Automobile Racing at the
OZARK STATE FAIR
Jasper County Fairgrounds
Dad Harrier
|
Phil Cline
|
Happy Fox
|
Major Cline
|
Harold Bell
|
Toots Campo
|
Buck Carroll
|
Driver not identified Carthage, MO August 8, 1930 |
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, 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 |
|
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