Racing History Minute - Racing Continues of the Beach 1937 - 1941
Stock Car Racing History
a attempt to even summarize the events transpiring in Daytona from the beginning of 1937 through the end of 1941 would require pages and pages of History Minutes. So, to hit the high points, so to speak, let us begin.
As you may recall from our last "Minute", the City of Daytona claimed to have lost $22,000.00 on the 1936 event. It appeared that auto racing on the beach was over. In 1937, however, someone in Daytona City Government became convinced that motorcycle races would prove a good fit for the beach. Accordingly, the word went out to the Southeastern Motorcycle Association in Savannah, Georgia that had been sanctioning motorcycle events since 1932. The track record for the SMA, however, was not stellar as most events drew less that 20 riders and about the same number of spectators. The American Motorcycle Association agreed to co-sanction the event with the SMA and the race date was set for January 224, 1937. A crowd estimated at 20,000 watched Ed Kretz ride an Indian to victory at an average speed of 74.10 mph. Actually, 98 riders entered from 28 states and Canada. The event was a rousing success and appeared to herald the end of stock car racing in Daytona.
During the spring and summer, vacationers inundated the beach and any form of motorsports was prohibited. However, it was during the summer of 1937 that two guys, Sig Haugdahl and Bill France got together and decided to try, once more, to stage a successful stock car race on the beach and highway course. The two went to the Daytona Elks Club for assistance in promoting the event and while the Elks agreed to help in promotion, they made it abundantly clear that financial help from their organization would be, at best, very minimal.
What actually came about with the help of the Elks, was a much smaller motorcycle event and a 50 mile stock car event along with an event for the "hot rods" of the day. For the motorcycle event, 17 riders entered. Fifteen entries for the hot-rod division and 20 cars for the stock car event. It was local driver Carl "Smokey' Purser who won the event for stock cars ahead of Mike Cone, both drivers from Daytona. , Only the top four finishers were given official credit in Greg's book and I am assuming it is because records from that time are almost non-existant. Top four finishers were:
1. Smokey Purser in a Ford
2. Mike Cone in a Ford
3. Danny Murphy in a Plymouth
4. Bill Stockwell (no make of car provided).
Bill France was in the race in a Ford but his finishing position is not listed.
By 1938, the City of Daytona was coming around to the fact that the beach and racing were a good pair. Ray Eberling, City Recreation Officer said "We are going to have racing in Daytona Beach. The City of Daytona first contacted Ralph Hankinson, a renowned promoter of events everywhere. Good old Ralph told Daytona officials it would take at least $20,000.00 to promote an event. Daytona backed down from that price tag.
Smokey Purser, who owned the New Yorker Bar and Grill, and whom we met earlier as a "successful" driver, among his other activities, both legal and illegal. However, when it came to the bottom line, Purser couldn't get help he needed and wanted so once more the likelihood of stock car racing in Daytona was fading as the setting sun.
Enter Big Bill France. At the time,Big Bill was having success on the circuit as a driver, a major threat in any event and many times a winner. He was also well known for his promotional interests and abilities. Charlie Reese, who owned Charlie's Grill and Hi-Hat Club in Daytona was a friend of Bill France and the two of them talked over alternatives. Charlie offered to put up the money if Bill would promote the race. Bill agreed and suddenly there was a Daytona Beach Racing Association. Bill got to work and a race was set for July 4th. France soon had entries from more than 30 drivers, one as far away as Indianapolis. The race was to be 150 miles on the beach/road course. One of the first entries was Smokey Purser, winner of the 1937 event, and the big mouth of Daytona as he brought much publicity with his bragging of how he was going to take this race going away.
Heavy rains on July 4th washed out the event. The next available date which would be allowed by the beach tides was July 10th so the race was set for that date. On Friday before the race, Purser's Ford disappeared for awhile but reappeared apparently in good condition. When the race started, Purser sprang into the lead and was going away until lap 3 then he pulled into the pits with an overheating engine. Raising the hood, he found his fan belt had been cut. Sabotage at the race track!
Even though a heavy thunderstorm hit midway through the race, the officials would not red flag it because to do so would mean it could not finish the distance due to the incoming tide. The beach was wet, the highway slick, but racing continued. Multiple wrecks occurred all around the track. The event finished and "High Speed at Low Tide" lists only the top ten finishers ALL IN FORDS, as follows:
1. Danny Murphy
2. Bill France
3.Mike Cone
4. Harold Brasington *
5.Lloyd Moody
6. Joe McGrath
7. Doc Travis
8. Ben Gibson
9. Hugh Dixon
10. Al Wheatley
* This is the Harold Brasington who would go on to build Darlington Raceway for which this writer will always be greatful.
Other entrants you may recognize; Tommy Elmore, Cannonball Baker, and without a doubt, Buttercup Pearce, and Buttercup is not set apart by quotation marks.
Almost immediately upon conclusion of the event, Big Bill and Reese began promotion an event for Labor Day. A 42 lap event over the 3.2 mile course was set to start at 10:30 a.m. on Labor Day. In addition to the race, the three day Labor Day Weekend event included boxing, motorcycle racing and a rodeo. A scoreboard was erected to keep fans informed and a sound systems was set up as an experiment to further inform the fans.
Both pre-race and post-race inspections were to be instituted to keep all competitiors within the rules. Lap prizes were to be awarded, some in cash, and other such awards as a box of Hav-A-Tampa cigars. The cars would parade around the track to enthuse the spectators further hoping to have them in a frenzy for the start. The race was a competitive event with Smokey Purser and Lloyd Moody,a local Ford dealer, racing fender to fender, with Big Bill France right behind. As things wound down, Purser had an insummountable lead after Moody went into the sand on the turn and bogged down his Ford. Purser took the checked flag but kept right on going. He disappeared from view and was gone. Bill France was second and Woodrow "Pig" Ridings from Spartanburg, SC was third.
Cars were to be inspected at 4:00 p.m. sharp at the Seabreeze Garage. With Purser disappearing as he did, there was little doubt his car was illegal, but because disqualifying him would move promoter Bill France to first place, something had to be done to avoid the appearance of impropriety. So, a vote of all drivers was taken on the question of whether or not to disqualify Purser. The vote was unanimous and Purser was disqualified and Bill France named the winner.
At approximately 3:50 p.m. Purser and his car appeared at the Seabreeze Garage for inspection. After much discussion, some sure to contain four letter words not mentionable in this article, the disqualification stood and Big BIll was the winner.
Finishing order:
1. Bill France in a Ford
2. Lloyd Moody in a Ford
3. Woodrow "Pig" Ridings in a Ford
4. Joe Littlejohn in a Ford
5. Al Wheatley in a Ford
6. Mike Cone in a Ford
7. Jimmy Gibson in a Ford
8. Duke Blair in a Ford
9. Danny Murphy in a Ford
10. Chet Travis in a Ford
11.Charlie Stearns in a Auburn
12. Joe McGrath in a Ford
13.Tommy Elmore in a Ford
14. Smokey Purser in a Ford disqualified.
In 1939, the word of mouth, Smokey Purser's mouth, was that he had won the Labor Day event regardless of the alleged disqualification. The unique situation as now recalled is that this disqualification is said to be the very first in a "major" stock car race. Another claim to fame for Smokey. Old Smokey was born in Lumber City, Georga, sometime in the late 1800s. He quit school in the 8th grade and used his mechanical genius to earn a living while pursuing an unspecified dream of greatness. He earned good money, sometimes legally, sometimes not, but that allowed him to pursue the racing when it started in Daytona.
In late January, 1939, talk began with plans for a race on March 2nd, the date when the tidal chart indicated the best tides for racing conditions. France and Reese used their talents to talk the Junior Chamber of Commerce into sponsoring the race. Part of the JCC's duties would be selling tickets to the event.
After the unfortunate disqualification of Purser the year before, rules were changed, a little, to allow modification to the heads of the engines. Thus, this would not be a stickly stock race.
During a two day qualifying show, Cannonball Baker would put his Hudson on the pole. Smokey Purser was making headline promising something for every other car in the field. When the race started, however, it was a 21 year old rookie driver from Orlando, Mad Marion McDonald who took his yellow Ford for a ride of a lifetime, taking turns on two wheels and riding high. Almost predictably, that style eventually landed Mad Marion on his roof in the north turn. Johnny Sam Rice, who drove wearing a wide-brimmed hat rather than a helmet, won the event. He would go on to become a renowned Winston Cup car owner and track promoter and the hat was his trademark. Finishing order for the event, first through six, were:
1. J. Sam Rice, Mercury
2. Bill France, Ford
3. Joe Littlejohn, Ford
4. Stewart Joyce, Ford
5. Smokey Purser, Ford
6. Lloyd Moody, Ford
Other entrants not listed by finishing order include some names you may recognize; Red Byron, Bill Stockwell, Cannonball Baker, Bill Medlin, Lloyd Seay, Al Wheatley, Danny Murphy, and Pete Craig.
As soon as the March race was in the book, plans for another July 4th race were hitting paper. A crowd of 10,000 would show for the July 4th event and traffic was so backed up on the highway, that the pole winner, Jimmy Gibson did not make the start of the race. Bill France took the field into turn one but heading down the paved back straight, a young Stewart Joyce blasted around the front runners and led the next 27 laps going away. On lap 28, Joyce overshot the South turn and flipped in the sand dunes. Spectators helped Joyce get his car upright and back on track and he set out in pursuit of France and the other front runners. In the final 18 laps, Joyce almost lapped the field. Finishing order for that event:
1. Stewart Joyce, Ford
2.Smokey Purser, Ford
3.Bill Tanner, Mercury,
4.Bill France, Ford
5.Bill Snowden, Ford
6. Basil Setliff, Ford
7. Julian Miller, no make provided
8, Cannonball Baker, no make provided
9. Danny Murphy, no make provided
10. Lloyd Moody, no make provided
When it came time to work out the details for the Labor Day Race, Big Bill stated that he felt the cars should go back to a more strickly stock rule book. So it was spoken by Big Bill, and so it was done. By that very move, several competitors did not return for Labor Day. When the event was concluded, the finishing order was:
1. Smokey Purser, Mercury
2. Bill France, Mercury
3. Stewart Joyce, Ford
4. Joe Littlejohn, Ford
5. Jimmy Gibson, Ford
6. J. Sam Rice, Ford
Those are the only finishing positions provide although ten other drivers competed.
Having made a few dollars off the 1939 events, France and Reece were satisfied to go forward in 1940, especially after Sam Purser joined them as a promotional partner.Sam had already proved the power of his mouth in self promotion.
The 1940 March race was shaping up to be quite a show. France had hired a local parts manager to handle inspections. The list of entries included the most diversified field since the first race in 1936. Fords led the listb, ut there were five Mercurys, three Buicks, a Plymouth, a Chevrolet, and a Willys.
One of the early entries was a Georgia racer named Roy Hall. He was 19 years old and already an established star in Georgia. Raymond Parks owned the 1939 Ford Hall would driver and Red Vogt was turning the wrenches. Quite a combination. Everything was going quite well for France and Reece as the days counted down to the big March 10th race.
The stories from this race include the wreck of Larry Grant in which he was rendered unconscious when his car almost got the Mayor of Daytona when it flipped into the grandstand. When he came to, on a stretcher heading for the ambulance, he jumped off and headed for his overturned car. Several spectators and National Guardsmen helped him right the car and roared off. He would finish 15th.
Hall was going after the lead, held by Joe Littlejohn, taking the turns on two wheels. Littlejohn made a pit stop on the 29th lap which lasted two minutes which gave Hall the lead. When Hall pitted, Vogt had him back on the track in 40 seconds and the race was decided at that point. Top ten finishers were:
1. Roy Hall, Ford
2. Joe Littlejohn, Buick
3. Cannonball Baker, Mercury
4. Bill France, Mercury
5. Smokey Purser, Mercury
6. Bob Flock, Ford
7. Tommy Elmore, Ford
8. Jimmy Healy, Ford
9. Jimmy Gibson, Ford
10. Ron "Speed" Hancock, Chevrolet
Other finishers, not in order, include J. Sam Rice, Bill Snowden, Bill Medlin and Floyd Rankin.
Plans for the July 4th race celebration got underway immediately. Roy Hall, the flamboyant driver of March, had issues with law enforcement which kept him unavailable for racing more than once. Such was the case for the July 4th race (actually run on July 7, 1940). Side note here is that in September, 1949, in a race in HIgh Point, NC, Roy's car overturned and the roof caved in giving him head injuries that would effectively end his career behind the wheel.
Entries began to arrive for the July 7th race and France was surprised to see a young George Ruse, Jr. entering a Chevy pickup truck. Another driver, this time a veteran, Lloyd Moody, was to drive a GMC pickup entered by Dick Rose. Rose was generous in that he would give the race winner a $25.00 off discount for any used car on the Rose Used Car Lot.
Bill France qualified on the pole. Not surprising as he won in Salisbury, NC the week before, and had just won another 100 mile race in Spartanburg, SC. There would be, however, 38 other competitors set to give Big Bill a run. To make a long race short, Bill led every lap in his powerful Buick. Bill was thinking, however, that he was building up such a lead that fans would lose interest, so he began to back off so as not to appear too dominant. Finishing order:
1. Bill France , Buick
2. Joe Littlejohn, Buick
3. Smokey Purser, Ford
4. Bill Snowden, Ford
5. Norman Wrigley,Mercury
6. Elbert Adkins, Ford
7. Stewart Joyce, Mercury
8. C.D. McReynolds, Ford
9, Jim Gibson, Buick
10. Howard Juett, Mercury
11. Oliver Fisher, Ford.
12. Joe Brennan, Ford
13. Leland Colvin, Ford
Other entrants, though not in order, you may recognize: Cannonball Baker, Harold Brasington, Bob Flock, Tommy Elmore, and Bob Flock.
Ever the clever promoter, Big Bill determined that an all female field would draw a crowd and a large field. On September 1, 1940, he tried out that theory, but only 13 drivers entered for the 25.6 mile race. Rules were implemented which restricted the women to only 40 mph on the paved portion of the track. The race drew a great deal of local publicity and was held on September 1, 1940, as scheduled. Evelyn Reed won in a Ford, over Virginia Atkins in another Ford. The known drivers of the female racing at the time, were down the list but included Ethel Mobley, Betty Vogt, Mrs. Joe Littlejohn, and Anne France. That was probably the first race Anne France actually saw at the beach and Big Bill had her running the service station while he raced.
Another race was held on September 2, 1940. When it concluded, Buck Mathis had his Ford in first place. Finishing order through the top ten are:
1. Buck Mathis, Ford
2. Smokey Purser, Ford
3. Joe LIttlejohn, Ford
4. Cannonball Baker, Ford
5. Bill Snowden, Ford
6. Bill France, Ford
7. Tommy Elmore, Mercury
8. Floyd Arnold, Mercury
9. Bob Flock, no make provided
10. Elbert Atkins, Ford
When the 1940 season was over, Bill France was declared the unofficial national stock car champion.
As this post has already gotten very lengthy, I will end it here in anticipation of covering the 1941 season in my next post. We will soon be into the beginnings of what became NASCAR with the stock cars racing on the beach. We will have some exciting stories of the races there in the 50s, including a very special 1953 report.
Once more, I want to thank Bill McPeek for the loan of Greg Fielden's book, "High Speed at Low Tide". And,as always, my heart felt thanks to Greg for his tireless efforts to record the history of this sport I love ( or perhaps "loved" is a better use of the tense).
Honor the past, embrace the present, and dream for the future.
updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
