INDEPENDENCE DAY July 4, 1955
The photograph above was taken by Gary Virden, of Arkansas City, Kansas and has the following written on the back of it: "Fairgrounds Racetrack Winfield, Kansas 4th July 1955 8 ball - Bud Webster, Winfield, Kansas, driver 25 - Dalton W. Smith, Oxford, Kansas, driver 5 - 83 - Kenneth Jackson, Ponca City, Oklahoma, driver Lyle Baker (right), Wichita, Kansas, flagman" The #5 car in the photo belonged to Max Koons of Wichita, Kansas and was driven on this day by Jerry Everhart of Wichita, Kansas.  The #83 was a Hudson owned by Jack Norris of Ponca City, Oklahoma.  The driver of the #25 car was Dalton William “Bill” Smith. The advertisement at right appeared on page 3 of the Winfield Daily Courier on Friday, July 1, 1955 along with this short article:
The Winfield fairgrounds racetrack will be the location of another thrilling auto racing program the afternoon of July 4 under sponsorship of the Winfield Lions club.  Usual thrills of competitive racing sometimes are augmented with exciting collisions and other unscheduled events such as a wreck involving nine cars last Labor Day.
The #33 Ford coupe was owned by Don Hartman of Arkansas City, KS.  Do you know who was driving any of those cars?  If so, please contact Bob Lawrence at:  sprintguy @ cox.net
Bud Webster of Winfield, Kansas was driving the “8 Ball” Hudson sedan owned by Lawrence Brooks of Arkansas City, Kansas.  Do you know who was driving any of the other cars pictured here? Photos from the Larry Brooks collection
Return to page one of the History of Auto Racing at Winfield website.