Drag Illustrated Issue 136, September 2018 | Page 54

D.I. COLUMNIST
On the Road
with Van Abernethy
I
will always remember the
first time I rolled through the
gates of Osceola Dragway back
in 2015. I found it especially as-
tonishing to see NHRA Top Fuel
competitor Terry McMillen blend-
ing into the scenery that day and
wrenching away on a front-engine
nitro car parked in the grassy pit
area of this time-honored drag strip
tucked away in the northern tip of
Indiana in the town of Osceola. Mc-
Millen’s shop was located less than a
mile from the track, and he told me
he’s been coming here on a regular
basis since the 1970s when he’s not
on tour. To be certain, I completely
dig the place, too, although with my
zig-zag travels across America, it’s
taken me three years to revisit this
vintage facility that was built in 1957.
I’ll also never forget the day I
met Ruth Chizum, the sharp-witted
widow who owns and operates this
track. Her late husband, Art Chizum,
built the place from scratch. She and
Art didn’t meet until the early 1980s,
and when he told her he owned
a “drag strip” on the other end of
town, she didn’t know exactly what
he meant, although she imagined
it as some type of strip mall. Ruth
can tell the story so much better
than I can, and she had me rolling
as she recounted her initial disap-
pointment when she first saw the
track. “Where are all the stores?” she
inquired to Art. Regardless, the two
fell in love and she also developed an
affection for his drag strip as their
years together accumulated.
When Art passed in 2000, Ruth
continued operating the track. “Me
and a whole lot of help,” she smiles.
Her son, Tim, lives on site and cuts
the grass and performs electrical
work, among many other tasks. She
was 83 years old in 2015 when I first
visited Osceola, and I can fondly re-
call McMillen escorting her out onto
the starting line and posing for a
picture, which we used for my “On
the Road” column to illustrate the
original story.
Upon my return visit to Osceola
last month, Ruth told me she has
put the track up for sale. She’s now
86 years old, is still in fairly splen-
did health and is eager to see what
sort of retirement activities await
her. “I thought about becoming a
bag lady and living on
the beach!” she tells me.
Her wit is as sharp as
ever. She actually took a
trip to the Florida Keys
last year and while there,
visited the former home
of famed novelist Ernest
Hemingway. Enamored
with the experience, she has taken
an interest in Hemingway’s novels
and finds herself combing through
bookstores in search of his works.
As for the fate of the drag strip,
it’s been for sale for over a year now
and so far there’s been no takers, so
she continues to operate it each and ing some quality time
with Roger Woodruff,
who’s been announcing
the races here for nearly
30 years. He landed his
announcing gig after
he told Art, “You’re the
worst announcer I’ve
ever heard!” It sounds
kind of mean, I realize, but you’d
have to understand their relation-
ship. Regardless, Art snaps back,
“Well, if you think you can do any
better, just get up there and let’s see
what you can do!” Without hesita-
tion, Roger darts up the stairs of the
tower, grabs the mic and begins call-
every week. Hardly an event goes
by that one of her regulars doesn’t
walk up and thank her for keeping
the track going for so long. Each and
every Friday, she hosts a huge crowd
of test-and-tune participants, with
bracket racing every Sunday after-
noon. “I measure a good day when
everyone has fun and there are no
accidents. I also love it when no one
argues, and if a racer loses on the
starting line they don’t say it’s the
track’s fault!” she laughs.
Ruth is steadfast in her belief that
Osceola Dragway is what’s kept her
going all these years. “Because of
this track, I have an agenda each
morning and a plan for the day.” Still,
the notion of extra freedom to travel
(and Hemingway to read), not to
mention more time to attend her
granddaughter’s volleyball games,
is all too alluring to pass up, so the
track remains for sale.
Furthermore, no visit to Osceola
Dragway is complete without spend- ing the action in furious fashion.
Previous to that fateful stunt,
Roger was actually a dedicated racer
here at Osceola, but wasn’t allowed
to ever compete again after his mad
announcing skills became public
knowledge. “Art says to me, ‘You’re
the new announcer effective im-
mediately!’” Woodruff never again
raced at Osceola, but instead, has
been reporting to the tower for go-
ing on 3 decades. “And he never runs
out of anything to say!” laughs Ruth.
Roger can also recount some clas-
sic stories about the track. Among
my favorites is the one he tells
about the young blonde television
reporter who came out to the track
to do a local story. They encouraged
her to take a ride down the track
in the passenger seat with one of
their regulars, Alan Connors, who
had a pretty fast car. “After the ride
was over, Alan says to me, ‘Roger,
that woman screamed all the way
through the burnout, all the way
down the track, all the way up the
return road and was still scream-
ing when I let her out in the stag-
ing lanes!’” laughs Woodruff. They
never saw the girl again.
Woodruff also tells a fascinating,
first-hand account of how Warren
Johnson used to test a mid-1970s
model Pro Stock Camaro here at
Osceola in the late 1970s through
the early 1980s. “This was after he
left Minnesota, but before he moved
to Georgia – he actually lived in
Elkhart, Indiana, for a short time,”
Roger recalls. “He would tow this
Pro Stock Camaro on an open trailer
and sit patiently in the pits until
after the race was over, then he’d
unload the car and make test runs.
He would do this on a regular ba-
sis anytime there wasn’t a national
event somewhere.”
Roger saw WJ in Milan, Michi-
gan, a number of years later and
reminded him of his little-known
testing exploits. “WJ looks at me and
says, ‘You better not ever tell anyone
I used to test my cars at Osceola!’
I don’t guess he minds me telling
that story since it’s been so long ago,”
Roger laughs. It must have been a
peculiar sight – even 40 years ago
– for a Pro Stock car to be making
test laps on a drag strip that used
a dirt mound for a retaining wall!
Osceola never even installed metal
guardrails until 2001, after U.S. 131
Dragway in Martin, Michigan, gave
them their old ones after installing
concrete walls.
Over the years, Osceola has made
improvements and updates, but it’s
never came close to losing its yes-
teryear appeal. The track is actu-
ally more heavily promoted now
than ever before, Ever since Ashley
Finney began making regular Face-
book updates, the track suddenly
has taken on a social media pres-
ence it never had before. Regardless,
though, the racers here find them-
selves holding their breath as the
track remains for sale. Yes, there’s
a grandfather clause that allows
it to remain a drag strip, although
there’s no guarantees regarding its
future. Only time will tell how this
story unfolds, so until then, all in-
volved will keep hoping for the best
while continuing to revel in the good
times, both past and present.
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