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Topic: Golden Belt Speedway - Great Bend, Kansas
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Page 1 of 2 of 27 replies
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February 04, 2012 at
06:48:44 AM
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This message was edited on
February 04, 2012 at
06:49:37 AM by sschrater
I would be interesting to see how many memories there are of Golden Belt Speedway. Are there any comments, photos, articles, news events that anyone would like to share?
Steven Schrater
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February 04, 2012 at
01:27:13 PM
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Here is one not really racing related but about Golden Belt. Sometime in the mid 70's I was in the pits west end (3 & 4 turns)where the Hutch guys pitted. Far enough west there was still plenty of grass growing. Races were on Sunday night. Got ready to go home and I couldn't find my cars keys. It was a 70 Dodge Charger. Looked all over the area that night. Hitched a ride home with someone from Hutch. Can't remember now who that was. The next day my aunt Twila gave me a ride back up there. There was more than two of us went up. I cannot remember now but I'm sure we had 8 or so pair of eyes. We searched and searched for a couple of hours. Finally had a lock smith make a key or replace the switch can't remember which. I believe it was Marmie Motors who came out. A couple years go by and I'm standing behind Steve Dusworth's #04. When he pulled out he spun the tires. What hit me in the upper leg? My keys that I had lost a year or two before. As soon as I felt it I new exactly what. Somebody I was standing next to even remember when I had lost them. I have never lost any keys since. The strange thing about this is I cannot figure out why I only had one set. I wish I had thought to take a leaf rake the next day to drag around.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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February 04, 2012 at
01:36:18 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: Racing From The Past on February 04 2012 at 01:27:13 PM
Here is one not really racing related but about Golden Belt. Sometime in the mid 70's I was in the pits west end (3 & 4 turns)where the Hutch guys pitted. Far enough west there was still plenty of grass growing. Races were on Sunday night. Got ready to go home and I couldn't find my cars keys. It was a 70 Dodge Charger. Looked all over the area that night. Hitched a ride home with someone from Hutch. Can't remember now who that was. The next day my aunt Twila gave me a ride back up there. There was more than two of us went up. I cannot remember now but I'm sure we had 8 or so pair of eyes. We searched and searched for a couple of hours. Finally had a lock smith make a key or replace the switch can't remember which. I believe it was Marmie Motors who came out. A couple years go by and I'm standing behind Steve Dusworth's #04. When he pulled out he spun the tires. What hit me in the upper leg? My keys that I had lost a year or two before. As soon as I felt it I new exactly what. Somebody I was standing next to even remember when I had lost them. I have never lost any keys since. The strange thing about this is I cannot figure out why I only had one set. I wish I had thought to take a leaf rake the next day to drag around.
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Now thats cool. Once I lost my keys they never come back
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February 04, 2012 at
01:36:32 PM
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This message was edited on
February 04, 2012 at
02:05:44 PM by Racing From The Past
Interesting shot here. This I beleive is Ken Aldridge of Chase. Your favorite #16 to the right. Also the #36 Henry Ellington drove with the green suburban that pulled it to the right. Of course that is Henry standing at the right rear of the car. This car was owned by Steve Dunsworth. It was the #26, #36 and the #04.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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February 04, 2012 at
01:50:09 PM
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Larry Sherbert The Circle Burner on the ole CB. The old pipe fencing. To me that was scaring thought getting tangled in that. I know it happened but can't remember who it was.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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February 04, 2012 at
02:00:25 PM
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Mel Montgomery at Golden Belt. It was always amazing the number of Wichita cars that made the tow to Great Bend on a Sunday night. I doubt if the feature paid $100. Now days were lucky to get cars to tow out of town. I believe that #33 in the background was a Great Bend car. The Lipitor is slowing eating away at the brain. I think his name was Tom Drewel (?)
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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February 04, 2012 at
10:01:27 PM
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These are time trial results from the jalopy races run on May 25, 1963 at the Golden Belt Speedway at Great Bend as recorded by Nut Cokeley's wife, Dorothy. Roy Bryant won the 20 lap A feature that date driving the Lawrence Miller owned #7 that Roy would go on to win the Hutchinson Nationals in just two months later.
"Stay between the fences and don't scratch the paint
above the windows"
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February 04, 2012 at
11:16:23 PM
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This message was edited on
February 08, 2012 at
11:02:32 PM by winfield
The clipping above is from page 6 of the August 18, 1969 issue of the Great Bend Tribune. The newspaper really messed up Oren Haas' name in that article.
I remember the 15-lap B feature pretty well that night. I had been a spectator at the Golden Belt Speedway before but this was the first night that I had raced there. The B feature was made up mostly of cars that usually raced at Wichita and did not have many points at Great Bend regardless of how they had finished in their heat races that night. (For instance, Haas started in the B feature even though he won his heat race.) It was a pretty tough lineup for a B feature. Making up the first two rows were the Chevy's of #93 Oren Haas from Wichita, #81 Bill Mills from Newton, #99 Ralph Henderson from Mulvane, and the #50 Ford driven by Frank Rusert from Wichita. I started somewhere in the third row in my #76 Chevy and several more cars started behind me as the field was pretty large. In turn two on the first or second lap, I was running on the outside of Rusert with Haas, Mills, and Henderson in front of us when Rusert spun out (with no help from me). Everybody behind him committed to the high side to miss Frank's spinning Ford but then Rusert pushed the clutch and let his momentum send him rolling quickly backward across the track. I was the only one able to just slip by as the rest took a trip out through the "giggle weeds" to miss him. No one made serious contact and the green flag stayed out but the incident let the front three get a half lap ahead of me. By the time that the rest got things sorted out and back on the racetrack, they were a half lap behind me and right in front of the first three cars that had caught up to them by that time. We ran several laps with the pack of cars fairly successfully keeping the front three from lapping them while I ran by myself on the other side of the racetrack. I was a half lap behind the front three but a half lap ahead of the rest of the cars and feeling pretty lonely. I couldn't see nor hear any other cars in the race.
Near the end of the race, I saw Henderson's car sitting on the inside of the front straightaway minus one of its front wheels. That moved me into third place behind Haas and Mills and that is how we finished. I don't remember how much it paid but I remember that I was pleased with whatever it was.
I only returned to Great Bend to race once more. That was in 1970 and I broke an axle in hot laps that night. I didn't have a spare with me and the Plymouth rear end under my Chevy prevented others from loaning me a Chevy axle although several offered. That made a short night of it for me and all I got that night was $15 in tow money.
"Stay between the fences and don't scratch the paint
above the windows"
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February 05, 2012 at
09:10:07 AM
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Joined:
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Posts:
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92
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Reply to:
Posted By: Racing From The Past on February 04 2012 at 01:36:32 PM
Interesting shot here. This I beleive is Ken Aldridge of Chase. Your favorite #16 to the right. Also the #36 Henry Ellington drove with the green suburban that pulled it to the right. Of course that is Henry standing at the right rear of the car. This car was owned by Steve Dunsworth. It was the #26, #36 and the #04.
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Great photo with several well known cars and drivers. Would you please E me a copy of this for my 16 photo collection. Thanks. Somewhere along the line I messed up my ability to post photos on this string but can do it on my wife's lap top. LOL
Steven Schrater
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February 05, 2012 at
10:10:35 AM
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.jpg) This car was the 1963 High Points Car with Ray Riner Driving
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February 05, 2012 at
10:29:33 PM
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2303
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Reply to:
Posted By: winfield on February 04 2012 at 11:16:23 PM
The clipping above is from page 6 of the August 18, 1969 issue of the Great Bend Tribune. The newspaper really messed up Oren Haas' name in that article.
I remember the 15-lap B feature pretty well that night. I had been a spectator at the Golden Belt Speedway before but this was the first night that I had raced there. The B feature was made up mostly of cars that usually raced at Wichita and did not have many points at Great Bend regardless of how they had finished in their heat races that night. (For instance, Haas started in the B feature even though he won his heat race.) It was a pretty tough lineup for a B feature. Making up the first two rows were the Chevy's of #93 Oren Haas from Wichita, #81 Bill Mills from Newton, #99 Ralph Henderson from Mulvane, and the #50 Ford driven by Frank Rusert from Wichita. I started somewhere in the third row in my #76 Chevy and several more cars started behind me as the field was pretty large. In turn two on the first or second lap, I was running on the outside of Rusert with Haas, Mills, and Henderson in front of us when Rusert spun out (with no help from me). Everybody behind him committed to the high side to miss Frank's spinning Ford but then Rusert pushed the clutch and let his momentum send him rolling quickly backward across the track. I was the only one able to just slip by as the rest took a trip out through the "giggle weeds" to miss him. No one made serious contact and the green flag stayed out but the incident let the front three get a half lap ahead of me. By the time that the rest got things sorted out and back on the racetrack, they were a half lap behind me and right in front of the first three cars that had caught up to them by that time. We ran several laps with the pack of cars fairly successfully keeping the front three from lapping them while I ran by myself on the other side of the racetrack. I was a half lap behind the front three but a half lap ahead of the rest of the cars and feeling pretty lonely. I couldn't see nor hear any other cars in the race.
Near the end of the race, I saw Henderson's car sitting on the inside of the front straightaway minus one of its front wheels. That moved me into third place behind Haas and Mills and that is how we finished. I don't remember how much it paid but I remember that I was pleased with whatever it was.
I only returned to Great Bend to race once more. That was in 1970 and I broke an axle in hot laps that night. I didn't have a spare with me and the Plymouth rear end under my Chevy prevented others from loaning me a Chevy axle although several offered. That made a short night of it for me and all I got that night was $15 in tow money.
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I just don't recall a Bob Henshaw from McPherson. Anybody remember his number.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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February 06, 2012 at
10:31:42 AM
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This message was edited on
February 06, 2012 at
11:22:11 AM by winfield
I believe that Bob Henshaw being from McPherson is an error. I think it was Bob Henshaw (same spelling) from Wichita who drove a white over red Ford #17 back then. That is Bob starting on the pole in the photo above. He ran John Hebb built engines in that Ford and went quite well. Bob moved to Arizona after just a few years of racing and still resides there.
The photo above was taken on the pace lap of a B feature at Winfield, Kansas that Bob Henshaw won. The #58 on the outside of the front row was driven by Herschel Wagoner of Wichita; #05 on the inside of the second row was driven by Mel Montgomery; the driver of the '59 Ford on the outside of the second row has yet to be identified; the Ford on the inside of the third row was #1A driven by Bob Overton of Wichita; the #19 Ford on the outside of the third row was Don Blackburn of Coffeyville; the gray #24 Ford on the outside of the fifth row was driven by Wayne Wilt of Winfield; and the blue Ford on the outside of the last row was #41 driven by John Marshall of Wichita. If anyone can identify any of the other cars in that photo, please let me know.
Bob Lawrence
"Stay between the fences and don't scratch the paint
above the windows"
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February 06, 2012 at
08:37:41 PM
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Now that is a good looking Winfield track for a B feature. No dust on that day.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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February 06, 2012 at
08:55:27 PM
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This message was edited on
February 06, 2012 at
09:02:53 PM by winfield
Now that is a good looking Winfield track for a B feature. No dust on that day.
They had learned at Winfield by then. They watered the racetrack between each race that day. It did make for pretty good racing but it also made for a long afternoon.
"Stay between the fences and don't scratch the paint
above the windows"
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February 06, 2012 at
09:50:59 PM
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I want to say Sam Cell But I'm far from being sure. Sam drove a #23 most of the years I remember. But something just says Sam for this car.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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February 06, 2012 at
09:53:19 PM
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Marvin McNett from Great Bend at Great Bend.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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February 06, 2012 at
09:54:52 PM
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Max Sloan from Great Bend at Golden Belt.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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February 06, 2012 at
10:00:48 PM
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Tom Drewel drove this car. I think Tom was from Hoisington or Bushton??
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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February 06, 2012 at
10:04:57 PM
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Jack Petty from Wichita in this era.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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February 06, 2012 at
10:12:31 PM
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I think this was Shelby Steeson'a ride. I know Tom Lutkie also drove one with the same number. It just doesn't have the 81 Speedway look. Those cars had a look to them. I am thinking they may have been all lettered by the same person??
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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