John Russell “Johnnie” Bush, Jr.

1931 - 2016

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.  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 about 1954, Nelson had a schedule conflict so Kelso asked Bush to drive it at Jayhawk Speedway at Newton, Kansas.  Bush won the trophy dash, as shown above but wound up rolling the car before the night was out.  Click your mouse on the picture above to see a photograph of Bush turning the car over that night.

Johnnie Bush collection