The “Auto Racing & Trade Day” held on the
½ Mile Dirt Racetrack at the Inter-County Fairgrounds
Oakley, Kansas
“Located Along the Union Pacific railroad”
(These fairgrounds later became known as Sportsman Park)
Saturday Afternoon, May 3, 1919
Roy Ivanhoe Pickering (1880-1962), along with a partner, ______ Johnson, both men of WaKeeney, Kansas, promoted these what are believed to have been the first automobile races ever run at Oakley, Kansas:
First Heat Race – 10 Laps
Place |
Driver |
Driver’s Hometown |
Car Owner |
Car Owner’s Hometown |
Automobile |
Purse |
1 |
Noel E. Bullock |
Smith Center, Kansas |
Rex L. Kent |
Norton, Kansas |
Studebaker “6” |
$100 |
2 |
Charles “Butch” Lebsack |
Otis, Kansas |
Leonard E. Kerbs |
Otis, Kansas |
Fronty Ford |
50 |
3 |
Walter F. Krhut |
Collyer, Kansas |
Walter F. Krhut |
Collyer, Kansas |
Ford |
25 |
4 |
Roy I. Pickering |
WaKeeney, Kansas |
Roy I. Pickering |
WaKeeney, Kansas |
Maxwell |
|
Second Heat Race – 10 Laps |
||||||
Place |
Driver |
Driver’s Hometown |
Car Owner |
Car Owner’s Hometown |
Automobile |
Purse |
1 |
Noel E. Bullock |
Smith Center, Kansas |
Rex L. Kent |
Norton, Kansas |
Studebaker “6” |
$100 |
2 |
Charles “Butch” Lebsack |
Otis, Kansas |
Leonard E. Kerbs |
Otis, Kansas |
Fronty Ford |
50 |
3 |
Walter F. Krhut |
Collyer, Kansas |
Walter F. Krhut |
Collyer, Kansas |
Ford |
25 |
4 |
Roy I. Pickering |
WaKeeney, Kansas |
Roy I. Pickering |
WaKeeney, Kansas |
Maxwell |
|
Extra Heat Race – 10 Laps |
||||||
Place |
Driver |
Driver’s Hometown |
Car Owner |
Car Owner’s Hometown |
Automobile |
Purse |
1 |
Noel E. Bullock |
Smith Center, Kansas |
Rex L. Kent |
Norton, Kansas |
Studebaker “6” |
$50 |
2 |
Charles “Butch” Lebsack |
Otis, Kansas |
Leonard E. Kerbs |
Otis, Kansas |
Fronty Ford |
30 |
DNF |
Walter F. Krhut |
Collyer, Kansas |
Walter F. Krhut |
Collyer, Kansas |
Ford |
|
DNF |
Roy I. Pickering |
WaKeeney, Kansas |
Roy I. Pickering |
WaKeeney, Kansas |
Maxwell |
|
This “Extra Heat Race” was run in place of the advertised amateur auto race that was not run.
The cars driven by Krhut and Pickering bumped together and spun out on the 7th lap. Neither driver was injured but the front end of Pickering’s Maxwell was damaged.
Motorcycle Race – 10 Laps
Place |
Rider |
Rider’s Hometown |
Purse |
1 |
Harold Salters |
Monument, Kansas |
$25 |
2 |
Charles Gillman |
Oakley, Kansas |
15 |
DNF |
Frank Smith |
Monument, Kansas |
|
Smith was thrown from his motorcycle in the northwest turn, on the seventh lap of this race and handed headfirst in an embankment. He remained unconscious for three days before waking up in the hospital, but he had no other signs of injury and he fully recovered.