Feature Race Winners in the Automobile Races at the Kansas State Fair

Feature Race Winners in the Automobile Races

Run on the Historic Half-mile Racetrack at the

Kansas State Fairgrounds

Hutchinson, Kansas

Page 2

1933 – 1950

Date:	Driver:	From:	Automobile:	Sanction:
July 4 1933	Lew Irwin	Iola, Kansas	Lawhon Special #X-3	None
September 18, 1933	Clarence Haskell	Lincoln, Nebraska	Miller Special #24	None
September 22, 1933	Clarence Haskell	Lincoln, Nebraska	Johnson Special #3	None
July 4, 1934	Charles Pauley	Herington, Kansas	Pauley Special #14	None
September 17, 1934	Red Campbell	St. Louis, Missouri	Dreyer Special #34	I.M.C.A.
September 21, 1934	Emory Collins	Regina, Sask., Canada	Cragar Ford	I.M.C.A.
September 20, 1935	Pat Cunningham	St. Joseph, Missouri	Keyes Special #K-1	I.M.C.A.
September 21, 1936	Bill Morris*	Denver, Colorado	Messer Special #3	I.M.C.A.
September 25, 1936	Bill Morris*	Denver, Colorado	Messer Special #3	I.M.C.A.
September 21, 1937	Bill Morris*	Denver, Colorado	Messer Special #4	I.M.C.A.
September 24, 1937	Bill Morris*	Denver, Colorado	Messer Special #4	I.M.C.A.
July 24, 1938	Harry Graves	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma		None
September 20, 1938	Len Musick	Dallas, Texas	Turco Special #1	I.M.C.A.
September 23, 1938	Len Musick	Dallas, Texas	Turco Special #1	I.M.C.A.

A 1/5 mile racetrack was built inside of the ½ mile racetrack in 1939 to be used for midget racing. The first race on the smaller racetrack was run on July 2, 1939. It was sanctioned by Midget Racing Association (M.R.A.), promoted by Joe Bennett of Hutchinson, and the feature race that day was won by Emmett Taylor of Wichita, Kansas.

“B” class midget racing (no Offys allowed) on that racetrack resumed on July 4, 1947 and ran weekly through Labor Day of that year. Junior Howerton of Tulsa, Oklahoma won the midget feature on July 4^th. Future Indianapolis “500” driver Lloyd Ruby of Wichita Falls, Texas won two midget features on that racetrack that year for car owner Chet Wilson of Wichita. Don Brown of Wichita won two feature races and the M.R.A. season title there in 1947 for car owner Bud Camden.

Since this web site is devoted to automobile racing on the ½ mile racetrack, the history of that continues below. Midget racing on the smaller racetrack would make a good subject for another project but that must wait for now.

Date:	Driver:	From:	Automobile:	Sanction:
September 19, 1939	Buddy Callaway	Miami, Florida	Curtiss Special #64	I.M.C.A.
September 22, 1939	Pop Lewis	Indianapolis, Indiana		I.M.C.A.
July 4, 1940	Clarence Merritt	Chelsea, Oklahoma	Merritt Special	M.H.R.A.
September 15, 1940	Vic Rothe	Omaha, Nebraska	Turco Special #1	M.H.R.A.
September 20, 1940	Bill Morris*	Dallas, Texas	Messer Special	M.H.R.A.
September 22, 1940	Bill Morris*	Dallas, Texas	Messer Special	M.H.R.A.
September 16, 1941	Gus Schrader	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	Riverside Tire Offy #5	I.M.C.A.
September 19, 1941	Ben Musick	Dallas, Texas	Riverside Tire Offy #1	I.M.C.A.

Officials with I.M.C.A. assured the fair board that there were plenty of tires available to run races at the Kansas State Fair in September of 1942 and the contract was being finalized when the federal government issued a decree that all automobile racing in the U.S.A. was to cease after July 31`, 1942 for the duration of World War II. The decree did not affect auto thrill shows and daredevil acts which continued through the war years. Rodeos and horse racing absorbed other auto racing dates at the fair during that period. While auto racing had drawn capacity crowds for decades, the events that replaced them were drawing crowds ranging anywhere from 500 to 2,000.

Auto racing did return to the Kansas State Fair in September of 1945 with what were billed as the ‘first auto races west of New Jersey since the war ended.” There were very few cars in competition in 1945 though and those few were left over from prewar days. Even so, huge crowds greeted the return of the sport to the Kansas State Fair, a fact that was not lost on the fair board. After decades of drawing larger crowds than anything else that appeared before the grandstand and after a slow start in 1945, the auto races were on the verge of getting many more race dates at the fairgrounds. A new generation had become of age and it exhibited a distant preference for the fast pace of automobile racing.

Date:	Driver:	From:	Automobile:	Sanction:
September 17, 1945	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
September 15, 1946	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
September 17, 1946	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
September 19, 1946	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
September 14, 1947	Emory Colllins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
September 16, 1947	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
September 18, 1947	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
September 19, 1947	Bert Hellmueller	Baltimore, Maryland	Curtiss Special #48	R.C.A.
July 4, 1948	Bill Robinson	Great Bend, Kansas	1948 Packard	None
September 6, 1948	Harry Everhart	Wichita, Kansas	Ford #312	None
September 19, 1948	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
September 20, 1948	Noel Jones	Wichita, Kansas	Ford	None
September 21, 1948	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
September 23, 1948	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
September 24, 1948				I.M.C.A.
July 4, 1949	Bob McKim	Salina, Kansas	1949 Oldsmobile 88 #88	I.M.C.A.
July 17, 1949	Jim Roper	Halstead, Kansas	Lincoln	None
July 31, 1949	Bob McKim	Abilene, Kansas	1949 Oldsmobile 88 #88	None
August 14, 1949	Races postponed due to rain			None
August 21, 1949	Charles James	Hutchinson, Kansas	1949 Packard	None
August 28, 1949	Bob Thorne	Wichita, Kansas		None
September 5, 1949	Rueben Loepp	Hutchinson, Kansas	1939 Ford	None
September 18, 1949	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
September 20, 1949	Jimmy Wilburn	Indianapolis, Indiana	Offenhauser	I.M.C.A.
September 22, 1949	Jimmy Wilburn	Indianapolis, Indiana	Offenhauser	I.M.C.A.
September 23, 1949	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
May 30, 1950	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
July 4, 1950	Bill Massey	Hutchinson, Kansas	“McVay cab”	None
September 4, 1950	Jim Roper	Halstead, Kansas		None
September 17, 1950	Fred South	Salina, Kansas	Mercury	None
September 19, 1950	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
September 20, 1950	Bob McKim	Salina, Kansas	Oldsmobile 88 #88	None
September 21, 1950	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	Riverside Special Offy #7	I.M.C.A.
October 8, 1950	Jerry Shumaker	Wichita, Kansas	Ford	None

*Bill Morris from Denver, Colorado was an alias used by Benjamin Franklin “Ben” Musick, Sr. (1908-1966) who was actually from Dallas, Texas.

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Feature Race Winners in the Automobile Races Run on the Historic Half-mile Racetrack at the Kansas State Fairgrounds Hutchinson, Kansas

1909-1932

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Feature Race Winners in the Automobile Races Run on the Historic Half-mile Racetrack at the Kansas State Fairgrounds Hutchinson, Kansas

1951-1960

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Feature Race Winners in the Automobile Races Run on the Historic Half-mile Racetrack at the Kansas State Fairgrounds Hutchinson, Kansas

1951-1960

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