Auto Races on the ˝ Mile Dirt Racetrack at the
Montgomery County Fairgrounds in
Coffeyville, Kansas
Tuesday, December 7, 1915
Sanctioned by – Northwest Motor Contest Company (NMCC)
Race organizer – C. A. Peterson of Sioux City, Iowa
Novelty Race – 2 Laps
Place |
Driver |
From |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Ray Hebert |
Sioux City, Iowa |
Oh See special |
2:01.0 |
2 |
Ed Lauer |
Cherokee, Iowa |
Emden* |
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This race included a mandatory stop to change tires at the end of the 1st lap. |
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Feature Race – 20 Laps |
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Place |
Driver |
From |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Ed Lauer |
Cherokee, Iowa |
Emden* |
14:33.0 |
2 |
Eddie Reed |
Orioles, Iowa |
Chevrolet |
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3 |
Ray Hebert |
Sioux City, Iowa |
Oh See special |
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4 |
Hiawatha, Kansas |
Fronty Ford |
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5 |
Roy Good |
Coffeyville, Kansas |
E. M. F. |
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Roy Good led the 20-lap feature race until he crashed into inside fence on the northwest turn. The wreck tore down about 50-feet of fence with numerous boards piercing his hood and radiator. Good was not injured in the incident.
P. C. “Dad” Harrier David Harrier collection |
uer Roy Hebert Wood collection |
Eddie Reed or Ed Lauer** |
* The Emden began as a Chalmers automobile that had been extensively modified for racing. Brothers Grant and Lou Donaldson, of Milford, Iowa, entered the car in the 1915 Indianapolis 500 where driver Willie Haupt brought the car home in 11th place.
Two more of the Donaldson brothers, Orville and Flavius, entered to drive cars in a race at Spirt Lake, Iowa on August 13, 1915. R. E. “Rube” Donaldson, father of all four of the brothers, decided to enter the Emden in the race and drive the car himself. Orville and Flavius finished in first and second place only to find out that their father and his riding mechanican, had both been fatally injured in a crash during the event. Orville Donaldson then sold the Emden to Ed Lauer who traveled with the Northwest Motor Contest Company as driver of the Emden on a year-ending swing through Kansas including these races in Coffeyville.
** This photo appeared on page 9 of the December 4, 1915 issue of the Coffeyville Daily Journal with the caption that Eddie Reed was the driver of the Chevrolet in the picture, however the same photo appeared on page 11 of the November 26, 1915 issue of the Topeka Daily Capital stating that the photo had been taken the day before in Topeka. While that articled agreed that the car was a Chevrolet, that article identified the driver as being Ed Lauer.