more 1957 drag racing, Washington State

Another result. And a photo of this Lew Conn and his dragster.

drag racing from Washington State, 1957

From Bowers Field (Kittatas County Airport?) near Ellensburg, WA. Lew Conn seems to have been the hot shot racer in that area at that time.

Goldendale (Maryhill) hill climb

Came across this while looking for something else. One clipping from the Tri City Herald (1959) and the Ellensburg Record (1957).

1955 Shearing Speedway, big cars

There were ads for big car races at Shearing Speedway in 1955 but nothing in the way of results from either Victoria newspaper or the Cowichan paper. Haven't looked at the Nanaimo Free Press for that year yet. Maybe something there.

I like how the ad has the possessive "Shearing's" to name the Speedway.

1953 Shearing Speedway, big cars

A second season that built on the success of the abbreviated first season.


1953


May 16, 1953

--fast time: ??
--helmet dash:
1, Jack Spalding
2, Brownie Brown
3, Vern Bruce

--1st heat:
1, Jack Spalding
2, Dave Cooper
3, Brownie Brown

--2nd heat:
1, Corky Thomas
2, Bill Heller

--15-lap main event:
1, Dave Cooper
2, Jack Spalding
3, Bill Heller
4, Corky Thomas


May 23, 1953

--fast time: ??
--trophy dash: Bob Simpson
--main event: Bob Simpson


May 30, 1953

--fast time: ??

--trophy dash:
1, Ed Kostenuk
2, Dave Cooper
3, Ken Maddill

--1st heat:
1, Ed Kostenuk
2, Dave Cooper
3, Verne Moore

--2nd heat:
1, Dave Cooper
2, Ken Maddill
3, Verne Moore

--15-lap main event:
1, Dave Cooper
2, Ed Kostenuk
3, Verne Moore


June 2, 1953

--fast time: ??

--trophy dash:
1, Jack Spalding
2, Bob Simpson
3, Ed Kostenuk

--1st heat:
1, Jack Spalding
2, Shorty Scovell
3, Ed Kostenuk

--2nd heat:
1, Ed Kostenuk
2, Dave Cooper
3, Shorty Scovell

--main event:
1, Dave Cooper
2, Ed Kostenuk
3, Shorty Scovell


June 6, 1953

--rained out


June 13, 1953

--fast time: ??

--trophy dash:
1, Cliff Spalding
2, Dave Cooper
3, Wilbur Clarke

--no other big car events held this evening


June 20, 1953

--fast time: ??

--trophy dash:
1, Eddie Kostenuk
2, Dave Cooper
3, Bob Simpson

--1st heat:
1, Ed Kostenuk
2, Ken Madill
3, Fred Carson

--2nd heat:
1, Vern Moore
2, Fred Carson
3, Bob Simpson

--10-lap main event:
1, Vern Moore
2, Ken Madill
3, Ed Kostenuk


July 1, 1953

--fast time: ??

--trophy dash:
1, Jack Spalding
2, Fred Carson
3, Bob Simpson

--1st heat:
1, Jack Spalding
2, Dave Cooper
3, Ross Clements

--2nd heat:
1, Corky Thomas
2, Vern Bruce
3, Bob Simpson

--3rd heat:
1, Ed Kostenuk
2, Corky Thomas
3, Vern Moore

--main event:
1, Ed Kostenuk
2, Jack Spalding
3, Bob Simpson


July 11, 1953

--fast time: ??

--trophy dash:
1, Ed Kostenuk
2, Jack Spalding
3, Fred Carson

--1st heat:
1, Jack Spalding
2, Ed Kostenuk
3, Ross Clements

--2nd heat:
1, Bob Simpson
2, Fred Carson
3, Bill Heller

--3rd heat:
1, Ross Clements
2, Bill Heller
3, Vern Bruce

--main event:
1, Jack Spalding
2, Bob Simpson
3, Ross Clements

August 1, 1953

--fast time: ??

--trophy dash:
1, Dave Cooper
2, Ed Kostenuk
3, Fred Carson

--1st heat:
1, Jack Spalding
2, Ed Kostenuk
3, Dave Cooper

--main event:
1, Jack Spalding
2, Ed Kostenuk
3, Brownie Brown


August 15, 1953

--fast time: Jack Spalding, 15.28 (NTR)

--trophy dash:
1, Dave Cooper
2, Jack Spalding
3, Bob Simpson

--1st heat:
1, Dave Cooper
2, Bob Simpson
3, Jack Spalding

--2nd heat:
1, Jack Spalding
2, Bob Simpson
3, Corky Thomas

--3rd heat:
1, Vern Bruce
2, Corky Thomas
3, Bob Simpson

--main event:
1, Dave Cooper
2, Bob Simpson
3, Corky Thomas


August 29, 1953

--fast time: ??

--trophy dash:
1, Dave Cooper
2, Corky Thomas
3, Vern Bruce

--1st heat:
1, Dave Cooper
2, Corky Thomas
3, Fred Carson

--2nd heat:
1, Corky Thomas
2, Vern Moore

--3rd heat:
1, Bob Simpson and Ross Clements, dead heat

--main event:
1, Vern Bruce
2, Corky Thomas
3, Bob Simpson


September 5, 1953

--fast time: ??

--trophy dash:
1, Dave Cooper
2, Ed Kostenuk
3, Corky Thomas

--1st heat:
1, Ed Kostenuk
2, Corky Thomas
3, Dave Cooper

--2nd heat:
1, Corky Thomas
2, Vern Bruce
3, Verne Moore

--3rd heat:
1, Vern Bruce
2, Verne Moore
3, Ross Clements

--main event:
1, Ed Kostenuk
2, Corky Thomas
3, Verne Moore


September 19, 1953

--fast time: ??

--trophy dash:
1, Dave Cooper
2, Ed Kostenuk
3, Bob Simpson

--1st heat:
1, Dave Cooper
2, Bob Simpson
3, Ross Clements

--2nd heat:
1, Corky Thomas
2, Bob Simpson
(only cars left running)

--3rd heat:
1, Ross Clements
2, Corky Thomas
3, Bob Simpson

--main event:
1, Corky Thomas
2, Dave Cooper
3, Bob Simpson


October 12, 1953 championship races

--fast time: ??

--trophy dash:
1, Ed Kostenuk
2, Ross Clements
3, Corky Thomas

--1st heat:
1, Ed Kostenuk
2, Corky Thomas
3, Fred Carson

--2nd heat:
1, Verne Moore and Vern Bruce, dead heat

--50-lap main event:
1, Ed Kostenuk
2, Corky Thomas
3, Verne Moore


1953 summary:

track record: Jack Spalding, 15.28

trophy dash wins: 5, Dave Cooper
4, Ed Kostenuk
3, Jack Spalding
1, Bob Spalding and Cliff Spalding

main event wins: 4, Dave Cooper
3, Ed Kostenuk
2, Jack Spalding
1, Bob Simpson, Verne Moore, Vern Bruce and Corky Thomas

final points standings:

1--Dave Cooper (2) 265 1/2
2--Verne Moore (1) 264 1/2
3--Ed Kostenuk (75) 198
4--Corky Thomas (3) 184 1/2
5--Haslam and Heller (4) 112
6--Vern Bruce (36) 88 1/2
7--Ross Clements (44) 83
8--Fred Carson (42) 60
9--Bob Simpson (0) 34 1/2
10-Bill Mattison (50) 0

Frank Cameron perpetual trophy: Dave Cooper


big car races advertised at Shearing for 1955: no results in the newspapers available.


Shearing main wins (1952-1953)

1--4, Bob Simpson
Dave Cooper
3--3, Ed Kostenuk
4--2, Del Fanning
Jack Spalding
6--1, Pike Green
Bob Gregg
Vern Moore
Vern Bruce
Corky Thomas

1952 Shearing Speedway, big cars

It was a struggle to get a new track on Vancouver Island after Langford Speedway closed. No one wanted a track in the Victoria area. Then the Shearing brothers, up in Cobble Hill, built a track, and for a couple years that was race central on the Island.


1952


August 23, 1952

--fast time: ??
--trophy dash: Bob Simpson
--10-lap main event: Pike Green
(20 laps according to Pike)


August 30, 1952

--fast time: Del Fanning, 16.5
--trophy dash: dead heat between Del Fanning and Bob Simpson
--main event: Del Fanning


September 6, 1952

--no results

September 13, 1952

--fast time: ??
--trophy dash: Dave Cooper
--main event: Del Fanning


September 20, 1952

--fast time: Bob Simpson, 16.29 (NTR)
--trophy dash: Bob Simpson
--main event: Bob Simpson


September 27, 1952

--fast time: Bob Simpson, 15.32 (NTR)
--trophy dash: Bob Simpson
--main event: Bob Simpson

October 4, 1952: championship races

--fast time: ??
--trophy dash: Bob Gregg
--25-lap main event: Bob Gregg


October 12, 1952

--fast time: ??
--trophy dash: Bob Simpson
--main event (?): Bob Simpson


1952 summary

--Bert Sutton Trophy, top points: Bob Simpson

--Frank Cameron Trophy, untiring effort: George Haslam

--Jimmy Laird Trophy, most improved driver: Corky Thomas


big car owner standings:

1--Grant King, Winfield
2--Dave Cooper, Mercury
3--Corky Thomas, Winfield
4--George Haslam, Cragar


big car driver standings:

1--Bob Simpson
2--Dave Cooper
3--Corky Thomas
4--George Haslam


main event wins: 3, Bob Simpson
2, Del Fanning
1, Pike Green and Bob Gregg

I'm just going to cover the big cars at this point. The stock cars of the Vancouver Island Track Roadster Association (VITRA) will have to wait.

Ray Elder, RIP

Southern California NASCAR racer Ray Elder passed away November 24th. He came up and raced at Langley Speedway in the early 1970s as well as Westwood.

Here's a link to his NASCAR stats for what is now called the Sprint Cup series and the K&N Series.
Back in the day they were the Winston and Winston West Series.

And a video that features the #96 of Ray and the #4 of Hershel McGriff on the dirt at Ascot Speedway.