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MEMORIAL
DAY |
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The advertisement
above and the story below both appeared in the Monday, May 28, 1951 issue of
the
Winfield Daily Courier
Prepare Racing Program
Full
Afternoon's Schedule at Fairgrounds
Here on Memorial Day
Nine events, starting off with 8-lap heat races and winding up with the 20-lap, 10-mile biggest race on the program, are scheduled for the big Memorial Day stock car racing program at the Winfield fairgrounds. Sponsored by the Winfield Lions club, the races are scheduled to get under way at 2 p.m. and will provide a full afternoon of exciting entertainment. The rules, regulations, money distribution, and most of the racing cars will be the same as regularly prevail on racing programs at the Cejay stadium at Wichita. According to latest reports, some 25 to 30 racing cars are expected to compete here. Winfield's entry will be Joe Collins driving a V-8 motored car that has been turning up 90 to 100 miles an hour on tests. During the past week, the city has been grading and shaping up the half-mile track at the fairgrounds and, from all indications, should be in good shape for the Memorial Day event. There will be a general admission price which admits to the grandstand. All persons will be urged to seat themselves in the grandstand during the races to avoid taking any undue risk which could develop from the dare-devil driving on the track.
OUTLINE PROGRAM
The racing program as outlined Monday includes three heat races of eight laps each followed by the three-lap trophy dash. The fifth race listed is the 15-lap main "B" event open to non-money winning cars of the heat races. Then comes the first semi-final of 10 laps open to money winning cars of the heat races followed by the second semi-final race of 10 laps open to all cars not participating in the first semi-final. Race number eight is a novelty race. Cars to be used and the event to be run is reserved to the discretion of the management. The concluding event listed is the 20-lap main "A" event, open to heat race winners in order as in the semi, plus "B" winners in order. Racing fans who were privileged to see stock cars in action at the county fair last year, and who regularly attend the racing programs at Wichita, will see the same type of highly competitive, fast moving entertainment at the local fairgrounds Wednesday afternoon this week. If local fans show by their attendance that they are sufficiently interested in this type of a sporting event at the local track, efforts will be made to schedule additional racing programs this season the sponsors state.
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A CONTENDER AND ONE OF THE LIKELY winners in the Memorial Day stock car races at the Winfield fairgrounds will be "No. 4" driven by Joe Collins, center. It is a V-8 Ford and it really gets up and goes. Also interested in seeing that the Winfield entry is in tip-top shape are Willard Bodkins, right, and Dudley Boots, left. |
The above publicity photo with the caption at left and a 28-square inch version of the advertisement at upper left were all published on page 5 of the Tuesday, May 29, 1951 issue of the Winfield Daily Courier. The picture was taken in front of the grandstand on the Winfield racetrack and the car was yellow over blue in color. Click your mouse on the picture above to see a different photograph of this car taken about the same time. In that photo are, left to right, Willard Bodkins, Bill Collins, Joe Collins, and Dudley Boots. |
From the front page of
the Winfield Daily Courier,
May 31, 1951:
Many
Attend Races Here
Lions
Club Members Sponsor Memorial Day Event at Fairgrounds
Stock cars racing returned to Winfield Wednesday afternoon for the first time since the Cowley County fair last fall as a large crowd was treated to three full hours of entertainment despite sweltering 90-degree temperatures.
Sponsored by the Winfield Lions club, the eight-event program featured a number of near spills, none serious, with 20 cars taking part in the time trials. A repeat performance on July 4 at the fairgrounds was hinted during the program.
HAS
BEST TIME
J. D. Cox, who failed to win any of the regularly-scheduled races, turned in the best qualifying time on the half-mile track with a mark of 33.10 seconds in his V-8 Ford marked "98". Cox' next best showing was in the third heat event in which the Wichita driver finished second behind Bill Mears, also of Wichita. Mears toured the distance of 2.5 miles in 3:00.51.
Ira Woodward copped the big event - the Class A feature - which covers five miles or 10 laps on the fairgrounds track. His number "3" car edged into the lead at the 1.5-mile mark and stayed there the rest of the way.
Something that could not be accomplished in the time trials was done in the second semi-final event in which Will Forrest was clocked in three minutes flat for three miles - an average of 60 m.p.h. and believed to be one of the best marks ever hung up on a dirt track for stock cars.
As an added attraction, a pair of spanking new automobiles - an Oldsmobile 88 and a Henry J - were pitted against one another in a novelty race, beginning from a dead start. The "Olds", driven by Dudley Boots of Winfield, out sped the Henry J, with Willard Bodkins, Winfield, at the wheel. That race was performed only on the straightaway in front of the grandstand.
DRIVER SCALDED
Ray Whittaker, Wichita, was the sole mishap victim, receiving a slight scalding during the Class B feature, but following treatment, he returned to take part in later events.
The Lions club took particular pains to avoid accident to spectators and to their vehicles which were parked in specially-designated areas well beyond the racetrack itself.
Total Entries - 20 - A fair turnout considering a competing event
was held at the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, KS on this same
afternoon.
Race Results - Due to a lack of entries, each race was shortened from its advertised length.
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. |
Top
5 Qualifiers |
Time |
1. 2. |
Trophy Dash John
Hale |
1. 2. 3. 4.
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First
Heat -
5 laps |
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. |
Second
Heat - 5
laps |
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1. 2. 3. 4. |
Third
Heat - 5
laps |
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. |
First
Semi-Final - 7
laps |
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. |
Second
Semi-Final - 6
laps |
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1. 2. 3. 4. 4. 6. |
Class
B Feature - 8
laps |
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1. 2. 3. 4. 4. 6. |
Class
A Feature - 10
laps |
Ira "Red" Woodward, of Wichita, KS, was driving a 1934 Ford, 2-door sedan with a 239 cu. in. Ford flathead V-8 engine. The car was built and owned by boyhood friend, Glen H. Martin. The Winfield racetrack was very dusty that day and, as Red only had one eye, the dust bothered him more than most drivers. He debated even starting the Class A Feature race that day but decided to do so and see how bad the dust got. Red received $45 for first place in the Class A Feature race and set a new 10-lap track record in the process.
Will Forrest, driving a 1934 Ford owned by
Al Williams of Wichita, and sponsored by Scientific Motors, of Wichita,
finished about six car lengths back.
Red Woodward said the track had a lot of loose dirt on it that day, making it
very slippery. "You just had to be careful. That's how I got
the lead. A bunch of cars wrecked in front of me on the north turn but I
got through".
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Trophy
Presentation |
Sponsor, Rolla Castor, left; and car owner, Glen Martin, right; pose with Ira Woodward of Wichita, KS in the 1934 Ford, 2-door sedan that Woodard won the A feature race at Winfield with on Memorial Day, 1951. Woodard later destroyed this car in a crash at Cejay Stadium, Wichita, Kansas. To see a photo of that wreck, click your mouse on the photo above. - Both photos from the Glen Martin collection
BELOW:
SOME OF THE DRIVERS WHO PARTICIPATE IN THE RACES AT
WINFIELD, KANSAS, ON MEMORIAL DAY, 1951
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Bill Mears |
Will Forrest |
Ira “Red” Woodward |
Carl Simpson |
Orval Becker |
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J. D. Cox |
Buddy Quick |
Joe Collins |
Gene DeWald |
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