Big Car Races on the
Historic Half-mile Racetrack at the
Kansas State Fairgrounds
Hutchinson, Kansas
Friday – September 25, 1936
Sanctioned by – International Motor Contest Association (I.M.C.A.)
Race director – William Miner “Bill” Bryant of Hutchinson, Kansas
Attendance – “over 10,000”
Bill Morris Don Radbruch collection |
Clyde Gilbert Charles Pauley photo |
Oscar Coleman Don Radbruch collection |
Rea Bray Don Radbruch collection |
Tex West Don Radbruch collection |
Posey Reeves Don Radbruch collection |
Time Trials - 1 Lap
Place |
Driver |
From |
Car Number |
Automobile |
Monday’s Time |
Today’s Time |
1 |
Bill Morris1 |
Denver, CO |
3 |
Messer Special |
28.3 |
|
2 |
Oscar Coleman9 |
Dallas, TX |
1 |
Texas Special |
28.6 |
|
3 |
Morris Musick |
Lincoln, NE |
4 |
Messer Special |
28.7 |
|
4 |
Lou Brown2 |
Champaign, IL |
B 5 |
Dreyer |
29.0 |
|
5 |
Clyde Gilbert |
Longmont, CO |
15 |
Fronty |
29.2 |
|
6 |
George Chitwood3 |
Topeka, KS |
X 3 |
Lawhon Special |
29.3 |
|
7 |
Tex West4 |
San Antonio, TX |
22 A |
Riley |
30.0 |
|
8 |
Bob Wilson |
Kansas City, KS |
6 |
Gillette Special (Riley) |
30.3 |
|
9 |
Jimmie Wood |
Sioux Falls, SD |
11 |
|
|
30.5 |
10 |
Waldo Burnett5 |
Hutchinson, KS |
4 |
Earl Fronty Ford Special |
29.3 |
30.6 |
11 |
Pete Alberts6 |
St. Louis, MO |
25 |
|
|
31.2 |
12 |
Rea Bray |
Topeka, KS |
700 |
B & B Special |
29.4 |
31.3 |
|
Loren Fondoble |
Palco, KS |
77 |
Riley Special |
|
|
|
Ed Graves7 |
Oklahoma City, OK |
5 |
|
|
|
|
Chuck Gates |
San Diego, CA |
|
|
|
|
|
Posey Reeves |
Oklahoma City, OK |
500 |
Cragar |
|
|
|
Hal Reinsberg8 |
St. Paul, MN |
|
|
|
|
|
Art Challender |
Davenport, IA |
|
|
|
|
Time trials were used from the preceding Monday (September 21, 1936) except for those of Burnett and Bray as both of them had changed cars since Monday and therefore, had to requalify. Alberts and Wood had not entered on Monday so they had to post initial qualifying times that were then integrated with the time trials that were run on Monday.
First Heat Race – 6 Cars - 5 Laps
Purse divided among the first three finishers
Place |
Driver |
From |
Car Number |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Bill Morris1 |
Denver, CO |
3 |
Messer Special |
2:28.3 |
2 |
Oscar Coleman9 |
Dallas, TX |
1 |
Texas Special |
|
3 |
Clyde Gilbert |
Longmont, CO |
15 |
Fronty |
|
4 |
Morris Musick |
Lincoln, NE |
4 |
Messer Special |
DNF |
5 |
Lou Brown2 |
Champaign, IL |
B 5 |
Dreyer |
DNF |
6 |
Waldo Burnett5 |
Hutchinson, KS |
|
|
DNF |
On the second lap, Morris Musick’s car came out of a slide quicker than he had intended and ground to a stop against the inside railing in the northwest curve.
Second Heat Race – 6 Cars - 5 Laps
Purse divided among the first three finishers
Place |
Driver |
From |
Car Number |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Lou Brown2 |
Champaign, IL |
B 5 |
Dreyer |
2:28.9 |
2 |
Morris Musick |
Lincoln, NE |
4 |
Messer Special |
|
3 |
George Chitwood3 |
Topeka, KS |
X 3 |
Lawhon Special |
|
4 |
Waldo Barnett5 |
Hutchinson, KS |
|
|
|
5 |
Tex West4 |
San Antonio, TX |
22 A |
Riley |
|
6 |
Loren Fondoble |
Palco, KS |
77 |
Riley Special |
|
First Consolation – 8 Cars - 5 Laps
Purse divided among the first three finishers
Place |
Driver |
From |
Car Number |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Tex West4 |
San Antonio, TX |
22 A |
Riley |
2:31.0 |
2 |
Ed Graves7 |
Oklahoma City, OK |
5 |
|
|
3 |
Loren Fondoble |
Palco, KS |
77 |
Riley Special |
|
4 |
Waldo Burnett5 |
Hutchinson, KS |
|
|
|
5 |
Jimmie Wood |
Sioux Falls, SD |
11 |
|
|
6 |
Chuck Gates |
San Diego, CA |
|
|
|
7 |
Bob Wilson |
Kansas City, KS |
6 |
Gillette Special (Riley) |
|
8 |
Posey Reeves |
Oklahoma City, OK |
500 |
Cragar |
|
West started on the pole and led this whole race.
Second Consolation – 8 Cars - 5 Laps
Purse divided among the first three finishers
Place |
Driver |
From |
Car Number |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Waldo Barnett5 |
Hutchinson, KS |
75 |
Earl D. O. Fronty |
2:33.0 |
2 |
Jimmie Wood |
Sioux Falls, SD |
11 |
|
|
3 |
Bob Wilson |
Kansas City, KS |
6 |
Gillette Special (Riley) |
|
4 |
Chuck Gates |
San Diego, CA |
|
|
|
5 |
Posey Reeves |
Oklahoma City, OK |
500 |
Cragar |
|
6 |
Art Challender |
Davenport, IA |
|
|
|
7 |
Hal Reinsberg |
St. Paul, MN |
|
|
|
8 |
Pete Alberts6 |
St. Louis, MO |
25 |
|
|
Invitational Handicap – 25 Laps
Place |
Driver |
From |
Car Number |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Ed Graves |
Oklahoma City, OK |
5 |
|
12:20.4 |
2 |
Lou Brown2 |
Champaign, IL |
B 5 |
Dreyer |
|
3 |
Morris Musick |
Lincoln, NE |
4 |
Messer Special |
|
4 |
Bill Morris1 |
Denver, CO |
3 |
Messer Special |
|
5 |
Rae Bray |
Topeka, KS |
700 |
B & B Special |
DNF |
|
Loren Fondoble |
Palco, KS |
77 |
Riley Special |
DNF |
Fondoble lost control of his car on the north turn and crashed through the inside fence knocking down two sections. He was not injured. Only four cars remained in the race past the 12th lap. Bill Morris had started the race last and was slowly gaining on the leaders. Graves hugged the inside railing the whole race, even on the straight-aways. The finish was very close between Graves and Brown.
State Fair Sweepstakes – 8 Cars - 10 Laps
Purse divided among the first three finishers
Place |
Driver |
From |
Car Number |
Automobile |
Time |
1 |
Bill Morris1 |
Denver, CO |
3 |
Messer Special |
4:55.8 |
2 |
Clyde Gilbert |
Longmont, CO |
15 |
Ford Fronty |
|
3 |
Morris Musick |
Lincoln, NE |
4 |
Messer Special |
|
4 |
George Chitwood3 |
Topeka, KS |
X 3 |
Lawhon Special |
|
5 |
Lou Brown2 |
Champaign, IL |
B 5 |
Dreyer |
|
6 |
Oscar Coleman9 |
Dallas, TX |
1 |
Texas Special |
|
7 |
Tex West4 |
San Antonio, TX |
22 A |
Riley |
|
8 |
Ed Graves7 |
Oklahoma City, OK |
5 |
|
|
Morris was awarded the four-column silver pedestal Frank Phillips trophy for winning the State Fair Sweepstakes on both days of the state fair this year but he was not there for the presentation.1
George Chitwood Larry Sullivan photo |
Waldo Barnett Jack Earl collection |
Bob Wilson Roy Eaton collection |
Morris Musick Don Radbruch collection |
1 ”Bill Morris” is an alias used by Benjamin Franklin “Ben” Musick, Sr. (1908-1966). The Messer Special #3 that he drove was owned by Chelsie E. Johnson of Lincoln, Nebraska and had a yellow paint job on it. According to George Chitwood, FBI agents came to the pits that day with an arrest warrant for Musick but relented long enough for Musick to drive in the rest of the day’s races. After winning the State Fair Sweepstakes, Musick continued around the racetrack at full throttle and drove out through a gate on the back straightaway. The car was out of gas when it was located later that night on a roadside outside of Hutchinson. Although Musick managed to get away that day, he was eventually apprehended.
2 Lou Brown was fatally injured in a racing accident at Savannah, Georgia less than three months after these races at Hutchinson.
3 George Rice Chitwood (1912-1988), later known as “Joie” Chitwood, went to race in the Indianapolis "500" seven times.
4 ”Tex West” is an alias used by Austin E. Wetzler (1903-1962)
5 Charles Waldo Burnett (1905-1947) was originally from Oklahoma City but had been residing in Hutchinson “all summer”. Note that he changed from driving a car #4 to driving the #75 car between time trials and the second consolation race. The #75 D. O. Fronty was owned by Murray Earl of Hutchinson. The photo of Barnett in the #75 car above was taken at the Kansas State Fair racetrack on this day. Pictured left to right in that photo are Ted Davis, Bud Bennett, Murray Earl, and Burnett. Waldo was fatally injured in a racing accident at Ord, Nebraska and is buried at Terrel, Oklahoma.
.
6 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.
7 Ed Graves was fatally injured in an accident during time trials for a race at a different racetrack in the spring of 1937.
8 Harold C. “Hal” Reinsberg was fatally injured in a racing accident at Hamline, Minnesota in 1939.
9 Oscar Lloyd Coleman (1905-1938) was fatally injured while attempting to qualify for a midget race in Dallas, Texas.
Return to the Feature Race Winners at Hutchinson, Kansas web page