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2 | Racing among the Cornfields S oon the partnership between Swanson and Beauchamp was thriving.The two men’s personalities meshed. Beauchamp was slow to offend. He was an easygoing, congenial guy. Somewhat reserved, he was careful with words. A few people suspected his silence may have concealed a man with an agenda. A local contemporary once reflected that “Johnny was a sly son-­ of-­ a-­ gun.”1 Swanson, on the other hand, was direct and more likely to voice his opinions. He had the demeanor of a man who was right—especially about automobiles. Swanson, in his white coveralls, could be mistaken for a physician about to perform a delicate operation. Race driver and Swanson customer Junior Brunick recalls his mechanic once disagreeing with Swanson over the proper setup of the suspension system . Swanson ignored the advice of Brunick’s mechanic. The mechanic persisted in doubting Swanson’s approach, but Swanson’s confidence was unshakeable . “Why don’t you try it my way and see what happens?”2 When the car took the track, Swanson’s setup worked well and the issue was settled. Beauchamp, not a mechanic, happily gave Swanson full rein to build the cars. Born on Washington’s birthday in 1918 and five years Beauchamp’s senior, the mechanic was a responsible married man and by 1947 the father of two sons, Dale Jr. and newly born Richard. Swanson did the worrying and provided the mature stability to their enterprise.3 Beauchamp and Swanson lived in a land of cornfields interrupted by small towns connected by narrow highways. Settled at a timewhen the first capital of Iowa had been determined by how far a horse could travel in a day from the Mississippi River, the rural towns of western Iowa were spaced far enough apart to support local farmers. Atlantic, Avoca, Denison, and Missouri Valley were within a 30-­ mile radius of Harlan. These isolated communities, linked together in an informal social network, spawned all kinds of amusement. One unusual bit of entertainment was the Manning “catsup murder.” A 6 | Chapter 2 man was gunned down on the street, a pool of blood appeared, and two men jumped out of a car, threw the body in the car, and sped away. The gangland-­style slaying flashed on national headlines. The police eventually discovered that several high school students from Audubon, a neighboring community, had staged the entire affair, complete with tomato juice and ketchup for blood.4 A more conventional amusement was the annual county fair, an event that was common in many regions and states. At the Shelby County Fair in which Beauchamp and Swanson competed, spectators could see horse and motorcycle contests in addition to auto races. Each county fairground served as a community entertainment center, not only during the fair, but for other events throughout the year. Auto racing on the county tracks, particularly on holidays, became an activity that connected the communities and made southwestern Iowa an incubator for motor sports. One modest local racing venue not associated with any county fairground sprang up at Anita, Iowa, where Claus Behnken, local Ford dealer and farmer, carved a track out of his pastureland. Because the competition resulted in banged up, dented automobiles, scarcely anyone was foolhardy enough to risk a passenger car in a race. To encourage locals to participate in the fun, Behnken hauled old cars from Chicago for his contests. A rumor circulated that his cars were “special purchases” that departed Chicago in the middle of the night—in other words, they were stolen. His races entertained the local people and gave the serious drivers a chance to practice. Eventually, Behnken became one of the many race car owners involved with Johnny Beauchamp. Dale Swanson and Johnny Beauchamp were not the only ones to gain experience and confidence on the local community tracks; Dewayne “Tiny” Lund also began his driving career there. He loved motorized competition of every kind and virtually banged and slammed and willed himself to be a success. “Lund lived to race,”5 and like Beauchamp, he was to become a recognized champion and top competitor—but he also was to become a star, in part because of his dynamic personality. In the end, no fewer than six Harlan daredevils discovered they had talent and seized the opportunity to improve their skills at these community contests. Swanson, Beauchamp, Lund, as well as Bobby Parker, Hooky Christensen, and Wayne Selser, all claiming Harlan as home, went on to test...

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