Stock Car Races - Labor Day - 1956

LABOR DAY
September 3, 1956

Orval Beckel with the Kenny Neely owned Hudson that he drove to victory in both the first semi-final race and the A feature at Winfield on this day. This car survives and is now owned by Iran Wheeler - Iran Wheeler collection

Winfield Daily Courier
Tuesday, September 4, 1956, Page 1

Large Crowd at Races

The 1956 automobile racing season in Winfield, sponsored by the Lions club, ended Monday with one of the largest crowds and most vehicles entered during the years the races have been held at the local fairgrounds track.

There were 1,143 paid admissions and these, together with children under 14 years of age, all of whom were admitted free, and the racing car owners, drivers, pitmen, and others, the crowd was estimated at well over 2,000.

There were nine races on the program and a total of $625 was paid to drivers who were in the winning money. Two trophies were also presented.

Crashes Into Pole

The only casualty during the afternoon occurred early in the seventh race. Robert Lowell of Anaheim, California driving a car owned by Lawrence Miller, Arkansas City lost control of his machine at the east side of the south end of the track. The car crashed head-on into an electric line pole. Lowell was knocked unconscious but his injuries were reported as not severe. (See Below.)

Tempers of several members of the racing fraternity warmed up soon after the program got under way and there was some excitement in front of the grandstand as a result. There were nine cars from Coffeyville entered. It soon became apparent that the Coffeyville cars had more speed potential. It was explained that under rules in the Coffeyville area, cars were permitted to compete under different motor ratings than ratings for the races in this part of the country.

Ray Clark, Coffeyville, took the trophy dash with ease. It was presented to him by Miss Barbara David, Winfield, for the Lions club. It appeared that drivers and owners in the local area did not care to compete against the Coffeyville crowd. It was quickly decided to run all Coffeyville cars together in an Australian, single-file race. Whenever a car was passed, it automatically was eliminated. Clark also won this race.

Then another trophy race was run for cars in the local area. The trophy, given by Robert McClintock, in behalf of the J. M. McDonald Company, was won by Ralph Lies, Wichita.

Fagan Stinnett announced the races for the Lions club. The starter was Lyle Baker, Wichita. Joe Collins was in charge of getting the racing program lined up and the drivers and owners to participate.

Those who placed in the money were:

	First Heat	From		Second Heat	From
1	Ralph Lies	Wichita, KS	1	Ray Clark⁵	Pittsburg, KS
2	Dick Walker	Arkansas City, KS	2	Joe Seifried	Tulsa, OK
3	Pete Jacobs	Wichita, KS	3	Pete Jacobs	Wichita, KS

	Third Head			First Trophy Dash¹
1	Clifford “Squirt” Bartholomew	Coffeyville, KS	1	Ray Clark⁵	Pittsburg, KS
2	Harold “Happy” Hart⁶	Tulsa, OK
3	John Bush	Wichita, KS
				Second Trophy Dash²
	B Feature²		1	Ralph Lies	Wichita, KS
1	John McGee³	Wichita, KS
2	Bill Killian	Wichita, KS
3	Lloyd Hildreth	Wichita, KS		Australian Pursuit¹
4	Kenneth Huffman	Wichita, KS	1	Ray Clark⁵	Pittsburg, KS
5	Dale Reed⁴	Wichita, KS

	First Semi-Final²			Second Semi-Final²
1	Orval Beckel	Wichita, KS	1	Dale Reed⁴	Wichita, KS
2	Pete Jacobs	Wichita, KS	2	John McGee	Wichita, KS
3	Richard Bridgman	Wichita, KS	3	Bill Curless	Arkansas City, KS
4	Dick Walker	Arkansas City, KS	4	Buddy Quick	Wichita, KS

	B Feature²			A Feature²
1	John McGee³	Wichita, KS	1	Orval Beckel	Wichita, KS
2	Bill Killion	Wichita, KS	2	John Bush	Wichita, KS
3	Lloyd Hildreth	Wichita, KS	3	Bud Webster	Winfield, KS
4	Kenneth Huffman	Wichita, KS	4	Max Naden	Ponca City, OK
5	Dale Reed⁴	Wichita, KS	5	Ralph Lies	Wichita, KS
			6	Wylan Cattrell	Wichita, KS
¹This race was just for cars that usually raced with the Southeast Kansas Racing Club at Coffeyville, Kansas. ²This race was just for cars that usually raced at Wichita, Kansas racetracks. ³John McGee was driving car #5 owned by Harry Prater of Wichita. ⁴Dale Reed was driving car #85 owned by Pete Forshee. ⁵Ray Clark won the second heat race with ease and did so while steering with just one hand as he was hanging onto the drip-rail above the driver's window of his car, with his left hand. Competitors who raced against Ray regularly say that Ray drove that way whether he was winning, or not, but several drovers from the Wichita area, not familiar with this tactic, felt Ray was flaunting the superior power of his engine and confronted him about it. Ray had sensed that trouble might be brewing and had asked Joe Seifried if he would stay close by just in case a fight broke out and he might need some help. Joe thought that interesting as he and Ray had fought with each other at a race at Coffeyville, Kansas just two days earlier. ⁶Harold "Happy" Hart got his nickname when he received severe cuts to his face from crashing a midget racer in 1942. "Happy was reportedly laughing when they pulled him from the car.

Ralph Lies of Wichita, Kansas won the second trophy dash on this date in the Bob Martin owned #1 Ford.

ABOVE: 36 year-old Robert Lowell of Anaheim, California is lifted unconscious from Lawrence Miller's stock car as Lowell’s wife (foreground) looks on. Lowell, one of 17 starters in the first semi-final race, crashed into an electric pole early in the race. It was the first, and only, time he drove the car. Click your mouse on the photo for a different view of the rescue from the Larry Brooks collection. Lawrence Brooks is at left on top of the car in that photo - Winfield Daily Courier photo
BELOW: Surveying the damage to Lawrence Miller's car after the crowd had dispersed – Gary Virden collection