. Clarence raced stock cars for 31 years and was a great driver and sportsman. He and dad were very good friends and even business associates with dad in the Auto Salvage business and Clarence as the owner of Carterville Garage. Clarence sponsored the race team many times. He had a lot of fantastic stories to tell me, of which I was delightfully entertained. He mentioned a day that dad helped him overcome a carburetor problem by showing Clarence how to rebuild a carburetor so it would pick up fuel while in the turns. There was a trick in the adjustment of the floats. He said, "Fred your dad would never hesitate to help a fellow driver any way he could". Clarence also mentioned that there was not a better sportsman in the field than Corky Felker, dad's car builder and owner for many of his racing years. Clarence had a few photocopies of articles from a Speedway Program and from our local newspaper, The Joplin Globe. He kindly gave me the copies which included the picture above taken at the Beaver Lake Speedway in Rogers, Arkansas in 1972. Clarence accomplished great things during his many years of racing making history in several categories not the least of which was an impressive tally of wins along with holding the record for "most laps turned" at the Nevada Speedway in Nevada, Missouri and the record for being the "oldest driver" to compete there. He mentioned that one other driver older than himself incidentally broke Clarence's record one night but when he heard about it, he made a special trip to the Speedway for another race and to regain his title! Still competitive, even today! I'm thankful to work here in the FastLane at HomePro where I get the opportunity to reminisce with many people from all over the four states about our local hero's of stock car racing.

Champion Fan!

This young lady was a big fan of the races. Our family came to learn that Fred Tullis was her favorite driver. One day mom was on her way to work when she was involved in a car wreck. She had just dropped off my two younger sister's at the babysitter and it was a good thing because shortly thereafter she was rear-ended and her car caught fire! The driver who hit her ran up to her door and pulled her out of the car through the window. Later he called to check on her and that's when she learned that the driver, Mr. Whitlow, had a daughter who was a huge race fan and loved Fred Tullis. Her name was Christie!

Ozark Speedway 1974

Corky & Ray

I love this old picture that Jamie & Jeannie Felker gave me showing Corky and his brother Ray working underneath a shade tree. It appears they've rigged a cherry picker using a 55 gallon drum as a counter weight. The old barn in the background. I beleive the picture to be from 1967.