JayCee Speedway
Larned, Kansas
Independence Day – Thursday Afternoon – July 4, 1957
Race promoter – Jack Merrick of Dodge City, Kansas
Sanctioned by – Merrick Racing Promotions of Dodge City, Kansas
Sponsored by – Larned Jaycees of Larned, Kansas
President of the Larned Jaycees – Dean Sallee of Larned, Kansas
Speedway general manager – Wilbur Dirks of Larned, Kansas
Public address announcer – Jack Merrick of Dodge City, Kansas
Flagman / starter – Ben Hughes of Dodge City, Kansas
Trophy girl – Jeannette Gleason of Larned, Kansas
Track condition – "dry and very dusty"
Total purse – $400
List of Entries – 15 Cars |
|||||
Car # |
Driver |
Driver From |
Car Owner |
Car Owner From |
|
3 |
Nelson Carlson |
Larned, Kansas |
Wilbur Dirks |
Larned, Kansas |
|
|
6 |
Jim Gibbs |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Guy Salem |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
7 |
Jerry Jinks |
Larned, Kansas |
Jerry Jinks |
Larned, Kansas |
12 |
Ted Kreger |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Elmer "Shorty" Adams |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
|
13 |
Don Bennett |
Larned, Kansas |
Clyde Bennett |
Larned, Kansas |
33 |
Kenney Gillette |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Kenneth "Kenny" Gillette |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
35 |
Fritz Kuntzsch |
Larned, Kansas |
Joe & Harry Vratil |
Larned, Kansas |
|
43 |
Ron Nicholson |
Larned, Kansas |
John Nicholson |
Larned, Kansas |
|
|
46 |
Floyd "Dutch" Davis |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Harold Skelton |
Larned, Kansas |
47 |
Jim Maskus |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Frank Epp |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
|
71 |
Bob Murphy |
Larned, Kansas |
Herman Dirks |
Albert, Kansas |
74 |
Marvin Lowery |
Larned, Kansas |
Tabler, Fischer, Sallee & Constant* |
Larned, Kansas |
|
|
80 |
Stanley Trahern |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Bob Kenneman & Melvin Tuxhorn |
Montezuma, Kansas |
88 |
Jack Culver |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Jack & Jerry Culver |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
97 |
Lyle Lewis |
Dighton, Kansas |
Dale James |
Dighton, Kansas |
Nelson Carlson Toiler & Toiler
|
Stanley Trahern Cokeley collection
|
Lyle Lewis Huddleston & Peoples photo from the Cokeley collection
|
Jack Culver Huddleston & Peoples photo from the Cokeley collection
|
Jim Maskus Huddleston & Peoples photo from the Cokeley collection
|
Ted Kreger Coffman collection
|
Fritz Kuntzsch Tiller & Toiler
|
Ron Nicholson Bill Nicholson collection
|
Don Bennett Cokeley collection
|
Bob Murphy Bob Murphy collection
|
Marvin Lowery Mike Constant collection
|
First Heat Race – 10 Laps |
|||||||
Place |
Car # |
Driver |
From |
Car Owners |
Car Owners From |
|
|
1 |
47 |
Jim Maskus |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Frank Epp |
Dodge City, Kansas |
||
2 |
33 |
Kenney Gillette |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Kenneth "Kenny" Gillette |
Dodge City, Kansas |
||
3 |
46 |
Floyd "Dutch" Davis |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Harold Skelton |
Larned, Kansas |
||
4 |
13 |
Don Bennett |
Larned, Kansas |
Clyde Bennett |
Larned, Kansas |
|
|
5 |
88 |
Jack Culver |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Jack & Jerry Culver |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
|
DNF |
35 |
Fritz Kuntzsch |
Larned, Kansas |
Joe & Harry Vratil |
Larned, Kansas |
||
Kuntzsch lost control of his car near the #2 corner and rolled it several times off of the racetrack. Maskus led every lap of this race. |
|||||||
Second Heat Race – 10 Laps |
|
||||||
Place |
Car # |
Driver |
From |
Car Owner |
Car Owner From |
|
|
1 |
97 |
Lyle Lewis |
Dighton, Kansas |
Dale Janes |
Dighton, Kansas |
|
|
2 |
80 |
Stanley Trahern |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Bob Kenneman & Melvin Tuxhorn |
Montezuma, Kansas |
|
|
3 |
3 |
Nelson Carlson |
Larned, Kansas |
Wilbur Dirks |
Larned, Kansas |
|
|
4 |
71 |
Bob Murphy |
Larned, Kansas |
Herman Dirks |
Albert, Kansas |
|
|
5 |
43 |
Ron Nicholson |
Larned, Kansas |
John Nicholson |
Larned, Kansas |
|
|
Trophy Dash – 5 Laps |
|
|||||
Place |
Car # |
Driver |
From |
Car Owner |
Car Owner From |
Started |
1 |
80 |
Stanley Trahern |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Bob Kenneman & Melvin Tuxhorn |
Montezuma, Kansas |
5 |
2 |
47 |
Jim Maskus |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Frank Epp |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
3 |
97 |
Lyle Lewis |
Dighton, Kansas |
Dale James |
Dighton, Kansas |
|
4 |
3 |
Nelson Carlson |
Larned, Kansas |
Wilbur Dirks |
Larned, Kansas |
|
5 |
13 |
Don Bennett |
Larned, Kansas |
Clyde Bennett |
Larned, Kansas |
|
Trahern won this race by 1/5 lap over Maskus. |
First Semi-Final Race – 8 Laps |
||||||
Place |
Car # |
Driver |
From |
Car Owner |
Car Owner From |
|
1 |
80 |
Stanley Trahern |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Bob Kenneman & Melvin Tuxhorn |
Montezuma, Kansas |
|
2 |
47 |
Jim Maskus |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Frank Epp |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
3 |
12 |
Ted Kreger |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Elmer "Shorty" Adams |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
4 |
71 |
Bob Murphy |
Larned, Kansas |
Herman Dirks |
Albert, Kansas |
|
5 |
74 |
Marvin Lowery |
Larned, Kansas |
Tabler, Fischer, Sallee & Constant* |
Larned, Kansas |
|
Lowery ran in fourth place throughout most of this race but spun out near the #2 corner on the seventh lap loosing that position to Murphy. |
|
|||||
Second Semi-Final Race – 8 Laps |
||||||
Place |
Car # |
Driver |
From |
Car Owner |
Car Owner From |
|
1 |
97 |
Lyle Lewis |
Dighton, Kansas |
Dale James |
Dighton, Kansas |
|
2 |
46 |
Floyd "Dutch" Davis |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Harold Skelton |
Larned, Kansas |
|
3 |
6 |
Jim Gibbs |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Guy Salem |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
4 |
33 |
Kenny Gillette |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Kenneth "Kenny" Gillette |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
5 |
88 |
Jack Culver |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Jack & Jerry Culver |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
B Feature Race – 15 Laps |
||||||
Place |
Car # |
Driver |
From |
Car Owner |
Car Owner From |
Started |
1 |
33 |
Kenny Gillette |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Kenneth "Kenny" Gillette |
Dodge City, Kansas |
3 |
2 |
47 |
Jim Maskus |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Frank Epp |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
3 |
46 |
Floyd "Dutch" Davis |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Harold Skelton |
Larned, Kansas |
|
4 |
88 |
Jack Culver |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Jack & Jerry Culver |
Dodge City, Kansas |
|
5 |
13 |
Don Bennett |
Larned, Kansas |
Clyde Bennett |
Larned, Kansas |
|
6 |
35 |
Fritz Kuntzsch |
Larned, Kansas |
Joe & Harry Vratil |
Larned, Kansas |
|
DNF |
7 |
Jerry Jinks |
Larned, Kansas |
Jerry Jinks |
Larned, Kansas |
|
Gillette's car spun out of control in front of the bleachers on the third lap. In the maley that followed, Kuntzsch's jalopy was struck in the back end by Jink's car severely damaging Jink's mount and eliminating it from the race. The accident caused a complete restart and only Jinks was not able to continue in the event. |
A Feature Race – 20 Laps |
||||||
Place |
Car # |
Driver |
From |
Car Owner |
Car Owner From |
|
1 |
97 |
Lyle Lewis |
Dighton, Kansas |
Dale James |
Dighton, Kansas |
|
2 |
80 |
Stanley Trahern |
Dodge City, Kansas |
Bob Kenneman & Melvin Tuxhorn |
Montezuma, Kansas |
|
3 |
3 |
Nelson Carlson |
Larned, Kansas |
Wilbur Dirks |
Larned, Kansas |
|
4 |
71 |
Bob Murphy |
Larned, Kansas |
Herman Dirks |
Albert, Kansas |
|
5 |
43 |
Ron Nicholson |
Larned, Kansas |
John Nicholson |
Larned, Kansas |
Fritz Kuntzsch gets some help loading the wrecked jalopy onto the trailer at the JayCee Speedway at Larned, Kansas on this afternoon. Left to right are Don Spreier, Fritz, Alan Burger (child), Art Walton pushing just above Alan Burger, and Otis Shuck. This photo shows the left side of the car - Walton collection
Fritz Kuntzsch of Larned standing by the left side of the Vratil brothers owned jalopy sedan that he rolled near the beginning of the first heat on this afternoon - Walton collection
An unidentified woman standing beside the left side of the Vratil brothers owned jalopy that Fritz Kuntzsch rolled during the first heat race on this afternoon - Walton collection
The right side of the Vratil brothers owned sedan jalopy that Fritz Kuntzsch wrecked during the first heat race on this afternoon - Klein collection
* D. Vane Tabler, Rex Fischer, Dean Sallee, and Riley Eugene "Gene" Constant all of Larned.
Return to the Known History of the JayCee Speedway