This Friday at Creek County Speedway, the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) family salutes one of its closest friends and one of Tulsa’s biggest dirt track racing supporters in the fifth annual Don Swope Classic.
Swope, a carpenter by trade, was one of the most respected workers and loved friends of the construction team that transformed the Tulsa Expo Center into the venue that has held the marquee Chili Bowl Nationals and Tulsa Shootout events.
After working as part of ASCS founder Emmett Hahn’s crew at the iconic motorsports events for many years, Swope passed away from cancer in 2020 at the age of 66. In his honor, the Don Swope Classic memorial event was spawned in 2021, and today continues to honor his local legacy with the presentation of the big check, case of libations and pair of overalls — as Swope regularly wore around the racetrack.
“Swope was the go-to for anything we ever needed,” said Chili Bowl Nationals announcer and publicist Bryan Hulbert. “He worked for Emmett and Fuzzy Hahn at Expo since the early days on the carpenter crew. He helped out at Creek (County Speedway) even in the early days when it was being built. He built a lot of the stuff that we used at Creek for years.
“Swope was there anytime we needed him. The thing about him is he would quite literally give you the shirt off his back. And we joke with him because he always wore overalls, so we said, ‘Well, he won’t give you the shirt, but he’ll give you the overalls.’”
Swope first appeared around the racetracks of Oklahoma, racing six-cylinder Modifieds at places like Creek County, during the time when Hahn was also in his driving career. However, as Hahn explains, it wasn’t until several years later that he befriended Swope and discovered his talent outside the racetrack.
“When we remodeled our house about 10 years ago, he and another guy spent almost a year doing a complete makeover on our house, and that’s when I really got to know him,” Hahn said. “He was there every day.”
Swope was also known for taking care of all Chili Bowl Nationals and Tulsa Shootout staff and officials in an RV compound behind the west end of the building, known to those as “the outback.” As Hahn says, it was a space for staff to come and get a cooked meal from Swope and a break from the non-stop racing.
“At Chili Bowl and Shootout and everything, when it came to me needing something done, he was just my right arm,” Hahn said. “If I needed steps made up here to this or a door over here on this… I’d just call him and forget it because he’d just get it done.
“Without Swope there, The Outback is just not what it used to be. Without Swope, it’s just not the same.”
Don’t miss the American Sprint Car Series stars salute Don Swope at Creek County Speedway this Friday, July 18, in the fifth annual Don Swope Classic. Tickets for the event will be sold at the gate on race day.
If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
