Big Car Races on the
Historic Half-mile Racetrack at the
Kansas State Fairgrounds
Hutchinson, Kansas
Tuesday – July 4, 1933
Promoter – Joseph F. Ziobro of Wichita, Kansas
Verne Ellis Larry Sullivan photo |
Lew Irwin Irwin family collection |
C. J. “Crash” Waller Wood collection |
Time Trials – 1 Lap
Place |
Driver |
From |
Time |
1 |
Lew Irwin* |
Iola, Kansas |
30.5 |
2 |
Verne Ellis** |
Ft. Worth, Texas |
|
First Heat Race - 5 Laps
Place |
Driver |
From |
Time |
1 |
Lew Irwin* |
Iola, Kansas |
2:33.0 |
2 |
Rea Bray |
Hutchinson, Kansas |
|
3 |
Gordon Bracken*** |
Kansas City, Missouri |
|
Second Heat Race - 5 Laps
Place |
Driver |
From |
Time |
1 |
Verne Ellis** |
Ft. Worth, Texas |
2:43.0 |
2 |
C. J. “Crash” Waller*** |
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
|
3 |
E. Gordon |
Los Angeles, California |
|
Consolation Race – 3 Laps
Place |
Driver |
From |
Time |
1 |
M. Seigle |
Wichita, Kansas |
1:05.0 |
2 |
H. Anguish |
Dallas, Texas |
|
3 |
H. VanDiver |
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
|
It is much more likely that this race was run for 2 laps rather than 3 laps as reported in both the Hutchinson Herald and the Hutchinson News on July 5, 1933. For this to have been the correct time for 3 laps, Seigle would have had to have run an average of 21.67 seconds per lap. Such a feat on the state fair racetrack would have been virtually impossible given the tires and other equipment available in 1933.
Handicap Race – 5 Laps
Place |
Driver |
From |
Time |
1 |
Lew Irwin* |
Iola, Kansas |
2:43.0 |
2 |
Rea Bray |
Hutchinson, Kansas |
|
3 |
Verne Ellis** |
Ft. Worth, Texas |
|
Exhibition – 1 Lap
Art Challender, a stunt driver from Dallas, Texas, circled the track once to gain momentum before crashing his car through a high board fence scattering boards everywhere much to the delight of the spectators.
.
Sweepstakes Race – 15 Laps
Place |
Driver |
From |
Time |
1 |
Lew Irwin* |
Iola, Kansas |
8:00.0 |
2 |
Rea Bray |
Hutchinson, Kansas |
|
3 |
L. Goff*** |
Topeka, Kansas |
|
* Louis Julius “Lew” Irwin (1904-1987), driving the Lawhon Special #X3, won every race that he competed in on this day by a comfortable margin.
** Audy Verne Ellis (1899-1934) was fatally injured in a racing accident at Memphis, Tennessee.
*** Gordon Bracken first shows up as G. E. Bracken from Macon, Georgia having won some races at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia in 1924. Later, he raced all over the eastern half of the U.S. under the name of Gordon W. “Gordy” Bracken, Jr. from Bainbridge, Georgia. Gordon was not his real first name. He was dubbed that by a press agent who had once served at Camp Gordon, Georgia. Bracken was known in the sport by several nicknames including “King of the Canebrakes”, “Peck’s Bad Boy of Speed”, and “Three-Fingered Bracken”. Touring with Bracken around the country was another driver named Charlie Jackson “Crash” Waller (1887-1959) from Blakely, Georgia who appears to have gotten his nickname from his days as a firefighter. In 1934, Bracken, Waller, and a driver known as Shirley “Speedy” Goff (the L. Goff above?) were all racing with the American Automobile Association (A.A.A.) back at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta. Bracken is probably the same Gordon Bracken from Barnesville, Georgia who drove NASCAR Grand National stock cars in 1953.
Lew Irwin Irwin family collection |
Rea Bray Don Radbruch collection |
Veren Ellis Charles Pauley collection |
“Crash” Waller National Auto Racing News |
Return to the Feature Race Winners at Hutchinson, Kansas web page