The short life of the Oxnard Speedway

The short life of the Oxnard Speedway

The history of the Oxnard Speedway is closely associated with the story of the Carpinteria Thunderbowl, and its story to presented as an addendum to the Thunderbowl story.

The Carpinteria Thunderbowl advertised that its 1957 season-opener on Monday May 6th would feature “new talent,” because the races there were no longer sanctioned by the Tri-County Racing Association (TCRA) as the members of the TCRA were in the midst of planning and building their own race track, the Oxnard Speedway.

The TCRA received county approval to begin construction of the quarter-mile track in mid-March located by the Santa Clara River at the north end of Ventura Road three miles north of Oxnard near the intersection with Wagon Wheel Road. 

After the issuance of a building permit, construction of the race track, a 3500-seat grandstand built into the hillside, snack bar, and rest rooms began in early May. Quoted for an article in the May 7th issue of the Ventura County Star-Free Press, Dave Revard, the TCRA spokesman, predicted the first Sunday afternoon racing program at Oxnard would run “about the first of June.”  Revard’s prediction proved to be overly optimistic.

The new Oxnard Speedway, managed by Paul Lang, hosted its first race on Thursday afternoon July 4, 1957 and opened a new chapter of racing in Ventura County. The crowd, reported as either 1200 or 2000 fans, saw a dusty program, with the 30-lap feature won by Dave Revard in his 1934 Ford coupe. In addition to the TCRA jalopies, “several big sprint cars and a midget” made exhibitions laps. After the race, Lang promised that the track “should be in much better shape for the Sunday races,” scheduled for July 7th.

Frank Kephart took the lead on the seventh lap at Oxnard on Sunday afternoon the 7th and led the remaining 23 laps to win by half a car length over Bob Young before a crowd of 500 fans. Dick Jump won the following Sunday, and Lee Andrews won at Oxnard on the 21st before 600 fans.

On the afternoon of July 28th, Oxnard Speedway hosted “Indianapolis-type sprint car racing” with the cars and stars of the California Racing Association.   Roy Prosser, “the little man with the big right foot,” set quick time in qualifying in the Cecil Shaw Chevrolet powered sprint car but lost to Howard Gardner in the trophy dash.

Prosser rebounded to win the “fast” 6-lap heat race; other heat race winners included Lloyd Woolever, Phoenix’s Fred Coombs and North Tonawanda, New York driver Jim Hurtubise.  Colby Scroggin won the 15-lap semi-main, then Prosser easily won the 30-lap feature over one-armed Allen Heath before 2000 excited fans.

Attendance at Oxnard continued to be a problem, and in mid-August, the Oxnard Speedway hired a new managing director, William “Bill” Loadvine, previously the owner and promoter of the Culver City Speedway. Among Loadvine’s first acts at Oxnard was to slash the admission fee from $1.50 to 90 cents for a weekly program and $1.00 for a special program. Paul Lang returned to race driving and immediately won in his first race back on August 18th.  

On Sunday October 13, “full-size midgets and big-time drivers” were scheduled at Oxnard Speedway but that date rained out and the program was run on October 20. The United Racing Association (URA) sanctioned the event, which featured headliners Lowell Sachs, Bill Cantrell, and the defending URA champion and points leader Don Cameron. Parnelli Jones, in one of his earliest midget rides, won the first heat race along with other heat race winners Buddy Lee and Willie Swift.

Bob Burbridge won the URA midget 15-lap semi-main which was marred by Johnny McFadden’s spectacular series of flips that sent him to Oxnard’s St John’s Hospital in serious condition. Johnny Wood, a former motorcycle racer who lived in North Hollywood, started fourth in the 30-lap feature, then worked his way to the front and won his third consecutive URA feature ahead of Clay Robbins. 

Days later, McFadden, still hospitalized with a broken wrist, abrasions and several broken ribs, called Oxnard Speedway track president John Gallagher whom he asked to retrieve the wrist watch that he lost in the crash.  Gallagher walked the track and amazingly found McFadden’s watch, which was still running.

The TCRA instituted a rules change in late October that allowed “souped up engines” over the original stock engine requirement.  The rules allowed “any modifications not visible from the outside” and meant faster lap speeds.

 

The “Grand Prix” on November 24th highlighted late season racing at Oxnard with a $500 purse, a two-for-one admission ticket newspaper coupon and fifty turkeys given away. The 30-lap “Grand Prix” settled the 1957 TCRA championship among the top point earners - Buford Lane, Lee Andrews and Dave Revard. Reportedly more than 3000 fans turned out to watch Andrews capture the TCRA title for the second time in Bob Ellsworth’s Chevrolet. 

Don Younce of Ventura waited until the final race of the season at Oxnard on December 8 to win his first feature followed by Ted Parrish. Lee Andrews received the champion’s accolades at the Tri-Counties Racing Association banquet held December 28 at the Knights of Columbus hall in Ventura.

In 1958, Oxnard Speedway, with Randy Clowes as the track new manager, struggled all season with low attendance, despite a wider, improved track surface and the shift to Saturday night racing. Dave Revard and Buford Lane consistently finished up front in the weekly “pre-war modified racing” programs.

On Saturday night August 9th, Oxnard Speedway scheduled the National Association of Stock Car Racing (NASCAR) Pacific Coast Convertible Division for a 100-lap race. Entrants included current point leader Johnny Potter of Inglewood, Bruce Worrell of Lakewood, Johnny Jones and Arley Scranton of Compton. The author has so far been unable to locate results from this event – historian Ken Clapp believes that the Oxnard race was only an exhibition, as the NASCAR convertibles ran a televised race in Gardena the following day. 

In mid-August the TCRA Board of Directors took control of Oxnard Speedway and Dick Jump replaced Clowes as the manager assisted by Lee Hammock and George Pilfe. As the season continued Revard and Lane doggedly battled for the championship. Revard won at Oxnard on September 20th which cut Lane’s lead to just 35 points before the finale. 

Buford Lane won the September 27th feature and emerged as the 1958 TCRA champion. Racing continued weekly at Oxnard through October with the points earned counting towards the 1959 TCRA championship.

The close of the 1958 season marked the end of racing the Oxnard Speedway, as the track became a victim of community progress. Early in 1959, Ventura County officials announced the Army Corps of Engineers’ plans to build a five-mile levee along the south side of the Santa Clara River. The condemnation of the land spelled the end of racing at the Oxnard Speedway. The last event was a horse show held on site in April 1959 and levee construction began on June 1 1959. 

The Tri-Counties Racing Association sanctioned “hot rod jalopies” at Saugus Speedway later in 1959 then the group disbanded. Buford Lane kept his jalopy behind his Mobil service station in Ventura for several more years, but with the end of racing in Ventura County, he began to race the #614 Corvette owned by Santa Barbara Chevrolet dealer Shelton Washburn.

Buford raced on road courses at Santa Barbara, Pomona, Laguna Seca, and Del Mar, and Lane was a consistent top-three finisher in SCCA B-Production racing on the West Coast through early 1961 when Bob Bondurant replaced him as the driver of the Washburn Corvette.

Carpinteria Thunderbowl Part 12 – 1958 – the end

Carpinteria Thunderbowl

Part 12 – 1958 – the end 

 

Author’s note – This is the final installment of our series of articles that highlights the 12-year history of one of Southern California’s least-documented auto racing venues – the Carpinteria Thunderbowl.

For the 1958 season, the Carpinteria Thunderbowl boasted of a new racing surface with greater banking in the turns, and in unofficial practice sessions in late April, the track record was reportedly “shattered.” Despite the changes, the fastest jalopies averaged around 17.65 seconds per lap in time trials while the Carpinteria track record set by Chuck Gibson July 2, 1956 still stood at 17 seconds flat.

Track owner and manager Jim Slaybaugh instituted new scoring procedures which he promised would reduce the length of the racing program “by as much as 45 minutes,” according to the Ventura County Star-Free Press newspaper article. In addition to the jalopy races, the 24-week schedule promised added attractions of demolition derbies, powder puff derbies for female racers, and quarter-midget races.  

Chuck Gibson the 1957 Carpinteria track champion, grabbed the 1958 opening night win on May 5 1958. Gibson started the 40-lap feature in last place and raced his way to victory over a pair of Franks – Kephart, then living in Venice finished second and “Captain” Kidd from Lakewood finished in third place.  Gibson won again on May 12 as he beat Kidd and Jack Rowland to the finish line.

On May 19^th, Jim Slaybaugh celebrated his 69^th birthday by racing his number 13 jalopy and after the races he shared a giant birthday cake with the fans. Heat race wins went to Kephart, Bill Cherry and Don Donnmeyer, as Jack Rowland won both the trophy dash and the 10-lap helmet dash. Kephart claimed the 40-lap feature trophy over Leroy Dalton and Ed Vanes.

Pete Gallagher, Bill Cherry, Chuck Gibson and Ray Bunch won the preliminary heat races in the annual “Poor Man’s Indianapolis” program” on May 26, then Gibson won a special 8-lap runoff between the heat race winners. Gibson started the 50-lap feature from the tail and worked his way forward to challenge leader Frank Kidd until his battery failed. Donnmeyer took up the chase after Kidd but fell short at the checkered flag.

After his “Clean Sweep” of the June 2^nd program, Gibson was out to capture his fourth feature win in six races for the special Father’s Day program on June 9^th. In addition to the regular 40-lap feature won by Frank Kephart, the program included a ladies egg-throwing contest and “jalopy jumps.” On June 16^th, Kephart’s wife Irene easily won the 6-lap Powder Puff race while Frank Kidd won the 40-lap jalopy feature.

Through June and July weekly attendance averaged between 500 and 700 fans  Kidd won the June 30th feature over Chuck Gibson, then the track held a holiday special 50-lap feature on Saturday July 5^th with the added feature of a go-kart race. On July 7^th Gibson scored his fourth feature win of the season in a program marred by Bill Potter’s scary end-over-end flip in time trials after a collision with Frank Kidd. Potter suffered cuts and bruises and after he spent some time in the track ambulance he decided not to race any further that evening.

On July 28^th it was Kidd’s turn to take a wild ride, as he lost control and his car barrel-rolled four times, cleared the crash wall and landed on all four wheels but Frank escaped uninjured. Jack Rowland of Ventura won that night’s 40-lap feature over heat race winners Chuck Gibson and Donnmeyer. 

On August 4^th, Gibson, a police officer in Ventura, notched his fifth feature win of the season, then two weeks later, he won his sixth feature race of the season “far ahead of second-place finisher Bud Kelch,” who earlier won the trophy dash.

As the month of August continued, the car count dwindled, with an average of 20 cars each race night. Gibson scored his seventh feature win of the season at Carpinteria on August 18 as he nearly swept the program – in addition to the feature win, he posted fast time, won his heat race, and won the special 8-lap race for the six point leaders. 

 

The Carpinteria Thunderbowl 1958 season ended on Monday night September 8. Mid-way through the main event, Rebel McGinnis, a racer from Santa Barbara, lost control of his jalopy and ran head-on into crash wall. McGinnis staggered away from his destroyed machine and collapsed.

The track ambulance rushed Rebel to a Santa Barbara hospital where he was admitted in fair condition. 

Despite dropping out of the feature won by Frank Kidd, Chuck Gibson was crowned the 1958 Carpinteria track champion with eight feature wins in 23 attempts for his second consecutive track championship with car owner Joe Savatier.

The close of the 1958 season marked the end of racing at the Carpinteria Thunderbowl the track became the victim of progress. The California Department of Transportation widened the Rincon Parkway (Highway 101 through Carpinteria) and needed an area to stockpile materials and apparently made owner Jim Slaybaugh a good offer. The track was reported as being torn down in March 1959 with the track’s water tank, lighting and lumber sold for scrap.  Around that same time, the adjacent Southern Pacific Railroad line was abandoned. 

The Tri-Counties Racing Association sanctioned “hot rod jalopies” at Saugus Speedway later in 1959 then the group disbanded. 

Today there is no visual evidence that the Carpinteria Thunderbowl ever existed, as the site is now known as the Carpinteria Bluffs, a wildlands area southeast of an office complex known as ‘The Enclave at Carpinteria’ which houses the offices of the Procore Software Company and Continental Tire USA. No doubt thousands of drivers pass the Highway 150 exit on Highway 101 daily without knowing that they are passing the site of forgotten Southern California racing history.

The Carpinteria Thunderbowl Part nine – 1952-1955 The Tri-Counties Racing Association & Parnelli Jones

The Carpinteria Thunderbowl

Part nine – 1952-1955  

The Tri-Counties Racing Association 

& 

Parnelli Jones 

Parnelli Jones in 1963

photo appears courtesy of the IUPUI University Library

Center for Digital Studies 

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection  

Author’s note – This 12-part article highlights the brief 12-year history of one of Southern California’s least-documented   auto racing venues – the Carpinteria Thunderbowl.

The Carpinteria Thunderbowl opened for the 1952 season with the California Jalopy Association (CJA) on Monday night April 14 with an eight-race program with thirty cars and drivers, many of whom spent the winter months racing at the Culver City Stadium clay track.

“Rip” Erickson came into Carpinteria as the points leader with several feature wins to his credit, along with defending two-time champion Fred Russell and Danny Letner.  Those top CJA racers were supplemented by Ventura County drivers that included Tony Nelson, Bob Ellsworth, Al Goelz, Lee Andrews and Eddie Deal.

It appears that the feature race length became 100 laps for several of the Monday night races; Paul Norman the current CJA points leader, won the June 2 event by a full lap over Ellsworth and Ken Ebert from Lompoc.   Eighteen cars started the feature but only five cars finished, the result of four separate accidents.

Two weeks later, it was announced that the CJA and the promoters of the Thunderbowl, Tony Coldeway and Bud Hines Junior, parted ways, with future races co-sanctioned by the Tri-Counties Racing Association (TCRA) and the Pacific Racing Association (PRA).  That decision meant that Paul Norman, the CJA points leader and winner of six of the nine 1952 Carpinteria features, would not return.

The absence of the CJA regulars opened the way to victory lane for the local drivers, as Tony Nelson of Oxnard won the June 23^rd feature trailed by Ellsworth and Buford Lane. The big holiday weekend 100-lap race with fireworks scheduled for July 5 had to be postponed to July 7th due to foggy conditions.

Local driver and Navy veteran Sonny Mars won the July 14^th feature, and Rip Erickson crashed on Sunday July 20^th at Culver City and broke his leg which put the Carpinteria favorite on the sidelines for the rest of the season.  

With “Rip” out of action, Tony Nelson out-dueled Mars on July 21 to win the 30-lap “Navy Night” feature. A week later, Mars won his heat race then followed it up with a main event win over Nelson. During the their heat race, drivers Bill Cherry and Paul Lang got into a wheel-banging feud that ended with Lang’s car upside down and Cherry’s car in the wall and neither able to continue.   

In early August the Thunderbowl went to the birds in a matter of speaking, as in back-to-back weeks the track hosted avian competitions along with the jalopies.   On August 11, “Hercules” a four-year old golden eagle was paired against “Major” a four-year old pelican in a scheduled ten-minute race. 

The event turned out to be a flop, as the eagle slipped his leash and left the pelican waiting at the starting gate. In the jalopy race, Nelson won over Bob Heffington.  This unusual promotion was followed the next week by scheduled  race between a pair of ostriches, “Whirlaway” and “Man O’ War” ridden by a pair of brave jalopy drivers selected by fan voting.     

Ventura resident Bob Ellsworth won the Labor Day 100-lap feature although he ran out of gas on the last lap. With a substantial lead he inherited after Lee Andrews and Buford Lane suffered blown tires, Ellsworth coasted across the finish line ahead of rookie driver Bill Torgeson. 

Over the final three weeks of the season, Nelson and Ellsworth battled for the TCRA title as they traded feature victories. At the conclusion of the Thunderbowl’s final 1952 race on October 13, Tony Nelson prevailed in the special 60-lap feature and won the title by nine points over Bob Ellsworth. 

  

Over the winter of 1952-1953, track owner James Slaybaugh took over promotional duties and requested that the Tri-Counties Racing Association assume the sole sanctioning duties at the Thunderbowl. In a truly unusual twist, Slaybaugh was not just the track owner and promoter, he also raced a jalopy in the weekly Carpinteria programs. 

In its annual meeting held on March 9 1952, the TCRA Board accepted Slaybaugh’s proposal and the organization elected retired driver Pat Deardorf as the club president. Deardorf named John Shaw as the starter, Don Larson the pit manager and Jack Moore to be in charge of timing and scoring at the Carpeinteria Thunderbowl.   

The TCRA set the opening day as April 20 with an open test date on April 12, but the opening night was rained out as was the scheduled make-up date of April 27^th.   The May 5^th opening brought “near perfect weather” and a “full house” according to the next day’s Ventura County Star-Free Press account. Rip Erickson recovered from last year’s broken leg  nearly scored a clean sweep, as he won the trophy dash and the feature but narrowly lost his heat race by a fender to Paul Lang.

Erickson repeated with a feature victory the following week in a racing program that included a trophy dash, three heat races, the semi-main event and the thirty-lap feature, all completed in an hour and 35 minutes. Over the following weeks, Erickson, the Santa Barbara speedster stretched his victory skein to five races before he split with his car owner. The split did not seem to effect Erickson who won 9 of 11 races by July 21 and successfully passed a post-race technical inspection by TCRA officials.

Rip’s streak of success ended August 4 after he sold his Ford to fellow competitor Bob Heffington and he ran into delays building his new Chevrolet entry.   Erickson led Paul Lang by only 12 points when he returned to action on August 31 as he drove one of only three Chevrolets in the program.  On September 7^th, Rip returned to victory lane at Carpinteria, as he inherited the win when the leaders tangled on lap 45 of the 50-lap feature.

As the 1953 season entered its final weeks, Lang closed the gap on Erickson with a win on September 14 but Erickson salvaged a second place finish to cling to a 14 point lead. In the final points-paying race, Buford Lane won the feature while neither Erickson nor Lang scored any points, so Rip was the 1953 Tri-County Racing Association champion with 85 tallies to Lang’s 71 while Lane was third with 59 points.

For 1954, Jim Slaybaugh and the Tri-Counties Racing Association (TCRA) moved the racing schedule at the Carpinteria Thunderbowl to Friday nights. Rip Erickson continued he winning ways on opening night May 14. Two weeks later Bill Heffington of Santa Barbara drove Erickson’s former machine and won the ‘Poor Man’s Indianapolis” 50-lap feature. At age 65, Slaybaugh continued to race his jalopy and in early June, he took part in a special “old timers” match race against the fathers of Lee Andrews and Rip Erickson.

The July 16th program saw a drivers’ revolt after Jim Slaybaugh announced that he was shifting the program to Monday nights. The drivers immediately protested and refused to race.  Jim Shepherd led the drivers who claimed that their contract with the Thunderbowl specified Friday night race dates and that the drivers were not consulted before the announcement.   

After peace was restored, Lee Andrews won the feature but then a protest was filed, but after his car was torn down it was found to be legal. During August, Slaybaugh introduced motorcycle races on alternate Saturday nights, and as the jalopy season ended on September 10, Andrews from Ventura won the TCRA 1954 championship by 20 points over Buford Lane.

In 1955, another future Indianapolis ‘500’ winner Parnelli Jones arrived  the Carpinteria Thunderbowl. 

 For the 1955 season at the Carpinteria Thunderbowl, track owner and promoter Jim Slaybaugh continued the track’s sanction with the Tri-Counties Racing Association and the jalopy racing schedule shifted back to Monday nights set to open on May 2.

The season opened in a predictable way as Rip Erickson won his heat race, the Australian Pursuit race and the 30-lap feature then he followed it up with another feature win on May 9th, as the Thunderbowl pits were jammed with 35 cars.  Erickson made it three in row on May 16^th as he passed leader Bob Ellsworth on lap 28 of the 30-lap feature. 

 

The runner-up in the May 16^th trophy dash was a 21-year old racer from Torrance named “Parnellie” Jones, who first raced a jalopy as a 17-year old in 1950 at Carrell Speedway in Gardena. Little would fans present that night at Carpinteria know that Parnelli Jones (he would soon drop the “e”) would became the 1960 United States Auto Club (USAC) Midwest sprint car champion, then share Rookie of The Year honors in the Indianapolis ‘500’ with Bobby Marshman and repeat as the USAC sprint car titlist in 1961. 

In 1955, no one could predict that in 1962 Parnelli would be the first man break the magical 150 miles per hour (MPH) barrier at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and win the 1963 Indianapolis ‘500.’

On May 16, 1956 Parnelli followed up his solid finish in the trophy dash with a solid second-place feature finish behind four-time winner Erickson after the original runner-up Fred Tomlinson was disqualified when his car owner refused to allow the car to be inspected.

56 jalopies were on hand for the annual 50-lap “Poor Man’s Indianapolis” on May 30 although after time trials and the preliminary races, only 18 cars started the feature on the 1/5-mile oval.  Rip Erickson won his fifth Carpinteria feature in a row and the lion’s share of the $500 guaranteed purse from the Santa Barbara Merchants Association. It wasn’t easy however as Rip started dead last but he took the lead on the 30^th lap and led the rest of the way as Heffington finished second and Jones third. 

Surprisingly, after that win, Rip announced that he would not race at Carpinteria any more in 1955, as “the prize money didn’t pay his way” from his home in Culver City. Erickson’s absence on June 6^th opened the door for Chuck Gibson of Ventura to win the feature.

The following week June 13, Parnelli Jones won the trophy dash as he beat fast qualifier Frank Kephart with a new track record of 17.28 seconds. In what the Ventura County Star-Free Press described as “one of the wildest seen at the bowl this year,” early leader Glen Wallen lost a wheel and hit the wall then second place “R. Spencer” (a nom de guerre for a local schoolteacher, Spencer Blickenstaff) ran into Wallen’s stalled machine.  New race leader Sonny Mars flipped twice on lap 13, then Ellsworth held the lead until his tire blew on lap 25.  Buford Lane led the final five laps and took the checkered flag ahead of Parnelli and Kephart. 

On August 1 Parnelli took part in a match race against famous local lady race Hila Paulson. Before the event, Jones told reporters “No girl is going to walk off and leave me too far behind if I can help it.” However, as reported in the Ventura County Star-Free Press, Hila used some “very unladylike tactics” to beat Parnelli as she “shoved Jones’ car into the wall coming around the final turn and came out in front.”

At some point Rip Erickson returned to Carpinteria and on August 15 he was leading the feature when he tangled with the lap car of Ventura’s Jim Jennings and dropped to fourth place. At the end of the evening, Buford Lane led the TCRA points with 69, Parnelli jones was second with 47, while Erickson was fourth with 31 markers.   

In the season’s penultimate race on September 29, after he won his heat race Parnelli breezed to an easy win in the 30-lap feature over Pete Gallagher of Ventura. Parnelli wound up second with 61 points as Buford Lane, the club president and 1955 champion scored 89 points and received his trophy at the Tri-Counties Racing Association banquet on October 22 at the American Legion Hall in Ventura. 

 

Parnelli closed out his successful 1955 season as he debuted at Gardena Stadium on Christmas Day before 960 fans. He nearly swept the program – he won the trophy dash, his heat race, the handicap dash and finished second in the feature behind Oscar Tolstein after he started dead last.  

  

      

Hot Rods and Jalopies take over the Carpinteria Thunderbowl in 1949 Part seven

The Carpinteria Thunderbowl

Part seven – late 1949 

Hot Rods and Jalopies take over! 

Author’s note – This 12-part article highlights the brief 12-year history of one of Southern California’s least-documented midget auto racing venues – the Carpinteria Thunderbowl.

With the cancellation of motorcycle racing and suspension of his midget racing franchise by the United Racing Association board of directors, Charlie Cake turned to a form of racing that had proven a failure in the track’s inaugural season – “hot rod” roadsters.

Jim Rigsby, a commercial fisherman from Lennox California was dominant in the first roadster race at the Carpinteria Thunderbowl held on Monday night August 22 which featured “one of the largest crowds at the speedway this year,” according to the Ventura County Star-Free Press. 

Although it is unclear whether this August 22nd race was a California Roadster Association (CRA) sanctioned event, Rigby arrived in Carpinteria on a hot streak, as in recent weeks he won the two previous CRA events held at Carell Speedway in Gardena.

Rigsby lost the trophy dash to Bob Scott, who like Rigsby, would later find fame in American Automobile Association (AAA) ‘big cars.’ Rigby rebounded and won his heat race, as did Bob Chaplain, Don Nicholson, and George Seeger. Seeger’s car broke an axle on final corner of the last lap of the heat race, but he had enough momentum and coasted across the finish line. George installed a new axle borrowed from a competitor in time to start the main event.

Future CRA president Walt James finished in the show position in the 15-lap semi-main, behind easy winner Rigsby and Ken Stansberry. Rigsby led the feature race at will, at times with a quarter-lap advantage over Stansberry and Scott, who tangled after their cars crossed the finish line, but neither driver received injuries.  Charlie Cake announced that future Carpinteria roadster races would start at 1 PM on Sunday afternoons.

Rigsby repeated his winning ways in the first Sunday afternoon CRA-sanctioned show on August 28, although the star of the show was Negro driver LeRoy Nooks. Leroy, the day’s fastest qualifier, won the trophy dash and his heat race. During time trials, Tom Francis’ car lost a wheel, hit the wall and Tom suffered a broken hand.

Ken Stansberry won the semi-main event ahead of Don Nicholson and North Dakota native C L “Puffy” Puffer. Rigsby finished the 30-lap feature in a respectable time of seven minutes and 40 seconds ahead of Stansberry and Nicholson. The CRA roadster regulars made their final 1949 Carpinteria appearance and headed east for a five-race series held in conjunction with the Utah State Fair in Salt Lake City.

To fill the void left by the roadsters, Charlie Cake introduced jalopy racing to the Thunderbowl on Thursday evening September 1. Advertisements promised that it was “the greatest show of its kind in the world,” and promised “Wrecks! Speed! Dangerous Action!”

The field of cars “which reportedly are not supposed to be worth more than $100,” was led by former midget pilot Mickey McCormick of Riverside, Paul Norman of El Monte, the current California Jalopy Association (CJA) points leader, and Bob Stanclift, the 1948 CJA champion.

Mark Clagg won the first Carpinteria jalopy program which the Ventura County Star- Free Press described as “one of the best and most interesting presented at the track in recent weeks.”  In addition to the Thunderbowl, the CJA also raced at the 1/5-mile Huntington Beach Stadium, the 1/3-mile Lakeland Stadium and the quarter-mile Culver City Stadium.

Prior to the following week’s races, CJA officials provided the Ventura County paper with additional information on the racers - “standard stock cars of the 1930-35 vintage with no gadgets added to boost their speed.” Track officials added that the only modification to the vintage cars allowed by the CJA was the use of a single downdraft carburetor on the Ford Model ‘A’ entries. 

In their second program at the track, on September 5, the jalopies entertained a “newly-acquired abundance of fans,” and produced four new track records. Paul Norman set the new one-lap standard at 18.98 seconds in qualifying, while Jackie Tate set a record for three laps as he won the four-car trophy dash.

Leo Breithaupt set a new 6-lap record of one minutes and 15 seconds in the fourth heat race, while the semi-main race, plagued by accidents, did not set a new record. Bo Jack Johnson won the 30-lap feature in nine minutes and 52 seconds, as he finished ahead of Norman and “Tiger” Nick Valenta.

Paul Norman lowered the one-lap qualifying record to 18.54 seconds and won the 30-lap feature on Monday September 12, 1949 as he started in last place after he broke an axle in the trophy dash. Paul took the lead on the 16^th lap “before a good-sized crowd.” Norman repeated his win on September 20 in a photo-finish over Bob Stanclift.  

 As the Carpinteria racing season progressed, it became clear that the jalopies were a hit with both fans and racers, as the Ventura paper reported average crowds nearing 2,000 with nearly 30 cars entered for the weekly program.  The large fields led promoter Cake to increase the feature starting field to 16 cars and lengthen the feature to 35 laps.

In early November, the Joe Chitwood World Champion Auto Daredevils touring show visited Carpinteria. A stop on the 1949 “Hell on Wheels” tour, it featured “27 thrilling stunts performed by 30 supermen.” Fans watched as “$100,000 worth of 1949 Fords performed stunts, raced and jumped,” highlighted by a brand-new stock 1949 Ford sedan that jumped from ramp-to-ramp as another brand new 1949 Ford raced underneath.      

Jalopy racing continued weekly until December 12, and Stanclift became a two-time winner while Norman scored two more victories to increase his 1949 Carpinteria win total to four, while 24-year old future two-time Indianapolis 500-mile race starter Joe James scored a memorable win.

We will continue to trace the Thunderbowl’s history as jalopy racing takes hold in 1950.

   

The Carpinteria Thunderbowl Part six – another fatality and midget racing is suspended

 

The Carpinteria Thunderbowl

Part six – another fatality    

Author’s note – This 12-part article highlights the brief 12-year history of one of Southern California’s least-documented auto racing venues – the Carpinteria Thunderbowl.

On July 21, 1949 promoter Charlie Cake presented motorcycle racing for third time at the Thunderbowl. The program featured both ‘flat track’ racing on the 1/5-mile oval and ‘tourist trophy’ (TT) racing with both right- and left-hand turns as well as steeplechase-style jumps. Oscar Sherman won the flat track feature and ‘H Kimbel’ won the TT feature.

Cake, from Ventura, negotiated a deal with the new United Racing Association (URA) president Roy Morrison to bring the URA Red “B” Circuit (for rocker arm powered midgets) to Carpinteria, historically a “Blue circuit” (for overhead camshaft powered midgets) track. The URA earlier ran both the “Blue” and “Red” circuits, but Morrison created the “Red B” circuit, for slower flathead and motorcycle powered cars, as a lower-cost racing program for promoters designed to combat the inroads made by the “hot rod” roadsters.  

Johnny McFadden won the three-lap trophy dash for the two fastest qualifiers from time trials over Bill Martin to open the July 25^th racing program.  On lap 4 of the first 6-lap heat race, Don Keefe and Bob Saunders collided, which knocked both of their cars out of the race.

After the restart, on the final lap of the race, as Chris Christopher took the checkered flag, rookie Norman “Norm” Howton  who started from the tail of the field, attempted to pass Al Bridges, but misjudged and the right rear wheel of Howton’s machine hooked the left front wheel of Bridges’ car. Howton’s midget flipped and it landed upside down on top of the crash wall.

Howton, a 22-year old native of Santa Monica living in Venice, had joined the URA organization the previous Thursday and Carpinteria was his first race, Norm suffered a broken jaw and a fractured skull, with suspected brain injuries. An ambulance transported him to Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara.   

The racing program continued after officials cleared away Howton’s damaged machine.  Bill LeRoy, Chuck Burness and Jackie Jordan won the remaining three heat races.  LeRoy won the fifteen-lap semi-main followed by future 3-time URA champion Lowell Sachs and Clay Robbins.  Jordan won the 30-lap feature race over Martin and McFadden with Johnny Coughlin in fourth place.

Norm Howton passed away at 6:30 AM the following day, and thus became the second driver to lose his life at the Carpinteria Thunderbowl in as many years. Norm, a veteran of the United States Navy, served in World War 2 as a seaman on board the destroyer escort USS Raymon W. Herndon in the assault on Okinawa. Survived by his father Glen, mother Irene, and older sister Lorraine, Norm is buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.  

Johnny McFadden from San Diego, led time trials for the next URA Red “B” program on Monday August 1^st with a best lap of 15.62 seconds, then he captured the trophy dash and his heat race. Other heat race winners included Bill LeRoy, Dwight Gunn and Bill Martin, who also won the semi-main 15-lap race. In the 30-lap feature, McFadden fell two positions short of a “clean sweep” as Bill Martin led Jackie Jordan to the finish line.

The following week, on August 8^th promoter Cake added a special appearance by the Southern California race track favorite ‘Charlie the Clown.’ Leo ‘Pop’ Faulkner, who starting racing in 1934 won the added Australian Pursuit race.   Bill LeRoy won the trophy dash while Johnny McFadden, Bob Allen, Clay Robbins and ‘big car’ racer Ken Crispin scored heat race victories. 

Norm Hall took the checkered flag for the 15-lap semi-main event. On the second lap of the feature, Robbins ran over the wheels of a stalled car and his midget flipped over the wall but he escaped injury. McFadden won the feature while on the penultimate lap Bill Martin and Jackie Jordan tangled as they battled for second place and both spun into the infield.

 ‘Charlie the Clown’ returned to Carpinteria on August 15^th but Jackie Jordan did not, as the URA suspended him for seven days for rough driving following the Carpinteria incident with Martin. Faulkner repeated his victory in the Australian Pursuit and Martin won the trophy dash and his heat race, as Crispin, LeRoy and Car Brown also scored 6-lap race wins.

On the opening lap of the semi-main, Johnny McFadden got squeezed into the outer wall and his midget took a series of side-over-side flips. When the car finally came to rest, Johnny climbed out of the wreckage with only a cut over his eye and badly skinned knuckles.

Bill LeRoy grabbed the early lead in the 30-lap feature then Charlie Miller challenged for the lead until Miller’s engine blew up, and Charlie suffered burns on his arms and legs as the car rolled into the infield. Bill Martin took up the chase after LeRoy, and as the laps wound down, Martin found the fast way around the top of the 1/5-mile oval. With just a few laps to go, Martin sped past LeRoy to take the victory with George Annis in third place.  

On August 18^th, the Ventura County Star-Free Press revealed that promoter Charlie Cake cancelled all Thursday night motorcycle races until track repairs could be made, but that the scheduled Monday night midget races would continue.  

The following day, the Ventura newspaper reported the cancellation of the remainder of the 1949 URA midget racing schedule at the Carpinteria Thunderbowl. According to promoter Charlie Cake, “hot rod” racing would replace the midgets on Monday nights, following the same program line-up as the midgets featuring a trophy dash, four heat races, a 15-lap semi-main and a 30-lap feature.  

On Saturday August 20, the Ventura County Star-Free Press carried an article about the Thunderbowl for the third day in a row.  The newspaper reported that in a telephone interview, Roy Morrison, the URA president revealed that on Friday, the URA board cancelled Charlie Cake’s franchise for URA midget racing at the Thunderbowl.

Morrison cited “non-payment of purses and officials fees,” as the reason for the cancellation, and noted that Cake had an outstanding debt of $781. Morrison added that URA’s Los Angeles attorney, J. Frank Armstrong would draw up papers and file suit in Santa Barbara “in the next ten days.”  In the meantime, Morrison said that the URA board would “strongly consider” a bid to hold races on the Ventura track.

Morrison claimed during his interview that Cake “held up the purse three times and gave the association nothing but trouble since he took over management of the track.”  Roy recalled that dealings with Bradley McLure the original 1949 franchisee were “very satisfactory.” Because of Cake’s actions Morrison claimed “the URA is operating at a loss at the Carpinteria Thunderbowl.”

Cake, contacted by the Ventura County Star-Free Press, admitted that he held up purses “hoping to get more cars the following week,” and would continue to hold purse monies pending the outcome of a $5,000 breach of contract suit to be drawn up by his Ventura attorney Bernard J “Barney” Loughman. “The URA did not send the number of racers called for in the contract,” according to Cake.   

In the next installment, we will trace the rest of the 1949 season as new types of racing took over at the Carpinteria Thunderbowl.

The author is looking for any private vintage photographs of the Carpinteria Thunderbowl that readers may have. Please reach out to kevracerhistory@aol.com .  We can’t pay for use, we’re just looking to share images for those who never saw the track.     

The Carpinteria Thunderbowl Part five - the first half of the 1949 season

The Carpinteria Thunderbowl

Part five - the first half  of the 1949 season

Author’s note – This 12-part article highlights the brief 12-year history of one of Southern California’s least-documented auto racing venues – the Carpinteria Thunderbowl.

The Carpinteria Thunderbowl began its third season of operation on Friday evening May 6th, 1949 as it hosted the ‘Ken Baker Circus of Thrills’ auto thrill show. The show starred the ‘Streamline Death-Defying Hell Drivers’ with precision driving by Dave Arnold and Earl McComb, the “ice crash” in which Bob “Jumpin’ Jack” Niles crashed a sedan into  20-ton wall of ice, rollover crashes by “Reckless” Dick Getty, a head-on crash by Getty and McComb, and closed with a fireworks finale.

Carpinteria was the inaugural show for Ken and Dottie Baker’s troupe, based in North Hollywood that used the advertising phrase “Smoke and Flame - we earn the name.” Later Baker tour stops included Lakeland Park Ranch & Stadium (also known as El Monte Speedway) in El Monte, Balboa Stadium in San Diego, San Fernando’s Valley Fiesta and Contra Costa Stadium in Walnut Creek.  

The Saturday May 14^th edition of the Ventura County Star Free Press featured an article that revealed that the Carpinteria Thunderbowl 1949 midget auto racing season would start on Monday evening May 16th.  The article revealed that “the track will be under the management of Bradley and Wanda McLure,” a couple that lived at 155 East Vince Street in Ventura. 

The article stated that Mr. McClure, who had 20 years’ experience as a superintendent at the Saticoy Rock Company in Ventura County, would “handle the track arrangements, while Mrs. McClure will attend to the concession stand.”

On Monday May 16 the Ventura County Star Free Press featured a Carpinteria Thunderbowl advertisement on page eight but on page nine, an article headlined “Rain Threat cancels Carpinteria Races,” noted that the Thunderbowl had scheduled a program “which featured an All-star card of top-notch drivers was lined up” until “Mrs. Bradley McLure cancelled due a threat of rain this morning and deferred until a week from tonight.”  

On May 20 the Ventura County newspaper carried a follow-up article in which Bradley McLure announced the cancellation of the races scheduled for May 23 and May 30 due to unfavorable weather conditions with the 1949 grand opening of the Thunderbowl postponed to June 6.

 The United Racing Association (URA) “Blue Circuit” drivers scheduled to headline the opening Carpinteria racing program included Danny Oakes, Johnny Garrett, Walt Faulkner, Dominic “Pee Wee” Distarce, “King Karl” Young and Rodger Ward. For the 1949 season, two drivers who jumped from the URA to the American Automobile Association (AAA) during the late summer of 1948, Norm Holtkamp and Cal Niday, returned to the URA fold along with their respective car owners, Roscoe Hogan and Arnold Krause.

On June 6^th, Faulkner defeated Ward in the Trophy Dash, with heat races wins to Garrett, Eddie Anderson, Jimmy Bryan and Bob Kelsey. Bryan beat Distarce to the checkered flag in the 15-lap semi-main which featured a crash that involved Bob Shimp and Al Sherman that required a red flag stoppage. Heath won the feature over Billy Cantrell in a comparatively slow time of 8 minutes and 18 seconds for the thirty laps.

The following week, June 13^th, Doug Groves set quick time in time trials at 11.95 seconds, but was edged out in the Trophy Dash by Billy Cantrell. ‘Skee’ Redican, Rodger Ward, Cliff Epp, and Bill Homeier recorded victories in their 6-lap heat races. Ward won the 15-lap semi-main event, then Bob Barker won the feature after both Jimmy Bryan and Cantrell spun themselves out of contention.   

Allen Heath won the June 20 URA “Blue Circuit” feature in the Lyle Greenman owned Offenhauser and Frank “Satan” Brewer won on June 27 in his own Ford V8-60 powered midget. In the meantime, the McLure family was negotiating to get out of their lease.

On July 1, a new promoter, Charlie Cake, signed the Carpinteria track lease with owner Jim Slaybaugh. In an appearance days later at the Ventura Police Boys’ Club, Cake announced his intention to also promote weekly motorcycle races at Carpinteria, which would begin with an exhibition during the scheduled July 4 URA “Blue Circuit” event.

The July 5^th race report in the Ventura County Star-Free Press noted that the 1/5-mile clay oval “appeared in better shape last night than since midget auto racing began two years ago.” The program started off with a bang when Walt Faulkner set a new track record in qualifying with a lap of 14.66 seconds. Faulkner whipped URA point leader Billy Cantrell in the trophy dash, then easily won his heat race. 

Howard Gardner, who flipped during the semi-main race on June 27^th, reversed his fortunes and snagged the semi-main win.  Faulkner, with chance for a “clean sweep” started the feature from seventh place, passed his teammate Len Faas for the lead on lap five, and romped to victory ahead of Faas, Chet Fink, Danny Oakes and Doug Groves.

A preview written before the first Thunderbowl weekly motorcycle race promised “at least 30 top-notch drivers from Ventura and Santa Barbara counties” that included Cal Cline, the operator of a local motorcycle shop, who took part in the July 4 exhibition. The scheduled motorcycle program included a four-lap trophy dash, eight lap heat races, a 15-lap semi and a 30-lap feature race. 

On July 7th brothers Glenn and Bob Mullaney of Santa Barbara “threaded their two-wheeled broncos through the pack to win first and second place” according to the July 8^th Ventura County Star-Free Press report, which noted that many in the average-sized crowd went away disappointed.

 

The article explained that “most of the blame…can be passed off to the track which was little more than a soft lumpy dirt road by the time three heat races were turned, and even worse when it came time for the consolation race and the main event.” Cal Cline, the local hero, flipped in the mushy dirt midway through the feature, but reportedly received "only friction burns on his hands and arms."

  

In the next URA midget program on Monday night July 11, Doug Groves of Van Nuys set quick time at 14.99 seconds then beat Bill Zaring in the Trophy Dash.  The evening’s heat race victories went to Bill LeRoy, Jim Bryan, Hal Minyard and Rodger Ward. The semi-main race win went to Bryan who set a new 15-lap record of 4 minutes and 64/100 seconds ahead of Kenny Morrison.

Just after Bill Cantrell took the checkered flag for the feature win, chaos erupted behind him. Hal Minyard hit the front stretch wall and his midget spun to stop, facing the approaching field. Doug Groves in third place, with nowhere to go, hit the Minyard car and his car flipped. Groves’ car came to rest upside down, with Doug who was unconscious, pinned inside for many minutes until he could be freed.  

Minyard miraculously escaped unhurt, but once Doug was removed from his midget, an ambulance rushed him to the Lying-In Osteopathic Hospital in Oxnard where the 33-year old driver was admitted with broken left leg and severe bruises on his chest.

The following week’s URA program on July 18^th was a benefit for Groves, with Doug brought to the track from the Oxnard hospital by Jay Ryan’s Ventura County ambulance service. Faulkner edged Garrett in the trophy dash, while Ward, Minyard, Cantrell and Bob Shimp scored heat races wins. Shimp led the semi-main until the Lea-Francis engine in his midget failed. which handed the win to Frank Brewer in his own Ford V8-60 powered car.

The 91-cubic inch Lea-Francis engine, purpose built in England for midget auto racing, featured dry-sump oiling, gear-driven double camshafts, four SU carburetors, with  a high compression ratio to run on alcohol.  Record-setting British driver Dudley Froy, Lea-Francis designer Ken Rose and chief engineer Albert Ludgate made trips to the United States in 1948 and 1949 to show and sell examples of the engine.

Besides Shimp, several US midget racers (including Woody Brown in Northern California) used the four-cylinder “LeaF” engine but it never became popular (less than a dozen were built), given that its 120 horsepower could not match the power of the Offenhauser four-cylinder engine and it sometimes put connecting rods through the side of the aluminum block.

  

The Ventura County Star-Free Press newspaper report called the July 18^th midget feature race “one of the most spectacular races ever at the Thunderbowl” as Cantrell, in the Casale Offenhauser, finished in seven minutes and 45.02 seconds, ahead of Bob Barker, who hounded Cantrell for all thirty laps, with Johnny Garrett the third place finisher.

The author is looking for any private vintage photographs of the Carpinteria Thunderbowl that readers may have. Please reach out to kevracerhistory@aol.com .  We can’t pay for use, we’re just looking to share images for those who never saw the track.