AUTOMOBILE RACES

Oakley, Kansas

Sunday Afternoon, August 2, 1931

 

 

PUBLISHED ENTRY LIST:

 

            These races were promoted by Tom Holden (1906-1987) of Denver, Colorado under the auspices of the Consolidated Auto Racing Association (C.S.R.A.) and sponsored by the Arthur Radloff American Legion Post of Oakley.  Earlier in the summer of 1931, Holden, one of the C.A.R.A..'s veteran drivers named Gail Haneborg, and a man named Carl Sanders (all said to be from Denver) were traveling to Salt Lake City to pick up a race car when the spindle broke on the car they were in.  All three men were under the car working on the problem when it fell trapping all three men.  Sanders and Haneborg were killed instantly while Holden received serious injuries in the incident.

            If you know anything more about these races, please contact Bob Lawrence at sprintguy @ cox.net

 

 

 

Bill Epps is shown here in his trademark driving uniform of white overalls and a bowtie seated in the P.E.B. Special owned by Pete Bertrand.

Jeff Adams collection

 

 

 

Bill Epps is shown here in the P.E.B. Special owned by Pete Bertrand.  The driver standing closest to the camera at the front of the car is unidentified but there is another photo showing him seated in car #7 in the bottom right hand corner of this web page.

Jeff Adams collection

 

 

 

Cars lined up to start the feature race.  The car on the pole is the #12 Frontenac driven by Everett Balmer of Los Angeles, California.  The car on the outside of the front row is the #K-1 driven by Pat Cunningham of St. Joseph, Missouri.  The car starting on the inside of the second row is the #6 driven by A. J. Walker of Denver, Colorado.  The car on the inside of the third row is the #44 P.E.B Special driven by Bill Epps of Oakley.

Jeff Adams collection

 

 

 

Pat Cunningham of St. Joseph, Missouri is shown here leading the feature race in Leonard Kerbs’ #K-1 Kerbs Special at Oakley on August 2, 1931

Fick Fossil and History Museum collection

 

 

 

This photo was taken at Oakley, Kansas in 1931.  The car is the double-overhead-cam Fronty #K-1 owned by Leonard Kerbs of Otis, Kansas and driven by Pat Cunningham of St. Joseph, Missouri.  Cunningham is the one wearing the large belt in the middle of the photograph

Oakes photograph from the Jeff Adams collection

 

 

 

Leonard E. Kerbs’ #K-1 Kerbs Special and transporter at Oakley, Kansas on August 2, 1931

Betty Abel collection

  

 

 

 Art J. "A. J." Walker of Denver, Colorado

Jeff Adams collection

 

 

 

The driver of this car is unidentified but he can also be seen standing nearest the camera at the front of the race car in the second photo down from the top of this web page.

Jeff Adams collection

 

 

 

 

 

* The name of the driver identified above as Earl Huntington is actually "Earl Hovenden".  His car had been built by Leonard E. Kerbs but it was not the same car as the one with that same number that Pat Cunningham drove on this day.

 

**After the birth of a son in 1930, Leonard E. Kerbs retired from driving and Sam Hoffman of Sioux City, Iowa drove the Kerbs Special until Kerbs hired Pat Cunningham of St. Joseph, Missouri to replace Hoffman late in 1931.

 

 

 

 

 

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