Mecom Lola T70 photo: CarGuyChronicles

What you see in the photo is located on the west side of Hitchcock, Texas, south of I-45 and TX 6 and adjacent to the former NAS Hitchcock, a lighter-than-air ASW installation dating to World War II (ZP-23 assigned).

Postwar, Texas oil man/industrialist John Mecom acquired the base and used the facilities for the refurbishing of armored vehicles for the US Army.   His son, John Mecom, Jr., later built the race track seen in the photo for testing of his sports and race cars.

Mecom Racing had a great deal of success during the early 1960s; his drivers included Roger Penske, Pedro Rodriguez, Hap Sharp, Jackie Stewart, George Folmer and Graham Hill.  Hill won the 1966 Indy 500 in the Mecom Lola-Ford; that same year, Follmer and Parnelli Jones ran the CanAm series in the Mecom Lola-Chevrolet T70.

Mecom shut down the team after 1966 in order to concentrate on a new “hobby:” the New Orleans Saints.  According to the signage at the track, Racing Adventures now operates the track.  A friend of mine who made the drive down to Hitchcock with me plans to call Racing Adventures and see about getting the facility opened up for a Volvo club track day.  I’d love to take the HSD out on the track for a few laps…