7 replies to this topic

[fines]

No, not a typo! I just did a bit of research on the various American racing drivers named Musick, and thought I'd share it here.

1) Benjamin Franklin "Ben" Musick, born September 15 in 1907, died March 1966 following a heart attack. I have seen the year of birth quoted as 1908, and 1967 in connection with his death, too, but the SSDI shows a Ben Musick from Texas with the aforementioned dates, who appears to be a match. Originally from Dallas (TX), Ben was the oldest and most successful of all the Musicks in racing, and by 1934 was already winning "outlaw" races in the Midwest. Interestingly, he was soon to become a real outlaw, allegedly by steeling a truckload of liquor, and was trying to escape the attention of federal agents by racing under the name of "Bill Morris".

That ploy seemed to work for a time, and during 1936 "Bill Morris" was making good progress, even running in a few AAA events and scoring a fourth place finish in a 40-miler at Milwaukee, but apparently the law caught up with him and he served time in prison. He came back to race successfully with the leading independent associations, IMCA and CSRA, until 1949 (some say 1950). His best year was 1946, driving the 1938 O'Day/Offenhauser for Peaches Campbell, and finishing second in IMCA points, and he had five more top ten points finishes in IMCA and CSRA. During the late thirties, he apparently resided in Lincoln (NE), but normally Dallas would be listed as his hometown.

[fines]

2) Morris O. Musick, born November 1920 in 1909, died November 1960 following a heart attack. Real name possibly Maurice Musick. A younger brother of Ben, Morris started out in the mid-thirties, and by 1937 he was a top driver in CSRA, finishing 5th in points. The following year he was third, behind Jimmie Wilburn and Joie Chitwood, but ahead of Ev Saylor, Duke Dinsmore and a good number of other drivers with a future in the sport. Morris, however, relocated to the Denver area, and stopped racing Big Cars, although he appears to have raced Midgets locally until 1950.

3) Lynton Howard "Lyn" Musick, born ca. 1914, died 1939 following an operation to correct a breathing difficulty due to blocked sinuses. A third brother of the Dallas "dynasty", Lyn (or "Len", leading to erroneous assumptions that his real name was Leonard) had a very short but promising career, finishing third in IMCA points in 1937, only his third year of racing. For some reason, he slipped to tenth the following year, before he lost his life when complications set in during minor surgery.

[fines]

4) Leland M. (Marcus?) Musick, born May 22 in 1916, died July 18 in 1991. A fourth brother, Leland raced Midgets mainly in the Tex-Okie area, and was 45th in AAA National Championship points in 1948 for his most prominent placing. Allegedly retired after a serious crash in 1949, the last trace I can find of him is an entry in a November 6, 1949 AAA Midget race at Oklahoma City (OK).

5) Elmer Ray "Rabbit" Musick, born ca. 1918, died ca. 1962 following a road accident in California. The youngest of the five brothers from Dallas, Rabbit's career did start in earnest only after WW2, though he did compete successfully in Midgets before the war. Like his brothers, he stuck to CSRA and IMCA Big Car action in the main, finishing ninth in the latter's 1948 points standings, often driving the 1937 Schrader/Offenhauser for Peaches Campbell. He apparently retired after the 1950 season, and relocated to California.

[fines]

6) Leonard Albert "Cotton" Musick, born May 6 or 16 in 1920, died April 15 in 1980 from cancer. Not related to the Texas Musicks, Cotton raced out of Kansas, and was twice UMCA Big Car Champion (1953/54), driving the Chet Wilson/Ford. Interestingly, while the SSDI gives his birthday as May 6, this online source, apparently based on a letter by one of his daughters, states that he was born May 16 - a typo?

[Doug Nye]

... Ed (Edwin) Musick was PanAm's celebrated chief pilot, flying boat superstar, pioneered many of their major routes, was awarded the Harmon Trophy, finally ran out of luck near Pago Pago 1938 (ish).

DCN

[Michael Ferner]

1) Benjamin Franklin "Ben" Musick, born September 15 in 1907, died March 1966 following a heart attack. I have seen the year of birth quoted as 1908, and 1967 in connection with his death, too, but the SSDI shows a Ben Musick from Texas with the aforementioned dates, who appears to be a match. Originally from Dallas (TX), Ben was the oldest and most successful of all the Musicks in racing, and by 1934 was already winning "outlaw" races in the Midwest. Interestingly, he was soon to become a real outlaw, allegedly by steeling a truckload of liquor, and was trying to escape the attention of federal agents by racing under the name of "Bill Morris".

It's time to kill an old myth, particularly since I participated in spreading it by posting the above. No, Ben Musick was not a harmless drug trafficker, and the nom de course "Bill Morris" was not used to evade FBI agents - it's all part of a carefully constructed legend to deflect attention from a rather unsavoury character.

I should add that I didn't research Musick's criminal career in detail - I'm not that interested in crime - all of the following was found in period newspaper articles "without asking for it". In short, Ben Musick was deeply involved in at least two homicides almost exactly twenty years apart, although he wasn't indicted in either case. Suffice it to say that in both cases, it was he who left the crime scene in company with the killer (one was subsequently sentenced to 99 years in prison for murder, while I never found a verdict about the other one). Also, his conduct in court during the hearing for the first case can only be described as despicable. His own criminal record runs to at least one imprisonment for a year for "white slavery", sexual exploitation in other words. Mention was made of another indictment for unspecified charges, and his subsequent absence from the racing tracks suggests another term in jail for up to a couple of years.

So, what about "Bill Morris", and the oft-repeated story about him escaping FBI agents, waiting for him at a racing track, by winning the race and then using his racer as a getaway car? Bollocks, of course, and for many reasons. The most important reason is that it was never a secret that "Bill Morris" was, in fact, Ben Musick. This nom de course was, apparently, invented by IMCA promoter Alex Sloan much in the same way that George Stewart became "Leon Duray", or like Ben Gotoff racing as "Ben Giroux". Those are just the best known examples, but Sloan apparently had a "thing" for inventing names, and there were many more during this era of the IMCA. As an example, even in 1937, and even as far away as in Massachusetts, a newspaper was trying to make "fun" of the fact that Bill Morris was the brother of Morris Musick, and how somebody somehow must've mixed up the names. Interstingly also, that during all the years from 1934 till the end of 1940, and with with very few exceptions, he always raced as Ben Musick in his homestate, Texas, and as Bill Morris "abroad"! And, he used the same name racing for different sanctioning bodies, IMCA, CSRA and even AAA: "Bill Morris"!

In closing, I should add that I never found evidence of an involvement of any of his brothers in criminal activity. [The no-collective-punishment-clause]

[carl s]

Some photos of Ben: (courtesy Bob Lawrence)
Link-
http://winfield.50me...y/BenMusick.htm

It's time to kill an old myth, particularly since I participated in spreading it by posting the above. No, Ben Musick was not a harmless drug trafficker, and the nom de course "Bill Morris" was not used to evade FBI agents - it's all part of a carefully constructed legend to deflect attention from a rather unsavoury character.

I should add that I didn't research Musick's criminal career in detail - I'm not that interested in crime - all of the following was found in period newspaper articles "without asking for it". In short, Ben Musick was deeply involved in at least two homicides almost exactly twenty years apart, although he wasn't indicted in either case. Suffice it to say that in both cases, it was he who left the crime scene in company with the killer (one was subsequently sentenced to 99 years in prison for murder, while I never found a verdict about the other one). Also, his conduct in court during the hearing for the first case can only be described as despicable. His own criminal record runs to at least one imprisonment for a year for "white slavery", sexual exploitation in other words. Mention was made of another indictment for unspecified charges, and his subsequent absence from the racing tracks suggests another term in jail for up to a couple of years.

So, what about "Bill Morris", and the oft-repeated story about him escaping FBI agents, waiting for him at a racing track, by winning the race and then using his racer as a getaway car? Bollocks, of course, and for many reasons. The most important reason is that it was never a secret that "Bill Morris" was, in fact, Ben Musick. This nom de course was, apparently, invented by IMCA promoter Alex Sloan much in the same way that George Stewart became "Leon Duray", or like Ben Gotoff racing as "Ben Giroux". Those are just the best known examples, but Sloan apparently had a "thing" for inventing names, and there were many more during this era of the IMCA. As an example, even in 1937, and even as far away as in Massachusetts, a newspaper was trying to make "fun" of the fact that Bill Morris was the brother of Morris Musick, and how somebody somehow must've mixed up the names. Interstingly also, that during all the years from 1934 till the end of 1940, and with with very few exceptions, he always raced as Ben Musick in his homestate, Texas, and as Bill Morris "abroad"! And, he used the same name racing for different sanctioning bodies, IMCA, CSRA and even AAA: "Bill Morris"!

In closing, I should add that I never found evidence of an involvement of any of his brothers in criminal activity. [The no-collective-punishment-clause]

Edited by carl s, 13 May 2013 - 05:18.

[Michael Ferner]

Some photos of Ben: (courtesy Bob Lawrence)
Link-
http://winfield.50me...y/BenMusick.htm

Thanks, Carl. The cars are, top to bottom, the Carl (or Dick) Goalsby/McDowell, the Chelsea Johnson/Cragar #3 and #4 (two-car team) and the Jimmy Wilburn=Ralph Morgan/Miller #39 - I suspect the latter picture was actually taken in the late forties.