Volume 6 Issue 2 - March 2010 - ISSN 1559-3592

THE HOMESTEADERnewsletter of the harvey county genealogical society

Races Every Friday 8:00 p.m.JAYHAWK SPEEDWAY

S.E. 14th & Old MainNewton, Kansas

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JayhawkAmusement Park

SpeedwayOriginally planned

to include Newton’s family amusement park when the 1/3 mile dirt speedway was built after World War II,

the grandstands were enlarged when the

name was shortened to Jayhawk Speedway.

The track, located at S.E. 14th and Old

Main, ceased operation in September 1958.

Johnnie Bush originally built this 1932 Ford 2-door sedan as the #39 stock car before

selling it to Joe Collins who retained the #39 and got Bush to stay on as driver.

Joe Collins then sold the car to Charlie Kelso who had

the car repainted as #51, got Bill Nelson to drive it, and

Jay Woodside to be the chief mechanic.

One night in 1954, Nelson had a schedule confl ict so Kelso asked Johnnie

Bush to drive it at Jayhawk Speedway. Bush won the

trophy dash, as shown above, but wound up rolling the car before the night was out. At left is a photograph of Bush

turning the car over that night during the race.

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James Robert (Bob) Cox of Halstead, (above) - beside the 1932 Ford he drove to the Kansas State Stock Car

Championship in 1950. Car # 48 was owned by Harold Dean

of Newton.

A wreck at Jayhawk Speedway in 1955 involving cars # 00

and # 48

Below: Bob Cox # 48 and Jim Roper # 49, both from Halstead,

racing at Cejay Stadium in Wichita (1950). Both cars were owned by Harold Dean. See the biography for Jim Roper on the

following pages.

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Drivers, Owners, & Crew at Jayhawk Speedway - Newton, Kansas – 19481. Ted Kammerer 10. Ralph Lowry 19. Orval Beckel 29. Henry Hay2. Charlie Lutkie 11. Claude Ash 20. Claire Miller 30. Marvin Clary3. Glen Martin 12. Willard Bodkins 21. John Frost 31. John McGee4. Ira Woodward 13. Lyle Baker 22. Harold Dean 32. George Truier5. Ray Whittaker 14. Joe Collins 23. Shorty Jones 33. Bob Wilmore

6. Bill Mears 15. Troy Routh 24. Tom Salmon, Jr. 34. Brian Corrigan7. Bob Mack 16. Hi Mesel 25. George Hibbs 35. Joe Hobbs

8. Kenny Adkins 17. Bob Thorne 26. Ted Davis 36. John Conley9. Will Forrest 18. Earl Mills 27. Bill Bookout 37. Cotton Musick 28. Bill Perkins 38. Ray Watkins

Women were not allowed to compete against men in organized auto racing at all before World War II. The Jayhawk Amusement Park Speedway in Newton, was one of the very few places in the Midwest where women drivers could compete on a regular basis against their male counterparts in the 1940s and 1950s. The women drivers at those racetracks had started out as a novelty with the ladies racing only in special events against just each other, but Jayhawk Amusement Park Speedway race promoter Earl Mills soon recognized the publicity potential of allowing women to compete in their regular races. Photo at right shows Ileen Goodman with her 1937 Ford after winning at Jayhawk Speedway. Ileen was great aunt to Indy 500 drivers Rick and Roger Mears, and a great-great aunt to current NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Casey Mears.

Know Them?Submit theirbiography to honor them!

harveycounty@gmail.com

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Car #81 in the foreground was owned by Earl Mills of Newton, Kansas - Jayhawk Park Speedway, 1948

HARVEY COUNTYGENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

“You’ve Got Family Here”

PO BOX 75 NEWTON KS 67114info@hcgsks.org

www.hcgsks.org

HONORING ALL WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US

The Homesteader is published bi-monthly by the Harvey County (Kansas) Genealogical Society, PO Box 75, Newton, Kansas 67114. To be added to the mailing list, submit materials, or for more information about the content listed in this issue, contact Darren McMannis, Newsletter Editor, at editor@hcgsks.org. HCGS reserves the right to edit submissions and other material for space, content, clarity, grammar, and spelling. This newsletter may be freely photocopied and distributed, in its entirety, as long as it is not reproduced for profi t or other personal gain.

Jayhawk DriversDraw For Position

The races should be as hot as the weather at the Jayhawk Speedway tonight as the drivers draw for a chance to run in the top-paying A feature which usually holds a share of spins and crashes. Track offi cials say the drivers seem to like drawing for a position in the heats.

Two new drivers have shown their stuff in the heats under the draw system. Jerry Everhart and Troy Routh have climbed rapidly in points following recent wins in the heats and fast fi nishes in other races. Harold Leep still clings tenaciously to the top ranking in

points. Children will again be permitted to see the racing free if they are accompanied by an adult.(Friday Aug 17, 1956 p. 3)

Newton Driver SetsJayhawk Track Mark

Harold Portlock, Newton driver, set a new track record and posted the fastest time of the season last night in the time trials at the Jayhawk Race Track. Clocked at 19:31 his fi rst time out, Portlock couldn’t hold on to his luck and fi nished last in car 95 in the “A” Feature.

Things got off to a roaring start with Troy Routh and Richard Bridgeman fi nishing fi rst and

second in the 1st heat. The winning time was 2:32.87, but both cars were contested. Routh’s number 98 proved to be stock but Bridgeman, driving number 11, forfeited.

Harold Leep won the “A” feature, driving number 86, and Shot Hampton in 94, took the “B” Feature.

First place winners in each event: 1st heat: Troy Routh. 2nd heat: Harold Maupin. Trophy Dash: Troy Routh. 1st Semi: Shot Hampton. 2nd Semi: Richard Bridgeman. “B” Feature: Shot Hampton, and “A” Feature: Leep. (Saturday, Sept. 1, 1956 p. 5)

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NASCAR’s connection to Harvey County, Kansas goes all the way back to 1949 and the very fi rst Strictly Stock race winner.

Christian David Roper, who prefered the name “Jim,” was born in Halstead, Kansas on August 13, 1916, son of Christian and Eula Dell (Hunt) Roper. Jim Roper’s name became a part of national history when he won the fi rst ever NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race June 19, 1949 in Charlotte, N.C.

Jim grew up on his grandfather’s horse farm near Halstead. He was dedicated to playing basketball, until his grandfather purchased a Chevrolet-Pontiac dealership and gave a 1930 Chevy to Jim. “I raced that thing seven nights a week, even in the middle of the winter, on a fi gure-eight dirt track - the kind you could pass in the middle both ways. I could get that Chevy up to speeds of 60 to 70 miles an hour,” Jim recalled.

After graduating from Halstead High School and before heading to NASCAR, Roper raced a variety of cars. In 1944 at the age of 27, he purchased a midget race car. The car was homemade, had an open cockpit and was

lightweight yet powerful for its size. Because of World War II when all racing was halted, he was unable to use the car until late 1945. Roper raced throughout the Midwest on the IMCA circuit, driving midgets, stock cars and track roadsters (hot rods).

He started driving in the track roadster division in 1947 for a longtime friend, Earl Mills (promotor for the Jayhawk Speedway) of Newton. Jim won the Beacon Championship at the CeJay Speedway in Wichita in 1947 driving a 1933 Auburn roadster powered by a Ford V-8 fl athead engine. He was a regular racer at the Jayhawk Speedway in Newton.

He was nicknamed Alfalfa Jim after he drove through a wooden fence into an alfalfa fi eld, turned around, and fi nished the race with a car full of alfalfa. Roper earned the nickname “Alfalfa Jim” in his early days of racing midget car racing. During one race at Agricultural Hall in Salina, Roper was spinning out on the track. Roper drove trough a wooden fence into an alfalfa fi eld, turned around and headed back on the track to fi nish the race - with the car full of alfalfa from the fi eld.

The fi rst NASCAR sanctioned race was held in Daytona Beach in 1948, for midget cars only. The Charlotte race in 1949 was the fi rst ever NASCAR race for stock cars. After reading about this upcoming NASCAR Strictly Stock car race for modern sedans in Zack Mosley’s “Smilin’ Jack” comic strip in 1949, he convinced R. B. McIntosh of Halstead to loan him a shiny new 1949 Lincoln for the race.

Alfalfa Jim RoperVery First Winner of NASCAR’s Glamour Series

Was From Halstead, Kansas

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Known then as the Strictly Stock Series, the following year it was changed to the Grand National Series, before leasing its naming rights which changed it to the Winston Cup, Nextel Cup, and the Sprint Cup Series. 198 of the fi rst 221 races were on dirt tracks. In 1949, the race was indeed strictly stock - production street vehicles found on any car lot, with no modifi cations allowed. The seats were normal bench seats, AM radios in tact. To prevent broken glass from getting on the race track, however, the windows were to all be rolled down, outside lights were to be removed or taped over, and wing mirrors were taken off.

The Charlotte Speedway was a 3/4 mile long dirt track. It had been hosting events for modifi ed race cars, had a dirt racing surface that was reportedly bumpy in spots and

diffi cult to negotiate, even in the best of conditions. After about 50 laps, eventual NASCAR Hall of Famer Tim Flock told NASCAR Winston Cup Series magazine all the cars were “running hot. It was really mass confusion.”

“NASCAR was brand new,” Roper told the Kansas City Star in 1998. “It started out well, one of the biggest crowds they ever had.”

Tim Flock later said that the dust was so thick during the race, it was almost impossible to see. Lee Petty, who borrowed a friend’s Buick Roadmaster to race, wound up rolling it on its roof and had to walk home to North Carolina - but took home $25 for fi nishing 17th. Though it seemed all the drivers were having trouble, Roper said told NASCAR Winston Cup Series magazine in 1998, there was no need to grumble.

“Back then you didn’t (complain) about the race track like they do today,” he said. “Back then almost everything was dirt. You’re going to have a hole or two. You can’t race very hard and not have one or two.” On the day of the race, there was an estimated 22,500 in the crowd. Bill France, mindful of the tax man, quickly announced the offi cial attendance as 13,000. However, the speedway was overfl owing and 5,000 people were actually turned away for lack of room.

While Roper, then 31, eventually was declared the winner, the story behind his win is telling.

The fi rst race was 150-miles long. Driver Bob “Fonty” Flock won the pole. With 33 cars in the race, Jim Roper started in 12th position. When the green fl ag fell on the fi eld. Bob Flock led the fi rst fi ve laps in his ‘46 Hudson. Then Bill Blair in the #44, R.B. McIntosh ‘49 Lincoln took the lead on lap 6 and looked to have the winning car early in the race. On lap 38 #7 Bob Flock’s Hudson blew an engine, ending Bob’s day and giving him a 32nd place fi nish in the race. Roper lead laps 151 to 197.

On Lap 105 #38 Lee Petty blew a tire and his Buick fl ipped over, his race was done and Petty fi nished 17th in the race. “Daddy ran about halfway before the right-rear blew and rolled it over. They used a rollback to get it back to Greensboro the next day. I don’t know how they explained the wrecked car to the guy they’d borrowed it from. I’m sure Daddy made it good, but I don’t remember ever hearing about it.” explained Richard Petty.

Seven of out the 33 cars that started the race overheated and that seemed to be an issue in the race. Bill Blair continued to lead the race until lap 150, when his Lincoln would also overheat, sending him to a 12th place fi nish. Glenn Dunnaway in the #25 Ford took over the lead, dominated the rest of the race and won the race - at least he thought he had won the race. Hours later, Chief Inspector Al Crisler disqualifi ed Dunnaway. Rules clearly

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prohibited modifi cations, but owner Hubert Westmoreland had shored up the chassis by spreading the rear springs, a favorite trick of bootleggers looking to improve traction and handling. Glenn Dunaway’s Ford was a former moonshine car.

Jim Roper, who was running in 2nd place (3 laps down in his ‘49 Lincoln Cosmopolitan which at the time was overheating) was declared the offi cial winner. Westmoreland was so incensed that he sued NASCAR. A North Carolina judge threw it out. So Roper was declared the winner, Fonty Flock came in second, future Hall of Famer and Strictly Stock overall champion for 1949 Red Byron in third, Sam Rice in fourth and Tim Flock in fi fth. Other legendary racers who competed that day were Lee Petty, Curtis Turner, Buck Baker, Jack Smith, Bob Flock, Herb Thomas, and Curtis Turner. Sarah Christian fi nished 14th, becoming the fi rst female to start in a NASCAR race.

NASCAR offi cials dismantled Roper’s engine in a post-race inspection. Since the car also was his mode of transportation back home to Kansas, Mecklenburg Motors, a North Carolina car dealership, put a replacement engine in the winning car and Jim returned to the land of wheat fi elds. Jim’s sponsor didn’t have the heart for a sequel, and sold the car to Millard Clothier’s car dealership in Great Bend - a friend of Jim’s who agreed to take over the sponsorship.

Roper raced in one other stock race, Two months after his Charlotte win, Jim Roper and Millard Clothier headed for the Charlotte Speedway in two Lincolns from Clothier’s car dealership to race in the 200-lap event at Occoneechee Speedway at Hillsboro, North Carolina, where he fi nished 15th and won $50. He didn’t participate in NASCAR’s top level again. Despite racing in only two races, he fi nished 16th in the Grand National points for 1949.

After winning the fi rst NASCAR race, Roper continued to compete in other types of races for six years. In 1950, he set a track record on the internationally known track in Belleville known as the Belleville High Banks. And because the record books are closed when car specifi cations change, Roper is the one-lap track record holder in the stock car division at Belleville.

In 1955, Roper suffered a broken vertebrae in a sprint car accident while racing in Davenport, Iowa. He recovered but decided to end his driving career. “It was over for me then,” he said, “so I fl ipped a half-dollar to decide whether to raise horses in Texas or Washington. Texas won.” He later became a professional fl agman at race events, and in 1957 he was the offi cial starter at the Cowley County Racetrack in Winfi eld. He continued to build race cars in which to train other drivers, and eventually became a thoroughbred horse breeder and settled near Kaufman, Texas.

In 1993 during a visit to North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway he was presented a duplicate trophy commemorating his 1949 NASCAR victory because the owner of his winning race car kept the original trophy.

“I was pretty proud of the way I drove,” Roper told the Kansas City Star in 1998 about driving the car again.

He was honored at a NASCAR Winston Cup race at the Texas Motor Speedway in 1998. In 1999, the Atlanta Motor Speedway honored Roper for being the fi rst person to win in the Grand National Division. The 1999 Winston Cup Series NAPA 500 trophy was named in his honor. He

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was also inducted into the High Banks Hall of Fame at Belleville, Kansas, in 1999. He drove one of his original midget cars at the age of 80 at the Belleville track where he holds a record during an exhibition race.

Jim Roper struggled with cancer in his fi nal years, and suffered from heart and liver failure. He moved back to Kansas a few weeks before his death, after requesting Bryson Mills take him back home to spend his fi nal days. He died June 23, 2000 at Friendly Acres Retirement Community in Newton, which is situated on the former site of the Jayhawk Speedway in which he had often raced. He was 83 years old.

Along with his love for racing, he had an affection for others, animals and fi shing, Bryson Mills said. “He was a kind, considerate guy,” he added. “He didn’t believe in getting in a hurry on anything except getting on a racetrack.” Bryson Mills said shortly before Roper died, the racer talked about his life. “He said ‘Boy I’ve had fun’.”

“He liked girls and fast cars,” said Henry Ward of Halstead, a friend of Roper’s for about 50 years. “He liked to joke a lot. He liked to play jokes on people.” “Roper was the most carefree person I’ve ever encountered,” said Bryson Mills, who met Roper when he was 10.

Graveside services were held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 27, 2000 at Halstead Cemetery.

Along with his wife, he was preceded in death by two infant sons in 1944 and 1955, and a brother, Bob Roper in 1999.

Survivors include: three nephews, Jeff Roper of Salina, Donald Haury Jr. of Halsted and Ricky Haury of Wamego; and three nieces, Ruth Alexander, Monica Flask and Kris Mueller, all of Halsted.

Jim Roper’s Headstone at Halstead Cemetery, depicting his midget car race in Oklahoma City, 1946.

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