(Words and photos by Doug Gregory) – Drag week 2014 visited Ponca City briefly. This community has a rich pioneer and oil-industry history. The Pioneer Woman museum is there and the famous 101 Ranch once called Ponca City home. Several oil barons of the early 20th century settled and/or conducted business here. One of those was E.W. Marland, who at one time controlled 10% of the world’s known oil reserves. When the oil boom went bust around the time of the stock market crash in the 1920s most of the barons lost their fortunes. Marland’s company eventually became Continental Oil Company (CONOCO). A peer to Marland that fared better was Frank Phillips. Eventually the Phillips company purchased CONOCO to become Phillips-CONOCO and Phillips 66. The company maintains a large refinery in Ponca City.
Another oil man in the area was Lewis (Lew) Wentz. In 1927 his McKee leases West of Ponca City were generating $1,000,000 a month and he was listed as the 7th richest person in the United States. A life-long bachelor, Lew never bought or built a home of his own and instead occupied the same suite in a hotel the entire time he lived in Ponca City. Quite timely, his oil investments were sold prior to the stock market crash. He believed much in the power of philanthropy and put his money to work. One such endeavor was Wentz Camp along the shores of local Lake Ponca built mostly between 1928 and 1953. The camp opened in 1930 and was primarily intended for disabled and disadvantaged children of the local area. Mr. Wentz left the camp to the city upon his death and it has flourished as a local attraction and recreation area ever since.
What does all this have to do with cars….? Well, there used to be a Rod Run held annually at the Wentz Camp and it was an awesome setting for just such an event. The architecture and park-like setting with plenty of trees and great views is hard to beat. I went to these events for some years and present to you some photographs from them. Another thing you might want to know about the area is that the SCCA held the Ponca City Grand Prix here for several years on the public roads surrounding the lake. It was billed as the ‘last natural road course in America’. Many of the big names ran there and it was generally seen as one of the pinnacle happenings on the circuit for a good while from 1961 to 1981. It was briefly resurrected from 1987 to 1992, but there’s little hope of seeing it return.
Enjoy these shots from Rod Runs held at Wentz Camp nearly 30 years ago.
