Bo Stearns' Track

Bo Stearns’ Track

Kansas pioneer oilman and sportsman Gerson Albert “Bo” Stearns paid $45,000 for a 320-acre tract of land on the northwest corner of 101^st Street and North Lawrence Highway (now U.S. Highway 81) north of Wichita, Kansas in the summer of 1928. There, he built a horse ranch that included a half-mile flat dirt oval racetrack, it being one of the first racetracks in the nation to be equipped with floodlights for night racing. The facility, complete with a 6,000-seat grandstand, was host to harness, automobile, and motorcycle racing events. Organizers of the auto races included Joe Ziobro, J. Alex Sloan, William Floto, Aut Swenson, W. W. Bowen, Don C. Onley, Eddie Cluxton, Joe Bennett, and Tom Holden.

Following are the known auto races that were run at Bo Stearns’ Track:

Race Date	Feature Winner	Hometown	Car Owner	Hometown	Car	Promoter
July 24, 1930	Lawrence Hughes	Beatrice, NE	Lawrence Hughes	Beatrice, NE	Chrysler 75 roadster	W. W. Bowen
July 25, 1930	Lawrence Hughes	Beatrice, NE	Lawrence Hughes	Beatrice, NE	Model A Ford roadster	W. W. Bowen
July 26, 1930	Matt Ward	Duncan, OK	Matt Ward	Duncan, OK	Model A Ford roadster	W. W. Bowen
June 19, 1932	Postponed one week due to rain					J. Alex Sloan
June 26, 1932	Postponed five weeks due to rain					J. Alex Sloan
August 7, 1932	Pat Cunningham	St. Joseph, MO	Leonard Kerbs	Otis, KS	Kerbs Spl. Frontenac	William Floto
August 13, 1933	Pat Cunningham	St. Joseph, MO	Leonard Kerbs	Otis, KS	Kerbs Spl. Frontenac	Joe Ziobro
________ 1938
August 27, 1939						Eddie Cluxton

The half-mile racetrack was used for auto racing from 1930 until around 1939 although a one-fifth mile flat dirt oval racetrack was constructed on the infield early in 1938. This shorter racetrack was primarily used for midget auto racing:

Race Date	Feature Winner	Hometown	Car Owner	Hometown	Car	Promoter
April 17, 1938	Roy Sherman	St. Louis, MO	Vic Felt	Deer Trail, CO	Hal midget	Tom Holden
April 24, 1938	Jimmie Bussard	Denver, CO	Julius Bussard	Denver, CO	Hudson midget	Tom Holden
August 6, 1939	Rex Woodward	Hutchinson, KS				Joe Bennett

Gerson Albert “Bo” Stearns

1881-1942

Midget racing on the shorter racetrack ceased after the 1939 season and Stearns moved his oil business and family home to Russell, Kansas that same year. Although he kept the horse ranch and racetrack for a time, he was not able to spend much time there after the move.

A tornado struck the facility on the night of June 25, 1939 killing two and injuring twelve. Included in the $100,000 in damage were the track lighting system and the surrounding horse barns. The grandstand survived only to be destroyed by another storm later that same year.

Stearns sold the ranch and racetrack to Mr. and Mrs. O. B. Wicker of Chanute, Kansas on May 15, 1941 and passed away at Hutchinson, Kansas the following year. The Wickers closed the racetrack to public events and only used it for their racehorses.

The Stearns Ranch has had a number of owners since the Wickers and is now owned by Bob and Ann Haley. The racetrack has fallen into disrepair but is still quite visible today.

The photographs above and below were taken at a 100-mile race for track roadsters run at the Bo Stearns’ Track in the late 1930s. These photos were taken on the same afternoon and the roadster visible in both photos is a Model-A Ford but nothing more is known about these photographs. If you know anything more about them or about the motor races held at Bo Stearns’ Track, please contact Bob Lawrence – Photos from the Swart family collection

To View an Incomplete List of Track Records for the Half-mile Bo Stearns’ Track

Gerson Stearns

Gerson A. Stearns