Cowley County Fair
Saturday - October 13, 1928
|
The ad above appeared on page 7 of the
The ad above ad appeared on page 3B
The ad above ad appeared on page 9
Handbill |
|
Winfield Daily Courier While the eighth annual Cowley County Fair officially ends tonight, there will be a big attraction at the racetrack tomorrow beginning at 2 o’clock when the auto races are scheduled to start. Fifteen cars are entered and business is sure to pick up when the demons of the dirt track bare their teeth in the dust clouds. Last Tuesday afternoon, there were thrills every minute climaxed in the first 15 laps of the grand final race when three cars cracked up on the track. Luckily, no one was hurt but the cars were damaged considerable. This damage has been repaired and the cars will be ready tomorrow afternoon to finish the last 15 laps in the big race. There will be seven events on the program, every race a good one.
Winfield Daily Courier This afternoon, the week of events was brought to a fitting close with the auto races. The track was in excellent condition and the drivers declared themselves as ready to go the limit. There were seven events scheduled on the racing program. Eleven starters were on the line as competitors. A full report of the results of the races will be given in Monday's Courier.
Arkansas City Daily Traveler
Joe Hutchinson's car, shown above, which turned over in the Tuesday auto races at Winfield, was not seriously damaged and has been repaired for the Saturday races. The Tuesday time-trials showed that Arkansas City can be expected to show up well in Saturday's events. The other Arkansas Citians racing at Winfield are: R. D. Hill, "Cokey" Fuller, and J. F. Pickens.
Winfield Daily Courier |
The weather was ideal and the track was in fine shape for the races. A large crowd came out and a great number were observed south of the track on the railroad right-of-way taking in the events at slight investment.
|
EVENT |
FINISH |
CAR # |
DRIVER |
FROM |
CAR |
TIME |
|
Time Trials: |
1 |
43 |
Wendell A. Sparling1 |
Winfield, Kansas |
Superior Hisso |
32.4 |
|
11 cars |
2 |
44 |
Ira McIntire |
Arkansas City, Kansas |
Rajo Ford |
32.8 |
|
1 lap |
3 |
15 |
Russell D. “R. D.” Hill |
Arkansas City, Kansas |
Frontenac |
33.4 |
|
|
4 |
7-11 |
Ralph Chrysler2 |
Omaha, Nebraska |
Rajo Ford |
34.0 |
|
|
5 |
4 |
Joe Taylor |
Arkansas City, Kansas |
Chevrolet |
34.0 |
|
|
6 |
571 |
Happy Fox |
Topeka, Kansas |
Front-Wheel-Drive |
34.3 |
|
|
7 |
9 |
Bob Maze3 |
Topeka, Kansas |
Scott Special |
36.0 |
|
|
8 |
C-13 |
Leech Fox |
Kansas City, Missouri |
Mayfield Special |
41.0 |
|
|
|
51 |
Jack Burton |
Miami, Oklahoma |
Leech Special |
|
|
|
|
70 |
Tom Holden |
WaKeeney, Kansas |
Chrysler 70 |
|
|
“One driver mowed down several yards of fence during time trials but there were no other casualties, nor cars wrecked, during the entire program”. |
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
First Heat: |
1 |
43 |
Wendell A. Sparling1 |
Winfield, Kansas |
Superior Hisso |
4:25.4 |
|
3 cars |
2 |
44 |
Ira McIntire |
Arkansas City, Kansas |
Rajo Ford |
|
|
8 laps |
3 |
15 |
Russell D. “R. D.” Hill |
Arkansas City, Kansas |
Frontenac |
|
|
“The Superior Hispana had a walk away. Hill dropped out first then McIntire dropped out in the fifth lap.” |
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Heat: |
1 |
7-11 |
Ralph Chrysler2 |
Omaha, Nebraska |
Rajo Ford |
3:25.5 |
|
5 cars |
2 |
70 |
Tom Holden |
WaKeeney, Kansas |
Chrysler 70 |
|
|
6 laps |
3 |
571 |
Happy Fox |
Topeka, Kansas |
Front-Wheel-Drive |
|
|
“Holden took led for two laps before Ralph Chrysler went around. On the fifth lap, Holden whipped through and passed the Ford on the north turn, but it was not a success. He skidded to the outside of the track giving the Ford a chance to come back into the lead which it held for the next and final lap.” |
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Third Heat: |
1 |
70 |
Tom Holden |
WaKeeney, Kansas |
Chrysler 70 |
4:32.8 |
|
5 cars |
2 |
571 |
Happy Fox |
Topeka, Kansas |
Front-Wheel-Drive |
|
|
8 laps |
3 |
4 |
Joe Taylor |
Arkansas City, Kansas |
Chevrolet |
|
|
|
4 |
9 |
Bob Maze3 |
Topeka, Kansas |
Scott Special |
|
|
|
5 |
51 |
Jack Burton |
Miami, Oklahoma |
Leech Special |
|
|
“This was a two-race event. Holden took the lead and kept well ahead of the other four who paired away and roared around the oval. Fox and Taylor made one pair and Maze and Burton the other.” |
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fourth Heat: |
1 |
44 |
Ira McIntire |
Arkansas City, Kansas |
Rajo Ford |
3:16.5 |
|
5 cars |
2 |
7-11 |
Ralph Chrysler |
Omaha, Nebraska |
Rajo Ford |
|
|
6 laps |
3 |
15 |
Russell D. “R. D.” Hill |
Arkansas City, Kansas |
Frontenac |
|
|
“Hill was ahead of Chrysler until the home stretch on the last lap when the little Ford jumped over the clods and under the flag a nose ahead.” |
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Australian Pursuit: 1 |
70 |
Tom Holden |
WaKeeney, Kansas |
Chrysler 70 |
1:52.0 |
|
|
4 cars |
2 |
9 |
Bob Maze3 |
Topeka, Kansas |
Scott Special |
|
|
|
3 |
571 |
Happy Fox |
Topeka, Kansas |
Front-Wheel-Drive |
|
|
|
4 |
C-13 |
Leech Fox |
Kansas City, Missouri |
Mayfield Special |
|
|
“This race was short and sweet. Fox was eliminated in the second turn of the first lap by Happy Fox but Happy was obliged to go to the pit when he was passed on the home turn of the first lap by Maze. The race was then between Maze and Holden. On the east side of the track in the beginning of the third lap, Holden gave Maze the dust and the race was over.” |
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Grand Final: |
1 |
44 |
Ira McIntire |
Arkansas City, Kansas |
Rajo Ford |
8:10.0 |
|
9 cars |
2 |
15 |
Russell D. “R. D.” Hill |
Arkansas City, Kansas |
Frontenac |
|
|
15 laps |
3 |
7-11 |
Ralph Chrysler |
Omaha, Nebraska |
Rajo Ford |
|
|
|
4 |
4 |
Joe Taylor |
Arkansas City, Kansas |
Chevrolet |
|
|
|
5 |
70 |
Tom Holden |
WaKeeney, Kansas |
Chrysler 70 |
|
|
“Ira McIntire, driving his fast little Rajo Ford #44, won the last race on Saturday. Close behind was R. D. Hill. McIntire, Hill, and Holden started on the front line. In the first lap, McIntire was first, Holden second, and Hill third. In the second lap, Hill passed Holden. Ralph Chrysler was running in fourth place. No places changed in the thrid lap. In the fourth lap, Chrysler beat Holden out of third place. In the fifth lap, Holden dropped to fifth place giving way to Taylor and the top five held their places for the final ten laps.” |
||||||
The above photo of Tom Holden (left) with his Chrysler 70 was taken at Oakley, Kansas just two weeks after he raced this car at Winfield – Oakes photo from the Carolyn (Felt) Junod collection
1 Wendell Arthur Sparling was born on February 8, 1896 at Chillicothe, Missouri and moved to Winfield, Kansas c1927. He purchased the Superior Garage (606 N. Main St.) shortly thereafter. The car that he raced as the "Superior Special" sported a dual ignition Hisso engine built by Hispano-Suiza. A witness who saw the car in competition, remembers it as being the largest car on the racetrack and very fast. Wendell sold the Superior Garage c1930 and moved to Gladewater before going on to California a few years later. Wendell spent much of his life working as a mechanic and operated a 500-acre dairy in Stanislaus County, California. He died on July 4, 1954 at Ceres, California and is buried at Pomona, California.
2 This was probably Ralph James Chrysler who was born in 1896 at Junction City, Kansas and died in 1963 in Los Angeles, California, although some have speculated that “Ralph Chrysler” may have been a pseudonym used by Speck Heminger of Hastings, Nebraska when he raced in non-AAA sanctioned races.
3 Robert Mervin “Bob” Maze (1906-1978) occasionally claimed Milwaukee, Wisconsin as his hometown to help make it appear a race was drawing participants from far off places but he actually lived in Topeka, Kansas his entire life. He is buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery at Hiawatha, Kansas.
|
A FEW OF THE DRIVERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THESE RACES: |
||||
|
Wendell A. Sparling1896 - 1954 |
|
Tom Holden1906 - 1987 |
|
Robert M. “Bob” Maze1906 - 1978 |
Return to page one of the History of Auto Racing at Winfield website