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5 Flags Fan Club - Time Warp 5 Features 5 Dollars

By Chuck Corder

Name the car, and chances are pretty good Okie Mason has wheeled it.

Driving back from Florida to his Eight Mile, Ala., home on Tuesday night, the 52 year old was bummed a connection to drive a vintage car Friday night fell through.

Mason was hoping to be a part of the Southern Vintage Racing Association field at Five Flags Speedway, which would’ve given him a shot at three potential checkered flags on Friday night.

“I was looking forward to that,� Mason said. “Those vintage cars are about one of the few things I haven’t been able to get into.�

Instead, Mason’s evening promises to still be quite busy at Pensacola’s high banks. He looks to stay atop the Home Depot Modifieds points standings and draw closer to Pro Trucks leader Jay Jay Day.

The Beef “O� Brady’s Sportsman and Butler U-Pull-It Bombers — two classes Mason won’t be a part of (but has raced in before) — round out a jam-packed night where it’s only $5 for fans of all ages. The grandstands open at 4 p.m. Friday with racing schedule for approximately 8.

“It’s really cool racing against Okie,� Day, 24, said. “I remember going to (Mobile International Speedway) growing up and seeing him and Cale Gale battle it out. Now it’s me, instead of Cale.

“Beating him, oh God, it’s hard work.�

Cheetom Perry Mason III, “Okie� since he was a tyke, has been making life tough on his fellow racers since he was 15.

He recently added up a decorated career and discovered that he has won feature events in five different decades.

Mason’s positive outlook along with his talent has carried him a long way. Spend a few minutes with Mason, and you’d have to be made of stone to not smile at the stories he regales you with and the humble disposition he carries around.

“I’ve been blessed, I really have,� the deeply spiritual Mason said. “God’s given me the ability to do something that I really love. Everybody’s not as fortunate to be in the situation to race and enjoy the longevity to do it either.

“I’m always a winner when I’ve got God with me, whether I win the race or finish last.�

Mason has been making a lot of return appearances to the podium recently.

Mason finished third in the lone feature that has been staged at Five Flags this season, and trails Day by seven points. He sits atop the standings in Mobile, ahead of Day by 19.

Driving for Bobby Ingersoll in the Mods division, Mason owns wins at both the famed half-mile asphalt oval and Mobile. He holds a 15-point lead over Milton driver Chris Cotto in Pensacola and it’s a six-point cushion over two drivers across the bay.

“Donald Crocker helped us make some changes to the car, to get it out of square,� said Mason, who also leads in Mods points in Mobile. “We’ve got the car where it needs to be. You can tell the difference in the car.

“It ain’t got the strongest motor, but it’s hooked up right now. I hope we keep chugging along and get us some more wins.�

Mason enjoyed a historical trip to Victory Lane last December. He captured the Super Stocks Snowball Derby, leading only the last eighth of a mile in the 50-lap feature.

Mason counts Super Modifieds, dirt Late Models, dirt Super Stocks and asphalt Late Models among the many classes he has steered over the years.

Picking a favorite proves to be too difficult, but these days he’s partial to the Mods, which tends to appeal to a certain AARP demographic.

“We like something with a lotta speed to it,� he said laughing. “Ain’t too many young guys; there’s quite a few more ‘seasoned’ drivers out there. They get mad if I call ’em old.�

Seems like it would be difficult to get mad at Mason.

With his genial, infectious attitude and years of racing under his belt, Mason tends to be one of the more well-respected drivers that everybody loves competing against at Five Flags.

“You don’t want to have to rebuild these things every week,� he joked. “If you show drivers that you can race clean, they’ll race with you clean.

“Still, there are some drivers that it doesn’t really matter who you are, they don’t wanna race you the right way. That’s why I and some of the other drivers try to put on a good show and do it with respect for your fellow racer.�

It’s a philosophy Mason said he learned back in the day from some of the sport’s giants who drove cars that Mason’s daddy built.

Two-time Snowball Derby champion Dickie Davis was among the laundry list of legends Mason shadowed when “I was a young’n.�

“One of the things I watched was how they carried themselves,� he continued. “I felt that was the way I needed to do it. And, back then, those jokers knew how to drive a car.�

Here’s betting Okie Mason could’ve shown those jokers a thing or two in how to whee a racecar.

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