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6 | The Racing Capital O n a sunny day in May 1950, Swanson and Lund drove a spiffy 1939 Ford coupe to Playland, the track Meyer Lansky had built.1 The Swanson race car traveled from the east edge of Council Bluffs west onto the main artery, Broadway, which led to the Missouri River. Before coming to the river, they turned right onto a narrow street that passed under one of the three 60-­ foot humps of the roller coaster that paralleled Broadway and that formed a southern boundary of the amusement park.2 Swanson then turned west and drove along the edge of the amusement park to a pit gate. Fans arriving for the races walked a slightly different path, passing a bumper car ride, a Ferris wheel, a merry-­ go-­ round, and games of skill. Where the path of amusement park visitors and race spectators intersected with the road to the pits, Swanson and Lund may have stopped to permit a few people to cross. A total of 1,907 spectators, half the number that attended the hot rod events, watched twenty-­ two cars initiate the first stock car racing at the Playland track. Swanson and Lund were, for the most part, not familiar with the mechanical and driving skill of their competitors because many of them lived in the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area—but these Harlan boys were eager for the competition. From a standing start—the usual method to begin a race at Playland— Lund won the second heat, but he ran poorly in the trophy dash against other top finishers from the heat contests. He claimed second in the main event—the feature race.3 Lund did well, but he did not dominate. Missing from the races was Johnny Beauchamp. In subsequent weeks, more fans came to the track, and the field of cars grew to between fifty and ninety. The news back in Harlan was that Playland was a hot spot for racing, not just an experiment, but a thrilling and exciting success, great fun for participants and spectators. Beauchamp, enjoying the hot rod, was slow to stop racing in it. By late 22 | Chapter 6 June he had competed in hot rod races at Avoca, but only nine cars showed up. The day of the hot rod was almost over,4 and he decided to join the stock car party. First, he had to locate a race car. At a used car lot in Harlan , he bought a black 1939 Ford sedan, the former passenger car of my grandfather, Minor William Havick. Delbert and Jim Leslie then helped prepare the car, including a paint job with a white top, black bottom, and the number 53 on the sides. With a roll bar inside and a triangular crash bar in front to protect the radiator, the car was ready to race. Since it, like many race cars of the time, was still licensed, Beauchamp planned to drive it on the highway to the track. As late as June 16, 1950, the printed program sold to the fans did not show Beauchamp’s name. He entered his first contest on Saturday, June 24, and made a grand entrance. He won his heat race and led every lap of the 25-­lap feature.5 Beauchamp had arrived. Despite the immediate success of his Harlan rival, Lund still was the top gun. He had won three of the first five feature races and had finished with a second and third in the two he had not won. By July 14, Lund had reeled off an additional three straight feature wins. As Beauchamp transitioned to stock cars, Swanson struggled with the irrepressible Lund. After the mechanic drove 55 to the track, he disconnected the headlights, since they wouldn’t be needed. He did not disconnect the back brake lights, but he never saw them come on during the race. Mystified, he asked Lund about it. Tiny replied, “I don’t use the brakes.”6 By mid-­ July, Playland stock car racing was a proven success. Because the drivers received a third of the gate receipts—promoter Abe Slusky raised their take to 40 percent later in the season after the drivers threatened to strike—the purse was substantial. The large purse attracted more cars. More cars attracted additional fans. The crowds often ballooned to more than 4,000 spectators. Eventually, Slusky had to build bleachers on the side of the grandstand to seat several hundred additional fans...

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