Automobile Races at the Kansas State Fair

Automobile Races

On the Historic Half-mile Racetrack at the

Kansas State Fairgrounds

Hutchinson, Kansas

Friday, September 24, 1926

Total Purse: $1,320

A crowd of fully 10,000 braved blustery north winds and rain to pack the grandstand and remained there until the racing program was at an end.

#4 Charles Lebsack – #1 Leonard Kerbs

Betty (Kerbs) Able collection

Vic Felt

Carolyn (Felt) Junod collection

John Gerber

Roy Eaton collection

L. O. Hughes

Hughes collection

Entry List

Driver	From	Automobile
Charles “Butch” Lebsack	Otis, Kansas	Kerbs Special #4
Leonard E. Kerbs	Otis, Kansas	Kerbs Special #1
Vic Felt	Deer Trail, Colorado	Frontenac
Lawrence O. Hughes	Wichita, Kansas	Hughes Special
John B. Gerber	Meriden, Kansas	Gerber Special
Clyde Gilbert	Longmont, Colorado	Fisher Special
Delbert Ging	Hutchinson, Kansas	Fronty Ford
Fred Lentz	Hutchinson, Kansas	Lentz Special
Joe Hutchinson	Arkansas City, Kansas	Frontenac
James E. White	Sharon Springs, Kansas	White Special (Frontenac)
W. M. “Bill” Bryant	Hutchinson, Kansas	Hudson
Al Koepke	Great Bend, Kansas	Frontenac
Clovis Rankin	Chicago, Illinois	Frontenac
Andrew “Cokey” Fuller	Arkansas City, Kansas	Ford Special
Oscar Anderson	Chicago, Illinois	Miller Special
Roy Rinehart	Arkansas City, Kansas	Laurel Ford
Walter Higley	Longmont, Colorado	Higley Special (Essex)
Keene Saxon	Topeka, Kansas	Frontenac
Jess A. Pettit	Kanapolis, Kansas	Dodge Special
Roy O’Laughlin	Hutchinson, Kansas	Frontenac
O. Albert “Mike” Koenitzer	Meriden, Kansas	O. K. Special

Time Trials – 1 Lap

Place	Driver	From	Automobile	Time
1	Charles Lebsack	Otis, Kansas	Kerbs Special #4	31.0
1	Leonard Kerbs	Otis, Kansas	Kerbs Special #1	31.0
3	Vic Felt	Deer Trail, Colorado	Frontenac	31.5
4	L. O. Hughes	Wichita, Kansas	Hughes Special	31.6
4	John Gerber	Meriden, Kansas	Gerber Special	31.6
6	Clyde Gilbert	Longmont, Colorado	Fisher Special	32.0
7	Delbert Ging	Hutchinson, Kansas	Fronty Ford	32.4
8	Fred Lentz	Hutchinson, Kansas	Lentz Special	33.2
9	Joe Hutchinson	Arkansas City, Kansas	Frontenac	33.6
10	Jim White	Sharon Springs, Kansas	White Special (Frontenac)	34.2
11	Bill Bryant	Hutchinson, Kansas	Hudson	36.0
12	Al Koepke	Great Bend, Kansas	Frontenac	37.6
13	Jess Pettit	Kanapolis, Kansas	Dodge Special	NT
13	James White	Sharon Springs, Kansas	White Special (Frontenac)	NT
13	Clovis Rankin	Chicago, Illinois	Frontenac	NT
13	Mike Koenitzer	Meriden, Kansas	O. K. Special	NT

Class “A” Heat Race – 10 Laps – Purse: $350

Place	Driver	From	Automobile	Time
1	Leonard Kerbs	Otis, Kansas	Kerbs Special #1	5:33.0
2	L. O. Hughes	Wichita, Kansas	Hughes Special
3	John Gerber	Meriden, Kansas	Gerber Special
4	Charles Lebsack	Otis, Kansas	Kerbs Special #4

Hughes finished “a poor second” to Kerbs.

Class “B” Heat Race – 10 Laps – Purse: $320

Place	Driver	From	Automobile	Time
1	Fred Lentz	Hutchinson, Kansas	Lentz Special	5:39.6
2	Joe Hutchinson	Arkansas City, Kansas	Frontenac
3	Al Koepke	Great Bend, Kansas	Frontenac
4	Bill Bryant	Hutchinson, Kansas	Hudson
5	James White	Sharon Springs, Kansas	White Special (Frontenac)	DNF

Lentz started this race from the pole position and easily pulled away for the win. White was forced to drop out on the ninth lap when he crashed into the fence at the north end of the racetrack. He was not injured and no damage was done to either his car or the fence.

Class “C” Heat Race – 10 Laps – Purse: $250

Place	Driver	From	Automobile	Time
1	Charles Lebsack	Otis, Kansas	Kerbs Special #4	5:31.6
2	Al Koepke	Great Bend, Kansas	Frontenac
3	Joe Hutchinson	Arkansas City, Kansas	Frontenac
4	Fred Lentz*	Hutchinson, Kansas	Lentz Special
	Jim White	Sharon Springs, Kansas	White Special (Frontenac)	DNF
	Clovis Rankin	Chicago, Illinois	Frontenac	DNF
	Mike Koenitzer	Meriden, Kansas	O. K. Special	DNF

The race was stopped after one lap had been completed as the machines of White, Rankin, and Koenitzer tangled going into the first (south) turn on the first lap. None of the drivers were injured but the O. K. Special had a wheel smashed off and the machines were disabled. After the race was restarted, Lebsack had an easy time pulling away to finish with a big lead.

Free-For-All – 20 Laps – Purse: $400

Place	Driver	From	Automobile	Time
1	Charles Lebsack	Otis, Kansas	Kerbs Special #4	11:08.5
2	John Gerber	Meriden, Kansas	Gerber Special
3	Vic Felt	Deer Trail, Colorado	Frontenac
4	L. O. Hughes	Wichita, Kansas	Hughes Special
	Al Koepke	Great Bend, Kansas	Frontenac
	Clyde Gilbert	Longmont, Colorado	Fisher Special
	Delbert Ging	Hutchinson, Kansas	Fronty Ford	DNF

Lebsack, Hughes, and Clyde Gilbert were tightly bunched going into the (first) south turn before Lebsack took off with a big burst of speed and sped away to a big lead that he maintained for the rest of the race. Hughes fell into second place at the start with Gilbert in third and Gerber in fourth but running some distance behind the front three. Ging, driving Roy O’Laughlin’s Fronty Ford, dropped out after the second lap with engine trouble. On the fifth lap, Gerber was holding the outside track and gaining speed when the engine in Gilbert’s Fisher Special developed a miss. That allowed Gerber to catch and pass Gilbert for third. Gerber was gaining on Hughes in second place when the Hughes Special threw a tire on the fourteenth lap. That allowed Gerber to slip into the runner-up spot. The right rear tire then came off of Gerber’s car on the sixteenth lap but he still managed to hold onto second place at the finish some 200 yards behind Lebsack. Gerber and Lebsack had lapped all of the other cars by the competition of the race.