Big Car Races on the
Historic Half-mile Racetrack at the
Kansas State Fairgrounds
Hutchinson, Kansas
Monday – September 18, 1933
Race Director – Leonard Kerbs of Otis, Kansas
Attendance - 10,000
Verne Ellis Larry Sullivan photo |
Lew Irwin Irwin family collection |
Charles Pauley Charles Pauley collection |
Time Trials – 1 Lap
18 drivers and 19 cars participated
(Floyd Davis took a time trial in two different cars)
Place |
Driver |
From |
Car Number |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Clarence Haskell |
Lincoln, NE |
24 |
Miller Special |
28.36 |
2 |
Floyd Davis* |
Springfield, IL |
4 |
Riley Special |
28.88 |
3 |
Pat Cunningham |
Otis, KS |
K 1 |
Kerbs Special |
29.28 |
|
Floyd Davis* |
Springfield, IL |
3 |
Johnson Special |
|
|
Lew Irwin |
St. Joseph, MO |
X 3 |
Lawhon Special |
|
|
Bill Foster |
Indianapolis, IN |
|
|
|
|
Bob Wilson |
Kansas City, MO |
|
|
|
|
Paul Smith***** |
Kansas City, MO |
22 A |
Riley Special |
|
|
Roy Lake |
Los Angeles, CA |
3 |
Frontenac |
|
|
Verne Ellis**** |
Kansas City, MO |
|
Ellis Special |
|
|
Charles Pauley |
Herington, KS |
14 |
Pauley Special |
|
|
Pete Alberts** |
Chicago, IL |
9 |
Kinsey Special |
|
|
Art Challender |
Rock Island, IL |
|
McDowell Special |
|
|
Rae Bray*** |
Topeka, KS |
|
|
|
|
Ray Anguish |
Topeka, KS |
|
Frontenac |
|
|
H. C. Scheetz |
Topeka, KS |
|
|
|
Helmet Dash – 2 Cars - 3 Laps
Purse: An undisclosed cash prize, a leather helmet, and a kiss from trophy girl Vera Kerbs
Place |
Driver |
From |
Car Number |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Clarence Haskell |
Lincoln, NE |
24 |
Miller Special |
1:29.14 |
2 |
Floyd Davis* |
Springfield, IL |
3 |
Johnson Special |
|
First Heat Race – 6 Cars - 10 Laps
Purse divided among the first three finishers
Place |
Driver |
From |
Car Number |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Clarence Haskell |
Lincoln, NE |
24 |
Miller Special |
5:05.0 |
2 |
Pat Cunningham |
Otis, KS |
K 1 |
Kerbs Special |
|
3 |
Floyd Davis* |
Springfield, IL |
3 |
Johnson Special |
|
4 |
Lew Irwin |
St. Joseph, MO |
X 3 |
Lawhon Special |
|
5 |
Bill Foster |
Indianapolis, IN |
|
|
|
6 |
Bob Wilson |
Kansas City, MO |
|
|
|
Second Heat Race – 6 Cars – 10 Laps
Purse divided among the first three finishers
Place |
Driver |
From |
Car Number |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Floyd Davis* |
Springfield, IL |
4 |
Riley Special |
5:00.0 |
2 |
Paul Smith***** |
Kansas City, MO |
22 A |
Riley Special |
|
3 |
Roy Lake |
Los Angeles, CA |
3 |
Frontenac |
|
4 |
Verne Ellis**** |
Kansas City, MO |
|
Ellis Special |
|
5 |
Charles Pauley |
Herington, KS |
14 |
Pauley Special |
|
6 |
Pete Alberts** |
Chicago, IL |
9 |
Kinsey Special |
|
Consolation Race – 10 Laps
Purse divided among the first three finishers
Place |
Driver |
From |
Car Number |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Lew Irwin |
St. Joseph, MO |
X 3 |
Lawhon Special |
5:13.0 |
2 |
Pete Alberts** |
Chicago, IL |
9 |
Kinsey Special |
|
3 |
Charles Pauley |
Herington, KS |
14 |
Pauley Special |
|
4 |
Bob Wilson |
Kansas City, MO |
|
|
|
5 |
Art Challender |
Rock Island, IL |
|
McDowell Special |
|
6 |
Rea Bray*** |
Topeka, KS |
|
|
|
7 |
Ray Anguish |
Topeka, KS |
|
Frontenac |
|
8 |
H. C. Scheetz |
Topeka, KS |
|
|
DNS |
While warming his car up for this event, Scheetz’s car was crowded into the inside fence. It jumped the middle rail and slid down it for about 15 feet splintering the top rail as it went. He was uninjured but his car was damaged enough that he was unable to get back onto the track in time for the race.
Pauley was running in second place when he bounced his machine against the inside rail in the southeast turn on the third lap. It then careened across the racetrack plowing into the outside fence. Although he dropped to fourth place, he was able to regain control and had moved into third place by the end of the race. His effort was rewarded as third place paid $10.
Sweepstakes – 6 Cars - 20 Laps
Purse divided among the first three finishers
Place |
Driver |
From |
Car Number |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Clarence Haskell |
Lincoln, NE |
24 |
Miller Special |
9:57.0 |
2 |
Floyd Davis* |
Springfield, IL |
4 |
Riley Special |
|
3 |
Lew Irwin |
St. Joseph, MO |
X 3 |
Lawhon Special |
|
4 |
Pat Cunningham |
Otis, KS |
K 1 |
Kerbs Special |
DNF |
5 |
Paul Smith***** |
Kansas City, MO |
22 A |
Riley Special |
DNF |
6 |
Bill Foster |
Indianapolis, IN |
|
|
DNF |
Davis crowded Haskell out of his pole position in the first turn and shot his car into a 10-yard lead. Haskell pursued at a blistering pace with both cars entering the turns on the inside and sliding across the track to the fence on every turn almost wrecking on several occasions. This continued until the sixteenth lap when Haskell “threw caution to the wind and sailed by” for the lead. Davis tried in vain to catch him over the remaining laps but it could not be done. A new 20-lap track record was set in the process though.
Pat Cunningham Betty (Kerbs) Able collection |
Pete Alberts Don Radbruch collection |
Art Challender Wood collection |
* Floyd Eldon Davis (1905-1977) went on the race in the Indianapolis “500” four times and co-drove with Mauri Rose to victory there in 1941. Davis is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana.
** Harold Denman “Pete” Alberts (1905-1939) a.k.a. “Pietro Alberti” and “Phillipe Lecitir” was fatally injured in a racing accident at Mt. Vernon, Illinois.
*** Rea Clyde Bray (1902-1941) was fatally injured in a racing accident at Oakland, California in 1941
**** Audy Verne Ellis (1899-1934) was fatally injured in a racing accident at Memphis, Tennessee.
***** Paul Smith (1903-1933) was fatally injured in a racing accident in Dallas, Texas just five weeks later.
Return to the Feature Race Winners at Hutchinson, Kansas web page