Barney Oldfield, Winnipeg, 1907

 From July 13, 1907 Winnipeg Tribune.

 

1913 race near Winnipeg, Manitoba

Kirkfield, near Winnipeg, MB, in 1913. Ad and report from the Winnipeg Tribune.

a 1930 IMCA race from Winnipeg

Some new race results from the IMCA. It comes in these days in dribs and drabs but it still is coming in.

A new track, the 3/4 mile Polo Park, I'd not heard of. I will have to chase down the Winnipeg Free Press from that era next trip to the microfilm morgue.

freaky friday

A couple unrelated things:

Just finished Bob Dylan's book, Chronicles, Volume One, and noted a short passage about stock car racing in the Hibbing, MN, area.

From page 233: There was other stuff going on. Dirt track stock car racing on cool summer nights, mostly '49 or '50 Fords, bashed in cars, coffin contraptions, humpbacked cages with roll bars and fire extinguishers -- seats taken out, doors welded shut -- bumpin' and rumblin', slammin' and swivelin' on a half mile track, summersaulting off the rails...tracks littered with junkyard cars.

Reminded me that in Toby Thompson's 1969 book, Positively Main Street, one of the people he tracked down to try to sort out Bob's beginnings was a woman Bob knew during his university days, Ellen Baker. And it's pointed out that Ellen drove stock cars at one point in her life.

"Yes, well, I used to be a professional stock car driver. Nothing international or superglamourous, just races around the state."

"Powder-puff derby affairs?"

"Nope, the real thing. No sex discrimination where the big money is, at least not in these parts. I didn't do too badly, either."

Would love to find Ellen's name in some sort of results from that area or, better still, up north in Winnipeg where the clipping for an IMCA stock car race comes from. The ad and other items mention names like Don White, Ernie Derr and Johnny Beauchamp coming to Brooklands Speedway. The next year Johnny would be oh so close to winning the first Daytona 500. He was part of the photo finish that Lee Petty protested finally to be awarded the win after Johnny had been in the winner's circle after the fall of the checkered flag.

And I've wondered if Dylan (the young Robert Zimmerman) saw the big cars of the IMCA at the local fairgrounds when they came through town.

(You got your Bob Dylan questions, I got mine.)

imca, 1920 part two

Second of what will be three parts to the 1920 Canadian IMCA season. This part finishes out the prairie provinces. Interesting to see a town like Yorkton, SK on the schedule. Wish I had some info on what happened there. As I remember I couldn't find anything in the Regina newspaper.

And why I have nothing from Winnipeg, MB is a mystery right now. Hopefully it'll get sorted soon. But, to this point, we have what we have. And we have:


Saturday, July 17, 1920, Saskatoon, Saskatoon, exhibition, 1/2 mile

--time trials--half mile and mile--Haugdahl, 32 4-5 and 1:05 4-5; (old records 33 1-5 and 1:06 4-5)

--1st event--3 miles--1st, Claypool; 2nd, Lampkin; 3rd, Ted Rick--time, 4:05 3-5

--match race--2 miles--1st, Haugdahl; 2nd, Duray--time, 2:39 1-5

--4th event--pursuit handicap--5 miles--1st, Ted Rick; 2nd, Lampkin; 3rd, LaPlant; 4th, Brainerd--time, 6:54 4-5

--Saskatchewan Sweepstakes--1st, $1000; 2nd, $500; 3rd, $200--1st, Leon Duray; 2nd, Lampkin; 3rd, Claypool; also ran: Rick, Brainerd, LaPlant and Haugdahl--time, 6:00 4-5


Saturday, July 24, 1920, Brandon, Manitoba, exhibition, 1/2 mile

--1st event--1st, Brainerd; 2nd, Claypool; 3rd, Duray

--mile--Haugdahl, 65 seconds

--3rd event--1st, Claypool

--match race--1st, Haugdahl; 2nd, Brainerd

--10 mile race--1st, Haugdahl

--special race--2 miles--1st, Lampkin


Saturday, July 31, 1920, Regina, Saskatchewan, exhibition, 1/2 mile

afternoon:

--1st race--3 miles--1st, $200; 2nd, $100--1st, Brainerd (Briscoe); 2nd, Disbrow (Chevrolet Special); 3rd, Ray Claypool (Paige Special)--time, 4:06 3-5

--time trials--one mile--Haugdahl (Essex), 1:10 2-5

--pursuit handicap--5 miles--1st, Claypool (Paige); 2nd, Lampkin (Essex)--time, 6:46 2-5

--match race--2 miles--1st, Haugdahl (Essex); 2nd, Brainerd (Briscoe)--time, 2:40

--free-for-all--3 miles--1st, Disbrow (Chevrolet Special); 2nd, Claypool (Paige Special); 3rd, Lampkin (Essex)--time, 4:06

--International Sweepstakes--5 miles--1st, Disbrow (Chevrolet Special); 2nd, Haugdahl (Essex); 3rd, LaPlant (Wisconsin Special)--time, 6:51


evening:

--free-for-all--1st heat--2 miles--1st, Disbrow (Chevrolet Special); 2nd, Haugdahl (Essex); 3rd, LaPlant (Wisconsin Special)--time, 2:43

--free-for-all--2nd heat--2 miles--1st, Lampkin (Essex); 2nd, Claypool (Paige Special); 3rd, Brainerd (Briscoe)--time, 2:29

--time trials--half mile and mile--Haugdahl (Essex), 33 1-5 and 1:07 1-5 (new record); Claypool, 35 and 1:10 1-5

--free-for-all--final heat--1st, Lampkin; 2nd, Disbrow--time, 6:35

--consolation race--3 miles--1st, Claypool (Paige Special); 2nd, LaPlant (Wisconsin Special); 3rd, Rick (Stephens)--time, 3:57


Wednesday, August 4, 1920, Winnipeg, Manitoba

unknown


Friday, August 6, 1920, Yorkton, Saskatchewan

unknown

imca 1918, part 3

Will get this year finished and then have to miss a few days. (I'm not very good at planning far -- like a day or three -- into the future.)

I like the closing line about Winnipeg knowing who J. Alex Sloan was. He had ties to the area.

So the finish of 1918:

July 26, 1918, Brandon, Manitoba, exhibition, 1/2 mile

rain delayed


July 31, 1918, Brandon, Manitoba, 1/2 mile

--event #1--3 miles--1st, Bill Endicott; 2nd, Ben Gotoff; 3rd, Verne Soules--time, 4:12 1-4

--event #2--5 miles--1st, Clifford Toft; 2nd, Jules Ellingboe; 3rd, Leon Duray--time, 6:41

--event #3--Australian Pursuit handicap--5 miles--1st, Ben Gotoff; 2nd, Vern Soules; 3rd, Sig Haugdahl--time, 9:31

--one mile time trial--Jules Ellingboe, 1:13

--event #5--2 miles--1st, Bill Endicott--time, 2:42

--event #6--Dominion Sweepstakes--5 miles--1st, Leon Duray; 2nd, Clifford Toft; 3rd, Jules Ellingboe--time, 6:31 1-2


August 2, 1918, Regina, Saskatchewan, exhibtion, 1/2 mile

afternoon events

event #1--3 miles--1st, $200; 2nd, $100--1st, Ben Gotoff; 2nd, Bill Endicott; 3rd, Larry Doyle--time, 4:02

event #2--5 miles--1st, $300; 2nd, $200--1st, George Clark; 2nd, Cliff Toft; 3rd, Leon Duray--time, 6:25 4-5

event #3--Australian Pursuit handicap--5 miles--1st, $200--1st, Verne Soules; 2nd, Sig Haugdahl; 3rd, Ben Gotoff--time, 6:38 2-5

event #4--time trials--half mile and one mile--
Bill Endicott 34 4-5 1:10 4-5
Cliff Toft 35 1:09 4-5
Leon Duray 34 4-5 1:09 4-5
Sig Haugdahl 33 1-2 1:07

--Saskatchewan Sweepstakes--5 miles--1st, $1000; 2nd, $300; 3rd, $200--1st, Bill Endicott; 2nd, George Clark; 3rd, Cliff Toft--time, 6:18


August 2, 1918, Regina, Saskatchewan, exhibition, 1/2 mile

evening events

--2 miles--1st, Bill Endicott; 2nd, Verne Soules; 3rd, Larry Doyle--time, 2:44

--Australian Pursuit handicap--2 1/2 miles--1st, George Clark; 2nd, Larry Doyle--time, 3:03 3-5

--Dominion Sweepstakes--1st, George Clark; 2nd, Ben Gotoff; 3rd, Leon Duray--time, 6:41 4-5

--time trials--Endicott, 33 3-5; Duray, 34; Clark, 34


August 5, 1918, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, 1/2 mile (?)

results unknown, was it actually run?


August 8, 1918, Winnipeg, Manitoba, River Park, 1/2 mile

--1st heat--unknown

--2nd heat--unknown

--3rd heat--1st, Clifford Toft

--last heat (heat winners)--1st, Bill Endicott; (Ellingboe and Toft also ran)

--Australian Pursuit handicap--1st, Bob Cline; 2nd, Bill Endicott--time, 3:39 3-5

--time trials--one lap--Leon Duray, 35 3-5

--note: from Manitoba Free Press: “The genial Alex Sloan, who was in charge of the auto party, is well known in Winnipeg, as he spent some time here several years ago as manager for the Happyland amusement place.”

research further afield (the fields of Winnipeg)

One thing leads to another. And finding an International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) race in Vancouver, BC, at Hastings Park in 1920, as well as wire reports from the prairies, got me looking beyond the Vancouver newspapers to the prairie newspapers. Lots of races from 1915 through to, well, the mid-1920s and later.

It's been said that the IMCA ran racing in North America 364 days a year. The 365th day was the Indianapolis 500, sanctioned by the American Automobile Association (AAA).

I'm going to post yearly reports of these races, hopefully once a week. Just to get started here's an ad from the Winnipeg Tribune for an early pair of 1915 IMCA races. The promoter was J. Alex Sloan, known to the Winnipeg population as a promoter of a fun fair named "Happyland". It doesn't appear that Louis Disbrow did attend but drivers like Eddie Hearne and Tommy Milton went on to be well known in the AAA.

Here's the box score cobbled from the Winnipeg Free Press and Winnipeg Tribune:

Friday, July 9, 1915, Winnipeg, MB, exhibition grounds, 1/2 mile

--time trials--Eddie Hearne, 38

--3 miles--300 cubic inches--1st, Wild Bill Endicott

--novelty race--tire change--1st, Tommy Milton (Zip)

--mile--Eddie Hearne (Jay Eye See), 1:17 2-5; Johnny Raimey (Case Comet), 1:13 4-5 (track record is 1:13 1-5)

--5 mile Australian pursuit--1st, Raimey

--3 mile--free-for-all--final--Eddie Hearne


Saturday, July 10, 1915, Winnipeg, MB, exhibition grounds, 1/2 mile

--postponed, rain


Monday, July 12, 1915, Winnipeg, MB, exhibition grounds, 1/2 mile

--mile--Johnny Raimey--1:13 1-5 (ties track record)

--3 mile match race--1st, “Wild Bill” Endicott (Belgian Scat); 2nd, Kizer (Mercer)--$250 to winner--ten second handicap start for Kizer

--novelty tire change--Eddie Hearne--16 1-5 seconds (3 2-5 slower than world’s record)

--free for all--final heat--1st, Johnny Raimey; 2nd, Eddie Hearne--winner, $300

--free for all handicap--1st, Milton

--other participants: Kizer (Mercer); Le Cocq (Bullet); Endicott (Scat); Milton (Zip); Hearne (Case); Raimey (Case)