National Championship Motorcycle Races
Wichita, Kansas
Probably M. Gibson of Manitoba, Canada, behind the bleachers just north of the covered grandstand at Meridian Speedway, Wichita, Kansas - Louann (Chacon) Schodde collection
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, July 5, 1923 – Page 4:
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.
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.
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 |
Denver, CO |
$1,000 |
Indian |
Running |
|
2 |
John Bagley* |
Omaha, NE |
600 |
Indian |
Running |
3 |
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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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