TULSA, O.K.- For a week in January each year, Tulsa, Okla., becomes the epicenter of motorsports in America.
Drivers, fans and crew members arrive from all over the globe to gather at a week-long festival of racing at the Chili Bowl Nationals. In a room full of that many racers, it’s hard to stand out amongst the crowd.
But one artist has found a way.
Allow me to introduce you to Troy Berry, an artist from Wichita, Kan., who’s bringing motorsports to life in the form of art this year at the Expo Center. Berry is nothing more than a racer at heart, who found his niche in the sport a different way.
“I grew up in a racing family racing go-karts” Berry told Frontstretch. “I have a cousin who is a mechanic for some of the teams here. He invited me out and asked me to bring some of my racing art. I was here about three years ago and I did some paintings for Christopher Bell. This is my first time back now in about three years, so I just decided to come out, show some artwork and see some great racing.”
When he isn’t making art, Berry is a racer himself. He competes with his son in multiple forms of kart racing through the year.
“I race go-karts, asphalt go-karts both sprint and road racing,” Berry said. “My son also races. I grew up racing go-karts so I’m actually a fourth generation go-karter. So we’ve (had) in interest in racing for a long time.”
Berry’s a true racer and designs equipment for racers as well. He brings the same level of dedication to his craft as an artist, taking long stretches of time to create strong pieces like he had in Tulsa.
“It just depends on the complexity but in general they take anywhere from about 40 to 50 hours for the smaller pieces,” Berry said. “The Dale Earnhardt piece [seen behind him] has over 100 hours in it so it just depends how detailed they are, how complex they are.
“I also do helmet painting since I’m a racer. A lot of the go-kart drivers are all into custom helmets so I started painting helmets a few years ago.”
Berry has been an artist since he was a child, thinking all the way back to his early years when art was simply drawing in class. Years later, the passion lives on as his artwork is on display for thousands.
“Actually since I was a little kid,” Berry said of his time in art. “I’m one of these guys that was always drawing in class, some of my earliest memories as a child of four or five years old was sitting and drawing racecars. My dad was in to racing back then so I’ve always been interested in racecars, I’ve always been fascinated with them, so I’ve basically been drawing them for over 50 years now.”
In a world full of artificial intelligence and social media, self-made original artwork is hard to come by – especially in the motorsports world. Berry is a prime example of someone who still does things the right way, authentically. And for one memorable week, he gets to share his talents with the thousands passing by in Tulsa.
Chase began working with Frontstretch in the spring of 2023 as a news writer, while also helping fill in for other columns as needed. Chase is now the main writer and reporter for Frontstretch.com's CARS Tour coverage, a role which began late in 2023. Aside from racing, some of Chase's other hobbies include time in the outdoors hunting and fishing, and keeping up with all things Philadelphia sports related.