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Bill Mathews with his Frontenac Taken after his first win in a race at Cushing, Oklahoma in 1929 |
Bill Mathews
1908 – 1971
William Max Albert Feja was born on March 10, 1908 at Ft. Smith, Arkansas and changed his name to Bill Mathews at the age of 15. He owned and drove the Frontenac at right in races in the Midwest in the late 1920s and early 1930s but gave up driving himself after being involved in a fatal accident during a race at the old Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City on July 10, 1932.
By the mid-1940s, Mathews had moved to Southern California where drivers such as future Indy “500” winner Rodger Ward drove Mathews’ midgets at racetracks such as Balboa, Culver City, and Gilmore Stadium.
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Rodger Ward at Balboa, CA – 1948 Chief Mechanic – Bill Mathews
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Rodger Ward in a Kurtis built car owned by Bill Mathews - 1949
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Bill Mathews purchased this rail midget from Sam Hanks in 1946 and got D. W. McCauly to drive It for him. |
Rodger Ward in a Lysle Greenman owned car Chief Mechanic - Bill Mathews |
All of the photographs on this page are from the Bill Mathews family collection