This month, the Kansas Speedway was expected to draw thousands of auto racing fans for a series of races.

The Wyandotte County track opened in 2001, but the Kansas City area’s auto racing legacy goes back at least 100 years. In September 1922, big crowds congregated to watch the inaugural race of the Kansas City Speedway, a unique wooden track built on approximately the same site as the former Bannister Federal Complex, just north of Bannister Road and east of Troost Avenue, in Jackson County.

In this month’s E-Journal Steve Hartwich, a member of the Jackson County Historical Society board of directors explains how - even 100 years ago - the cars were fast and their drivers were fearless.

By Steve Hartwich

“When 105 miles per hour was really fast.” That’s the title of Tom Hutcherson’s Sept. 16, 1972, Kansas City Star article that sparked my interest in the Kansas City Speedway board track.

My racing friend Jim Penney and I had the good fortune to visit with Hutcherson a number of years later and discuss his interest in racing and the Kansas City board track. Tom made a habit of writing a story for the Kansas City Star about the track on or near the anniversary dates on which the races took place during the short lifespan of the speedway. It was in existence from 1922 through 1924, having hosted a mere four car races with motorcycle races sandwiched in between.

The inaugural race was scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 16, 1922, but was canceled due to rain. Instead, it was run Sunday, Sept. 17, after a dedication address by Kansas Governor Henry J. Allen to a record crowd of 50,000. Ticket prices for the Sunday, Sept. 17 inaugural race ranged from 50 cents for children to $10 for a box seat in the main grandstand.

The track was the brainchild of Jack Prince and Art Pillsbury. The partners built 24 board tracks around the country from 1910 to 1928, using local investors to finance each track. Prince was the promoter and Pillsbury was the engineer of the tracks. Prince was an English bicycle rider born in Coventry in 1859 and considered a world champion rider by 1880.

Kansas City Speedway Association investors were granted permission in December 1921 to buy 192 acres of land for the track. It was located on what is now the north side of Bannister Road east of Troost Avenue. Construction began in May 1922.

According to an advertisement in the first speedway program, the 1.25-mile oval track was constructed of 1,000,000 feet of southern yellow pine lumber that filled 175 train carloads. The lumber was purchased from Kansas City-based Badger Lumber & Coal Company. The track consisted of 2-inch by 4-inch boards standing on the edge and bolted together forming a 35-degree angle for the daring drivers of the day.

The two grandstands of the $500,000 ($8.1 million in today’s economy) speedway held 15,000 spectators each and were constructed of steel on concrete pilings with wooden seats and floors. Construction of the two grandstands, the advertisement said, required 1,000 kegs of nails and 700 tons of steel.

*Some of the 14 race cars at the start of the 3rd race at the Kansas City Speedway. October 21, 1923.*

The grandstands were the first in the country constructed of steel. They were 85 feet high with 28 tiers of seats and were connected under the track by two concrete tunnels. Each straightaway was 792 feet long connecting the two shorter lengths of the oval 1 ¼ mile long track. There was parking on the land surrounding the track for 20,000 cars plus 5,000 more on the infield.

The Kansas City area had smaller, less significant dirt tracks prior to the construction of the speedway, but this was the first one that attempted to emulate large tracks around the country such as the Indianapolis Speedway, initially a brick-surfaced track. In 1920, two years before the construction of the Kansas City track, the Pillsbury-Prince team built the fanciest of all board tracks in Beverly Hills, Calif. It was on 400 acres of prime land where the Beverly Wilshire Hotel is now located.

Purses for the first race

Keep in mind that early race drivers were afforded very little, if any, crash or fire protection for themselves or their cars. This was truly a daredevil sport not for the fainthearted.

John A. Butler, president of the Kansas City Speedway Association, was president of Butler Motor Company, a Dodge Brothers dealership between Grand Avenue and Walnut Street at 26th Street. The rest of the board included J.B. Reynolds, vice president; W.P. Hemphill, treasurer; E.E. Peake, secretary, and general manager; L.J. Smyth, assistant manager; Glen L. Bruner, counsel; William B. Stone, publicity director; and James O’Neil Bruen and Ray T. Collins.

The race was timed, and the distance and speed of each car was recorded by an $8,000 Warner Electric Horograph, said to be one of only two in the country at the time. This timing device used a “trip wire” strung across the track in concert with a moving disc, which crept forward every time a car crossed the wire. At the same instant, the time was recorded on the disc by a $1,000 Bliss chronometer. The movement of the disc recorded the time, speed, and distance on a typewriter-like instrument consisting of a ribbon with a long, unbroken piece of paper.

On race days fire protection for the track and race cars was provided by the Kansas City Fire Department using a speedway-owned chemical fire truck. Chemical fire extinguishers were placed every 100 feet around the track. In addition, chemical extinguishers and barrels of water were placed on the columns of both grandstands.

The names of the drivers and their respective car numbers were emblazoned on the walls of the infield. The Field Office headquarters was also located near the track in this location where the timers, scorers, and race referee were stationed.

A press stand was installed in front of the main grandstand for members of the Kansas City press and correspondents of other newspapers to telegraph or telephone their stories to their respective newspapers.

The speedway had a fully-equipped hospital, with a doctor and medical staff of eight. Additional nurses, plus the doctor’s staff, were stationed throughout the race property to render quick medical attention to a driver or spectator. Patients, if necessary, could be transported by ambulance supplied by DW Newcomer’s, a longtime Kansas City funeral home, to a hospital nearby.

*Kansas City Speedway parking – You can see the grandstand in the distance in the middle of the photograph.*

A little-known fact was that there was a stone jail located in the northwest corner of the speedway property. Plain-clothes policemen stationed throughout the speedway could place pickpockets or other criminals in jail. Those with minor infractions would be released without being charged at the end of the race. Those guilty of more serious offenses were taken to the county jail and held for prosecution.

Seventeen men, listed with their cars, were slated to be on the starting grid for the inaugural race: Eddie Hearne, Distell Duesenberg; W.W. Brown, Junior Special (a Kansas City-based mechanic and driver); Bennett Hill, Miller Special; Peter De Paolo, Junior Special; Leon Duray, Frontenac Special; R.J. Brett, Frontenac Special; Ora F. Haibe, Frontenac Special; Tommy Milton, Leach-Miller Special; Frank Elliott, Leach Special; Joe Thomas, Duesenberg Straight 8 Special; Harry Hartz, Hartz Special; Howdy Wilcox, Peugeot Special; Ralph Mulford, Duesenberg Straight 8 Special; Jerry Wunderlich, Duesenberg Straight 8 Special; Allen A Mulford, Duesenberg Straight 8 Special; R. Clifford Durant, Durant Special; and Jimmy Murphy, Murphy Special. Of the 17 original starters, only 15 actually ran the race, and six finished.

W.W. Brown of Kansas City did not start in the race as originally planned.

Roscoe Sarles was originally the relief driver for Cliff Durant. The unsubstantiated story was that both Sarles and Durant were very eager to drive in the race. Sarles was said to have spoken to a local doctor convincing the doctor that Durant was unfit to run the race due to a heretofore unknown infirmity. Thus, Sarles was in the starting line-up driving Durant’s car. Later, unfortunately, Sarles would be the only fatality of the celebrated first race. In his quest to pass any drivers on the track his car careened over the upper guardrail, landing 50 feet below killing him on the 110th lap. His funeral was held in Los Angeles, where pallbearers were some of the most noteworthy race car drivers of the day and teammates of the hapless driver.

Durant was the son of wealthy auto entrepreneur William C. Durant, founder of the General Motors Corporation.

Drivers of note in addition to Durant included Jimmy Murphy, Tommy Milton, Harry Hartz, Smilin’ Ralph Mulford, and Peter DePaolo. Durant was portrayed in the first program as a sportsman, entrepreneur, and promoter of racing having assembled a team of three popular competitors from the sport: Roscoe Sarles, Jimmy Murphy, and Harry Hartz. It was this inaugural race at Kansas City that was too much for Durant to ignore so he decided to drive a car himself in addition to his teammates piloting their own cars.

The remaining drivers of the first race either wrecked their cars, had mechanical problems, or were out of the race due to being flagged for rules or safety violations. According to sources, 11 drivers went to the hospital that day for injuries. One of the many accidents of the day involved Joe Thomas and Jimmy Murphy, ninth and 14th place finishers. The fastest lap for the first race was by Tommy Milton in his Leach-Miller Special at 122.800 MPH.

The Sept. 18, 1922, Kansas City Times reported that Milton was declared the winner of the race in his Leach-Miller Special, with a time of 2 hours 45 minutes and 52.96 seconds at an average speed of 108 MPH. He made two pit stops during the race. He also won the $10,000 (today’s value $161,157) winner’s prize for the race. A tidy sum in 1922.

The second race

*Cover of second race program, July 4, 1923*

The Kansas City Times newspaper touted the second race with a large display graphic on page five:

Today’s the Day!

National Speedway Race.

The speed classic of the year!

A large image of Jimmy Murphy’s 1922 World Champion accompanied the text.

The gates opened at 10:30 a.m. and the race started at 3 p.m. Included in the festivities was a band concert from 1 to 3 p.m. Admission ranged from $1.50 for children aged under 12 years to $10 for box seats. There was free parking for 25,000 vehicles, with police protection provided. The Country Club Street Car Line was also available when one transferred to the Dodson Line, getting off at 89th street and walking or taking an autobus to the track.

The program for the second of four races was decidedly smaller at 24 pages including the covers compared to the first 79-page program. There were 14 entrants in this race with many of the same drivers as the first race. One noteworthy addition was Harlan Fengler, who was also a AAA Championship driver. The AAA Contest Board was in existence from 1905 to 1955. It sanctioned open-wheel racing events throughout the country. We know these open-wheel cars today as Indy Cars.

Fengler declared in the first program as the “baby” of the race due to his comparatively young age, finished third in his Durant/Miller #26 car with a time of two hours, 44 minutes, 54 seconds at an average speed of 90.957 miles per hour.

Fengler also rode with Harry Hartz, the second-place finisher in the first race, as his mechanic. He made 200 laps in the 250-mile classic, along with only three other official finishers, among 12 racers of the 14 that started the race.

The winner was Eddie Hearne with his Durant/Miller #6 car. His winning time was two hours, 21 minutes, 21 seconds with a top average speed of 106.118 miles per hour. Second place was Earl Cooper and fourth was Dave Lewis. The rest of the field of eight drivers had a variety of problems including being flagged (presumably for a rules violation), a broken fuel line, wrecks and broken engine parts, or outright engine failures.

It’s worth noting that this was a 250-mile race instead of the 300-mile inaugural event the previous September. Subsequent race lengths would be 250 miles for the third race, and 150 for the fourth and final race. First race contenders Eddie Hearne, Frank Elliott, Jimmy Murphy, Harry Hartz, Tommy Milton, Bennett Hill, and Jerry Wonderlich were all part of the second race who finished or placed.

The July 5, 1923 edition of the Kansas City Times stated that more than 40,000 fans attended the second race. This was down from the 50,000, a 20 percent drop, that attended the first race.

The following shows that not only attendance was down from the first race but the prize money afforded the drivers was also less than the first race.

The first prize was $9,000, down from $10,000 from the first race. The total of the prizes for all drivers was $25,000 which was down from the $30,000 of the first race.

Officials used flags to signal to drivers and spectators alike of different stages of the race. A red flag, indicating the course was clear, started the race. Yellow was a warning for the drivers to slow down, white was to stop for consultation, blue was to indicate an accident on the course, and green was for the last lap. And of course the checkered flag for the winner of the race on their final lap.

The third race

The third race was Sunday, Oct. 21, 1923. There were 14 official drivers who started the race. Of those 14, nine actually finished the entire 250-mile race with five only partially completing due to a variety of engine failures. Harlan Fengler, the third-place finisher in the second race on July 4, 1923, finished first in his Wade/Miller #12 car. He completed the 200 laps in a blistering 2 hours, 12 minutes, and 27 seconds with an average speed of 113.25 miles per hour. A photo of Fengler sitting inside his winning car was printed prominently at the top of page 2 of the October 22, 1923 edition of the Kansas City Times.

*Race cars careening around the track during the first race on September 17, 1922.*

Even though this was the third race of the four-race series, it made the front page of the Times. Fengler was 23 years old and still being called the “baby” of the 14-car field of racers. The Times trumpeted Fengler’s win by stating that he “hurtled around the huge wooden saucer at the greatest speed ever maintained on a Board track for a 250-mile grind—113.2 miles an hour—roared to victory in the fall motor classic.”

The story went on to say that this race was void of any serious accidents, unlike the first two races, in which there were many. The estimated crowd attendance of 25,000 spectators was down from the 40,000 for the second race. L.J. Smyth, general manager of the speedway stated his disappointment at the lower attendance. He also said that the speedway could easily accommodate 75,000 spectators.

George L. Wade of Kansas City was the owner and builder of Fengler’s winning car. He also had prepared three other race cars in his Kansas City shop spending a total of $45,000. DeWolf Hopper, an actor, singer, comedian, and theatrical producer was a guest at this race. He was best known for the performances of the poem “Casey at the Bat.” Hopper said in the Kansas City Times that it was one of the best motors races he’d ever attended. Driver Ora Haibe, who piloted an Ackerman/Frontenac, placed last in the race. His car was assembled by Henry Rompel at the Triangle Tire and Battery Company, 30th Street & Gillham Road during a two-week period.

The fourth race

The fourth and final race of July 4, 1924, was halted at 150 miles due to the track condition. The race, originally slated to be a 250-mile event, was stopped by race officials because the track was severely deteriorated due to the poor condition of the wooden boards, creating a potentially dangerous situation for drivers. After the race, photos were taken by onlookers of children poking their heads through the boards that were missing. Such was the very poor and dangerous condition of the track surface.

Sixteen drivers were in the race. Of those only four finished. Jimmy Murphy finished first in his Miller #2 after 120 laps with a time of 1 hour, 18 minutes, and 39 seconds; at 114.43 miles per hour. He was followed by the winner of the first race Tommy Milton at 114.42 miles per hour and Bennett Hill at 114.40 miles per hour in third place.

The July 4 Kansas City Times reported that the gates opened at 9 a.m. and by the 2:30 p.m. start time a record 35,000 had gathered inside the grounds for the race. An estimated crowd of 10,000 was in the track infield. At 2 p.m. a team of carpenters walked around the track occasionally pounding in nails on loose boards.

Prize money for the final race was nearly the same as the previous two races with the first-place winner claiming $9,000.

A typewritten page to the right states the race was stopped at 125 miles due to holes on the north curve of the track, with one large gap being 16 feet long. Personal hand-written notes by the race fan/owner of the paper are shown below.

Motorcycle races

*Cover of the September 3, 1923 motorcycle race*

At the time, motorcycle racing was as popular as car board track racing. Motorcycle racing was preceded in popularity by bicycle racing, which was at its zenith all over the world in the 1890s. During this time almost every major city in the country had a velodrome for bicycle races. Velodromes were either round or oval wooden tracks that made it easy for spectators to see the majority of a bicycle race no matter where they were seated. Motordromes, as some motorcycle board tracks were called, gained popularity after interest in bicycle racing waned.

The image above reveals some interesting information. It appears to be from a 1923 Kansas City Speedway motorcycle race program. Information gleaned from online sources indicates that the motorcycle races run at the speedway were in either September or October. This is borne out by the fact that at the lower left corner of the image it mentions that the National Championship Motor Classic, October 17, comes in the middle of the Priests of Pallas Festival Week.

Ralph Hepburn, a popular and well-known motorcycle and race car driver of the era was the starting rider of this race. Of note above the starting line-up of riders included boys and girls bicycle races; and an exhibition speed trial of motorcycles with side-cars. Following those, the official motorcycle races commenced at 2 p.m. with one 10-mile race, two 25-mile races, and one 100-mile race. Below the starting line-up of riders, you can see ticket prices for the race with a slight price difference between grandstand “A” and grandstand “B.” Grandstand “A” was the main grandstand, closer to the action with the start-finish line in plain view. Grandstand “B” was across the race track on what would have been the back straightaway of the oval track.

Bankruptcy and the end

*Main grandstand photo dated April 30, 1933. Nothing of the track itself remained. Only an open field.*

The Kansas City Speedway Association filed for bankruptcy in October 1923. Following the fourth and final race, the property was sold in November 1924 to an investment company. Nothing happened until a decade had passed when the land was cleared for a community garden to feed families affected by the depression.

*1940 aerial view of the footprint of the former Kansas City speedway and surrounding area.*

In December 2017 the ownership of the former Bannister Federal Complex was transferred to Bannister Transformation and Development LLC. This author was in contact with one of the officials of that company during the remediation of the property, which was extensive. The official said no physical evidence of the race track existed at the location that would indicate its storied past. The short-lived yet exciting chapter of the speedway’s history in Jackson County is now just a memory but not to be forgotten. We can celebrate it in our way on the 100th anniversary of the first race, September 17, 2022!

A Century of Speed