Big Car Races at Hutchinson, Kansas on September 22, 1949

Big Car Races on the

Historic Half-mile Racetrack at the

Kansas State Fairgrounds

Hutchinson, Kansas

Thursday – September 22, 1949

Sanctioned by – International Motor Contest Association (I.M.C.A.)

Promotional company – Auto Racing Incorporated of Minneapolis, Minnesota

Promoter – Frank R. Winkley of Minneapolis, Minnesota

Track condition – “dry slick and dusty”

This photo was taken on the front straight-away at Hutchinson in 1949. The car at left was owned and driven by Jimmy Wilburn.

Darrin McKim collection

Emory Collins

Wood collection

Time Trials – 16 Cars - 1 Lap
Place	Driver	From	Time
1	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	24.53
2	Jimmy Wilburn***	Indianapolis, Indiana	26.42
3	Bill Anderson*	Long Beach, California	26.80
4	Ben Musick	Dallas, Texas	26.95
5	Bill Hooper	Decatur, Illinois	27.82
6	Clair Cotter	Austin, Minnesota	28.34
7	Joe James**	Van Nuys, California	28.47
8	Bert Hellmueller	Louisville, Kentucky	28.57
9	Robert Marr	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	29.10
9	Loren Fondoble	Wichita, Kansas	29.10
11	Owen Aleshire	Moberly, Missouri	29.47
12	Win Herner	Minneapolis, Minnesota	30.42
13	Roy Yauger	Austin, Minnesota	30.60
14	Johnny Harper	Chicago, Illinois	30.64
15	Bill Hoff	St. Paul, Minnesota	31.04
16	Red Ballew	Moberly, Missouri	31.22
The times above were turned in time trials on Sunday (Herner’s was run on Tuesday) and used again to determine starting positions in these races.

Ben Musick

Larry Sullivan photo

Bill Anderson

Don Radbruch collection

First Heat Race – 6 Cars - 7 Laps
Place	Driver	From	Time
1	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	3:38.7
2	Ben Musick	Dallas, Texas
3	Bill Hooper	Decatur, Illinois

Second Heat Race – 6 Cars - 7 Laps
Place	Driver	From	Time
1	Jimmy Wilburn***	Indianapolis, Indiana	3:35.0
2	Bill Anderson	Long Beach, California
3	Bert Hellmueller	Louisville, Kentucky

Clair Cotter

Wood collection

Match Race – 2 Cars - 3 Laps
Place	Driver	From	Time
1	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa	1:35.4
2	Jimmy Wilburn***	Indianapolis, Indiana

Loren Fondoble

Roy Eaton collection

Consolation Race – 5 Laps
Place	Driver	From	Time
1	Owen Aleshire	Moberly, Missouri	2:43.85
2	Loren Fondoble	Wichita, Kansas
3	Bill Hoff	St. Paul, Minnesota

Australian Pursuit – 6 Laps
Place	Driver	From
1	Joe James**	Van Nuys, California
2	Owen Aleshire	Moberly, Missouri	DNF
3	Red Ballew	Moberly, Missouri	DNF
	Loren Fondoble	Wichita, Kansas	DNF
Fondoble’s was the first car to be eliminated.

Bert Hellmueller

Bob Stolze collection

Feature Race – 8 Laps
Place	Driver	From	Time
1	Jimmy Wilburn***	Indianapolis, Indiana	4:18.84
2	Emory Collins	Le Mars, Iowa
3	Bill Anderson*	Long Beach, California
4	Ben Musick	Dallas, Texas
5	Bill Hooper	Decatur, Illinois
6	Bert Hellmueller	Louisville, Kentucky
7	Joe James**	Van Nuys, California
8	Clair Cotter	Austin, Minnesota
The feature race was cut from 10 laps to 8 laps due to the “dusty and slippery track surface.” Wilburn and Collins ran away from the rest of the field with Wilburn winning by several car lengths over Collins.

Bill Hooper

Larry Sullivan photo

Joe James

Joe Roletto collection

* William Terry “Wild Bill” Anderson (1917-1950) of Long Beach, California was fatally injured at the Mitchell Speedrome in Mitchell, Indiana. He was the third driver to loose his life in the former Gus Schrader Offy.

** Joseph David “Joe” James (1925-1952) came east to Kansas with mechanic Jud Phillips and body man Jack Dulin. They brought with them an old refurbished sprint car with an Ardun flathead engine. James would go on to compete in the Indianapolis “500” twice before being fatally injured in a racing accident at San Jose, California.

*** James T. “Jimmy” Wilburn (1908-1984) competed in the Indianapolis “500” in 1946.

Jimmy Wilburn

Don Radbruch collection

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