Hot Rods Vs. Big Cars

Municipal Airport - Great Bend, Kansas

Advertised as 100 miles over a 1.7 mile temporary course utilizing runways and taxiways

(but actually consisted of 60 laps for 100.2 miles)

Memorial Day

Wednesday Afternoon, May 30, 1951

Time Trials:  1 p.m. Tuesday Afternoon, May 29, 1951

Sanctioned by the Midwest Racing Association (MRA)

Advertised Purse:  40% of gate receipts

Race Promoter:  Paul Hainke of Hutchinson, Kansas

Official Starter and Flagman:  Ernie Powell of Hutchinson, Kansas

Sponsored by American Legion Argonne Post #180 of Great Bend, Kansas

Spectator admission:  Time Trials:  $.50 - Race:  Adults $1.50; children under 12 free

Race day attendance:  Somewhere between 3,500 and 4,000

 

This race was run counter clockwise around the 1.7 mile temporary course marked in black above with the start / finish line at about the midpoint on the east (right) straight-away - U.S. Geological Survey photo

 

ENTRY LIST:

Car #

Driver

From

Engine / Head

Type

Car Owner

From

1

Lloyd Walinder

Oberlin, KS

Chevy 6 / Wayne

Big Car

Lloyd Walinder

Oberlin, KS

3

Bob Murra

Wichita, KS

Mercury V8 /

Hot Rod

Frank Amos

Wichita, KS

4

Shorty Jones

Wichita, KS

Mercury V8 /

Hot Rod

Shorty Jones

Wichita, KS

5

Charlie Lutkie

Wichita, KS

Mercury V8 / Ardun

Hot Rod

Bob Moffitt

Wichita, KS

5

Dick Jepsen

Great Bend, KS

Olds V8 / Olds

Hot Rod**

Dick Jepsen

Great Bend, KS

7

Delbert Davis

 

GMC 6 /

Hot Rod

Cliff Dunsworth

Hutchinson, KS

8

Frankie Lies

Wichita, KS

Mercury V8 /

Hot Rod

Marvin Church

Newton, KS

9

Bob Cox

Halstead, KS

Model-B Ford 4 / Miller Schofield

Hot Rod

Marvin Church

Newton, KS

11

Troy Routh 

Maize, KS

Mercury V8 / Ardun

Hot Rod

Paul Hainke

Hutchinson, KS

19

Mickey McCormick

Hutchinson, KS

Mercury V8 /

Hot Rod

Harold Shaw

Grainfield, KS

22

Junior Pickrel

Tribune, KS

Chevy 6 / Wayne

Big Car

Cloyd & Emmett Ricketts

Winona, KS

48

Harold Dean

Newton, KS

Stock Ford V8 / Ford

Hot Rod

Harold Dean

Newton, KS

81

Bill Loffland 

Wichita, KS

GMC 6 / Wayne

Hot Rod

Earl Mills

Newton, KS

88

Bud Manning

Oakley, KS

Olds V8 / Olds

Hot Rod

Arnold Blankenburg

Oakley, KS

 

R. B. McIntosh

Great Bend, KS

Mercury V8

Hot Rod

R. B. McIntosh

Great Bend, KS

 

Jack Merrick

Dodge City, KS

 

Big Car

R. B. McIntosh

Great Bend, KS

 

Joe Taylor

Amarillo, TX

Cragar

Big Car

L. B. Taylor

Amarillo, TX

 

Roy Colman

Oklahoma City, OK

McDowell Ford

Big Car

 

 

 

Frank Brettle

Salina, KS

Chevy 6 / Wayne

Big Car

Frank Brettle

Salina, KS

 

W. L. Harding

Doniphan, NE

Mercury V8 /

Big Car

 

 

 

Al Kernal

Norris City, IL

Ranger /

Big Car

 

 

 

LeMoine Pegg

Wichita, KS

Mercury V8 /

Hot Rod

LeMoine Pegg

Wichita, KS

 

George Bender

Scott City, KS

Chevy 6 / Wayne

Hot Rod

Marvin Helmers*

Scott City, KS

 

J. D. Hanna

Dallas, TX

Mercury V8 /

Hot Rod

 

 

 

Buddy Quick***

Wichita, KS

Mercury V8 /

Hot Rod

 

 

 

*Marvin Henry “Smokey” Helmers (1915-1980)

**Dick Jepsen drove late-model stock cars with IMCA in the 1950s but never raced a hot rod.

***Buddy Quick competed in a jalopy race run at Winfield, Kansas on this date instead of racing in this event.

 

TIME TRIALS

Time trials for this race were run over a measured quarter-mile with contestants allowed enough of a running start that the speeds recorded would have been flat-out top end speeds.  Bob Murra set the fastest time driving Frank Amos’ #3 Mercury powered hot rod.  One published account states that Jack Merrick set the third fastest time.

 

FINISHING ORDER:

Place

Car #

Driver

Car Owner

Laps Completed

Reason out

Purse

1

8

Frankie Lies

Marvin Church

60

running

$350

2

4

Shorty Jones

Shorty Jones

59

running

280

3

3

Bob Murra

Frank Amos

59

running

210

4

11

Troy Routh

Paul Hainke

58

running

168

5

88

Bud Manning

Arnold Blankenburg

57

running

140

6

48

Harold Dean

Harold Dean

49

running

84

7

 

R. B. McIntosh

R. B. McIntosh

48

running

56

8

19

Mickey McCormick

Harold Shaw

40

unknown

28

9

81

Bill Loffland

Earl Mills

26

unknown

28

10

9

Bob Cox

Marvin Church

25

burned engine rod

28

11

5

Charlie Lutkie

Charlie Lutkie

24

head gasket

14

12

 

George Bender

Marvin Helmers

12

unknown

14

13

7

Delbert Davis

Cliff Dunsworth

10

unknown 

14

14

22

Junior Pickrel

Cloyd & Emmett Ricketts

6

dropped a drag link

      14

 

Lap leaders:  1-24 Charlie Lutkie; 25-60 Frankie Lies

Total Purse :  $1398

The advertised “Hot Rods vs. Big Cars” really did not happen.  All but one big car boycotted the race, the owners feeling the posted purse was insufficient.  The one big car that did compete (Junior Pickrel) was actually a hot rod that had just recently been converted to a big car.

This 100.2-mile race was run non-stop in one hour and 20 minutes with the winner averaging 75.34 MPH.  Charlie Lutkie led the first 24 laps before dropping out of the race with a blown head gasket.  Frankie Lies inherited the lead and built up a five-lap lead before his pit crew could get him slowed down to save the engine.  Even a lengthy pit stop at the mid-point of the race did not take him out of the lead.

Bob Murra had the fastest car all day but made too many pit stops for gas to catch the leader.

All except the cars of Shorty Jones and Harold Dean made at least one pit stop during the race.  Jones cut it close as he ran out of gas as he crossed the finish line.  Harold Dean spun his car out on the last turn of the race trying to get out of Shorty Jones’ way but, although Jones was running right behind winner Frank Lies, he was not on the lead lap.  Dean was able to restart his car and finish the race.

 

           

“On the first turn of the race, several of the cars ran in low but got into it too fast and slid out across the track and off into the dirt.  I anticipated that might happen and ran high to that first turn and then turned late across the track down low and came out with the lead.  I was never out of the lead again after that and my car ran beautifully all day.

“I don’t know what kind of tires were on the car.  I didn’t pay much attention to tires in those days.

           “Troy Routh had an open pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket.  You know, with just the corner of the pack torn off so you could pop them out.  After the race, those cigarettes only had about half the tobacco left in them.  The wind going over the top of the car would raise the helmet up trying to pull it right off your head and it had also sucked the tobacco right out of Troy's cigarettes."

~~~ Frankie Lies

 

            “I was running down one straight-away and could see Frank Lies on the other straight.  We passed at about the same place every lap which would indicate that I was running about the same speed as the leader and I’m sure no one was running more than 100 miles an hour.”

~~~ Bob Cox

 

Frankie Lies of Wichita, Kansas in the Marvin Church owned #8 Mercury powered hot rod that he drove to victory on this day - Lies collection

 

Leroy Eugene “Junior” Pickrel of Tribune, Kansas is shown here in the #22 Wayne Chevrolet powered big car he drove in this race for the Ricketts brothers of Winona, Kansas.  This was the only “big car” to compete in this race billed as “Hot Rods vs. Big Cars”.  This photo was probably taken at this race as it was the only airport race it competed in – Cloyd Ricketts collection

 

Clarence Eugene “Bud” Manning in the #88 Oldsmobile hot rod known as the “Bird Cage” that he drove for Arnold “Blank” Blankenburg (standing) in this race – Raymond Manning collection

 

Charles J. “Charlie” Lutkie in the #5 Mercury powered hot rod he led the first 24 laps of this race in before dropping out with a blown head gasket – Jim Edwards photo

 

J. R. “Bob” Cox is shown here at a MRA sanctioned “Hot Rods vs. Big Cars” race at Concordia, Kansas on September 2, 1951 in the same hot rod he drove to a 10th place finish in this race at Great Bend.  (He won the feature in the above race at Concordia.)  The engine is a 4-cylinder Model-B Ford with a Miller Schofield head and two carburetors.  Note the magneto sticking through the hood between the carburetors.  Also note that the chin strap on Cox’s helmet is not fastened.  It was broken and would not fasten so he drove with it that way for most of the 1951 racing season – J. R. Cox collection 

 

Bob Murra in the #3 hot rod owned by Frank Amos that Murra drove to the fastest time with in time trials and then went on to finish in third place in this race – Jim Edwards photo from the Paul and Opal Kammerer collection

  

Mickey McCormick with the #19 hot rod he drove to an 8th place finish on this day – Jim Edwards photo

 

This photo of the Paul Hainke owned hot rod was taken at this race at Great Bend.  The driver in white is Troy Routh and the man standing in front of the right front wheel is race winner Frankie Lies.  Routh finished in 4th place – Tommy Madison collection 

Click your mouse on the photo above to see another photo from the Don Radbruch collection showing Troy Routh seated in this Paul Hainke owned hot rod. 

 

The Pace Car

This is believed to be a street rod that had been custom built by Frank Kurtis for Indy car owner Jack Hinkle.  According to newspaper accounts of this race, Ralph Ritchter of Wichita, Kansas was the driver for this event.  It had also been the pace car for a stock car race at the Great Bend airport in 1949.  Click your mouse on this photo to see three more views of this car taken at this Great Bend race – Tommy Madison collection

 

Midwest Racing Association Hot Rods vs. Big Cars Published Schedule for 1951

“If the boys will cooperate”

Date:

 

Venue:

Feature Winner:

May 30, 1951

 

Great Bend, Kansas

Frank Lies

June 10, 1951

 

Concordia, Kansas

Lloyd Walinder

June 16, 1951

 

Russell, Kansas

Unknown

June 24, 1951

 

Abilene, Kansas

Unknown

July 4, 1951

 

Russell, Kansas

Lloyd Walinder

July 29, 1951

 

Hutchinson, Kansas

Frank Lies

September 2, 1951

 

Concordia, Kansas

Bob Cox

September 30, 1951

 

Belleville, Kansas

Andy Anderson

 

 

Thank you to:

Bob Cox, Dick Jepsen, Frankie Lies, Charlie Lutkie, Tommy Madison, Don Radbruch, Cloyd Ricketts, and Jim Smith

 

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