The history of auto racing in Haskell Texas

 

The history of auto racing in Haskell Texas

In the nineteen twenties, cotton farming was the major industry in the central Texas county of Haskell, named in honor of the Texas Revolution hero Charles Ready Haskell who died at the Alamo.       

Haskell County held fairs intermittently at various locations within the county, but that all changed in 1924. On May 22 1924, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram published news from the city of Haskell, the county seat, that on that very morning, 25 men began construction of permanent buildings and a race track with a 4000-seat grandstand on 68 acres near the city’s business district recently purchased by the Haskell County Fair Association.

The finished 5/8-mile oval dirt race track featured 6-to-1 sloped turns (9.5% banking) “to hold the swiftly moving cars safe on their course,” according to an August 1924 article in the Fort Worth Record-Telegram.

The Haskell County Fair opened its three-day run at the new location on Thursday October 2 1924, with American Automobile Association (AAA) sanctioned automobile races set for Friday.  Before the scheduled event at Haskell, the AAA racers appeared in Abilene Texas on September 26^th, Amarillo on September 27^th and Wichita Falls on September 29^th.  The Fort Worth Record-Telegram newspaper listed drivers Phil “Red” Schafer “well-known auto ace,” and Dick Calhoun from Cleveland Oklahoma as entries for the Texas swing promoted by oil transport magnate D. H. Jeffries, the AAA area representative.  

Three accidents marred the September 26^th West Texas Fair race at Abilene, one of which killed a spectator. During the day’s fourth race, a wheel came off Lee Bammel’s machine, “hopped over the fence,” as described in the Fort Worth Record-Telegram report and struck farmer T. W. “Tom” Carlisle who stood on the running board of his father-in-law’s car watching the races.  Carlisle, 28 years old and married with three children, died later at the West Texas Baptist Sanitarium in Abilene from a fractured skull. 

“Red” Shafer, the July Abilene race winner, won the first 10-mile race in his Duesenberg after early leader Dick Calhoun’s ‘Cresswell Special’ broke a connecting rod and retired for the day.  Shafer, a native of Des Moines who lived in Fort Worth, won the day’s featured event, the fifteen-mile handicap race over Harry Milburn. Shafer took the lead during the eleventh mile after he overcame the one-minute starting handicap.   

Before the races on October 3, officials treated the new Haskell track surface with a reported 360 barrels of crude oil (over 15,000 gallons) to prevent dust. The afternoon program, attended by 5,000 fans, boasted seven races and a total purse of $1,100 but a sparse field of cars  Notably absent was the highly advertised “Red” Shafer and his Duesenberg racer as he raced that day in the inaugural AAA “Raisin Day Classic“ National Championship race on the 1-mile board track in Fresno California.  

Calhoun’s troubles continued at Haskell, as his car caught fire during a practice run before time trials, but with the fire extinguished and repairs effected, the ‘Cresswell Special’ set quick time as Calhoun completed two laps in 77 seconds (58 miles per hour) and won the silver loving cup.  

J. E. Larrick of Wichita Falls won the first five-mile race for the eight fastest qualifiers, then Calhoun won the ten-mile race. During the non-qualifiers race, the right rear wheel of H.V. Link’s machine collapsed and he “came perilously near to ending in a junk heap,” according to the Fort Worth Record-Telegram report.  In the day’s featured fifteen-mile handicap race, Calhoun edged Jimmie Reeder’s Chrysler Special and German emigre Johnny Mais in his “16-valve” Dodge. For his day’s work at Haskell, Calhoun won $375.

1925

Nearly a year passed before the AAA racers returned to Haskell County. On September 25, 1925 D. H. Jeffries announced that “Red” Shafer, Ralph DePalma, Frank Lockhart and Dick Calhoun were among the twenty-five drivers entered the October 2nd races.  Shafer and Calhoun were well-known to Texas race fans, as well as DePalma, the 1915 Indianapolis 500-mile race winner, while young Frank Lockhart, a relative unknown, had experienced some success behind the wheel of Harry Miller’s 183-cubic inch dirt car.

The Haskell County Fair opened its three-day run on Thursday October 1, with the races held on Friday afternoon. Among the honored guests at the races were R.Q, Lee of the West Texas Chamber of Commerce accompanied by his wife and Hardy Grissom the president of the Haskell County Fair Association.

In time trials, five drivers broke Calhoun’s year-old track record of 77 seconds, led by John Gerber (misidentified as “Goerber” and “Garber” by some sources). Gerber completed his two qualifying laps in 72 seconds with an average speed of 62 miles per hour (MPH) while Calhoun could not defend his record as his car experienced engine trouble. 

Gerber, the original ‘outlaw’ racer from Meriden Kansas, won the day’s first 10-mile race for the eight fastest qualifiers in his Chevrolet-powered “bobtail” over Shafer, then George Souders won the second race and Harry Milburn won the day’s third race, each of which were 5 miles in length. W. R Hayes won the day’s third five-mile race, then he captured the day’s featured 15-mile event and its $250 purse. J.E. Larrick finished second and George Souders (misidentified as “Souder” in some reports) originally from Lafayette Indiana but then living Abilene finished in third place and won $75.  

1926

As in 1925, the Haskell County Fair races were part of a series of Texas fair races along with races in Abilene and Amarillo.  Peter DePaolo the 1925 Indianapolis 500-mile race winner, received top billing and was joined by Elbert “Babe” Stapp, Dick Calhoun, George Souders, Fred Fame, Roy Meacham and Chester “Chet” Gardner. Frank Lockhart originally signed to appear, but after his brilliant Indianapolis 500-mile race victory, he chose to concentrate on the AAA National Championship trail, much to D. H. Jeffries’ annoyance. 

The September 22nd West Texas Fair races in Abilene were marred by the death of Freeman Minyett, a welder by trade, who suffered a fractured skull when his Frontenac-powered racer overturned.    The other racers, including Chet Gardner, the feature race winner, donated their portion of the purse to Minyett’s widowed mother.

The three-day Haskell County Fair opened on September 30^th, with the races scheduled for October 1 and 2^nd.  On the opening day of races, Fred Frame, in a Miller Special, won the first 7-1/2-mile race while Souders, who would win the 1927 Indianapolis 500-mile race, in a similar machine in third. 

Roy Meacham won the second 7-1/2-mile preliminary race, then finished second in five-mile dash behind Roy Gardner of Denver. Fred Frame won the 15-mile finale to claim $250, as Meacham in second place won $140, while Souders finished third and won $90.     

We do not have the results from the second day of races in Haskell, but during the day’s third race, Meacham of Pawhuska Oklahoma died instantly from a broken neck after his Chevrolet racer veered out of control and plunged over the embankment.  Meacham, a World War one veteran, had been a motorcycle officer in Tulsa and Pawhuska before he started racing motorcycles then graduated to racing cars in the three months before his death.  

1927

1927 saw the introduction of motorcycle racing on the Haskell 5/8-mile track on July fourth.  The fourth annual Haskell County Fair held from October 6 through 8, 1927 featured two days of automobile racing on the 7^th and 8^th. Again, results of the races are nonexistent but during the second day’s featured fifty-lap race, H.S. Fortner’s car crashed into the disabled machine of Joe Miller and overturned several times.  An ambulance rushed Fortner to the Stamford Hospital, 15 miles south of Haskell.  

Fortner who hailed from Okmulgee in east central Oklahoma reportedly passed away the following day, with the news of his death distributed widely on the Associated Press wire service. On October 12, many Texas newspapers, including the Austin American, reported that Fortner had not only not died, but was in fact “rapidly recovering.” After his recovery, Fortner relocated to the Houston area and raced briefly during the 1928 season before he started a sewing machine sales firm. 

1928

Motorcycles returned for the July 4^th races, and attracted a large field of riders and 5,000 spectators. Perrett Austin “E. A.” Kathcart from Waco established a new track record as he rode two laps on his Harley-Davidson in 77 1/5 seconds then went on to win the day’s five-mile and eight-mile events.

The AAA Contest Board granted sanction #2085 to Henry Alexander (of the Fair Board) for two days of automobile racing on October 4^th and 6^th 1928. In qualifying on the 6^th, Vic Felt, a standout driver from Colorado in his Marathon Special, lowered the track record for two laps to 68 3/5 seconds. Felt won the first event, a 7-1/2-mile (12-lap) dash over Tulsa’s John Bolling, but Bolling swept the other two races on the program, the 2-1/2 and 5-mile races in a program marred by numerous accidents but thankfully no injuries.

After 1928, horse races on the 5/8-mile track replaced automobile races during the Haskell County Fair but auto racing would return to the fairgrounds track eight years later. In the intervening years, large oil deposits were discovered in Haskell County which transformed the local economy.

1936   

The four-day Central West Texas Fair in Haskell hosted automobile racing on the first two days of the fair October 21 and 22, promoted by Eugene Tonn (the local Farm Bureau agent) and sanctioned by the Southwestern Automobile Racing Association and part of the six-race series to determine the 1936 Southwestern dirt track champion.

The Haskell race on the 21^st counted towards the title, along with races at Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Meridian Mississippi. Morris Musick, one of the five racing Musick brothers from Dallas, won the feature in a 17-car program that also featured entries from Joie Chitwood, Leonard Musick, and Augustus “Cotton” Grable, the “Blond Blizzard from Texas.”

1937 

Haskell hosted a two-day meet on July 3^rd and 4^th 1937 again promoted by Tonn, as each program featured time trials and five races - three eight-lap heat races, one five-lap handicap and the 20-lap feature. “Wild” Bill Morris of Lincoln Nebraska had great success on July 3^rd, but could not race on the 4^th as his “DO Hal” racer had reportedly “thrown a connecting rod.”

On July the fourth, 2,000 fans watched Herschel Buchanan set quick time with a 33.4 second lap. Red Hodges won the first heat race over Buchanan, but Herschel came back to win the day’s feature race over “Tex” West of Junction City Kansas.

Automobiles raced again at Haskell on October 23 1937 on the last day of the Central West Texas Fair with a scheduled field of fourteen cars. “Wild” Bill Morris led qualifying with a 38-second lap and won his heat race, then captured the feature event over Leon Fondoble and Buddy Rusch.  

1938

In 1938, the 5/8-mile dirt oval in Haskell then known either as “Fair Park Speedway” or “Haskell Speedway” hosted a two-day racing program held over the Fourth of July holiday, promoted by Oklahoma-based Joe Ziobro with the sanction provided by the Southwestern Auto Racing Association. 

On Sunday July third, Joe Termin of Dallas Texas dominated in his blue double overhead camshaft “DO Hal” powered machine, which used a conversion cylinder head built by Harold “Hal” Hosterman for the four-cylinder Ford model B engine.  Termin set quick time and new lap record of 33.3 seconds in qualifying, won his preliminary six-lap heat race and the twelve-lap feature as he finished ahead of Johnny Holland and Gene Fredrick.

William “Red” Hodges of Dallas won the second “slow” heat race despite that his car limped around the last two laps of the race on a flat tire. Lex Newbill of McKinney Texas won the day’s four-lap consolation race.  

Promoter Joe Ziobro promised the 1,200 fans a better show for Monday the fourth of July, with three new cars scheduled to arrive from Oklahoma City that included Waldo Parnett and Posey Reeves together with a possible visit by Texas Governor James Allred.

1,000 fans turned out on July fourth and saw Termin qualify second fastest.  As Termin entered the first turn on the third lap of the preliminary heat race, the right rear tire on his “DO Hal” racer failed, and the out-of-control machine went through the wooden fence and disappeared over the embankment. Termin, a 35-year old auto mechanic married less than a year, suffered fatal injuries when the car rolled over him. According to fellow racing historian Bob Lawrence, Termin’s death was the first fatality in Ziobro’s twelve years of racing promotions  

Herschel Buchanan, the 31-year old driver from Shreveport Louisiana, won the six-lap heat race which was completed under the caution flag after Termin’s crash. Oscar Coleman won the second heat race which was marred by a crash by rookie driver Arthur Rhodes in the same place as Termin’s earlier fatality, but Rhodes escaped unhurt.  “Red” Hodges captured the third heat race, then Buchanan, who years later became a two-time champion in International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) late model stock cars, won the Haskell 12-lap feature event ahead of Hodges in a time of six minutes and nine seconds.  

There were no races presented as part of the two-day 1938 West Central Texas Fair, and reportedly there were “stock car” races held in Haskell on the 5/8-mile track in August, September and October 1939 but the author has been unable to uncover any details.

There was a second Haskell Speedway which began operation in 1966 located approximately 4 miles west of the town of Haskell on farm land owned by T C Redwine and promoted by Redwine and CW McKelvain. The first two seasons the track hosted stock car races on Sunday afternoons, but for 1968 and 1969 presented races on Saturday nights.  The track apparently closed after the 1969 season.

The author has been unable to find information about the exact locations of the either the Fairgrounds 5/8-mile or the later “Haskell Speedway,” and welcomes any leads from our readers.   

George Souders the story of the 1927 Indianapolis 500-mile race winner

Part two

George Souders' portrait in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection

part of the collection in the IUPUI University Library Center for Digital Studies

The subject of this article George Souders was honored with a plaque placed by the Indiana Racing Memorial Association (IRMA) at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds in Lafayette Indiana on April 21 2017. In part two  of our series, we look back at the 1926 season exploits of the 1927 Indianapolis 500-mile race winner, George Souders of Lafayette, Indiana.

George Souders opened his 1926 racing season on January 3 at the one-mile 143 foot long fairgrounds oval in Albuquerque New Mexico for a $1500 program that opened with a 10-lap race followed by a 15-lap affair held an hour later and then topped by a fifty-mile feature race. 

Souders retired from the 10-mile race with a slipping clutch but returned to win the second 15-lap race. Souders then dominated the feature as he led 49 of the 50-lap race and crossed the finish line in a time of 49 minutes flat for an average speed of 62.8 miles per hour (MPH).

On May 30 1926 George Souders returned to the fairgrounds in Albuquerque for a smiliar three-race program with nine other cars and drivers. Souders was of course considered the pre-race favorite after his domination of the January races at the same track. Souders and A. A. Womack were entered with their Chevrolets in a field that also boasted a Duesenberg, a pair of Hudsons, and several Frontenac-Fords.

The afternoon’s scheduled program opened with time trials with two of the eleven entries were eliminated during qualifying. The engine in Johnnie Mais’ car suffered burnt bearings and Chuck Anderson was disqualified by referee Frank Vallely after Anderson spun out on three successive laps. ‘Slim’ Harper with his Mais entry sidelined by mechanical troubles took over Anderson’s car and proceeded to set the fastest time - a new track record of 46 seconds flat.

Souders swept the balance of the program as he won all three races. George led the 10-mile race from start to finish followed by Harry Milburn with Gallup’s Johnny (Gianni) Biava in third place. 3,000 fans watched as nine cars started the second 15-mile race and Biava led the first three laps before Souders took the lead which he never relinquished. As Biava tried to keep up the pace he crashed on the race’s eighth lap and his Frontenac-Ford racer crashed through the wooden fence and flipped twice in the air as it rolled down the embankment while Biava was thrown clear.

The Albuquerque Morning Journal reported that Biava landed 120 feet from the track and broke his left arm and shoulder.  His doctor told the paper Sunday night the Biava would survive his injuries but that his left arm would be permanently stiffened. Souders dominated the seven-car 50-mile feature which was marked by a high attrition rate as only Souders and second place finisher Milburn completed the distance.  Souders earned a reported $1250 for his day’s work.

July 5 1926 found George racing at the familiar West Texas Fair Speedway in Abilene Texas for the American Automobile Association (AAA) sanctioned sixth annual “Speed Classic of the South.” Besides Souders, the other “foremost racing stars” entered included Fred Lecklider, Frank Lockhart, and Texans Elbert ‘Babe’ Stapp and Harry Milburn. Lockhart has committed to race in Abilene before his Indianapolis victory, but the AAA Contest Board ruled that Frank had to keep his commitment rather than race his championship car at Rockingham Speedway in New Hampshire.

Following the afternoon races, fans were encouraged to go to nearby Lytle Beach for the second annual “Bathing Girl Revue,” which also featured swimming and diving contests and fireworks.

 

 

George Souders' poses in his #401 Chevrolet courtesy of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection in the IUPUI University Library Center for Digital Studies

 

During a practice run on Sunday July 4, Souders’ #401 Chevrolet suffered a damaged radiator after he hit the inside rail and the car rolled over, but the damage was quickly repaired   On July 5 during morning time trials Frank Lockhart earned a $25 bonus as he lowered his nine-month old track record by 2-1/5 seconds as he completed two laps around the 5/8-mile track in 65 seconds.

Souders failed to complete his July 5 qualifying run, as his car’s engine reportedly broke three pistons. The day‘s second fastest qualifier was Lecklider at 68 4/5 while Babe Stapp qualified two cars, Ralph Hamlin’s front wheel drive Frontenac-Ford powered entry at 71 1/5 seconds in sixth place and a Duesenberg (possibly owned by William White) at 71 4/5 seconds for seventh position.

Souders’ Chevrolet engine was repaired in time for him to make a qualifying attempt after the day’s third race, a 20-mile race won by Lockhart. George ran two laps in a time of 72-4/5 seconds and then lined up to start fourth in the fourth race of the day, a 15-mile 24-lap affair. As described the following day in the Abilene Daily Reporter, “Genial George” Souders staged a race-long duel with Colorado’s ‘Slim’ Harper in John Mais’ 16-valve ‘Dodge Special’ that brought the capacity crowd of 10 to 12 thousand fans to their feet.

As the cars started their eighteenth lap, Souders forged into the lead ahead of Harper and held on to win the $500 purse in a record time for the distance of fourteen minutes and thirty seconds. Lockhart won the final race of the day, shortened to thirty miles, in his Miller followed by Lecklider in a similar machine. Souders wound up third in the feature trailed by Milburn’s Duesenberg.  For his efforts in Abilene Lockhart won a total of $1675, this included besides his qualifying bonus, $1000 for the 30-mile race win and $650 for his 20-mile race victory.

George Souders was listed as one of “winners of races held in Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico” in advertising that promoted the $2000 ‘Southwest Classic’ on Sunday  August 29 on the one-mile 143 foot long fairgrounds track in Albuquerque.  Among the other “twelve dirt track champions“ listed as entrants for the race were Jimmy Randolph, ‘Slim’ Harper, Harry Milburn and the California racing brothers Ray and Chester “Chet” Gardner. Advance advertisements in the Albuquerque Journal newspaper in the days leading up to the race stated that the adult admission of $1.50 was “remarkably low- 75% lower than AAA races elsewhere.” 

Despite being pre-entered, Souders’ name did not appear in the results listed in the Albuquerque Journal article on August 30. Only ten cars took place in time trials as Dick Calhoun re-set the “southwest record” to 43 2/5 seconds at the mile post which was later matched by Californian Cliff Bergere in a Miller. To decide the winner of the silver cup trophy, the two drivers flipped a coin and Calhoun called it properly.

The racing events that followed were plagued by dusty track conditions but no accidents occurred. Bergere took the lead from Millburn during the first lap then cruised to victory in the 30-mile feature.  Other races that day were won by Chet Gardner and Lee while Jimmy Randolph the Arizona champion was a non-factor as his car suffered from carburetor trouble all day

On Labor Day, Monday September 6 Souders in his Chevrolet Special finished second behind Dick Calhoun in races held at Cushing Speedway Park in Cushing Oklahoma near a small town mid-way between Tulsa and Oklahoma City which had been hosting races since 1921.

After he attended the ‘Detroit 100’ in early September AAA zone representative and race promoter DH Jefferies announced he had secured agreements for a stout field of entries for the upcoming races at the West Texas Fair in Abilene on Wednesday September 22 and Friday the 24th.  In addition to Souders and Calhoun, Fred Frame, ‘Babe’ Stapp and Peter DePaolo, the 1925 Indianapolis ‘500’ winner, were scheduled to appear.

The Abilene Daily Reporter dubbed these men “the Big Five” who would compete in a five-race program topped with 20-mile feature race. DePaolo, although not known for his dirt track prowess, was signed to drive a new Miller “especially built for dirt tracks” owned by Hollywood millionaire William S. White. Stapp was entered as the driver of a Chrysler Special owned by EM Little of Abilene while Calhoun was scheduled with the ‘Gallivan Special.’ Fred Frame was entered in the Miller driven in Abilene in 1925 by Lockhart along with Souders in his #401 Chevrolet Special. Other entrants included ‘Slim’ Harper in the Mais’ ‘Dodge Special’ and Breckinridge driver Bob Stillwell.   

Qualifying runs were held each day not to set starting positions but to offer a $50 prize offered to the driver who could break Lockhart’s track record of 65 seconds flat for two laps around the 5/8-mile dirt oval. On Wednesday twelve cars took times but none broke the record; the qualifiers were led by Fred Frame at 66-3/5 seconds, with Souders third fastest, Chet Gardner fourth and DePaolo fifth.

Calhoun won the day’s first five mile race start set by draw for the eight fastest cars (barring Millers) over Souders. Chet Gardner emerged as the day’s big winner with $840 in winnings as he won the ten-mile heat for specially built speedway cars which featured two separate crashes involving Calhoun and Frame. Gardner capped off his successful day with his victory in the day’s 20-mile feature race.

The following day’s Abilene Morning News described DePaolo as “outclassed” and noted “he could not keep in step with the dirt track artists,” with a best finish of second place in the 20-mile Speedway car dash.  The characterization was accurate, as DePaolo was much better racer on the high-speed board tracks as opposed to dirt tracks.

George Souders was running in third place during the third 10-mile race when the connection to the fuel tank in his Chevrolet broke and knocked him out of that race. With repairs made, Souders dueled with Gardner for the lead in the 20-mile speedway car dash before his Chevrolet engine broke a connecting rod on the 27th lap and finished him for the day.  

Scarcely mentioned in the next day’s race report was the death of Freeman Midyett whose #111 Frontenac Ford crashed through the outside rail in the third turn on the first lap of the second race. Midyett a 32-year old driver from Breckinridge Texas was thrown from his car as it tumbled down the embankment.  Suffering with a fractured skull, Freeman was rushed to the West Texas Baptist Sanitarium where he was pronounced dead at 4:15 PM, four hours after the accident. Several drivers donated their winnings from the race to Midyett’s widowed mother and the West Texas Fair Association paid his funeral expenses.

For the September 24 1926 Friday afternoon races in Abilene, George Souders replaced Peter DePaolo in the seat of Bill White’s yellow Miller racer. Souders led the field in the day’s third race until lap 12 when lubrication problems forced the Miller out. Souders returned for the day’s longest race the 25-mile feature but once again the Miller was beset with oiling troubles and dropped out before the finish.

Harry Milburn the Fort Worth driver captured the feature race win and banked $650 while Dick Calhoun earned the title of the day’s unluckiest driver. Calhoun captured the five-mile heat race and the 15-mile race but then he crashed his $3000 Frontenac Ford after a spindle broke during the 25-mile finale.  Calhoun was initially reported as killed in the accident but upon arrival at the West Texas Baptist Sanitarium he was found to have suffered no broken bones, only “minor internal injuries.” To add insult to his injuries, in the crash Calhoun reportedly lost the $300 cash in his pocket which he had won in Wednesday’s races.

Although his results with Miller in the second day of races at Abilene were disappointing, Souders’ career had taken a major leap forward as he had established himself with car owner William S. White.  A mysterious “Hollywood millionaire,” the source and extent of White’s fortune remains murky to racing historians. Some sources attribute it to his family’s Hawaiian fruit business, while others suggest much darker and more sinister sources of income.

White owned “big cars” in the early nineteen twenties with drivers that included Jack Petticord, Harlan Fengler and Leon Duray. According to National Sprint Car Hall of Fame historian Tom Schmeh, White first entered a car in the International 500-mile Sweepstakes at Indianapolis in 1927 for Harlan Fengler. White continued through the years to enter cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as late as 1947 and promoted a number of post-war races at several venues across the Los Angeles basin.   

On September 28 1926 Souders and the White Miller were entered in the races held in conjunction with the Oil Belt Fair. Souder was the quickest qualifier turning two laps around the 5/8-mile oval with a total time of 74-2/5 seconds, and then placed second in the first 7-½ mile race behind Fred Frame’s Miller. A sudden downpour hit the track during the feature and starter DH Jefferies stopped the event on the twentieth lap of the 24-lap 15-mile race. Fred Frame was 100 yards ahead of Souders with Chet Gardner a close third place. When track conditions caused Jefferies to declare the race official, Frame was awarded a $400 purse while Souders earned $200.    

Souders was entered in the Miller in the races held on October 9 and 10 as part of the Tri-State Fair on the 5/8-mile dirt track in Amarillo Texas, while his “Souders Special” was entered for driver Roy Meachum, but the author could find no results for those races. 

 

As the year 1926 drew to a close, Souders was entered in Bill White’s Duesenberg along with Harry Milburn, Fred Frame, the Gardner brothers, “Slim” Harper, the recovered Dick Calhoun and Jimmy Randolph for the New Year’s Day fairgrounds races in Albuquerque New Mexico. The four-race auto racing program was to be part of a two-day show with an American Motorcycle Association (AMA) motorcycle race scheduled for January 2 1927.  

In our next installment we will relate the story of Souders’ success in 1927 and his career as the reigning Indianapolis king. Thanks to fellow historian Bob Lawrence for providing information on the results of several races during Souders’ 1926 season. Readers are encouraged to check out Bob’s work at http://kansasracinghistory.com/