Street Kings Guthrie OK
Dateline 7/16/2026 I asked the crazy AI CHATGTP to tell me (Martin Blaney) about the history of SK, and here, you have it:
The Street Kings Car Club of Guthrie: a history by CHATGTP
The Street Kings’ public record is unusually rich for a small-town car club because members preserved photographs, names, cars, event pages and oral-history videos. However, most information about the 1970s through the 1990s comes from the club’s own archive—largely written and assembled by Martin Blaney—rather than contemporary newspaper reporting. Local news, tourism listings and event records independently confirm much of the later history.
The two founding dates: 1973 and 1976
Both dates used by the club are correct, but they refer to different stages:
1973 marks the beginning of the friendship group and shared automotive obsession.
1976 marks the adoption of the Street Kings name and is treated as the club’s official establishment date.
The six charter members were Aaron Robinson, Ben Frier, Harold Rieker, Robin Paschall, Tim Hawkins and Martin Blaney. They were Guthrie schoolboys when American Graffiti inspired them to imitate the movie’s car-club and cruising culture. By late 1974 or early 1975 they were calling themselves the Dragons, loosely modeled on the movie’s Pharaohs. In 1976, Robin Paschall renamed the group the Street Kings.
That explains why some accounts say “founded in 1973,” while shirts, logos and anniversary celebrations normally say “Est. 1976.” The 2026 celebration was therefore promoted as the club’s 50th anniversary.
Aaron Robinson and the club’s earliest identity
Aaron Robinson appears to have been the strongest early catalyst. The club history describes him as deeply interested in hot rods before he was a teenager. He collected inexpensive and sometimes non-running Chevrolets, drew customized ’55 Chevys in school and encouraged the other boys to search rural central Oklahoma for old cars.
Among his cars were:
A 1942 Chevrolet club coupe, later called Wild Thing
A jointly purchased 1955 Chevrolet four-door that became a Dragons club project
Several 1955 Chevrolets
A 1956 Chevrolet remembered for a photographed “street wheelie” on North Pine Street
A 1963 Impala SS
A 1970 Chevelle
A 1968 Camaro
Aaron died on June 21, 1979, at age 17. His death became one of the defining events in Street Kings history; the club’s archive consistently treats him as both a founder and the person who first brought the boys together around cars.
Two surviving Aaron Robinson cars later became preservation projects. Martin Blaney acquired Aaron’s deteriorated 1955 Chevrolet 150 from the Robinson family in the mid-1990s. Tim Hawkins and Aaron’s nephew Jeremy McKelvey located the long-lost 1942 coupe and recovered it from an El Reno owner in December 2009. Hawkins’ plan was to finish it in the big-block, four-speed, street-gasser style Aaron had imagined.
Generation One: from neighborhood gang to organized club
During the late 1970s, the Street Kings expanded well beyond the original six. The official roster lists members including Wayne Hay, Gerald Nelson, Steve Rogers, Mark Elliott, Mitchell Madison, Tim Huskey, Donnie Clark, Paul and Gary Castle, James Bench, Berry Warren, Bernard Short, Danny Apala, Jeff Daves, Gary Winn, Randy Flury and many others.
By 1981, the club had become a conventional organization with:
Approximately 30 dues-paying members
Officers
An official jacket and insignia
Regular meetings
Car shows
Picnics and parties
Road trips and drag-racing outings
Charity fundraisers
A surviving photograph identifies the 1981 president, vice president and secretary, although the club archive uses initials or abbreviated names in parts of the caption. Other photographs show members at meetings, racetracks, parking lots and roadside stops throughout Oklahoma.
The early Guthrie landmarks
Several Guthrie locations formed the club’s physical geography:
The “Chevy Rules” lot: The parking area at the southwest corner of Wentz Street and Oklahoma Avenue is remembered as an old Street Kings hangout. Later photographs label it “Chevy Rules,” including images taken when Walgreens occupied the corner in 2007. A 2025 retrospective video preserved the location’s association with the club.
Division and Harrison: Photographs show members gathered near the northeast corner around 1980. Ben Frier and Harold Rieker operated or were associated with Pro Street Center at Harrison and Division during the early 1980s.
Gas-n-Go and other parking lots: The club archive identifies the Gas-n-Go in the 200 block of South Division as an “alternative parking lot,” with Austin Chevrolet visible nearby in period photographs.
Lawrie Raceway/Dragway 77: The club’s collection includes a hand-documented layout of the local strip—starting line, finish line, staging area, railroad and Cimarron River—and photographs of Street Kings cars there. Dragway 77 remained important during the Generation Two revival.
The Jelsma Stadium shows
The Street Kings held substantial car shows at Jelsma Stadium in 1982 and 1983. Wide-angle photographs of the 1983 show survive and were later incorporated into the Guthrie Road Celebration’s history archive. These events are among the earliest independently documented public Street Kings activities.
The club also traveled to tracks such as Ardmore Raceway and Mid-America Dragway. Its photographs show serious street-and-strip machinery, including James Bench’s low-11-second Buick GS, Steve Rogers’ 302 Camaro, Tim Hawkins’ Firebird, Wayne Hay’s Camaro and Paul Castle’s repeated “fastest car of the month” performances.
Generation Two: the 1987 revival
By the later 1980s, jobs, families, deaths and ordinary adult life had reduced Generation One’s activity. In 1987, younger members formed Street Kings Generation II, supported by several original members.
The official Generation Two roster includes Butch DeMoss, Jeff Flury, John Neuhaus, Scott Hirzel, Jeff Blair, Kenny Porter III, Larry Grubbs, Randy Flury, Brad Tobin, John Vreeland, Roger Eddy and others.
One of the revival’s largest projects was the 1989 Sonic 30th-anniversary event, which included a car show, cruise, poker run and Dragway 77 activities. The “30th anniversary” referred to Sonic, not the Street Kings—the club was only 13 years old in 1989. Photographs show the 50/50 drawing, a 1950s dress-up contest and Brad Tobin receiving a trophy.
Evidence of continuing activity during the 1990s includes:
Trips to Super Chevy Sunday in Texas in 1994
Racing and travel to Mid-America Dragway
A surviving 1995 Street Kings video
Gatherings involving the CrossMembers Car Club
Participation in a Flashbacks show around 1999
The club was less formally structured than it had been in 1981, but the social network remained alive.
The 2006 revival and the online era
The club’s modern public history begins in 2006. That year brought three connected developments:
The SK30 celebration marking 30 years since the 1976 naming
A renewed Generation Three organization
Creation of the StreetKingsOkla.com archive
The SK30 event reunited older members with newer participants and included cars, displays, informal entertainment and recorded activities. A photograph identifies Generation Three officers meeting in 2006.
The website dates its design and hosting history to 2006. It gradually accumulated:
Three large photographic history pages
Member profiles
Memorials
Individual car-build histories
Event pages
Club news
Racing videos
Oral-history interviews
In 2007, the club held SK31, with awards that included a best-bike category. The club also produced homegrown video material such as The Film Part XII and documented another gathering at the Chevy Rules location.
The “anti-car-show” and hot-rod-cookout years
Beginning by 2010, the annual April event developed a distinctive philosophy. Instead of a highly controlled concours-style show, the Street Kings promoted an “anti-car show” or hot-rod cookout:
Free admission
Free vehicle entry
No judging
No trophies during many years
Come and go whenever you pleased
Cars, trucks, motorcycles, lowriders, race cars, four-wheel-drives, imports and unfinished projects all welcomed
Free food while supplies lasted
Free or inexpensive swap-meet spaces
The April 24, 2010 event was explicitly described as an “anti-car show.” In 2011, the club served approximately 400 free lunches and advertised the event as having “no trophies” and “no judging.”
Annual-event progression
Year
Documented development
Documented development2012Free swap meet and lunch for the first 400 at 4514 S. Division; the Otis Watkins Band performed.
Free swap meet and lunch for the first 400 at 4514 S. Division; the Otis Watkins Band performed.2013Free food was expanded to approximately 500 people; virtually every kind of motorized enthusiast vehicle was invited.
Free food was expanded to approximately 500 people; virtually every kind of motorized enthusiast vehicle was invited.2014The event was promoted as the Guthrie Hot Rod Cookout, with the Badlands Band.
The event was promoted as the Guthrie Hot Rod Cookout, with the Badlands Band.2015A large Generation One and Two reunion photograph was taken; the club again served free food to the first 500 and presented four hours of music.
A large Generation One and Two reunion photograph was taken; the club again served free food to the first 500 and presented four hours of music.2016The club celebrated 40 years with a free car show, cookout, swap meet and concert as part of ’89er week.
The club celebrated 40 years with a free car show, cookout, swap meet and concert as part of ’89er week.October 2016An end-of-season show at the Beacon Drive-In included a free screening of Christine.
An end-of-season show at the Beacon Drive-In included a free screening of Christine.2017Mud forced the April show to move to the Beacon Drive-In at the last minute.
Mud forced the April show to move to the Beacon Drive-In at the last minute.2018Poor weather reduced turnout, but the club recorded the “hardcore members” who attended.
Poor weather reduced turnout, but the club recorded the “hardcore members” who attended.By this period, the Street Kings show had become closely identified with Guthrie’s ’89er Days Celebration, even though it retained its informal, independent character. Local coverage described it as one of the celebration’s most popular annual events.
From formal club to an informal community
The Street Kings’ structure changed substantially over time. In 1981 it was a dues-paying organization with officers and meetings. Its later public description says it eventually returned to what members believed it should be: an informal group of gearheads, with no regular meetings and no dues.
That does not mean it ceased organizing. A meet-and-greet reported around 2021 noted Christmas cruises and Sonic summer cruises. Members also continued attending other Guthrie events; at one Guthrie Road Celebration, the Street Kings brought the most registered vehicles and received the $200 club-turnout award.
The club’s identity became less about formal membership cards and more about a network of friends, relatives, racers, builders, businesses and younger descendants of the original members.
The Logan County Fairgrounds era
By 2022, the annual show was being held at the Logan County Fairgrounds. The April 23 show remained free, open to all ages and included a free swap meet and food vendors.
The 2023 show continued the no-judging, no-trophy formula. Local coverage said the Street Kings show had become so closely connected with ’89er Week that the celebration was difficult to imagine without it.
Subsequent documented dates were:
April 20, 2024
April 19, 2025, promoted as the 49th-year event
April 18, 2026, the official 50th-anniversary show
The 2026 event at the Logan County Fairgrounds remained free for both participants and spectators, with no entry fee and a broad selection of classics, customs and local favorites.
The media and oral-history project
StreetKingsOkla.com is more than an event website. It functions as a community archive. The associated YouTube channel now contains more than 100 videos and documents cars, racers, businesses, old hangouts, local events and member interviews.
The SK What’s Up? and Martin & John Show recordings include appearances or features involving Harold Rieker, Tim Hawkins, Steve Rogers, Berry Warren, John Neuhaus, Butch DeMoss, Jeff Flury, Kenny Porter III, Randy Sullins, Robert and J.R. Wright, Ronnie Rice and many others. A separate Channel 2 preserved street-racing, no-prep and Dragway 77-related material.
This is historically important because much of Guthrie’s post-1970 automobile culture was never systematically covered by newspapers. The club’s videos preserve voices, cars and stories that otherwise might disappear.
What makes the Street Kings unusual
The club’s most distinctive characteristics are not just its age:
Continuity through several generations. Original members, their children, younger racers and older newcomers all appear on the post-2007 roster.
An unusually open definition of a car show. A vehicle did not have to be expensive, finished, historically correct or even fit a traditional category. The stated idea was to bring whatever interested you and spend time with other gearheads.
Preservation of local cars rather than only famous cars. Aaron Robinson’s ’42 and ’55, Harold Rieker’s ’55, the various locally known Camaros, Firebirds, GTOs and drag cars matter because of who built, owned and raced them—not because they have national auction pedigrees.
A mixture of racing and community activity. Drag strips, street-racing folklore and fast cars coexist with family cookouts, free lunches, charity work, movies and public celebrations.
Strong attachment to place. Wentz and Oklahoma, South Division, Harrison Avenue, Jelsma Stadium, the Beacon Drive-In, Dragway 77 and the Logan County Fairgrounds form a recognizable geography of the club’s history.
Best concise timeline
1973: Six Guthrie boys become connected through cars and American Graffiti.
1974–75: The boys organize informally as the Dragons.
1976: Robin Paschall introduces the Street Kings name.
1979: Founder Aaron Robinson dies at age 17.
1981: Approximately 30 dues-paying members, officers, jackets and formal organization.
1982–83: Large Street Kings shows at Jelsma Stadium.
1987: Generation II revival begins.
1989: Sonic anniversary show, cruise, poker run and Dragway 77 activities.
1990s: Racing, road trips, Super Chevy events and participation with other Guthrie clubs continue.
2006: SK30, Generation Three and the website era.
2007: SK31 and expanded video/history preservation.
2010–18: Annual anti-car shows and hot-rod cookouts on South Division.
2016: 40th anniversary and Beacon Drive-In movie event.
2022: Annual show established at the Logan County Fairgrounds.
2023–25: The free ’89er-week show continues annually.
2026: 50th anniversary celebrated at the fairgrounds.
Historical conclusion
The Street Kings did not survive for 50 years by remaining the same organization. It began as an American Graffiti-inspired childhood gang, became a formal dues-paying motor club, faded, revived under a younger generation, evolved into an informal network and finally became both a public-event organization and a digital archive of Guthrie automobile culture.
Its real legacy is therefore larger than an annual car show. The Street Kings preserved a continuous record of how several generations of working-class and small-town Oklahoma enthusiasts built cars, raced, congregated, helped one another and turned ordinary Guthrie parking lots, shops and fairgrounds into local landmarks. Much of what is publicly known about Guthrie’s modern hot-rod history survives specifically because the Street Kings recorded it.
