Remember When by Don Gamble
Pee Wee Flick
I was one of the fortunate people that had the pleasure of calling Pee Wee a friend. He was the master of the good practical joke. You would be hard pressed to find any detractors. He was a tough competitor and a consistent winner. All of these things describe Willard "Pee Wee" Flick.
Well liked and respected by his competition, Pee Wee was best known for giving out racing information and advice that, while usually true, always sounded a little crazy and was seldom believed at first. As an example one night when the races were cancelled due to rain he went to work on late model driver Dale Hafer’s mind. Hafer knew what kind of engine Flick was running in his late model. Pee Wee did a psyche job on him. After a short time Hafer wanted to bet $100 that Flick’s engine couldn't pass a tech inspection. Eventually Hafer’s crew talked him out of it.
Strangely, and perhaps justifiably, it was another joke that got Pee Wee started in racing in the first place. He was born and raised in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. He and his friends used to go over to the old New Kensington Speedway for the races in the late 1940's. One evening he went over to South Park Speedway with a couple friends. They had a 1940 Ford coupe in the hard top division. Race time was approaching and there was no sign of the driver.
The group pleaded with Pee Wee to drive so the trip would not be wasted. He drove the car and managed to finish in the top ten. It wasn't until later that he found out the team fired their driver the week before and had planned on Pee Wee driving all along! The joke turned out to be on them because he stayed in the car for the rest of the season and did pretty well. By the end of the year, he was hooked on racing but the crew suddenly quit and sold the car. That didn't stop Pee Wee, he built his own car that winter and the rest is history.
Speed shops and chassis builders are everywhere now but in the early years things were a lot different. With no place to purchase racing parts, a car builder would make frequent trips to the local junk yard.
Pee Wee's first car was 1941 Mercury. He ran that car for a couple of seasons and then built a 1939 Ford Coupe for competition with the top running Pittsburgh Racing Association. He ran in their hard top class successfully for two seasons. The PRA had a rule that after two years you had to move up in class or get out. Flick parked the coupe and drove for other people for a while on the local outlaw tracks. He then decided to bring the old coupe out of retirement for a few races. It had been sitting behind his garage for a couple of years and all he did was change the oil. The tires were so rotted out that three of them blew the first race night and the last one let go while they were towing the car home. The team stopped by a golf course to change the tire and ended up getting hit with a golf ball.
Flick teamed up with Ted Dobrosky and drove for him for about ten years. The team was very successful. They traveled to Langhorne but did not make the big race. Good times for the team came to an end when Dobrosky folded the team in 1968. Ted was killed in a freak accident shortly afterwards at Schmuckers Speedway. They were running a powder puff race and one of the ladies lost control of her race car and ran into the infield pit area. Ted and a couple others were hit in the tragic accident and Ted died a few days later. Pee Wee finished out that season in a late model owned by Pete Powell. Flick purchased a 1957 Chevy from Kenny Hemphill and started running at the Jennerstown Speedway. Flick discovered a loop hole in the track rules. Jennerstown only paid back four spots in the heats but they took five spots for the feature. He figured that by finishing in sixth he almost always got the pole for the consolation race. That race paid $100 to win plus he still got a spot in the feature. He set a track record that season for consi wins and they even received an award at the banquet. Later he had a 1962 Chevy in competition. When the tracks opened up the rules and let the pony cars in, he built a 1970 Camaro. Pee Wee and Bob Wearing had the first two Camaros and they were very successful. Pee Wee ran the Camaro for twelve years before turning it over to son Mark who used it to terrorize the street stock division for several seasons. Pee Wee ran the last race of his career in 1978 and later returned to competition with the Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Senior Series.
Pee Wee’s wife Lois was his number one fan for over thirty years and a top winner of powder puff races herself. His sons Mark and Doug started their careers racing go karts. Doug, who retired from racing, has a modified track championship on his resume from Marion Center Speedway. Mark recently returned to the big block modifieds after several very successful seasons on the asphalt. Mark won 85 features in the Grand American Modifieds at Motordrome Speedway.
They boys put in a lot of practice time on a quarter mile dirt track cut into the hillside behind the Flick home where family and friends used to gather to race and have fun.
Where did the nickname Pee Wee come from? Many years ago, one of the local writers asked him that question. Flick explained when he was a kid, he really liked shooting marbles. His hands were too small to shoot with the big ones so he used the marbles that were called pee wees and the name stuck. Knowing Pee Wee I am not sure if the story is true, but it doesn’t matter because the big man was a big winner. His driving skill and jovial personality made him one of the most popular drivers of his time.
I had the pleasure of being the master of ceremonies when Pee Wee Flick was inducted into the Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Hall of Fame in 1988 along with Jim Irvine Sr. and Hoot Martin. My last visit with Pee Wee was on September 3, 1993 the day before he died. I sure miss the great racing and good stories but will never forget the precious memories I have from my friendship with him.
Remember When Auto Racing History is available on our website http://www.speedwayproductions.biz/ it includes nostalgic photos of pioneers in local auto racing. Go to the webpage and click on articles. There is a large selection of Joe Viglione and Blackie Watt photos on the website. If you have any old photos that you would like included, please send me an email at: don@speedwayproductions.biz We welcome your ideas and especially any photos that you can contribute.