11 replies to this topic

[Don Capps]

Is there anybody out there who has the results -- hopefully complete -- for the USAC RRC events held at Meadowdale in 1959? Should anyone happen to reside in the Chicago area and have access to the newspaper archives -- I have been told that the races were covered quite well by the Chicago press -- and wish to do some digging for A Good Cause, it would be greatly appreciated.

Here are the dates for the USAC events at Meadowdale in 1959:

31 May -- three heats

5 July -- three heats

5 Spetember -- three races for various displacements

6 September -- two heats

For some reason this data seems to be virtually absent from Competition Press or any of the other Usual Sources.

However, if anyone has issues of National Speed Sport News from this era, that might be the only other source for this material.

[WGD706]

Don
Hope these links will be helpful.......
http://www.meadowdal....homestead.com/
http://www.miroldpix...m/59oldpix.html
Warren

[Marcor]

Though it was not my favourite era, I recognize that the website given by Warren are very good !!!

[Don Capps]

Warren,

Unfortunately, as really nice as these two sites are, they manage to not provide the information I am looking for. I actually have copies of several of the Meadowdale programs -- including the one from which an excerpt is posted in the second site -- and while they are helpful, they only make you aware of what is missing.

The Answers are out there somewhere....

[heidegger75]

Found online in Milwaukee Jouirnal, June 1, 1959 via Google News.
(Summarized, not transcribed verbatim)

Heat 1

1. Jim Jeffords
2. Lloyd Ruby
3. Ricardo Rodriguez
4. Augie Pabst
5. Art Bunker
6. Loyal Katskee
7. Wayne Weiler
8. John Kilborn
9. James Place
10. Harry Heuer
11. Leonard Janke
12. W.E. Aldrich-Ames

Heat 2

1. Jeffords
2. Rodriguez
3. Ruby
4. Bunker
5. Pabst
6. Place
7. Katskee
8. Janke
9. Aldrich-Ames
10. Weiler
11. Heuer
12. Jimmy Younger

Heat 3

1. Jeffords
2. Pabst
3. Ruby
4. Katskee
5. Place
6. Younger
7. Stiles
8. Aldrich-Ames
Only 8 drivers listed in heat 3; it is possible that some drivers who DNF'ed received 9th through 12th place points.

Overall, with points

1. Jeffords, 620
2. Ruby, 439
3. Pabst, 397 1/3
4. Bunker, 334 1/3
5. Rodriguez, 334 1/3
6. Katskee, 250 1/3
7. Place, 209
8. Aldrich-Ames, 104 1/3
9. Weiler, 93 2/3
10. Kilborn, 83 1/3
11. Janke, 73
12. Younger, 72 1/3
13. Heuer, 62 1/3
14. Stiles, 41 2/3

-----

The problem is that the point totals don't add up. There were no third-of-a-points awarded. The top 12 finishers in each heat earned points as follows: 210-168-147-126-105-84-63-52.5-42-31.5-21-10.5, according to the standard USAC scoring system of the time. So the point totals would be:

1. Jeffords, 620
2. Ruby, 462
3. Pabst, 399
4. Bunker, 231
5. Rodriguez, 315
6. Katskee, 273
7. Place, 231
8. Aldrich-Ames, 105
9. Weiler, 94 1/2
10. Kilborn, 52 1/2
11. Janke, 73 1/2
12. Younger, 94 1/2
13. Heuer, 52 1/2
14. Stiles, 63

Now, that doesn't quite add up, either.

Ruby is apparently posted one position too high in one of the heats, probably the third, and should have 21 points less, for a total of 441. (This brings his total in line with the standings in the August 7-14, 1959 issue of Competition Press.) Bunker drops over 100 points, and there isn't a good explanation for this yet, as there aren't enough points available in the 3rd heat to make up the difference. Rodriguez is apparently posted one position too low in one of the heats, or perhaps earned the 11th place points in the 3rd heat which he DNF'ed, and should have 21 more points, for a total of 336. Katskee also appears to have been credited an extra position, so his total could drop to 252. James Place drops from 231 to 210. Younger drops from 94 1/2 to 73 1/2. Aldrich-Ames had a year-end total of exactly 100, so I think he needs to drop from 105 to 94 1/2 or 84. Stiles should drop from 63 to either 52.5 or 41. I'm also not too sure about Kilborn, since his year-end point total was 252, but he is credited with only one start.

Another important issue: if we drop all these point totals as seems to be necessary, who finished third in the 3rd heat? If it's Bunker, that gives him a total of 378, which appears to be 42 points too high. (Given the Journal's report of 334 1/3 points, the nearest multiple of 21 would be 336.)

Resolving these discrepancies may require full information from the July and September meets. Unfortunately, Milwaukee's July reports don't indicate the heat race data, and have clearly inaccurate overall point totals, while no Milwaukee paper is available online for the September dates.

For what it's worth, the "overall summary" from July 5:

1. Jim Jeffords, 552
2. Augie Pabst, 440.2
3. Lloyd Ruby, 365
4. Art Bunker, 298.6
5. Bob Said, 196.9
6. Wayne Weiler, 128.8
7. William Wuesthoff, 106
8. James Place, 82.2
9. John Reimer, 71.1
10. Bruce Boyle, 41
11. Herb Swan, 24.6
12. Loyal Katskee, 7.5

(It was 180 points to win a heat and down to 9 points for 12th, so Jeffords earned 540 points for winning every heat. Said shared his car with Sy Kaback, and had to split points accordingly. Weiler received credit for 5th at year-end and Wuesthoff credit for 6th.)

And what I've been able to piece together from September:

September 5, qualifying heat, under 1.5 liters:
1. Ed Crawford, 130 points.
2. Charles Cox, 104 points
3. Jim Kaser, 91 points.

qualifying heat, under 3 liters:
1. Augie Pabst, 100 points.

qualifying heat, unlimited:
1. Lloyd Ruby, 130 points.
2. Jim Jeffords, 104 points.
3. Augie Pabst, 91 points.
4. John Staver, 78 points.
5. Jim Rathmann, 65 points.

September 6
Heat 1: Ruby-Pabst
Heat 2: Pabst-Ruby
Overall:
1. Augie Pabst, points unknown
2. Lloyd Ruby
3. John Fitch
4. Bill Larson
5. William Wuesthoff
6. Bill Larson
7. Bruce Boyle
8. Jim Kaser
9. Jim Rathmann
10. Thomas Greatorex
11th and 12th overall unknown.

Also, although points were awarded separately in each heat, drivers were only credited for a single start in each race on May 31, July 5, and September 6. Each of the qualifying heats was considered its own race on September 5.

Edited by heidegger75, 24 September 2010 - 23:15.

[Jerry Entin]

Heidegger 75:
Perhaps the points discrepancy at Meadowdale on May 31, 1959, is the result of your Heat 3 results.

I have Art Bunker finishing second overall behind Jim Jeffords and ahead of Augie Pabst and Lloyd Ruby. Art Bunker crashed his Porsche on lap 31 but apparently was ahead enough to be classified second overall.


all research Willem Oosthoek

[heidegger75]

I had a closer look at the Competition Press report of the race, and I believe that what the report is actually trying to say is that Bunker had moved into second place late in the third heat (on track running order), but when he crashed on the final lap, Pabst was able to get by to take second in the final heat, leaving Bunker third on the heat and still fourth overall. I'm quite sure that Bunker couldn't have been second overall because Ruby had too many points over him from the first two heats, and also because Bunker's highest finish was 4th according to the USAC yearbook point charts.

Here's where I do a bit of speculation to fill in the gaps: Part of the confusion stems from the report that both Bunker and Rodriguez received 334 1/3 points. (CP gives the same point totals as the Milwaukee Journal, by the way) I'm going to assume that this was an error made in haste to get the news out on the wire, and Bunker's point total was actually higher. The CP report confirms that Rodriguez was credited with 11th place in the third heat after his own accident, which accounts for the missing 21 points according to the Milwaukee Journal heat results. And, as Bunker finished third, everyone else moves down a spot, as I had thought.

To make the points approximately correct, I have to make two more educated guesses: The other DNFs in the third heat are John Kilborn in 10th and Harry Heuer in 12th.

So this gives the following (corrected) order for heat 3:

1. Jim Jeffords
2. Augie Pabst
3. Art Bunker
4. Lloyd Ruby
5. Loyal Katskee
6. James Place
7. Jimmy Younger
8. Phil Stiles
9. W.E. Aldrich-Ames
10. John Kilborn
11. Ricardo Rodriguez
12. Harry Heuer

and the overall standings, with corrected point totals:

1. Jim Jeffords, 620
2. Lloyd Ruby, 441
3. Augie Pabst, 399
4. Art Bunker, 378
5. Ricardo Rodriguez, 336
6. Loyal Katskee, 252
7. James Place, 210
8. W.E. Aldrich-Ames, 94 1/2
9. Wayne Weiler, 94 1/2
10. John Kilborn, 84
11. Leonard Janke, 73 1/2
12. Jimmy Younger, 73 1/2
13. Harry Heuer, 63
14. Phil Stiles, 52 1/2

I also must note that it is rather possible that Stiles and Aldrich-Ames could have finished in the opposite order in the third heat, in which case Ames's point total would increase to 105 while Stiles's would decrease to 42. With the opposite order, Aldrich-Ames has 5 points too many for the season; with the revised order posted above, Stiles has 10.5 points too many compared to the published overall points.

With that one caveat, I think the May results are solid as far as the points positions, though I'd still like to find info on the other drivers who didn't score points. July and September, as stated, are not quite so easy.

[RA Historian]

I have to compliment all who have posted above who have tried to make sense out of the '59 USAC results, especially the three Meadowdale events. I have been researching these events off and on for years for a writing project of mine, and to say that I have been frustrated is a bit of understatement. The records of that time are confusing, to say the least. What records were kept then are sketchy. A lot has been lost over the years. About a dozen years ago I did acquire some "official" USAC records from that year, but they are surprisingly general in nature and not as detailed as the research results listed in the above posts. Vintage Racecar Journal magazine will have a two part article on the history of the USAC Road Racing Division in its November and December issues, but because of the paucity of actual verifiable results for a number of races I chose to do it in narrative style. Hope that it helps .

Tom

[heidegger75]

An update with more info from the September races.

September 5, under 1.5 liter qualifying race:
1. Ed Crawford (Elva)
2. Charles Cox
3. Jim Kaser
4. Carl Haas

September 5, under 3.0 liter qualifying race:
1. Augie Pabst (Ferrari)
2. John Fitch (Cooper Monaco)
3. Sy Kaback (Lotus)
4. Loyal Katskee (Ferrari)

September 5, unlimited qualifying race:
1. Lloyd Ruby
2. Jim Jeffords (Scarab)
3. Augie Pabst (Scarab)
4. Jim Rathmann
DNF Dick Thompson (Corvette Stingray)
Note that in my previous post, Rathmann was listed as finishing 5th behind John Staver. I do not know, at this point, which source/order is accurate.

September 6, heat 1:

1. Lloyd Ruby
2. Augie Pabst (Scarab)
3. John Staver (Echidna)
4. Jim Rathmann (Lister-Corvette)
Jim Jeffords led the first 9 laps and then broke a radius rod. (Scarab)
Rodger Ward completed 3 laps and broke his shock absorbers. (Midget)

heat 2:

1. Augie Pabst (overall winner by aggregate time)
2. Lloyd Ruby
3. John Fitch (Cooper Monaco)
4. Bill Larson (Echidna)
Jim Rathmann crashed on the 20th lap.

And in another edit to previous information, I now believe that all three qualifying races on September 5 were 130 points to win. That is, they were based on the longer 65-mile distance in order not to disadvantage drivers who were competing in the 49-mile heat. The reasoning for this is that during the years that Pikes Peak was a points event, it usually awarded 30 championship points to win. In years that it conflicted with another Indy car or stock car championship race, however, both AAA and USAC would award equivalent points for Pikes Peak and the other scheduled race.

From the July races, here are the top qualifying times from Saturday's session. Note that Rodger Ward and Harry Heuer were allowed to qualify on Sunday morning because of mechanical difficulties on Saturday.

1. Jim Jeffords, 2:07.79 (Scarab)
2. Wayne Weiler, 2: 13.26 (Lister-Corvette)
3. Lloyd Ruby, 2:13.36 (Maserati)
4. Loyal Katskee, 2:16.41 (Ferrari)
5. Art Bunker, 2:18.14 (Porsche)
6. Jim Place, 2:27.87 (Ferrari)
7. Bruce Boyle, 2:29.80 (Jaguar)
Ray Hixon, 2:31.88
Tossie Alex, 2:31.64 (Jaguar)

Also, in the July races, Augie Pabst secured second place overall by finishing second in the final two heats after finishing either 4th or 5th in the first heat. Jeffords led every lap of every heat. Rodger Ward DNF'ed the first heat with an accident on the 10th lap, and then broke an oil pan on the third lap of the second heat, ending his day. Bob Said drove the same car in heats two and three that Sy Kaback started in the first heat.

Edited by heidegger75, 22 October 2010 - 23:18.

[donstang]

Came across this race info - maybe this will help you...

Race Results from Meadowdale

[heidegger75]

We're no closer to understanding the finishing order of the heats at the July race, but National Speed Sport News did give a list of Saturday's qualifiers for the race.

 

1. Jim Jeffords, 2:07.79 (Scarab)
2. Wayne Weiler, 2: 13.26 (Lister-Corvette)
3. Lloyd Ruby, 2:13.36 (Maserati)

4. August Pabst, 2:15.98 (Ferrari)
5. Loyal Katskee, 2:16.41 (Ferrari)
6. Art Bunker, 2:18.14 (Porsche)

7. Jim Jeffords, 2:21.63 (#1 Chevrolet Corvette also owned by Nickey)
8. Jim Place, 2:27.87 (Ferrari)
9. Bruce Boyle, 2:29.80 (Jaguar)

10. Alex Tossi, 2:31.64 (Jaguar)
11. Ray Hixon, 2:31.88 (L-G Special)
12. John Reimer, 2:32.20 (Corvette)

13. Bob Stellon, 2:33.65 (Lotus)

14. Bill Wuesthoff, 2:36.21 (Alfa Romeo)

15. Phil Stiles, 2:43.82 (Austin-Healey)

16. Ken Neill, 2:45.19 (Austin-Healey)

17. Don Lightner, 2:48.59 (Peerless)

18. Sy Kaback, 2:51.03 (Lotus; car shared with Bob Said on race day)

19. Dick Calderson, 3:22.87 (Porsche)

 

also present:

Rodger Ward, Maserati-Corvette, transmission (would be allowed to qualify Sunday morning if car repaired in time)

Harry Heuer, Bocar XP-5, broken gas line (also allowed to qualify Sunday)

 

The Chicago Tribune also notes that Dave Lovell spun his Corvette and damaged the front end.

 

Some of these names did not appear on the entry list in the program.

[WINO]

Rodger Ward did take the start in the Sunday feature at Meadowdale in July 1959. His car was Ebb Rose's Chevy-engined Maserati 300S, a former Briggs Cunningham car. Ward retired.