Saturday - July 28, 1928

 

 

Winfield Daily Courier
Tuesday, July 17, 1928:

Fast Races To Be Staged At Driving Meet
Auto Races Saturday 

    Saturday will be the day for the automobiles.  Some of the fastest drivers in the country have entered in the event.

   The ad at right appeared on page 3

of the Wednesday, July 18, 1928 issue
of the Winfield Daily Courier.

 The new grandstand, mentioned in the

 ad, was built at a cost of $35,000.

 

Winfield Daily Courier
Friday, July 27, 1928, Page 10:

RACING

    Auto Races will wind up the race meeting Saturday.  Many of the fastest drivers are entered including Bob Maze, Milwaukee, Wisconsin driver, and others from Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas.  Racing fans are promised a big treat.

 

 

 

Winfield Daily Courier
Saturday, July 28, 1928, Front Page:

Winfield Driver Wins
Mack McAnally Is First in First Race at Fairgrounds

            Mack McAnally of Winfield, driving a Superior, finished first in the first automobile race this afternoon at the fairgrounds.  A large crowd saw the races and the track was in good shape.  A total of six races make up today’s auto race program.

  

 

Winfield Daily Courier
Monday, July 30, 1928, Page 8:

Local Driver Is Winner
In Auto Races Saturday
Big Crowd Sees Last of Six-Day Program at Fairgrounds

Six auto racing events on the half-mile dirt track here Saturday afternoon completed six days of the greatest racing meet ever held in the history of Winfield.  There were 14 entries in the auto races.

 

Event

Place

Driver

From

Car

Laps Lead

Time

Time Trials

1

Rea Bray 4

Hutchinson, Kansas

#11 Frontenac

 

33.4

  1 lap

2

James F. Pickens 1

Arkansas City, Kansas

#440 Ford Special

 

34.2

 

3

James E. Snyder

Arkansas City, Kansas

#115 Snyder Special

 

34.4

 

Tie - 4

Mack McAnally 6

Winfield, Kansas

#1434 Superior Special2

 

34.5

 

Tie – 4

Speck Heminger

Hastings, Nebraska

#7-11 Rajo

 

34.5

 

 

Bob Maze 7

Topeka, Kansas

#9 Scott Special

 

 

 

 

Abe Scruggs

Excelsior Springs, Missouri

#2 Nelson Special3

 

 

 

 

A. R. Bobs

Arkansas City, Kansas

#4 Chevrolet

 

 

 

 

Ducky Scott

Topeka, Kansas

#571 Front-Wheel-Drive

 

 

 

 

Dad Harrier

Hiawatha, Kansas

# 5 Frontenac

 

 

 

 

R. F. Dutton

Arkansas City, Kansas

#45 Hutch Special

 

 

 

 

J. B. Naylor

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

#19 Chevrolet

 

 

 

 

Leach Fox

Kansas City, Missouri

#51 Leach Special

 

No Time

 

 

Earl V. Fridley

Mound Valley, Kansas

#11 Fridley Special 

 

No Time

 

 

J. D. “Dusty” Deines 8

Topeka, Kansas

#14 Deines Special

 

No Time

 

 

Al Koepke 8

Topeka, Kansas

#8 Frontenac

 

No Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Heat

1

Mack McAnally 6

Winfield, Kansas

#1434 Superior Special2

2 - 5

2:49.4

  4 cars

2

James F. Pickens 1

Arkansas City, Kansas

#440 Ford Special

 

 

  5 laps

3

James E. Snyder

Arkansas City, Kansas

#115 Snyder Special

 

 

 

4

Rea Bray 4

Hutchinson, Kansas

#11 Frontenac

1

 

     Fastest four cars from time trials.  McAnally won a coin toss with Heminger to see who would start this race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second Heat

1

Mack McAnally 6

Winfield, Kansas

#1434 Superior Special2

6 - 8

4:43.8

  6 cars

2

Bob Maze 7

Topeka, Kansas

#9 Scott Special

 

 

  8 laps

3

A. R. Bobs

Arkansas City, Kansas

#4 Chevrolet

 

 

 

4

Rea Bray 4

Hutchinson, Kansas

#11 Frontenac

1 – 5

 

 

5

Abe Scruggs

Excelsior Springs, Missouri

#2 Nelson Special3

 

 

 

6

James E. Snyder

Arkansas City, Kansas

#115 Snyder Special

 

 

     An accident on the first lap eliminated two cars. At the northeast corner of the oval (turn 3), Jimmie Snyder became lost in McAnally's dust and crashed through the fence.  To avoid a collision, Abe Scruggs followed Snyder out through the gap.  Snyder's car was wrecked but the driver was not injured.  Two heavy boards were driven through the radiator and the steering gear was broken.  Scruggs received a scratch on the hand and his shoulder was bruised.  His car was not hurt.  Only four cars lined up for the restart: Bray, McAnally, Maze, and Bobs.  On the north end of the track, Bray's steering gear locked up turning his car completely around while he was leading the sixth lap of the race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Third Heat

1

James F. Pickens 1

Arkansas City, Kansas

#440 Ford Special

 

4:38.6

  6 cars

2

Rea Bray 4

Hutchinson, Kansas

#11 Frontenac

 

 

  8 laps

3

Ducky Scott

Topeka, Kansas

#571 Front-Wheel-Drive

 

 

 

4

Abe Scruggs

Excelsior Springs, Missouri

#2 Nelson Special3

 

 

 

5

J. B. Naylor

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

#19 Chevrolet

 

 

     Bray finished a close second to Pickens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consolation

1

Dad Harrier

Hiawatha, Kansas

#5 Frontenac

1 - 8

4:46.0

  6 cars

2

R. F. Dutton

Arkansas City, Kansas

#45 Hutch Special

 

 

  8 laps

3

Rea Bray 4

Hutchinson, Kansas

#11 Frontenac

 

 

 

4

J. B. Naylor

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

#19 Chevrolet

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

6

Abe Scruggs

Excelsior Springs, Missouri

#2 Nelson Special3

 

 

      All six starters held their positions in the race as they had started.  Scruggs had motor trouble and lost one lap in the race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Final

1

James F. Pickens 1

Arkansas City, Kansas

#440 Ford Special

1 – 12

8:15.4

12 laps

2

Mack McAnally 6

Winfield, Kansas

#1434 Superior Special2

 

 

 

3

Ducky Scott

Topeka, Kansas

#571 Front-Wheel-Drive

 

 

 

4

R. F. Dutton

Arkansas City, Kansas

#45 Hutch Special

 

 

 

5

Dad Harrier

Hiawatha, Kansas

#5 Frontenac

 

 

 

6

Bob Maze 7

Topeka, Kansas

#9 Scott Special

 

 

     The first three finishers started in those positions and retained them throughout the race.  Maze was one lap behind at the finish.

 

  

Arkansas City Daily Traveler
Monday, July 30, 1928 - Page 8:

A. C. Drivers Are Winners at Winfield

Arkansas City race drivers added another list of victories to their string this summer when they placed more often than anyone else at Winfield Saturday.

Ira McIntire, driving for Joe Hutchinson, won first in the big sweepstakes and also grabbed another first and a second.  Russell Hill took one third and “Blackie” O’Bannon took a third and a fourth. 

 

1 James Floyd "Jim" Pickens (1895-1968) is buried in the Riverview Cemetery on the north edge of Arkansas City, Kansas.  The Ford Special he drove on this day belonged to Joe Hutchinson (1894-1958) who was to become fire chief of Arkansas City, Kansas.


2 Wendell Arthur Sparling, owner of the "Superior Special", was born on February 8, 1896 at Chillicothe, Missouri and moved to Winfield c1927.  He purchased the Superior Garage (606 N. Main St. in Winfield) shortly thereafter.  The car sported a dual ignition Hisso engine built by Hispano-Suiza.  Witnesses who saw it in competition, remember it as being the largest car on the racetrack and very fast.  Sparling sold the Superior Special and moved to Gladewater, Texas c1930.  A few years later, he moved on to California where he worked as a mechanic and operated a 500-acre dairy in Stanislaus Coounty, California.  He died on July 4, 1954 at Ceres, California and is buried at Pomona, California.


3 The “Nelson Special” was owned by August "Gus" Brunke (1890-1968) and powered by one-half of a 719-cubic-inch V-8 Hispano-Suiza (Hisso) engine.  Driver Abe Deering Scruggs (1900-1962) was an employee of A. Brunke & Sons Wrecking Co., Excelsior Springs, Missouri.  They included the races at Winfield on their schedule as the Brunke's had relatives in the Winfield area.


4 Rea Bray was fatally injured during a 500-mile race at Oakland Speedway, Oakland, California in 1941.


5 Forest Shipman "Blackie" O'Bannon (1903-1929) died of typhoid fever and is buried in Riverview Cemetery, Arkansas City, Kansas.


6 Marvin Wesley "Mack" McAnally (1902-1989) went on to become an auto racing promoter before moving to Texas to open a garage.  He passed away in Aurora, Colorado and is buried in the Ft. Logan National Cemetery at Denver, Colorado.

 

7 Robert Mervin “Bob” Maze (1906-1978) was a lifelong resident of Topeka, Kansas although he often listed his hometown as Milwaukee, Wisconsin when entering races so it would appear the race was drawing entries from far off places.

 

8 James D. “Dusty” Deines and Albert “Al” Koepke’s names were published in the official racing program but they were probably no shows.  One source spelled Deines’ surname as “Dienes”.

 

 

SOME OF THE DRIVERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THESE RACES:

Rea Bray

1902 - 1941

Jim Pickens

1895 – 1968

Dad Harrier

1878 - 1938

Ducky Scott

1905 - 1988

Bob Maze

1906 - 1978

 

The Winning Car
Joe Hutchinson is shown at left in his #440 Ford Special that won the Grand Final race at Winfield, Kansas on this date with James F. “Jim” Pickens driving.

 

To see a copy of the racing program that was sold to spectators at this race at Winfield in 1928.

 

 

 

Return to page one of the History of Auto Racing at Winfield website.

 

Phineas Comador Harrier

Duclay Scott