Automobile Racing at the

OZARK STATE FAIR

Jasper County Fairgrounds

CARTHAGE, MISSOURI

Friday Afternoon - August 8, 1930

Dad Harrier

 

Phil Cline

 

Happy Fox

 

Major Cline

 

Harold Bell

 

Toots Campo

 

Buck Carroll

 

Driver not identified

Carthage, MO

August 8, 1930

 

 

 

Carthage Evening Press

Carthage, Missouri

Saturday – August 9, 1930 – Page 6:

 

Dad Harrier, 67, Provides Thrills In Fair Auto Races

            Dad Harrier, 67-year-old1 Hiawatha, Kansas Veteran auto race driver, won both the feature events of the motor race program at the Ozark State Fair yesterday afternoon, winning the final five-mile sweepstakes despite the fact that he threw a tire on the first lap of the race and continued the race with the one wheel on the rim.

            Taking dare-devil chances in skimming around the curves at top speed, Harrier passed car after car with his small Fronty gaining two and three laps on some of the machines.  His time was 6:05.8.  Despite the sprinkling of the track, the cars kicked up a heavy dust fog which made it almost impossible for the spectators to follow the cars.  The dust was blamed for one of two accidents when two cars went together on the north turn of the track.  No one was hurt in either of the mishaps of the afternoon although cars were disabled.

            Fortunately for the big crowd of spectators, the wind carried the dust away from the stands and those in the grandstand seats suffered no discomfort on this score.

            Happy Fox of St. Louis, driving a Davis Special won the straw-hat race when all of the other racers were disqualified by reason of losing their headwear.  Fox also took second in the eight-lap preliminary race in which Harrier finished first.  Major Cline of Knoxville, Tennessee took third money in this race.  He drove a Chevrolet.

            In the first race – time trials to place in the succeeding events – Toots Campo of Kansas City, piloting a Fronty car, set the pace in 32.6 for the half-mile lap but lost out in the succeeding events, a flat tire stopping him in the preliminary eight-lap race and engine troubles putting him out of the sweepstakes event.  He also lost his hat in the straw-hat race after having set the pace for several laps.

Phil Cline of Knoxville, Tennessee won the first 8-lap event.

 

 

 

Joplin Daily Globe

Joplin, Missouri

Saturday – August 9, 1930 – Page 6:

 

Dad Harrier, Driving Car With One Tire Gone, Wins Sweepstakes

           

Dad Harrier

 

            FAIRGROUNDS, CARTHAGE, MISSOURI – August 8 – Old Dad Harrier, veteran of the dirt track and a demon driver if ever there was one, risked his neck for ten laps but steered his tiny Fronty, almost disabled from the first, to victory in the five-mile sweepstakes in 8:05.4 to win the final event on the motor racing card of the Ozark State Fair which came to a close here today.

            Pacing the field of eight starters from the flag, Harrier kept the lead even when the tire on is right front wheel went spinning down the straightaway in front of the stands as he completed the first half-mile lap.

 

Gained His Lead on the Curves

            Driving on the old-time clincher rim, the Hiawatha, Kansas ace roared on in a cloud of dust, bettered his distance all the way and lapped up the field in the process.

            Harrier skimmed in near the outside rails on the turns to pass the cars he was unable to catch on the stretches and it was the advantage he gained there which brought the old-timer in ahead.

            Two smashups, neither serious to the drivers, put three cars out of the running.  Larry Steele of Tulsa, driving a Laurel, and Joe Goodfellow of Adrian, hooked up on the dangerous northwest curve and crashed into the fence in the first event.  Fred Littleton, star Kansas City speedster, went off the track near the west fence with his D & L Special after giving chase to Harrier in an eight-lap affair.

            Misfortune followed Toots Campo of Kansas City around the track in every race and caught him each time before the finish.  Campo, who drove his Fronty around the oval in the best time of 32.6 seconds in the qualifying event, was forced out of the first race he entered by a flat tire.  He lost his hat after setting the pace in the straw-hat race and was disqualified, and his machine developed engine trouble after two laps of the final sweepstakes.

            Thick dust, kicked up by the speeding cars as they rounded the curves, proved troublesome for the crowds following the course of the races and the dust also hung heavily, handicapping the drivers and causing the first smashup.

            Race results:

 

EVENT

PLACE

NAME

FROM

CAR

FINISH

TIME

Time Trials

1

Toots Campo

Kansas City, Missouri

Frontenac

Running

32.6

  1 lap

2

Fred Littleton

Kansas City, Missouri

D & L Special

Running

32.8

 

3

Larry Steele

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Laurel

Running

33.2

 

4

Dad Harrier

Hiawatha, Kansas

Frontenac

Running

33.8

 

5

Phil Cline2

Knoxville, Tennessee

Laurel

Running

34.0

 

6

Harold Bell

Kansas City, Missouri

Front-Wheel-Drive

Running

34.0

 

7

Commodore White3

Emporia, Kansas

Commadore Special

Running

34.8

 

8

Major Cline4

Knoxville, Tennessee

Chevrolet

Running

35.0

 

9

Carl Brumfield

Kansas City, Missouri

Pontiac Six

Running

35.0

 

10

Happy Fox

St. Louis, Missouri

Davis Special

Running

35.4

 

11

Joe Goodfellow

Adrian, Missouri

Marmon 8

Running

35.6

 

12

Art Johnson

Poplar Bluff, Missouri

Frontenac

Running

36.0

 

13

Buck Carroll5

Scammon, Kansas

Chevrolet

Running

36.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Heat

1

Phil Cline2

Knoxville, Tennessee

Laurel

Running

4:49.8

  8 laps

2

Commodore White3

Emporia, Kansas

Commodore Special

Running

 

 

3

Carl Brumfield

Kansas City, Missouri

Pontiac Six

Running

 

 

 

Larry Steele

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Laurel

DNF-Wreck

 

 

 

Joe Goodfellow

Adrian, Missouri

Marmon 8

DNF-Wreck

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second Heat

1

Major Cline4

Knoxville, Tennessee

Chevrolet

Running

3.00.0

  5 laps

2

Happy Fox

St. Louis, Missouri

Davis Special

Running

 

  3 cars started

3

Dad Harrier

Hiawatha, Kansas

Frontenac

Running

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Third Heat

1

Dad Harrier

Hiawatha, Kansas

Frontenac

Running

4:47.8

  8 laps

2

Happy Fox

St. Louis, Missouri

Davis Special

Running

 

 

3

Major Cline4

Knoxville, Tennessee

Chevrolet

Running

 

 

 

Fred Littleton

Kansas City, Missouri

D & L Special

DNF-Wreck

 

 

 

Toots Campo

Kansas City, Missouri

Frontenac

DNF-Flat tire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Straw-Hat Race

1

Happy Fox

St. Louis, Missouri

Davis Special

Running

3:06.4

  6 laps

2

Toots Campo

Kansas City, Missouri

Frontenac

DNF-Lost hat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweepstakes

1

Dad Harrier

Hiawatha, Kansas

Frontenac

Running

6:05.8

10 laps

2

Phil Cline2

Knoxville, Tennessee

Laurel

Running

 

  8 cars started

3

Carl Brumfield

Kansas City, Missouri

Pontiac Six

Running

 

 

 

Toots Campo

Kansas City, Missouri

Frontenac

DNF-Engine

 

 

 

 

Jasper County Fairgrounds, Carthage, Missouri in 1906

 The Jasper County Fairgrounds was built in 1902 and was located northwest of Carthage on land owned by Edward Knell.  The grandstand stood north of where the Econo Lodge Motel currently stands at the highway interchange on the west side of Carthage.  Click your mouse on the photo above to see other photos of the grandstand and racetrack at Carthage – Joplin Missouri Public Library

 

 

 

1 Phineas Comador “Dad” Harrier (1878 - 1938) was actually only 52 years old when he competed in these races at Carthage, Missouri.

 

2 Philip Bird “Phil” Cline (1903 - 1978) was actually from Jefferson City, Tennessee.

 

3 Commodore C. “C. C.” White (1901 – 2000) was born at Warrensburg, Missouri and lived most of his life at Emporia, Kansas.  Head injuries suffered in a racing accident were severe enough to end his driving career but he continued to own racing cars into the early 1950s.  White died at Burlingame, Kansas and is buried in the Cottonwood Friends Cemetery west of Emporia, Kansas.

 

4 Frontis Graydon “Major” Cline (1907 – 1982) was actually from Jefferson City, Tennessee.

 

5 Charles Ward “Buck” Carroll (1899-1976) is buried in the Park Cemetery at Columbus, Kansas.

 

 

If you know anything more about these races at Carthage, Missouri or about the unidentified car pictured above, or its driver, please contact Bob Lawrence at:  sprintguy @ cox.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank You To:

Mike Cline, Brad Eudy, Virginia Eudy, David Harrier, Don Radbruch, and Sarah Shaw

 

Commadore C. White

Commadore White

 

 

 

 

 

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