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The famed Dodge Charger pace car at the Louisiana State
Fair Speedway. The last year that the speedway was a dirt surface was 1968. It was converted to asphalt in 1969. This pace
car was one of the SUPER BIRDS made famous at Talladega Speedway in NASCAR racing. Rare photo of this car at Shreveport (Courtesy
of Roxy Dancy, Jr.)
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Two of the most famous names in IMCA racing history and
indeed, dirt racing history are Derr and Hutcherson. The red and white Dodge Charger belonged to 13 time national IMCA stock
car champ ERNIE DERR which is emblazoned with his famous # 1. Derr dominated dirt racing at Shreveport but had trouble converting
the heavy Dodge to asphalt competition. The # 29 is the mount of RON HUTCHERSON, brother of DICK HUTCHERSON, former IMCA national
Champ and NASCAR Rookie of the Year. Derr and Hutcherson were two of the "Keokuk Komets" as they both were
from tiny Keokuk, Iowa. DON WHITE and RAMO STOTT who were both ARCA champs and graduates of the IMCA dirt ranks were
the other two original Komets. (Roxy Dancy, Jr. collection)
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The Race Track and Clubhouse at the Louisiana State Fair
grounds in Shreveport, La. probably 1910 era. This grandstand was destroyed in 1912 when a new , larger covered grandstand
was built. The clubhouse served the horse racing crowd and later, served as the clubhouse for the Shreveport Country Club
( see photo on this page). This postcard was published by Hirsch & Leman who were booksellers and stationers in
Shreveport on Milam Street near the old City Hall at Louisiana Ave & Milam Street. William Hirsch, one of the owners of
Hirsch & Leman would serve as the Secretary-General manager of the state fair until the 1950s when Joe Monsour would
assume the role. The Hirsch Coliseum at the fairgrounds is named in honor of Mr. Hirsch.(Ernie Roberson collection)
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In the background of this photo is the venerable Louisiana
State Fair Speedway grandstand and the fence circling the half mile dirt surface. The greats of IMCA sped around the track
for many decades until shortly after this photo. The editor of OldShreveport.com was told by Joe Monsour who served as Secretary-General
manager of the fair for many years, that the need for additional parking destroyed the grandstand and racetrack. The late
Sam Giordano who held the same position for the fair in recent years, related that he would have loved to have the track back.
In case you are wondering, the photo shows the ground-breaking for Fair Grounds Field in 1984. The bell you hear, is the death
knell ringing for the track which was a contemporary with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Ernie Roberson collection)
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ROXY DANCY is shown in 1950 in what is known as
a "Track Roadster" according to racing historians. Locally, it was known as a "hot rod". These cars raced
at the state fair speedway and were very popular. A hot rod club from East Texas were the major attendees and among
those drivers was the famed RAY INGALLS of Longview, Texas. This photo proves a prominent racing historian as dead
wrong about track roadsters NOT racing in this area. This was an old 1950 promo article from a newspaper and the
photo is quite blurry. ( Roxy Dancy, Jr. collection)
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Around 1919 the Shreveport Country Club golf course relocated
to the interior of the State Fair racetrack. This was due to a fire that destroyed their clubhouse located in Allendale. The
edifice shown here was erected to serve the golf club for about four years until the current location off Greenwood Road (US
Hwy 80 in those days) was purchased. This may have been the first luxury boxes at a race track in America as auto racing and
horse racing were being held at the track in those days. In the coming weeks OldShreveport will debut a photo of Shreveport's
first amateur race winner in his wonderful Hudson racer. At this time the race track was a mile long. In 1932 it would be
reduced to a half mile track. (Ernie Roberson collection)
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