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 322^nd 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 322^nd
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 322^nd Unit’s arrival in Europe, they were sent to the Western Front.  The 322^nd supported the US Army's 37^th 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 322^nd 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/