The History of
Automobile Racing on the Historic Half-Mile Dirt Racetrack at the Cowley County
Fairgrounds, Winfield, Kansas
Page 3
Miller - 1955 |
Doran - 1955 |
Forrest - 1955 |
Jacobs - 1956 |
Ingram - 1956 |
J. Everhart - 1956 |
Curless - 1956 |
Nutter - 1957 |
Hiner - 1957 |
McAmis - 1958 |
J. Moore - 1958 |
Brooks - 1967 |
Lawrence - 1967 |
Dodson - 1967 |
Hill - 1967 |
J. Leep - 1967 |
Grantham - 1967 |
Mullens - 1967 |
R. Lies - 1955 |
Quick - 1955 |
Heaton - 1955 |
Shepherd - 1956 |
Raine - 1956 |
Jackson - 1956 |
Hildreth - 1956 |
Watts - 1956 |
Seifried - 1957 |
White - 1957 |
D. Walker - 1958 |
Cole - 1958 |
J. Walker - 1958 |
Armstrong - 1967 |
Haehn - 1967 |
Topper - 1967 |
May - 1967 |
M. Lutkie - 1967 |
Myers - 1967 |
The unwillingness of Winfield city government leaders to replace the pipe guard railing with something safer for competitors and spectators alike, coupled with again dwindling crowds and, thus, smaller purses, led this latest group to stop presenting races at the track after the 1971 event.
The races run on the Winfield racetrack between 1967 and 1971 were very competitive with no driver being able to repeat a feature race win.
In December of 1977, Wayne Wilt and Don Branine made a formal presentation to the Winfield City Commission that the City of Winfield make $18,000 in improvements to the old racetrack so that automobile racing could return to the facility. Commissioners rejected the proposal on a 3-to-1 vote.
A flood in November 1998, took out the steel pipe guard railing from the front straight-away and from around the first turn although it remains around the rest of the racetrack which has now, again, been allowed to grow over with grass. The grandstand has been enlarged but now extends well out into the racetrack itself so that it is unlikely this historic racetrack will be utilized for racing again anytime soon.
Some of those who raced at Winfield went on to gain fame in the sport of auto racing.
This web site is dedicated to all the owners, drivers, and mechanics who raced at Winfield in the 1950's, as well as to the organizers, officials, and sponsors who made those races possible. Those efforts introduced at least one wide-eyed youngster to the sport of stock car racing. I can still remember sitting on the front row of the Winfield grandstands almost afraid to blink for fear that I might miss something. It was a life-altering experience and you have never been far from my thoughts. As car counts dwindled late in the decade, I remember scanning the highway from that front row perch hoping to see just one more race car arrive and thinking to myself that I would bring mine, if I only had one. That eventually came to pass in 1967 and I was thrilled beyond belief the first time I actually towed a stock car into the infield of that historic half-mile racetrack where I had watched so many of my heroes race a decade earlier.
Betty Abel, Jeff Adams, Al and Esther Alexander, Vern Allen, Denny Alumbaugh, James Anderson, Roy Andrews, J. J. Banks, Virginia Battagler, Clifford Beckel, Willard Bodkins, Bill Bookout, Bill Bottorff, Suzanne Breed, Larry Brooks, Johnnie Bush, Leroy Byers, Joan Cales, Buddy Carroll, Shane Carson, Roy Coleman, Bill Collins, Wylan Cattrell, Jerome Chumley, Mike Cline, Forrest Coleman, Dwayne Cox, Loretta Cox, Dean Crow, Charlie Cummins, Sherman Cummins, Bill Curless, Alden Davis, Kent and Twanna Delong, Phyllis Devine, John Distefano, Claude Donica, Roy Duncan, Roy Eaton, Brad and Virginia Eudy, Jerry Everhart, Benny Feely, R. B. Flynn, Red Forshee, Gale Frost, Edna Greenleaf, Lee Haley, Larry Hall, Dave Harrier, Eric Haugdahl, Sigurd W. Haugdahl, Ralph Henderson, Bill Hill, Charlie Hiner, Darrell Hotchkin, Kris Hotchkin, Pete Jacobs' family, Betty Jo Johnson, Bob Johnston, Paul and Opal Kammerer, Tammy Kearns, Connie Lawrence, Harold Leep, Jerry Leep,
The History of Automobile Racing on the Historic Half-Mile Dirt Racetrack at the Cowley County Fairgrounds, Winfield, Kansas