1934 LA National Speedway Championship Program

This 20 page official program for the 1934 National Speedway Championship that was held at the two-mile dirt track at Los Angeles Municipal Speedway is in remarkable condition for its age and provides wonderful insight into the details of this 200 mile race, including technical specs on the 22 cars, their drivers and riding mechanics. Built at what would later become Los Angeles International Airport, the track was more commonly known as Mines Field Speedway and hosted auto racing in 1934 and again in 1936. The track had begun as a dream of racing impresario and publicist William Hickman Pickens, who persuaded city fathers to lease land near Sepulveda Boulevard and what is now Imperial Highway to the Pacific Speedway Association, headed by Cliff Henderson of National Air Races fame and backed by oil magnate Earl B. Gilmore and Arthur C. Pillsbury, a structural engineer on the board of what was then auto racing's sanctioning body: the American Automobile Assn., (the Auto Club). During a practice run three days prior to the first race scheduled for February 18, 1934, driver Kenny Wellons, 27, of Glendale was killed when his two-seater slammed through a fence on a curve; his riding mechanic escaped uninjured, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. Despite the tragedy, the race went on as scheduled and an estimated 75,000 fans turned out to watch legendary drivers average 60 mph on the dirt track marked with potholes and made slick by applications of crude oil. Twenty seven cars started the 250-mile race, but only 14 finished, mostly because of breakdowns. This first race was a resounding success, and Pickens hoped to stage a national championship at this track, but fate intervened. At some point after opening day, he stepped on a rusty nail on the track and developed "blood poisoning." In a desperate bid to save his life, one of his legs was amputated, but he died anyway in July 1934. Five months later, on Dec. 23, the track was chosen to host to the 200-mile national championship for two-seater race cars. But before they would run the course, the race drivers demanded that the curve where Wellons had crashed be straightened first. The race syndicate agreed to do so, but only if the drivers paid for it, which they did, at the cost of a few hundred dollars. On race day, the fog was so thick and wet that organizers considered canceling the event. As the 50,000 spectators gathered, a jackrabbit "sprinted down the straightaway, tried to get up [legendary racer] Barney Oldfield's pants leg, dashed back across the track and disappeared," The Times reported. Despite this incident and the inclement weather, the race began. The tires of the race cars heaved rocks and dirt clods fover the railing onto the crowd as the drivers rounded the course. Cavino "Kelly" Petillo of Huntington Park and his mechanic, Takio Hirashima, a Glendale High School student, averaged over 100 mph in the Gilmore Speedway Special to win the race. Petillo went on to win the Indianapolis 500 the following year. Printed in black, white and red, this program trumpets the appearance at this race of Bill Cummings, Louie Meyer, Al Gordon and Fred Frame and features advertisments for the new 1935 Super-charged Auburn speedster. Excellent conditon with VERY minor faults. Formerly from the personal collection of Cliff Henderson, one of the early organizers of the National Air Races and President of the Pacific Speedway Association.