Fueling a Love for History: Rick Koch’s Route 66 Journey

Rick’s 1966 Chevelle outside of Lucille’s Roadhouse in Weatherford, Oklahoma. The car will be given away in August.

Rick Koch, owner of ASAP Energy Inc., is celebrating his 66th birthday in 2026 by giving away a 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle. It’s a way to celebrate the Route 66 Centennial for a man whose story has been intertwined with the Mother Road for his entire life.

“My grandfather owned East Side Salvage on Route 66,” Rick said in a phone interview as he reminisced about his time growing up in Weatherford. He was just a boy when I-40 was being completed, but he had a distinct memory of being on Route 66 when parts of it were still the main highway. He remembered thinking, “Who would ever design such a bumpy road?” as they passed over the concrete panels that are still prevalent in many parts of Western Oklahoma today. “They might have built it bumpy, but they built it to last.”

Rick opened his first service station in 1979 with his brother, right on Route 66. Then, they opened a second one. Rick remembered when he managed a station next door to a small Valentine diner on Main Street that is now on display at the Heartland of America Museum. Back then, it was known as the Cliff House. “The thing that most people don’t realize is that they didn’t have bathrooms,” he said, noting that he always took good care of the restrooms at the station. “Edna and Annie, the two ladies that worked there, they had an extra key.” The waitresses paid him and his staff back with a free cheeseburger on Saturdays.

Eventually, Rick founded ASAP Energy Inc. Today, they operate twenty convenience stores in Oklahoma and distribute fuel across eight states. But the company does more than provide fuel: it preserves a part of Oklahoma’s Route 66 history. In the early 2000s, Rick purchased Lucille Hamons’ old service station out on Historic Route 66. Lucille was a beloved figure in the greater Route 66 community for decades and an inductee into the Oklahoma Route 66 Hall of Fame.

“When I was going to high school, we all knew who Lucille was,” Rick said. His family would stop at the station often on their way to and from Oklahoma City. Shortly after Lucille passed away in 2000, her station went up on eBay. It didn’t sell. Rick contacted Cheryl Nowka (Lucille’s daughter and the first webmaster for the Oklahoma Route 66 Association) and in 2002 became the new owner of the station. A small article in our December 2002 newsletter states: Rick’s immediate plans are to ensure the old gas station is structurally sounds, then restore the outside to a specific era, antique gas pumps and all. It also mentioned his plans to build a 1950s-style diner at his truck stop in honor of Lucille. Of course, that’s exactly what happened.

“When I bought it, it was covered in vines,” Rick remembered. “They were invading the building. The wood was dry and somewhat rotting … me and my son Brian thought we’d just tackle that one summer day. We went to cut it down and, well, it was poison ivy!” The old motor court building was about to fall down, so they took it down and rebuilt a new version of it on-site. They keep the historic building painted, the roof in good order, and tend to the grounds. Recently, a new selfie stand was installed and a 1954 Chevrolet pickup was parked out there. They’re working on plans for an outdoor picnic pavilion and a recreation of the Hamons Court neon sign that hangs in the Smithsonian today. The operation of the Lucille’s Roadhouse Restaurants in Weatherford and Clinton as well as Lucille’s Hotel help fund the preservation and enhancement of the original station.

This year not only marks the Centennial of Route 66 and America’s 250th Birthday, but Rick turns 66 years old. To celebrate the the occasion, he is giving away a 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle through ASAP’s Kickback Rewards program. The car will be given away on Rick’s birthday, August 6th, at the Lucille’s Roadhouse restaurant in Weatherford. People can learn more at: https://asapenergyinc.com/giveaway/.

What does Rick want people to take away from Route 66’s Centennial? “How important our history is and how important it is to preserve our history. Route 66 was all about … connectivity and connecting people together. Making things easier to traverse from one part of the country to the other. Because of the success of Route 66, the interstate was just an expansion of that. When you saw how you could connect Chicago to California, how to connect the rest of the United States…it shrunk the world. It made it where [people] could help each other.”