Cowley County Fair
Wednesday, August 30, 1950

 

 

 

Bill Mears

 

Winfield Daily Courier

Tuesday, August 29, 1950 - Front page:

Stock Car Races on Fair Program

WINFIELD - An addition to entertainment program at the Cowley County Fair, which opened today, is announced by Secretary Noble Bradbury.  Wednesday afternoon, a series of stock car races will be held in front of the grandstand, beginning at 2:30.

It will be a $200 stock car claiming race says Bradbury, which means that no car valued at more than $200 can be entered.  Any car entered must be with the stipulation that the owner will sell it for not more than $200, if anyone wants to claim the car, at the close of the race.

Entries are limited to the first 20 cars registered at Ken's garage, 1920 South Main.  That there would be no difficulty in securing the cars was indicated by the number of entries made following the announcement.

 

 

 

 

 

Winfield Daily Courier
Thursday, August 31, 1950:

Bill Mears Wins Stock Car Races at County Fair

Bill Mears, Wichita’s crack driver who has blazed a trail of glory at Cejay stadium this summer, dominated the stock car field at the county fair Wednesday afternoon, winning every race in which he was entered.
Mears set his pattern for the day in the time trials when he negotiated the one-half mile fairgrounds track in 30.4 seconds, fastest time turned in by the 16-car field.
The event itself was the first of its kind ever held in Winfield and the crowd of an estimated 450 thoroughly enjoyed the two and one-half hour program of time trials and five competitive races.

Closest session of the afternoon was the Class B feature which held the interest throughout, particularly in the drive for second and third places.  Charlie Lutkie, also of Wichita, eventually placed in the runner-up spot over Glenn Webster of Winfield.

Mears compiled his first positions in the trophy dash, second heat, and the Class A feature which was the final race of the program.

The track was exceptionally damp during the morning hours but by the finish of the stock cars, it was packed hard and very dry.  A final entry list of 16 cars was surprisingly good, particularly in view of the fact that it was the very first stock car race ever held here.

There were no turnovers, spills, nor serious accidents, largely because of the size of the track and also the width.  At times, the cars threw up heavy clouds of dust on the turns and on the south and north curves.

In line with Mears' three firsts, Claude Ash - another Wichita driver - finished second behind Mears each time, having gone through the time trials with a mark of 35 seconds flat.  Other positions over the five races were well scattered.

The summaries (no official times of races given):

 

Time Trials

1 Lap

Time

Place

Driver

From

30.4

  1

Bill Mears1

Wichita, Kansas

30.5

  2

Jefferson Davis “J. D.” Hanna2

Dallas, Texas

30.6

  3

Tom Salmon, Jr.

Wichita, Kansas

30.6

  4

John Hale

Anthony, Kansas

30.6

  5

Frank Lies

Wichita, Kansas

30.8

  6

Hugh Francis Shea

Wichita, Kansas

30.8

  7

Carl Simpson

Wichita, Kansas

35.0

  8

Claude Ash

Winfield, Kansas

36.0

  9

Ira “Red” Woodward

Wichita, Kansas

37.0

10

Willard Bodkins

Winfield, Kansas

37.0

11

Charles John “Charlie” Lutkie

Wichita, Kansas

No Time

12

James Dow “J. D.” Cox, Jr.

Wichita, Kansas

No Time

13

Glenn “Bud” Webster

Winfield, Kansas

 

First Heat Race

 

Place

Driver

From

 

1

Charlie Lutkie

Wichita, Kansas

 

2

Bud Webster

Winfield, Kansas

 

3

J. D. Cox

Wichita, Kansas

 

Second Heat Race

 

Place

Driver

From

 

1

Bill Mears

Wichita, Kansas

 

2

Claude Ash

Winfield, Kansas

 

3

Frank Lies

Wichita, Kansas

 

Trophy Dash

 

Place

Driver

From

 

1

Bill Mears

Wichita, Kansas

 

2

Claude Ash

Winfield, Kansas

 

B Feature Race

 

Place

Driver

From

 

1

Willard Bodkins

Winfield, Kansas

 

2

Charlie Lutkie

Wichita, Kansas

 

3

Bud Webster

Winfield, Kansas

 

A Feature Race

 

Place

Driver

From

 

1

Bill Mears1

Wichita, Kansas

 

2

Claude Ash

Winfield, Kansas

 

3

J. D. Hanna2

Dallas, Texas

 

4

Tom Salmon, Jr.

Wichita, Kansas

 

5

John Hale

Anthony, Kansas

 

 

 

 

This series of photos was taken in 1950 before the cars raced at the Cowley county fair in August of that year.  The two photos above were taken from just outside the third turn at the northeast corner of the racetrack.  In the photo below, the wooden railing lining the back straightaway, is barely visible in this photo taken from the grandstand.

 

 

 

 

1 Bill Mears drove a 1932 Ford owned by Pat Lucas of Wichita, Kansas.  Lucas had been reluctant to enter his car at Winfield as this was a $200 claiming race and Pat did not want to have his car claimed, so Bill's grandfather, Harmon Forrest, claimed the car for Pat so that no one else could do so, and so that it would not appear as though someone connected to the car had put up the money to claim it.

 

2 “J. D.” Hanna died on October 1, 1951 of injuries he received in a racing accident at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway near Dallas, Texas.

 

 

 

 

 

SOME OF THE DRIVERS WHO PARTICIPATED THAT DAY

 

Willard Bodkins

Ira “Red” Woodward

Bud Webster

J. D. Cox

Charlie Lutkie

Tom Salmon, Jr.

Claude Ash

Frank Lies

Hugh Shea

J. D. Hanna

Carl Simpson

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return to page one of the History of Auto Racing at Winfield website.