50-Mile Stock Car Race

Bo Stearns’ Track

Wichita, Kansas

Sunday Afternoon – October 17, 1937

  Race Director – Kay Marcus Foreman*** of Wichita, Kansas

 

 

 

Time Trials - 2 Laps

Only 10 of These Cars Actually Took a Time Trial But the Others Were Also Entered

Rerick turned one-lap of the half-mile racetrack in 35.0 seconds to set the quickest one-lap time of the afternoon but his total time for two laps was only good enough for fourth place in these time trials.

  

 

 

Preliminary Heat Race - 3 Fastest Cars from Time Trials - distance unknown

 

 

 

100 Laps - 10 Cars - Elapsed Time: 1 hours, 3 minutes, 20 seconds

               Only three cars were running at the completion of this race.

               Martin lead from the start but lost the lead to Rerick while trying to lap a slower car driven by Rhinehart Langhorn.  Martin regained the lead six laps later and completed the 100-lap distance three-quarters of a lap ahead of the second place finisher.

               Langhorn's Plymouth coupe provided most of the excitement in the race.  It was described as being "just slow enough to hamper the entire field in the turns and just fast enough in the stretches to keep them behind."  Langhorn was able to complete 85 laps of the race though before his car blew out a rear tire forcing him to retire from the event.

               Redman lost control of his Chevrolet roadster while trying to negotiate some loose dirt on the racetrack and the car went out through the fence just missing a light pole.

               The two Ford coupes in this race were each equipped with a V-8 Ford flathead engine.

               Gail Arthur “Bo” Bocock (1903-1972) of Wichita, Kansas made an exhibition run between races in his newly built racing car.

 

 

 

 

* Walter Arthur Rerick (1914-1999).

 

** Milton C. "Smitty" Smith (1910-1985) was running very well and only one-lap behind the leaders (although his car was running on only 3-cyllinders) until he went into the pits to have his carburetor adjusted.  He quit driving racing cars after being involved in a serious accident at the intersection on a figure-eight racetrack just outside of Newton, Kansas in 1938.  The name on his tombstone in the Clearwater, Kansas cemetery reads "C. Milton Smith".

 

*** Kay Marcus Foreman (1899-1939)

 

**** Her name has also been spelled "Margaret Maize".

 

***** Dee C. Foreman (1904-1942).

 

 

 

 

Return to the Bo Stearns' Track homepage