The Ghosts of NASCAR: The Harlan Boys and the First Daytona 500

Sources

Sources Theendnotes, combined with the list of individuals interviewed, represent, with perhaps a few exceptions, all the sources for the book. I drew information from scrapbooks owned by four people: Dale Swanson Jr., Norma Brix, Russell Leslie, and me. My scrapbooks consist of newspaper coverage of most of the Playland races from 1951 to 1954. I supplemented scrapbook articles by personally spending many hours in library microfilm rooms copying articles, mostly dealing with Playland racing. For these photocopied articles I have precise dates and page numbers. Not all articles in the scrapbooks have dates and page numbers. I was able to put together a full record of the Playland schedule by carefully reading the articles and employing the dates I did have. I also enlisted the help of many libraries in the Midwest and the NASCAR region, and in almost every instance, the newspaper articles that I accessed there have dates and page numbers. Although the interviews were extremely important, the printed information was invaluable. Another important aspect of preparing the information for the book was determining which people were involved in certain events and activities and then locating these people. Even after the interviews and the print information were assembled, there were puzzles that required sifting through the facts to determine the most likely explanation of an action. In general, the work of gathering the information required a massive amount of research and investigation, and this perhaps explains why so little has been written about the story told here. Interviewees Ackerman, Lee Beauchamp, Robert Anderson, Jack Beauchamp, William Archibald, Dick Bertsch, Opal Baker, Al Blackledger, Keith Ballard, Rex Boehlander, Don Bean, Roger Bowman, Mary Beauchamp, Donna Boyles, Ray Beauchamp, Gaylord Brix, Norma 166 | Sources Hudson, Paul G. Hufstader, Gib Jacobsen, Faye Jacobsen, Ron Jarrett, Ned Jensen, Ron Johnson, Charles Johnson, Ralph Jones, Judy Jorgensen, Lloyd Judge, Judy Kaufman, Keith Killion, Ray Kosiski, Dan Kramer, Ralph Krueger, Mel Latham, Beverly Leslie, Russell Lewis, Randy Liebe, Jule Lund, Tom Lund, Wanda Mair, Alex Malcom, Paul Maloney, Gussy Massey, James Mays, Bob McCuen, Milton McDonald, Gus McGeehan, Tom McKee, Robert McKim, Buzz McQuagg, Sam Metcalfe, Morris Miles, Cliff Miller, Fred Miller, R. L. Morgan, Sonny Mundy, Frank Nelson, Chris Ostendorf, Don Bruner, Ann Brunick, Junior Burdick, Bob Burdick, Bud Burger, Linda Buwalda, James Byers, Roger Cartmill, Leonard Chaike, Ray Christensen, Vernon “Hooky” Chubbuck, Bill Cisar, Stan Clements, Mike Cole, David Cooper, James Dake, Darrell Daub, Joe DeHart, Howard Dennis, Bradley Dolan, Dick Dorsey, Ronald Drake, Bud Economaki, Chris Epton, Juanita Erickson, Lesley Favre, Gregory Flock, Francis Fox, Ray Frank, Larry Funk, Lenny Gans, Arlene Gazaway, Gwen Givens, Jerome Goldsmith, Paul Havick, Dallas Hellerich, Dave Holenbeck, Sandra Holland, Lou Holman, Lee Holzmueller, Gus Hudson, Helen Sources | 167 Owens, Cotton Palumbo, Charlie Panch, Marvin Parker, Bobby Parks, John Pash, Ollie Peers, Richard Pistone, Tom Prout, Warren Rachwitz, Elaine Rath, Leslie Rath, Randy Rathman, Jim Reed, Jim Renfield, Marlene Roby, Glen Rogers, Paul Samples, Eddie Sappenfield, Earl Satterfield, Kathy Satterfield, Larry Shannon, Herb Short, Dan Schroeder, Juerelle Sindt, Sanda Smith, Bette Smith, Bill Sorensen, Roger Summers, Charles Swanson, Dale Jr. Sisson, Frank Slusky, Jerry Squier, Ken Sykes, Mike Thomy, Al Torson, Larry Trybulec, Joe Ulmer, Steve Valasek, Ray Warren, Taylor Weis, Joan Weiss, Violet Wheeler, Humpy White, Don White, Rex Whitman, James Wickersham, Reb Williams, Susan Notes Notes that do not contain complete source information are from scrapbooks in the possession of the author. Preface 1. Donna Beauchamp interview. Chapter 1. The Natural 1. Sanda Beauchamp Sindt interview. 2. Robert Beauchamp interview. 3. Gaylord Beauchamp interview. 4. “Pottawattamie Shows Gain,” Omaha World-­Herald, June 30, 1950; Shelby County Historical Society, A Look at Shelby County (Harlan, Iowa: Shelby County Historical Society, 1974). 5. “Stock Car Races,” Harlan Tribute, August 15, 1947. 168 | Sources 6. “Swanson Family Has Long Business History in Harlan,” Harlan News Advertiser , February 1, 2008, p. 1. At first his business was on the corner of 6th and Durant in an old Phillips gas station. Later he moved to 5th St. south in a small building behind a farm implement business two blocks from the courthouse square. In the 1960s, he moved the business farther from the town center. 7. Dale Swanson Jr. interview. 8. “Stock Car Races,” Harlan Tribune, August 15, 1947. 9. Dale Swanson Jr. interview. 10. Dale Swanson Jr. interview. Chapter 2. Racing among the Cornfields 1. Ron Jensen interview. 2. Junior Brunick interview. 3. Beauchamp was...