The Known History of the
JayCee Speedway
Located One-Mile North of Larned, Kansas
This aerial photograph of the Larned Municipal Airport was taken seven years before the racetrack was built. Note that due north is to the left in this photo and the city of Larned is located one mile to the right. The white "X" near the bottom of the photo marks the sport where the JayCee Speedway would eventually be located - Don Spreier collection
This photo of the JayCee Speedway was taken from the pit entrance between turns three and four on the west side of the racetrack looking down the racetrack southeast across the fourth turn - Bill Nicholson collection
Early in 1956, several members of the Larned, Kansas Junior Chamber of Commerce got together to construct a 3/8 mile dirt oval racetrack on a tract of City owned property at the west edge of the Larned Municipal Airport which was located one mile north of Larned. Maynard Schneck along with brothers Herman and Wilbur Dirks were credited with spearheading the project as well as performing much of the work on the new facility themselves.
Opening day was held under threatening skies on Sunday afternoon, May 27, 1956 with a large field of entries and a good turnout of spectators. Merrick Racing Promotions of Dodge City, Kansas sanctioned the races and provided the rules for the construction of cars and for driver / crew conduct. The racetrack was very dusty that afternoon and the cars gouged out large ruts in the corners. Several drivers complained that they did not like the configuration of the racetrack with its long straightaways that ran east and west, and the sharp turns so members of the Jaycees got busy reconfiguring the track getting it ready for the second day of racing which was held on Sunday afternoon, June 24, 1956. For spectator safety, the bleachers on the south side of the racetrack had been moved farther back from the new racetrack which was now a perfectly round circle and a quarter-mile in length.
The races that have been run on the JayCee Speedway include:
|
Date |
Winning Car's Number |
Driver |
Driver From |
Car Owner(s) |
Car Owner(s) From |
Cars Entered |
Laps in Feature |
Attendance |
|
11 |
John McGee |
Wichita, Kansas |
Bill & Harold Rebein |
Dodge City, KS |
30 |
20 |
"over 1,000" |
|
|
80 |
Stanley Trahern |
Sublette, Kansas |
Bob Kenneman & Melvin Tuxhorn |
Montezuma, Kansas |
30 |
20 |
"less than 1,000" |
|
|
80 |
Stanley Trahern |
Sublette, Kansas |
Bob Kenneman & Melvin Tuxhorn |
Montezuma, Kansas |
25 |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
80 |
Stanley Trahern |
Sublette, Kansas |
Bob Kenneman & Melvin Tuxhorn |
Montezuma, Kansas |
27 |
20 |
1,300 |
|
|
80 |
Stanley Trahern |
Sublette, Kansas |
Bob Kenneman & Melvin Tuxhorn |
Montezuma, Kansas |
20 |
"upwards of 1,000" |
||
|
28 |
Don Shumard |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Don Shumard |
Dodge City, Kansas |
20 |
1,150 |
||
|
30 |
Gene Coffman |
Liberal, Kansas |
Charles Setters |
Liberal, Kansas |
37 |
20 |
1,600 |
|
|
80 |
Stanley Trahern |
Sublette, Kansas |
Bob Kenneman & Melvin Tuxhorn |
Montezuma, Kansas |
34 |
20 |
1,300 |
|
|
88 |
Don Shumard |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Jack & Jerry Culver |
Dodge City, Kansas |
28 |
20 |
1,300 |
|
|
Races canceled due to rain |
||||||||
|
88 |
Jack Culver |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Jack & Jerry Culver |
Dodge City, Kansas |
27 |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
3 |
Nelson Carlson |
Larned, Kansas |
Wilbur Dirks |
Larned, Kansas |
28 |
20 |
"exceeding 1,000" |
|
|
97 |
Lyle Lewis |
Dighton, Kansas |
Dale James |
Dighton, Kansas |
23 |
18 |
1,000 |
|
|
28 |
Don Shumard |
Dodge City, KS |
W. T. "Tommy" Jones |
Montezuma, Kansas |
23 |
20 |
||
|
June 9, 1957 |
Races canceled due to rain |
|
|
|||||
|
8 |
Leland Salmans |
Larned, Kansas |
Leland Salmans |
Larned, Kansas |
16 |
20 |
"near capacity crowd" |
|
|
June 23, 1957 |
Races canceled due to rain |
|
|
|||||
|
28 |
Don Shumard |
Dodge City, Kansas |
W. T. "Tommy" Junes |
Montezuma, Kansas |
19 |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
97 |
Lyle Lewis |
Dighton, Kansas |
Dale James |
Dighton, Kansas |
15 |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
July 7, 1957 |
The races scheduled on this date were canceled on June 30, 1957 so that the July 4, 1957 races could be added to the schedule instead. |
|||||||
|
97 |
Lyle Lewis |
Dighton, Kansas |
Dale James |
Dighton, Kansas |
18 |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
28 |
Don Shumard |
Dodge City, Kansas |
W. T. "Tommy" Jones |
Montezuma, Kansas |
19 |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
82 |
Don Spreier |
Larned, Kansas |
Charles Berryman |
Larned, Kansas |
18 |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
28 |
Don Shumard |
Dodge City, Kansas |
W. T. "Tommy" Jones |
Montezuma, Kansas |
16 |
20 |
1,500 |
|
|
71 |
Bob Murphy |
Larned, Kansas |
Herman Dirks |
Albert, Kansas |
18 |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
3 |
Nelson Carlson |
Larned, Kansas |
Wilbur Dirks |
Larned, Kansas |
16 |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
28 |
Don Shumard |
Dodge City, Kansas |
W. T. "Tommy" Jones |
Montezuma, Kansas |
17 |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
3 |
Nelson Carlson |
Larned, Kansas |
Wilbur Dirks |
Larned, Kansas |
16 |
20 |
1,300 |
|
|
35 |
Fritz Kuntzsch |
Larned, Kansas |
Joe & Harry Vratil |
Larned, Kansas |
27 |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
September 15, 1957 |
Races canceled due to rain |
|
|
|||||
|
3 |
Nelson Carlson |
Larned, Kansas |
Wilbur Dirks |
Larned, Kansas |
27 |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
35 |
Fritz Kuntzsch |
Larned, Kansas |
Joe & Harry Vratil |
Larned, Kansas |
19 |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
71 |
Bob Murphy |
Larned, Kansas |
Herman Dirks |
Albert, Kansas |
24 |
20 |
600 |
|
|
40 |
Bob Webster |
Wichita, Kansas |
Earl Vratil |
Larned, Kansas |
24 |
20 |
600 |
|
|
40 |
Bob Webster |
Wichita, Kansas |
Earl Vratil |
Larned, Kansas |
23 |
20 |
700 |
|
|
83 |
Bill Nave |
Chase, Kansas |
Bill Nave |
Chase, Kansas |
16 |
25 |
500 |
|
|
16 |
Gene Potts |
Great Bend, Kansas |
Gene Potts |
Great Bend, Kansas |
16 |
20 |
500 |
|
|
85 |
Bernie Beydler |
Great Bend, Kansas |
J. L. "Junior" Stillwell |
Great Bend, Kansas |
18 |
20 |
600 |
|
|
77 |
Ted Kreger |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Elmer "Shorty" Adams |
Dodge City, Kansas |
19 |
20 |
700 |
|
|
Races canceled due to wind damage and flooding in the area |
|
|
||||||
|
July 13, 1958 |
Races canceled due to a shortage of entries |
|
|
|||||
|
83 |
Bill Nave |
Chase, Kansas |
Bill Nave |
Chase, Kansas |
16 |
20 |
500 |
|
|
77 |
Ted Kreger |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Elmer "Shorty" Adams |
Dodge City, Kansas |
19 |
25 |
800 |
|
|
16 |
Gene Potts |
Great Bend, Kansas |
Gene Potts |
Great Bend, Kansas |
20 |
"several hundred" |
||
|
77 |
Ted Kreger |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Elmer "Shorty" Adams |
Dodge City, Kansas |
28 |
20 |
||
|
10 |
Leland Salmans |
Larned, Kansas |
Richard W. Dougherty |
Great Bend, Kansas |
29 |
20 |
||
|
73 |
Paul Befort, Jr. |
Garden City, Kansas |
Paul Befort, Jr. |
Garden City, Kansas |
34 |
20 |
||
|
10 |
Leland Salmans |
Larned, Kansas |
Richard W. Dougherty |
Great Bend, Kansas |
||||
|
10 |
Leland Salmans |
Larned, Kansas |
Richard W. Dougherty |
Great Bend, Kansas |
25 |
|||
|
10 |
Leland Salmans |
Larned, Kansas |
Richard W. Dougherty |
Great Bend, Kansas |
20 |
|||
|
10 |
Leland Salmans |
Larned, Kansas |
Richard W. Dougherty |
Great Bend, Kansas |
25 |
|||
|
10 |
Leland Salmans |
Larned, Kansas |
Richard W. Dougherty |
Great Bend, Kansas |
25 |
|||
|
3 |
Don Spreier |
Larned, Kansas |
Wilbur Dirks |
Larned, Kansas |
50 |
|||
|
50 |
||||||||
JayCee Speedway Track Champions
|
Year |
Car Number |
Driver |
Driver From |
Car Owner(s) |
Car Owner(s) From |
|
1956 |
80 |
Stanley Trahern |
Sublette, Kansas |
Bob Kenneman & Melvin Tuxhorn |
Montezuma, Kansas |
|
1957 |
3 |
Nelson Carlson |
Larned, Kansas |
Wilbur Dirks |
Larned, Kansas |
|
1958 |
10 |
Leland Salmans |
Larned, Kansas |
Richard W. Dougherty |
Great Bend, Kansas |
|
1959 |
10 |
Leland Salmans |
Larned, Kansas |
Richard W. Dougherty |
Great Bend, Kansas |
Floyd N. "Dutch" Davis (1930-2010) of Dodge City, Kansas won the Merrick Racing Promotions circuit championship in 1958 but that championship was based on the total points scored in the races at all three of the racetracks then on the Merrick circuit combined. Those were the Seward County Fairgrounds racetrack at Liberal, Kansas; McCarty Speedway in Dodge City, Kansas; and JayCee Speedway at Larned. Davis' car #5 was owned by C. J. Fitzgerald of Minneola, Kansas. Leland Salmans collected more points at just the JayCee Speedway than any other driver thus being declared the JayCee Speedway track champion. Salmans also finished second to Davis on the Merrick Racing Promotions circuit championship that year driving a Hudson jalopy owned by Richard W. Dougherty of Great Bend, Kansas.
Leland Salmans won the Merrick Racing Promotions circuit championship 1n 1959 as well as the JayCee Speedway championship that year while continuing to drive Richard W. Dougherty's Hudson.
Major rule changes were implemented in jalopy racing throughout much of the Midwest beginning in 1960. More expensive cut down cars with modified engines were allowed to compete in this class at many racetracks. The new cars were known regionally as “rails” and, although it was not mandated that all competitors have one, the “rails” were much faster rendering the “strictly stock cars” uncompetitive. Some of the smaller racing organizations tried to resist the rule changes only to be faced with car shortages for their races as several car owners scrapped their “strictly stock cars” to build “rails”. The car shortages and the inability to pay larger purses demanded by “rail” owners forced many racetracks in the smaller communities such as Larned to close. It did not help that a woman was struck by an errant wheel from a jalopy at Hooker, Oklahoma near the end of 1959. Her injuries were not serious but the lawsuit that followed and the resultant increase in liability insurance to continue racing there not only put an end to the sport at Hooker but the realization of the possible liability sent shock waves through those responsible for the other small racetracks in the area including JayCee Speedway. Faced of all of the many changes to the sport, the Larned Jaycees decided not to renew their lease on the JayCee Speedway for 1960 so the City of Larned leased the ground to Hi-Plains Recreation, Inc. who built a go-cart track on the site.
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Thank You to:
Clifford Bieberle; Roger Burnett; John Carlson, Jr.; Nelson Carlson; Ron Carlson; Roseanna Coffman-Davis; Will Cokeley; Floyd "Dutch" Davis; Judy Farris; Bob Haberman; Dale May; Stan Morrison; Bob Murphy; Bill Nicholson; Ron Nicholson; Leon Oberle; Don Pedigo; Gene Potts; John Riead; Alan Salmans: Leland and Carolee Salmans; Steven Schrater, Richard Schwartzkopf; Don Shumard; Don Spreier; Jean Walton; the Great Bend Tribune newspaper; the Larned Tiller and Toiler newspaper; and everyone else who has assisted me with this project but whom I might have neglected to mention here.