Archives West Finding Aid

This oral history interview with Dick Bown was conducted by Alex R. Toth, Jr., at Rose Auto Wrecking in North Portland, Oregon, from November 20 to December 2, 1991. The interview was conducted in two sessions.

In the first interview session, conducted on November 20, 1991, Bown discusses his family background and early life, particularly relocating to the Portland, Oregon, area from South Dakota in 1941, and his early interest in cars. He talks about running a service station and a billiard supply business. He speaks at length about his life as a race car driver, including his various cars; his first races in Oregon in the early 1950s; NASCAR and Oregon Auto Racing Association races in the 1960s; and the different tracks he has raced on. He also talks about his auto-wrecking business, Rose Auto Wrecking. He then continues discussing his life as a race car driver, including his relationship with his fellow racers and his competitive spirit.

In the second interview session, conducted on December 2, 1991, Bown continues discussing his competitive spirit. He revisits the topic of running a service station and Rose Auto Wrecking, including his experience going bankrupt in 1953 and the history of both businesses. He then discusses his children – Chuck Bown, Sheri Bown, and Jim Bown – and their involvement in automobile racing. He revisits the topic of the race cars he has driven and the tracks he has raced at. He talks about media coverage of car racing on the West Coast, as compared to the South and the East Coast; discusses the athleticism involved in car racing; and describes changes in the technology of racing. He closes the interview by discussing the future of car racing in the Pacific Northwest, and the experience of raising a family as a race car driver.