Where Did They Go From Winfield?
Interesting Facts about Some Who Have Raced on the Historic Half-Mile Dirt Racetrack at the Cowley County Fairgrounds in Winfield, Kansas
The half-mile racetrack at the Winfield fairgrounds certainly has its place in motor racing history as several men raced on the Cowley County Fairgrounds racetrack as a stepping-stone on their paths to stellar careers in many forms of motor racing. Of those known to have participated in races at Winfield, and there probably were others:
Seven were listed in Who’s Who in Automobile Racing – The Blue Book of Speed published by the Racing Publication Association of America, Chicago, Illinois in 1936:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
|
1 |
Sig Haugdahl |
|
1915 |
|
2 |
George Barringer |
|
1931 |
|
3 |
Posey Reeves |
|
1931, 1933 |
|
4 |
Cotton Grable |
|
1931, 1934-1935 |
|
5 |
Oscar Coleman |
|
1934 |
|
6 |
William “Bill” Morris 2 |
|
1934 |
|
7 |
Loren Fondoble |
|
1935 |
Six have gone on to race in the Indianapolis “500” a total of 17 times:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Indy “500” |
|
1 |
W. W. Brown |
|
1912-1913 |
|
1919 |
|
2 |
Arthur Thurman |
|
1915 |
|
1919 |
|
3 |
George Barringer |
|
1931 |
|
1934, 1936, 1939-1941, 1946 |
|
4 |
Lou Durant |
|
1934 |
|
1946 |
|
5 |
Joie Chitwood |
|
1934-1935 |
|
1940-1941, 1946-1950 |
|
6 |
A. J. Shepherd |
|
1956 |
|
1961 |
Twelve have been inducted into the High Banks Hall of Fame at Belleville, Kansas:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
W. W. Brown |
|
1912-1913 |
|
2004 |
|
2 |
John Gerber |
|
1927 |
|
2004 |
|
3 |
Leonard Kerbs |
|
1927-1928 |
|
2001 |
|
4 |
Joie Chitwood |
|
1934-1935 |
|
2004 |
|
5 |
Pat Cunningham |
|
1935 |
|
2000 |
|
6 |
Frank Lies |
|
1950–1956 |
|
2006 |
|
7 |
Red Forshee |
|
1953-1956 |
|
1999 |
|
8 |
Harold Leep |
|
1953-1954, 1956, 1958 |
|
2002 |
|
8 |
Jay Woodside |
|
1956 |
|
2000 |
|
10 |
Roy Bryant |
|
1956 |
|
2001 |
|
11 |
Dale Reed |
|
1956-1957 |
|
2003 |
|
12 |
Jim Roper 3 |
|
1957 |
|
1999 |
Seven have been inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
Sig Haugdahl |
|
1915 |
|
1994 |
|
2 |
John Gerber |
|
1927 |
|
1992 |
|
3 |
Tom Holden |
|
1928-1929 |
|
1998 |
|
4 |
Joie Chitwood |
|
1934-1935 |
|
1993 |
|
5 |
Harold Leep |
|
1953-1954, 1956, 1958 |
|
2000 |
|
6 |
Jay Woodside |
|
1956 |
|
2003 |
|
7 |
Jack Miller 3 |
|
1972 |
|
2001 |
One has been inducted into the Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
Jay Woodside |
|
1956 |
|
1985 |
One has been inducted into the Central Auto Racing Booster Club Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Missouri:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
Jay Woodside |
|
1956 |
|
2005 |
Twenty-six6 have received the “81” Speedway Lifetime VIP Award in Park City, Kansas:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
Emmett Carpenter |
|
1934 |
|
2001 |
|
2 |
Frank Lies |
|
1950-1956 |
|
2000 |
|
3 |
Orval Beckel |
|
1951-1958 |
|
2002 |
|
4 |
Harold Leep |
|
1953-1954, 1956, 1958 |
|
2000 |
|
5 |
Forrest Coleman |
|
1953-1958 |
|
2000 |
|
6 |
Ed Schauf |
|
1954 |
|
2002 |
|
7 |
Larry Hall |
|
1954 |
|
2004 |
|
8 |
Dale Reed |
|
1956-1957 |
|
2000 |
|
9 |
M. B. Smith 5 |
|
1955, 1967-1968, 1970-1971 |
|
2002 |
|
10 |
Roy Bryant |
|
1956 |
|
2000 |
|
11 |
Jerry Everhart |
|
1955-1956 |
|
2005 |
|
12 |
Jay Woodside |
|
1956 |
|
2000 |
|
13 |
A. J. Shepherd |
|
1956 |
|
2005 |
|
14 |
Bud Haehn |
|
1967-1968, 1970-1971 |
|
2000 |
|
15 |
John Hebb 4 |
|
1967-1968, 1970 |
|
2001 |
|
16 |
Mel Montgomery |
|
1967-1968, 1970 |
|
2001 |
|
17 |
Al Alexander 3 |
|
1967-1968, 1970-1971 |
|
2002 |
|
18 |
Gary Moore |
|
1967-1968, 1970-1971 |
|
2001 |
|
19 |
Pinky Mullens |
|
1967-1968, 1970-1971 |
|
2000 |
|
20 |
Jack Petty |
|
1967-1968, 1970-1971 |
|
2000 |
|
21 |
Ernest Ramey |
|
1967-1968, 1970-1971 |
|
2000 |
|
22 |
Charlie Laing 4 |
|
1967 |
|
2001 |
|
23 |
Arkie Findley |
|
1968, 1970 |
|
2003 |
|
24 |
John Rush 4 |
|
1968, 1970 |
|
2003 |
|
25 |
Steve Kammerer |
|
1968 |
|
2002 |
|
26 |
Harry Nickel 3 |
|
1970-1971 |
|
2002 |
Three have been inducted into the Wichita Sports Hall of Fame in Wichita, Kansas:
|
|
Name |
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
Charlie Lutkie |
1950-1951, 1953-1954, 1956-1958, 1967-1968, 1970 |
2006 |
|
2 |
Harold Leep |
1953-1954, 1956, 1958 |
2007 |
|
3 |
Jay Woodside |
1956 |
2005 |
Two raced in NASCAR’s Grand National Division that is now known as Nextel Cup:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Raced With NASCAR |
|
1 |
Jim Roper 3 |
|
1957 |
|
1949 |
|
2 |
Frank Lies |
|
1950-1956 |
|
1958 |
Two broke World Land Speed Records for automobiles:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield KS 1 |
|
Broke World Record |
|
1 |
Sig Haugdahl |
|
1915 |
|
1922 |
|
2 |
George Barringer |
|
1931 |
|
1940 |
One constructed and drove the first man-driven rocket powered automobile:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Drove Rocket Car |
|
1 |
Sig Haugdahl |
|
1915 |
|
1932 |
Eight motorcycle riders who competed at Winfield, Kansas have been inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington , Ohio:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
Wells Bennett |
|
1912 |
|
2000 |
|
2 |
Ray Weishaar |
|
1913, 1915 |
|
1998 |
|
3 |
Gary Nixon |
|
1960, 1962 |
|
1998 |
|
4 |
Fred Nix |
|
1963-1967 |
|
1999 |
|
5 |
Everett Brashear |
|
1964 |
|
1998 |
|
6 |
Roger Reiman |
|
1965-1966 |
|
1998 |
|
7 |
Neil Keen |
|
1967, 1970-1972 |
|
2000 |
|
8 |
Cal Rayburn |
|
1970 |
|
1999 |
One “Expert” class motorcycle rider who won a feature race at Winfield, Kansas has been inducted into the National Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame at Anamosa, Iowa:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
Gary Nixon |
|
1960, 1962 |
|
1996 |
One “Expert” class motorcycle rider who won a feature race at Winfield, Kansas has been inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America at Novi, Michigan:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
Gary Nixon |
|
1960, 1962 |
|
2003 |
Two “Expert” class motorcycle riders who competed at Winfield, Kansas have been inducted into the Trail Blazers Hall of Fame in Los Angeles, California:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
Everett Brashear |
|
1964 |
|
2005 |
|
2 |
Neil Keen |
|
1967, 1970-1972 |
|
|
One “Novice” class motorcycle rider who competed at Winfield, Kansas has been inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America at Novi, Michigan although in the drag racing category:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
Eddie Hill |
|
1971 |
|
2002 |
One “Novice” class motorcycle rider who competed at Winfield, Kansas has been inducted into the National Hot Rod Association Hall of Fame:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
Eddie Hill |
|
1971 |
|
1978 |
One “Novice” class motorcycle rider who competed at Winfield, Kansas has been inducted into the Drag Racing International Hall of Fame in Ocala, Florida:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
Eddie Hill |
|
1971 |
|
2000 |
One “Expert” class motorcycle rider who won a feature race at Winfield, Kansas has been inducted into the Dirt Track Hall of Fame at Springfield, Illinois:
|
|
Name |
|
Raced at Winfield, KS 1 |
|
Year Inducted |
|
1 |
Gary Nixon |
|
1960, 1962 |
|
|
1 Participated in the races at Winfield, Kansas in these years and may have done so in other years as well.
2 William “Bill” Morris was a pseudonym used by Ben Musick.
3 Participated at Winfield as a race official.
4 Participated at Winfield as a car owner.
5 M. B. Smith participated at Winfield as a car owner in 1955 and as a race official 1967-1968, 1970-1971.
6 Charles Lee, a 27th recipient of this award, drove a wrecker at Winfield in 1967 but was not actually participant in the races.