The short-lived
Argonne Forest Park Speedway
Part one
Note - the author
wishes to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of his friend and fellow racing
historian Bob Lawrence, who provided information about Bowen & Onley and the
results of the 1939 races referenced in this article. A link to Bob’s website
is provided at the end of this article.
Growing up in the Linden Heights neighborhood of Dayton
Ohio, Null M. Hodapp’s childhood best friend was his neighbor Ralph Clemens. The
pair shared many adventures as young men, grew into adulthood, graduated
college and became prominent men in Dayton in the nineteen-teens.
Hodapp worked as an
attorney with the firm of Burkhart, Heald and Pickrel, in downtown Dayton while
Clemens was a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with the pioneering Dayton
accounting firm of Louis G. Battelle.
With the entry of the United States into the Great War in
Europe, both men registered for the draft in June 1917 and were drafted into
the United States Army in September 1917. Assigned the same unit, the 322nd
Field Artillery Unit, they reported to Camp Sherman near Chillicothe Ohio for
training.
Clemens became a sergeant in Battery ‘A’ while Hodapp was assigned to
the Headquarters Company. The 322nd
shipped out of Camp Sherman on June 4, and then boarded
the SS Canopic in Hoboken New Jersey on June 12, 1918 for their deployment
overseas.
Upon the 322nd Unit’s arrival in Europe, they
were sent to the Western Front. The 322nd
supported the US Army's 37th Ohio Division in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the largest and bloodiest operation of World War I, which cost
more than 26,000 American lives. Sergeant Ralph Clemens was killed in action just hours
before the Armistice went into effect at 11 AM on November 11, 1918 in the dense Forest of Argonne near Belgium.
Hodapp, heartbroken at the loss of his life-long friend, returned to Dayton after his wartime service.
Nell continued his career in the law, in partnership with his brother, married, had
two children and was elected a municipal court judge in Dayton in 1926.
That
same year he bought land southwest of Dayton along Germantown Pike on the banks
of Possum Creek. On the site Hodapp created the Argonne Forest Park in memory of
his childhood friend and the place where he had fallen, to provide a place
for veterans and their families to enjoy the outdoors.
The clubhouse for veterans was the first building constructed
on site and was dedicated on October 15, 1927 along with a reenactment of the Meuse-Argonne
engagement. Later Hodapp and a group of investors incorporated as Argonne
Forest Park, Inc. and through the years added an 80-foot by 40-foot dance
pavilion, a carnival midway, a horse race track and stables, a gasoline filling station and a football
field.
The Park also featured a baseball diamond with bleachers, a shooting range and
a swimming hole with a diving platform. Later after his divorce from his wife,
the noted soprano LoRean Hodapp in 1932, Hodapp built a home on the Park site.
Argonne Park became a popular destination for family picnics and
group gatherings, and the hall hosted dining and dancing on Wednesday and
Saturday nights and the occasional boxing match. For many years on his birthday, July 4, Hodapp
and members of the 322nd Field Artillery Association would reenact the
artillery battle of the Forest of Argonne.
Through the years thousands of Daytonians attended the reenactments
which always closed with a huge fireworks display.
The deepening Great Depression caused attendance at the park
to decline so additional activities were added which included auto races known
as “junk yard derbies” on a new figure-eight dirt track in the Summer of 1939.
These races were promoted by Don C. Onley, onetime partner with his brother, W.
W. Bowen in the Bowen & Onley racing promotions company from 1926 to 1931 until
Bowen retired. In addition to auto races, Onley Amusements & Sports
Promotion promoted events from Ohio to California that included automotive and
motorcycle stunt shows and boxing matches.
“Junk yard derbies” were popular in the late nineteen
thirties in the Midwest with events held in dozens of cities in the state of
Ohio. Oftentimes, these events were not held on established race tracks, but
instead on roughly-hewn tracks in a farmer’s field and generally attracted
several hundred spectators that paid 25 or 30 cents each for admission.
Many of these tracks had no names, but others used colorful
names with references to Lucifer, such as “Satan’s Merry Go Round” which was located
one mile north of Piqua Ohio and was also known as the “Devil’s Bowl.” Early in 1939, the ½-mile figure-eight track
at the Argonne Forest Park was promoted as the “Devil’s Race Bowl”, then became
known as the “Argonne Forest Speedway.”
The vehicles entered in these “junk yard derbies” could scarcely
be called race cars, as the only rules were that the driver had to 21 years of
age and the car had to be stock and worth $100 or less. Safety was of little
concern and these type of “junk yard” races sadly had a high fatality rate,
with many of the driver deaths recorded as traffic accidents. As many as seven “junk yard” racers died in
Ohio during the Summer of 1939, including one man who left behind a widow and
ten children.
It appears that the first automobile race at the Argonne
Forest “Devil’s Race Bowl” was held Sunday July 30, 1939 on what was described
in advance promotional articles as “the world’s most hazardous auto race
course,” and the “famous hair-raising figure eight track.” Despite the threat
of rain, a reported 4,000 fans attended – children were admitted for 10 cents
while adults paid 40 cents each, except for “blonde ladies and plump ladies
over 200 pounds,” who were admitted free.
The inaugural fifty-lap feature race, with all the cars
carrying a driver and a rider, was described the following day in the Dayton
Herald as a “comic novel event with chills and thrills,” was won by “Doc”
Ashbaugh of Miamisburg, Ohio but not without some controversy, as other racers
filed post-race protests.
The other racers claimed that the #22B 1929 Ford driven
by Ashbaugh, appearing in his first race, was equipped with a “full-fledged
race motor.” Although “Doc” kept the victory, officials would not accept his entry
for the next week’s race unless he agreed to race with a different motor.
Despite the early controversy, Ashbaugh proved to be a solid
competitor in jalopy racing at Argonne and moved up the ladder and became a
favorite in modified stock car racing across the state of Ohio. “Doc” later raced
track roadsters with the Mutual Racing Association after the World War II with
fellow Daytonian and Argonne alumni, negro racer Leroy Nooks, and participated
successfully in a series of midget races held in Pomeroy Ohio in 1948 and 1949.
The next race at Argonne Forest on Sunday August 6 introduced
a novel idea - the Gold Cup Trophy. Each week’s top six qualifiers were
eligible to compete in a 10-lap dash, and the first man to win three of these
weekly dashes would win the permanent trophy, a 24-inch tall gold cup filled
with silver dollars.
The first dash was won by Ashbaugh, the days’ fastest
qualifier at 50 second flat, while the feature was won by Jim McCabe of Dayton
driving a 1929 Ford. Two racers were injured in a grinding crash at the figure 8 intersection – driver Glen Tyler sustained a compound leg fracture and his
rider Henry Vrining suffered a fractured spine. Several of the drivers had
equipped their car with “safety hoops” and officials encouraged this addition
for safety but did not yet require their use.
For the August 13th race at the “Devils Race Bowl” in the
Argonne Forest Park, officials eliminated the requirement for cars to carry a
rider, trumpeted as a safety measure. The racing program opened with “Doc”
Ashbaugh of Miamisburg as the winner of the 10-lap dash, to complete his second
leg in pursuit of the Gold Cup Trophy.
The day’s feature race was marred by a serious accident in which
Daytonian Robert Dulinsky’s car tangled with the machine of John Eaton also of
Dayton and left the 21-year old Dulinsky with a fractured skull.
With Dulinsky transported to St. Elizabeth Hospital in grave
condition, the race was called complete at 30 laps following the accident. The
leader at the time Jim Edwards of Franklin Ohio a small community about a dozen
miles south of the racetrack was declared the winner with Bud Cider second and
Bates Lewis scored third in a 1929 Ford.
Dulinsky lingered in the hospital for nearly a week then
died at 9:20 AM on Saturday August 19, survived by his parents with whom he
lived, and two married sisters. The next day’s race at the “Devil’s Bowl”
became a benefit race for injured drivers that also featured automotive and
motorcycle daredevil stunts interspersed into the racing program. In addition
to the money raised through gate receipts, fans donated $70 for Dulinsky’s
family during the program.
In qualifying Jim Edwards set quick time, a new track record
of 47 seconds, then in the feature ran down the early leader Ashbaugh, passed
him on lap four then led the rest of the distance. Ashbaugh finished second as
he edged 20-year old driver Ray Kruger, younger than the track’s 21-year old
age limit, but who raced with the permission of his mother, Etta, who was in
attendance.
On Sunday afternoon August 27, the track debuted its new
oiled surface designed to control dust, and brunettes were admitted free of
charge. After his car lost a wheel during a special four-car 15-lap match race,
Ashbaugh came back and again visited victory lane in his 1929 Ford. During the week before the next race held the
day before the Labor Day holiday, Ashbaugh spilt with the owner of the
successful #22B 1929 Ford but come Sunday, in a new car, Ashbaugh smashed the
track record by three seconds. Jim Edwards won the feature.
On September 10, the program featured a special 10-lap race
for women drivers won by 23-year-old Margaret Quire in a time of 9 minutes and
47 seconds. Jim Edwards swept the race of the program as he won the 10-lap heat
race, the 15-lap match race and the 20-lap feature over Ashbaugh and Ray
Kruger.
Ashbaugh, a crowd favorite who drove in house slippers,
claimed three wins on September 17 – the “slow” feature, the “fast” feature and
the 10-lap heat race, while John Turner finished second in all three races. Ms.
Quire won the 10-lap ladies’ race and lowered her winning time to nine minutes
flat.
On September 24, the Argonne Forest course was quiet, as many of the
track’s stars, including Ashbaugh, Krueger, McCabe, and Edwards were all
scheduled to take part in the modified stock car races at Frank Funk’s
high-banked ½-mile oiled dirt Dayton Speedway.
Argonne Speedway officials put the off week to good use as
they added a ¼-mile track for midget car racing and graded and resurfaced the
½-mile figure-eight track which had seen more accidents since the oiled surface
was adopted.
Argonne officials cancelled
the scheduled October 1 event early due to predicted rainy weather and many of
the track’s top drivers raced instead at Funk’s Dayton Speedway modified stock
car event. Ashbaugh led the first 35 laps at Dayton Speedway before his car
experienced mechanical troubles; Ashbaugh’s retirement handed the lead to Jim
Roberts of Springfield, Ohio who led the rest of the way to victory.
The October 8 feature victory which featured 20 cars was
copped by 21-year old Orval (alternately spelled “Orville”) Epperly of Dayton,
who went on from his start racing at Argonne to have a growing career in
post-World War II American Automobile Association (AAA) “big car” racing until
he lost his left leg in a gruesome heat race accident at Winchester (Indiana)
Speedway on July 25, 1948.
The 50-lap 1939 Argonne season finale on October 15 was
captured by Russ Cowic also of Dayton in a time of 36 minutes flat. Russ Cowic
raced for many years until he was seriously burned in an accident at Eldora
Speedway in 1971. It appears that no
driver was able to win a total of three “Gold Cup Trophy” dashes and claim the
permanent trophy.
Don Onley’s
promotional efforts at Argonne Forest Speedway ended at the close of the 1939
racing season with the promotion and sanction taken over by the Central States
Stock Car Racing Association.
We will continue with the history of the Argonne Forest
Speedway by looking at the 1940 season in the next installment.
Visit Bob Lawrence's websites: http://winfield.50megs.com/
