National Championship Motorcycle Races

Meridian Speedway

Wichita, Kansas

July 4, 1923

 

Probably M. Gibson of Manitoba, Canada, behind the bleachers just north of the covered grandstand at Meridian Speedway, Wichita, Kansas - Louann (Chacon) Schodde collection

 

 

 

The Wichita Beacon

Monday, July 2, 1923 – Page 2:

23 Motorcycle Racers Ready For Long Grind

Leading Speed Demons of Country In the Lineup Tomorrow

            23 motorcycle racers will start Wednesday afternoon on the Meridian Speedway at 1 o’clock when the 200-mile national championship motorcycle races start.  Entrants include some of the best known riders in the country, among whom are Ralph Hepburn, national champion in the motorcycle world, from Los Angeles, and Jim Davis of Columbus, Ohio.

            W. J. Ash of Wichita will be official referee and Pliny Simpson of Topeka will be the starter.

            Oiling the track started this morning.  More than 8,000 gallons of oil were used.  Hart Bowman, manager of the Speedway Association, promises there will be little dust.

Rode From Canada

            M. Gibson from Manitoba, Canada, arrived in Wichita this morning to watch the event.  He rode the entire distance on his motorcycle.  Mr. Gibson says he never misses the national contest.

            Buses will leave the corner of Water and Douglas for the speedway.  Gates will open at 10 o’clock in the morning.  Motorists may reach the speedway by driving west to Meridian and south to the speedway.

 

 

 

The Wichita Beacon

Wednesday, July 4, 1923 – Page 9:

Sixteen Start in Motorcycle Contest Today

One Rider was Injured on Track Yesterday in Accident

            With entrants from the national championship motorcycle races qualifying this morning, Hart Bowman, manager of Meridian Speedway announced there will be sixteen starters in the 200-mile event this afternoon.

            Johnny Branson, of Los Angeles, will be unable to ride this afternoon due to an accident Friday afternoon on the speedway when he was hurled eighty feet into the air as his machine gave way while running at a high rate of speed.  The machine was a total wreck.  The cause of the accident is not known.  Branson was picked up stunned and is reported to be severely bruised all over his body today.  He was racing on the back stretch of the field when his machine stopped as though it had struck and immovable object.  Branson was thrown high into the air.  The machine crashed into the ground driving the front forks of the motorcycle for nearly a foot into the soil.

 

 

 

The Wichita Beacon

Thursday, July 5, 1923 – Page 4:

Denver Racer Takes Honors at Speedway

Wichita Boy Places by Getting Fourth in 200-Mile Event

            Curley Fredericks of Denver, averaging 75 m.p.h., won the 200-mile motorcycle race at Meridian Speedway yesterday.

The size of the crown was a disappointment to the promoters as the attendance was not more than 4,000.

            The day was ideal and the 1˝-mile track was in much better condition than last year when Ralph Hepburn of Los Angeles won on an Indian at an average of 69 m.p.h.

The contest was marred by only one accident.  Gus Labude’s machine skidded from the track on the south straightaway (and) the rider received a broken shoulder.

Indian Team Ahead

            First and second places went to members of the Indian factory team.  Hepburn and John Krieger of Orange, CA, also members of the team, were forced out of the race by broken frames.

            Hepburn, always a favorite, was leading in the 39th lap when his machine went bad.  Krieger went from the same cause in the 65th lap while leading the field.  Fredericks then took the lead and held it easily.  Ten laps before the end of the race, his pit manager signaled him to slow down and reduce the strain on his motor.  He was three miles in advance of Bagley at that time.  He finished a mile ahead.

            Of the 19 starters, nine machines finished the race.

            Fredericks made only one pit stop in the 200 miles.  This was for gasoline and oil.

            Bagley, winner of second place, was leading the race at the end of the first 100 miles and for this he received an additional $100.*  His average speed for this distance was 80 m.p.h.

Simpson Was Starter

            Pliny Simpson of Abilene, well known to the motorcycle racetrack throughout the Middle West, officiated as starter.  He sent the entrants away in a flying start after pacing them once around the track.  The start was the best in several years.  The only complaint came from Simpson himself, who regretted that the Wills Sainte Claire pace making car refused to do better than 67 m.p.h.

            “I should like to have sent the boys away at 75 m.p.h.” said Simpson.

            The Indian and Harley-Davidson factories had factory men here in charge of the pit service for their respective teams.  Lloyd Simpson of Milwaukee looked after the Harley gang and Gene Multhog of Springfield, MA managed the Indian crew.

Beacon Boy Places

            The greatest single local feature in connection with the race was the taking of fourth place by Frank Chacon, a 19-year-old youth who has been employed by the Hart Bowman Motorcycle Company several years as a mechanic.  During the past year, the young man has been working evenings in the circulation department of The Beacon, delivering papers to persons missed by the regular carriers.  He has competed in several short races in Kansas and Oklahoma but this was his first experience in a professional contest where great endurance and track generalship was necessary.  The only thing preventing him from making faster time was that his machine would not run any faster.

 

Place

Rider

From

Purse
Motorcycle

Reason Out

1

Curley Fredericks

Denver, CO

$1,000

Indian

Running

2

John Bagley*

Omaha, NE

     600

Indian

Running

3

Jim Davis

Columbus, OH

     250

Harley-Davidson

Running

4

Frank Chacon

Wichita, KS

     125

Harley-Davidson

Running

5

Albert Jones

Oklahoma City, OK

       75

Harley-Davidson

Running

6

George Lawhon

St. Joseph, MO

       25

Harley-Davidson

Running

7

George Satoff**

Kansas City, MO

       25

Harley-Davidson

Running

 
Other Participants – Further Finishing Order Not Found

 

 

Orvil Lovettc

Kinsley, KS

 

Indian

 

 

Ray Weishaar

Los Angeles, CA

 

Harley-Davidson

 

 

Harry Crandall

Los Angeles, CA

 

Harley-Davidson

 

 

Maynard Smith

Omaha, NE

 

Harley-Davidson

 

 

Roy A. White

Wichita, KS

 

Harley-Davidson

 

 

Mainard Wain

Cedar Rapids, IA

 

Harley-Davidson

 

 

Merrill Anderson

Des Moines, IA

 

Excelsior

 

 

C. L. “Ham” Hamilton

Des Moines, IA

 

Excelsior

 

 

_____ Shaw

Oklahoma City, OK

 

 

 

 

Marion Duval

Wichita, KS

 

Excelsior

 

 

Eli Williams

Wichita, KS

 

Excelsior

 

 

Oliver Hudson

Hutchinson, KS

 

Indian

 

 

Ernest Clark

Hutchinson, KS

 

Indian

 

 

Ralph Hepburn

Los Angeles, CA

 

Indian

Broken Frame

 

John Krieger

Orange, CA

 

Indian

Broken Frame

 

Gus Labude

Lawton, OK

 

Harley-Davidson

Accident

 

John Branson

Bakersfield, CA

 

Harley-Davidson

DNS – Accident

 

*John Bagley had a big lead in this race when the drive chain broke on his motorcycle.  He pushed it to the pits, put on a new chain, and returned to the race in time to finish in second place.  His $600 share of the prize money included $100 for being in the lead at the half-way point of the race.

 

**The AMA records give this rider’s name as Fred Satoff.

 

 

Roy A. White

1898-1976

Al White collection

 

John Bagley

1894-1971

 

John Branson? crash on the straightway at Meridian Speedway - Louann (Chacon) Schodde collection

John Krieger, left; and Frank Chacon

Louann  (Chacon) Schodde collection

 

 

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