4/17/2024
Five Flags Speedway
Better than OK: At 62, Okie Mason Adding to Legacy with Crown Stocks Success
By Chuck Corder
5flagsspeedway.com reporter
Okie Mason has won short-track races in six decades. And, he has earned every one of them.
Even this unique one back in ’84 at a dirt track.
“It was a hot dog race,” the 62-year-old Mason said. “You’d make a lap, stop on the front stretch, unbuckle your equipment and eat a hot dog. Then, you had to jump back in, come around, eat another dog and do another lap.”
The hard part, one imagines, would be keeping the dogs down as the laps ticked away.
But, as he has done since 1979, Mason persevered and recorded a win. (“They stayed down,” he confirmed about the hot dogs.)
All these years later, Mason is still driving to Victory Lane. He has captured wins in the first two Story & Bleich Roofing Crown Stocks features of the 2024 season at Five Flags Speedway behind the wheel of good friend Phillip Griffin’s Crown Vic.
The Kushla, Ala., driver looks to make it three-for-three when the Crown Stocks (20 laps) return Friday to the famed half-mile asphalt oval along with the Faith Chapel Outlaws (35), Zoom Equipment Pro Trucks (25) and The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen.
The grandstands open at 4 p.m. Friday with racing slated for 8 approximately. Admission is $15 (adults); $12 (seniors, military and students); $5 (children, ages 6-11); and free for kids (5-and-under).
Mason finished second in his first career race in 1977 at Mobile International Speedway. The winner? Five Flags General Manager Tim Bryant.
Win No. 1 came two years later for Mason. That one only came because his father kept entering Mason into races for a couple years to ensure the class had enough cars.
“It kept me humble for a while,” Mason admitted. “We ran pretty much last, but, hey, we were having fun and my dad knew where I was. Finally, in ’79, we got that first win. Boy, when that happened, I was happy for sure.”
He’s everybody’s favorite, “The People’s Champ,” if you will. Mason’s laid-back demeanor shows fans that he’s always having a good time and not treating the sport as life or death.
After winning the Crown Stocks season opener last month, Mason remarked, “I’d race a wheelbarrow if I could do it.”
He’s old school, knows nothing will be handed to him and works hard slinging parts at Counselman Automotive Recycling so he can go racing. Mason has tried to impart that knowledge to the next generation of drivers. The message has landed with his grandson, Mason Johnston.
The 22-year-old Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks driver has been glued to his grandfather’s side since he was a toddler. Johnston won twice last year and finished second in points to track champion Robert Barber.
“It is special,” Mason said of his close relationship with Johnston. “You get some kids that only wanna play video games or really do nothing anymore. From the time he was old enough to walk, he loved racing.
“I told him that he had to work for it. Nothing would be given to him. He wakes up thinking about it, goes to bed thinking about it. He’s always responsible. I make sure he understands the old school mentality. Like anybody, we do butt heads, but we work together. He’s learning. I’m hoping Year 3 will be even better for him.”
Johnston already has ground to make up, as his grandad is already up 2-0 in 2024. In Year 47, Okie Mason is still adding hardware to his trophy case.
As always, he remained humble and conservative when asked to guesstimate how many victories he has racked up in his long, distinguished career.
“I’d say 250,” Mason said. “Lord, I wish I had as many Red Farmer. I don’t know if I’ll make it to 91, though.
“I really don’t count ’em. I’m blessed that I’ve gotten to do this. As long as I’m having fun, I’ll keep doing it. I enjoy every time I win.”
Especially while eating a hot dog.
