Each time one of the Slader boys tightens the seat belt straps and rolls out on the race track at Outlaw Motor Speedway, there is a world of racing knowledge riding shotgun for the pending experience.
Two generations of Sladers are racing at the speedway south of Muskogee, all of whom grew up in a family that’s long been noted in the Muskogee area for their racing experiences.
The sons of Stanley Slader, Brian and Dennis Slader, are following in the tire tracks of their dad. Then there is 14-year-old Kyle, Brian’s son, who is making his racing debut in the this year, and Brian’s daughter, a senior in high school, who drives go-carts. Jake Hall, the 11-year-old son of Brian’s girl friend, also drives go-carts.
"Dad taught us everything we know about racing,” Brian said. “There is so much we owe him and the good part about it, he’s still active in the sport and when we need advise, he’s just a cell phone call away.”
“I’ve learned a lot from dad. He was one of the very best drivers to come out of this area,” Dennis added. “I’ve seen him do things behind the wheel of a race car that were truly amazing. I haven’t seen very many drivers do the things he did.”
Both sons say their 55-year-old father critical of their driving, but not to the point where it is overbearing.
“When we make mistakes, he lets us know about it,” Dennis, 32, said. “His criticism is always positive. The things he has told us have made both of us better drivers.”
“It’s a thrill for me to just go and watch my boys and now my grand-son race,” Stanley said. “They followed me all over the world when I raced, now it’s my turn to follow them.
“You know it would be nice if I had a car and could race against them. That would be three generations on the track at the same time. That doesn’t happen very often.”
Racing is still in Stanley’s blood and he has had the urge to drive again.
“I know my limits. My competitive days are over,” he said. “I drove Dennis’ car on play-play a couple of weeks ago, but that’s going to be the extent of my driving. The most laps I’m good for are five or six.”
Stanley got his start in racing when he was a teenager hanging around the Hull brothers, Lee and Joe, at old Thunderbird Speedway. He had the support of his father, Corkey Slader, but he never drove.
“He was there every time I raced,” Stanley said.
Stanley drove a modified and Brian, 36, drives a Hobby Stock. Both won track championships, and now you can add Dennis’ name to the list.
He captured the OMS Economy Modified (now 360 Modified) last season and he attributes the championship to his dad and Brian.
“Dad and Brian had won championships and I figured it was time I got one,” Dennis says. “Dad told me I had to change my driving philosophy and I finally figured that out at mid-season.
“I had an aggressive reputation, that winning a feature was the most important thing to do. I became conservative in my approach. I started racing to stay out of trouble; it was more important to be around at the finish and collect points than to go all-out and run a risk of a wreck or breaking my equipment, and not finishing a race.”
A consistent top-five finisher the rest of the season, Dennis won only three features. He clinched the title two weeks from the lose of the campaign.
Another title is in his thoughts, but so is winning a few more main events.
“I’m not going back to my old habits, but my goals are to win more features and have fun.”
Brian says for him, race night is always special.
“I get to drive in front of my dad, which is reward enough,” he says. “Driving before a packed house is not bad either, It’s a rush.”
Today, Stanley Slader gets the same rush. He arrives at the track in his motor home a few hours before the race time and parks the vehicle in his favorite spot in the pits.
“I’ve got the second best seat in the house,” he said, “and with a family that likes to race, what more could a man ask for?”
Dennis will race in tonight’s 100-lap Enduro with Kyle as his shotgun. “Kyle rode with me last year and he told me after the race, ‘That was the most fun I’ve ever had.’"
Racing at OMS
Where: U.S. 69 at Wainwright exit
Tickets: $10 adults, $5 kids 6-12. Pit passes $30 and $20. (High School Night tickets from March 27 rainout will be honored).
Time: Hot Laps, 7 p.m. Gates Open at 5 p.m.
Special events: 100 Lap Enduro Race, Extreme Car Bowling,
$100,000 Basketball Shoot.
