‘Turtles’ race the drag strip

By Gary Schafer of Gibbon

Back in the days of 1960-1961, a group of young men/ boys in Buffalo Lake and Hector, Minn. formed a car club. Those were the days of the loud mufflers, drag racing and “squealing tires.” They called the club “Turtles,” as S. Reuber had a ‘52 green Chevy that wasn’t the fastest car “on the block.” Thus, the “Turtle” became the logo for the club. The club had 10 members, many of whom were brothers, cousins or just guys in town who loved cars. They were good boys who helped fix flat tires for stranded drivers and helped those who ran out of gas. On the Fourth of July celebration at Lake Allie, they would park cars and also had a float in the water parade.

Weekends you could find many of them at the drag races at Twin City Speedway or Minnesota Dragstrip. But they also raced out of town on County Road 8 in Renville County near Buffalo Lake. Buffalo Lake is 80 miles west of Minneapolis on Highway 212.

The “Turtles” started a drag strip on County Road 8 and marked it off with the permission of a county commissioner who happened to be an uncle of Darrel, Loren, Neil, and Dennis. The club went to the sheriff’s office and explained how they wanted to set up a drag strip, where they wanted to do it, and how it would be run with safety the priority. The sheriff said they could do it as he probably thought they would do it anyway and this way it would be run safely.

Sunday afternoon as many as 200 cars would come out to race. Guys, girls and kids from neighboring towns like Hutchinson, Stewart, Brownton, Gibbon, and Hector all came to run and watch. Bruce was the starter and Dennis and Neil were the flagmen at the end of the quarter mile, in touch with the starter by walkie talkies. The return run was in the ditch along the road. Sometimes they would have to let traffic go through.

The start was at the Schafer Angus Farm, which had tall silos. Glenn, the camera man, perched himself on the top of the silo to take 35 mm movies of the races. These movies can be seen on YouTube under “Turtles Car Club” - Buffalo Lake. The movie is about 20 minutes long of racing. The guy with the white pickup is me.

Some things just can’t be repeated, but there is a group of young men in Buffalo Lake that are hosting car shows and runs, a tribute to the original “Turtles.”