The mystery of Jay Frank 

 SOLVED

Stan Kalwasinski has recently uncovered new information and photographs! 

Stan's new information is listed in red

By Kevin Triplett

In the post war year, a racer named Jay Frank appeared in California Roadster Association (CRA) “hot rod” roadster races held at tracks throughout the Los Angeles area. Although local news reports referred to him as a “local driver” additional details are virtually impossible to locate as “Jay Frank” was likely a nom de guerre.  Many future Indianapolis ‘500’ stars competed against Jay Frank in the CRA roadster races, including future ’500’ winners Troy Ruttman, Jim Rathmann and Pat Flaherty as well as Andy Linden, Richard ‘Red’ Amick, and Jack McGrath.

Thanks to fellow historian Stan Kalwasinski, who recently interviewed Clint Frank, Jay Frank's son in Lafayette Indiana. Jay Frank's real first birth name in Chicago Illinois was John, known to his family as Jack. After service during World War II as a fighter pilot, Jay relocated to the Los Angeles area.

Historian Thomas Schmeh found the earliest article mention of Frank in the November 25 1946 edition of the Los Angeles Times that reported on the previous night's roadster race at Bonelli Ranch where Jay Frank won the 15-lap semi-main. Originally built as a rodeo grounds, the stadium with its 1/3-mile track evolved into a popular midget and roadster racing venue. Later paved and known as Sagus Speedway the track still owned by Bonelli family closed in 1995.  

In early December 1946, Jay Frank was credited with a heat race victory in the CRA's first visit to the Bakersfield Speed Bowl, a facility in Oildale California that has continued to operate under many names through the years and is still in operation as Bakersfield Speedway. During the 1946 CRA season, Jay drove the #48  1932 Ford roadster owned by Morris McGauhey.   

In early September 1947, Jay Frank finished third in the semi-main behind Roy Prosser and Yam Oka, and Prosser went on to win that night's feature event at the ½-mile dirt Carrell Speedway which was owned by contractor Emmett Malloy and was located at the corner of 174th and Vermont Streets in the South Bay community of Gardena.  The next night in action at Huntington Beach Speedway, Frank won the 15-lap semi-main ahead of Colby Scroggin and Lou Figaro.  

Jay Frank experienced success early in the 1948 CRA season; in early April driving for car owner Reg Schlemmer he finished second to defending CRA champion Ruttman at the ¼-mile paved Culver City Speedway. Three days later Jay Frank captured his first CRA feature victory in a 25-lap affair at Carrell Speedway.

 

A replica poster for the Huntington Beach

hot rod auto races

 

During the 1948 season there was a brief Southern California roadster racing sanctioning war, which began when Huntington Beach Speedway promoter Bob Ware formed the California Hot Rod Association (CHRA). Two well-known CRA drivers, Dick Vineyard and Yam Oka (one of five racing Nisei brothers) joined to CHRA. Together with Bonelli Stadium  (which Ware co-promoted) the CHRA sanctioned roadster races under the lights at Huntington Beach on Friday nights. However by early September the 1/5-mile dirt track inside Talbert Stadium returned to the CRA fold with Sunday afternoon events.    

In addition to dealing with an upstart rival roadster sanctioning body, the CRA series lost six of its major name drivers – Ruttman, Linden, Freeland, Davies, Chuck Leighton and Spec Friedan - to the short-lived Wednesday night midget race series promoted by Hollywood car owner Bill White which was conducted on a wooden track inside the Rose Bowl. After several weeks devoted to racing midgets, three of the CRA stars - Ruttman, Freeland and Davies returned to compete in the CRA roadster races at Carrell.

The construction of the CRA roadsters changed in the middle of the 1948 season after Carrell Speedway racing director JC Agajanian ordered CRA President Tom Sloan to institute new rules following the August 11th death of driver Fred Luce.  The Gardena oval had seen three fatalities during the 1948 season – Ed (Bob) Rozzano, Morris ‘Slim’ Mathis and Luce, and with the Tommy Wise’s earlier fatality in August 1947, four deaths in a year.

 

Two of the three new rules instituted were straightforward - first each car shall be equipped with only one carburetor; second, cars had to use “stock gasoline” not alcohol for fuel. The final rule required that all chassis “be reinforced with special emphasis on the driver’s compartment.”     

Late in the 1948 CRA season, prior to the “Grand Prix” at Huntington Beach Speedway Jimmy Davies led the points chase over Bob Cross, Linden and Ruttman. The “Grand Prix” featured a unique format with twin 50-lap features followed by a 20-lap finale that featured the top three finishers of each 50-lapper.

 

Ruttman who had returned to the driver’s seat of Bert Letner’s roadster after he midget foray emerged as the 1948 CRA champion after the December 5 season finale beating out Lou Figaro and Bob Cross. Jay Frank was credited with seventh place in 1948 CRA points behind Jimmy Davies, Jim Rigsby and Roy Prosser. 

Jay Frank began his 1949 racing season at Carrell Speedway and initially was reported to have finished in second place in the February 12th 100-lap stock car race that featured many of the CRA regulars. Fellow historian Jim Thurman uncovered a later news article that revealed that the car of Troy Ruttman, the apparent victor by half a lap over Frank, was disqualified when a post-race inspection revealed an “illegal motor.”  

A month later the next 250-lap stock car race at Carrell in addition to a new requirement that competitors make two pit stops during the race - one for refueling and one for a tire change, officials required that all entries undergo a “thorough inspection for confirmation of the strictly stock specifications” before their qualification run. 

Jay Frank in his roadster with the Hurricane Racing Association

photograph courtesy of Stan Kalwasinski

 

During the course of the 1949 season, Jay Frank and teammate Roy Prosser took their roadsters back to Chicago (his hometown) and raced with Andy Granatelli’s Hurricane Racing Association, which also sanctioned “stock car” (more like jalopy) races. In July Jay Frank raced in the Hurricane stock car program at the ¼-mile asphalt Rockford Speedway together with a group of future Indianapolis Motor Speedway legends.

 

In addition to the fastest qualifier Vince Granatelli, Pat Flaherty, Dick Rathman and Ronny Kaplan all raced in a 25-lap feature which was run in a downpour. Future 1960 Indianapolis ‘500’ champion Jim Rathman won the treacherous race while Jay Frank finished in second place.

During the month of August 1949 Jay Frank raced with the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) during their inaugural season of stock car racing. At the ½-mile Hawkeye Downs Speedway in Cedar Rapids Iowa he finished tenth and then finished thirteenth at the famed Milwaukee Mile (which was still a dirt surface) both while driving a 1947 Ford.

After the Midwest racing circuits shut down for the season, Jay Frank returned to the West Coast and appeared in the American Automobile Association (AAA) “big car” race at Carrell Speedway on Sunday afternoon December 4 1949.  Jay led the field on the first lap of feature but spun and his car was struck by the machine of “Bullet” Joe Garson and Frank suffered what was described in the Long Beach Independent as a “gashed chin.” The crowd of 8100 fans saw Johnny Mantz who starred at Indianapolis and would later win the first Southern ‘500’ take the 30-lap feature win.

Jay Frank spent most of his 1950 season in the Midwest. On Friday night June 23 1950, Jay Frank won the Hurricane stock car feature at Kokomo (Indiana) Speedway after he finished third in his heat race to advance to the feature starting field. Although Frank won the 25-lap feature, the evening’s star was Chicago-based Hurricane stalwart “Wild Willie” Sternquist who  won the trophy dash and finished second behind Frank in the feature after he started from the 21st position.  

 

Revolutionary change was occurring in “stock car” racing, and in February 1950, the AAA Contest Board voted to “sanction and supervise legitimate stock car racing events on track one mile or more in length where a creditable race can be held under approved racing conditions and only be accredited AAA racing promoters.”  This was the opening salvo in the long-running war over the legitimacy of Bill France’s newly formed National Association of Stock Car Racing (NASCAR) created just six months earlier.

The 38-year old driver who hailed from Los Angeles excelled in the five-race 1950 AAA stock car series which was open only to 1949, 1950 or 1951 model year American-built standard stock steel-topped sedans or coupes. Foreign-made cars, convertibles, “Jeeps,” police cars or station wagons were not eligible for AAA competition.

 

A typical 1950 Oldsmobile stock car

The inaugural AAA stock car event advertised as “the first major stock car race held in the United States since World War Two,” was held July 9th at the storied Wisconsin State Fairgrounds one-mile dirt oval in Milwaukee.  Jay Frank qualified his 303 cubic inch V-8 powered 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 to start fifth in the 26-car field for the 150-mile race, behind veteran midget racer Myron Fohr, Dick Rathmann, Norm Nelson and Vince Granatelli. 

Nelson another midget racing veteran led the first 20 laps before Fohr took over and led the rest of the way in a 336 cubic inch flathead powered 1949 Lincoln. Myron was chased across the finish line by Nelson, Andy Granatelli, Art Combs and Jay Frank all driving Oldsmobiles. Of the twenty-nine starters, ten were 1950 Oldsmobiles and nine were 1949 Lincolns 

Prior to the next 1950 AAA stock car race a 100-lap event at Milwaukee on August 25, race director Tom Marchese announced a new rule - no more than four cars of any make would be allowed in the 24-car starting lineup. The starting lineup featured a large number of established AAA stars; in addition to Fohr, the field boasted Tony Bettenhausen, Jerry Hoyt and Chuck Stevenson. 

Jay Frank led the field in qualifying in his Rocket 88, but in the race was never a factor; his Oldsmobile never led a lap and retired with a broken hub on lap 46. Indianapolis ‘500’ pre-war veteran Paul Russo inherited the race win in a 1949 Cadillac after leader Myron Fohr was forced to pit with just eleven laps to go.   

With a best lap of 56.89 miles per hour (MPH) Jay Frank qualified second for the AAA “Southern Illinois 100” held on Labor Day at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in Southern Illinois outpaced only by Myron Fohr in his 1949 Lincoln. On a sunny afternoon before a crowd estimated at over 10,000, Jay Frank led into the first turn and never looked back.

Frank lapped all the cars in the field except second place Myron Fohr by lap 25, then Fohr surrendered second place when he pitted on the 45th lap. In a race that ran non-stop in a time of 90 minutes and 26.57 seconds, Rodney Clark finished second behind Frank trailed by Don O’Dell in another 1950 Oldsmobile in third place.

A mere six days later, the AAA stock cars raced at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta Georgia, the heart of NASCAR stock car country, in a race considered as an experiment by the AAA. Norris Friel the technical chairman of the AAA Contest Board told reporters that if the 200-mile race was successful, the AAA would sanction a 500-mile stock car race at Lakewood next year. The entry list featured all the three of the famous Flock racing brothers – Tim, Bob and Truman, known as “Fonty.”

For unknown reasons, the local Atlanta newspapers identified Jay as “Johnny Frank” and the AAA race records list him as “Jack Frank.” Frank led the race with 18 laps to go before his Oldsmobile blew a tire on the backstretch and he was forced into the pit area.  NASCAR regular Billy Carden from Marbleton Georgia in a 1950 Mercury won the three hour and thirteen minute marathon followed by Robert “Red” Byron and Norm Nelson while Jay Frank recovered to finish fourth. 
 

The “experiment” must not have been deemed successful, as the AAA stock cars did not return to Lakewood the following year for a 500-mile race, but did make a final appearance two years later with a 100-lap race which was marked by fatal crash of “big car” veteran Frank Luptow.   

The 1950 AAA stock car season wound up just one week after the Atlanta race with a 100-mile race held at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield. Norm Nelson came into the finale leading the championship with 760 points and only needed to finish the race to clinch the championship. Jay Frank who qualified for the pole position was second in points and in order to capture the championship he had to win the race and Nelson had to drop out of the race.  

Years later in an interview, Nelson recalled “that's exactly what happened. The engine in my Oldsmobile blew and he won the race." Frank finished the 100-mile distance at a speed of 69 MPH and won the race purse of $2000 and the 1950 AAA stock car championship with 830 points to Nelson’s 760. Nelson would go on to win the United States Auto Club (USAC) – the predecessor to AAA – stock car championship three times as a driver and five times as a car owner.   

The 1951 AAA stock car championship consisted of just three races, all run at the Milwaukee Mile. The first race originally scheduled for July 8th, was rained out and rescheduled for July 15. Once again the race featured an impressive list of future and current racing superstars including Rodger Ward, Tony Bettenhausen, Myron Fohr, Rex Easton and Jack McGrath.

The entry list totaled 58 cars competing for the 24-car starting field and included fourteen Oldsmobiles, 11 Hudsons, seven Plymouths and four each from Nash, Packard, Chrysler and Studebaker, as well as Chevrolets, Pontiacs, Cadillac and a Kaiser.  The defending AAA champion Jay Frank who now listed Leland Michigan as his hometown started on the pole in his #1 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 sponsored by Bell Auto Sales with McGrath alongside in his 1951 Hudson Hornet.  

Frank led the first six circuits but the race was dominated by Bettenhausen in E.J. Carr’s 1951 Chrysler, as Tony led the next 138 laps. When Bettenhausen pitted, Rodger Ward took the lead and led the final six laps in his 1951 Oldsmobile and took the checkered flag in a new record time of 2 hours 12 minutes and 39.71 seconds.

The final two races of the 1951 AAA stock car season were run back-to-back on Thursday and Friday August 23 and 24 in association with the Wisconsin State Fair. Jay Frank’s name does not appear in the fragmented partial results of the August 23 race won by Nelson, before Nelson’s 1951 Oldsmobile was disqualified after a post-race inspection found a non-standard rear end gear ratio which Nelson claimed could be purchased in mountain states.
 

AAA officials awarded the win to Rodger Ward and based upon his two race wins in three races, Ward clinched the 1951 AAA stock car championship.  In the season finale the next day August 24 Jay Frank was credited with a ninth place finish driving a Chevrolet as he finished one lap behind winner Norm Nelson.

Jay Frank celebrates a victory in a modified stock car

The year is unknown but note that the car's sponsor is from

Oconcnowoc Wisconsin  photo courtesy of Stan Kalwasinski

 

 

Following the 1951 season, Jay Frank’s name dropped from the racing headlines, and a July 1952 article in the Belvedere (Illinois) Daily Register published prior to the Milwaukee stock car race revealed that Jay Frank now claimed Oconomowoc Wisconsin as his hometown. Several years passed before Jay Frank now 43 years old reappeared on the racing scene in a pair of races during the 1956 NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model (PCLM) season. West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame Chairman Ken Clapp recalls Jay Frank at that time as “a tall slim good-looking man with a mustache.”  Clint Frank related to Kalwasinski that his father lived for a time in Michigan before he relocated back to Los Angeles where he owned and operated several car washes.

 

 

A typical 1956 Ford stock car

 

Frank’s 1956 race appearances both came at the ¼-mile dirt Gardena Stadium oval. In the first race a 250-lap event on March 11, Frank finished 10th in a 1956 Ford built by Scotty Cain and owned by Joe Keaton. His second 1956 appearance came on April 8 as he finished in ninth place again in Keaton’s 1956 Ford. After he failed to qualify for the NASCAR PCLM race at Portland Speedway in June 1956, Jay Frank dropped out of the public eye.

Sadly, Jay Frank's life came to a sudden end on April 4 1965 when he stopped on the Hollywood Freeway to aid another motorist whose car was on fire. A following drunk driver struck and killed Jay Frank. Jay's son Clint Frank told me that he himself raced for a number of years in the four-cylinder division at the Shadyhill Speedway in Medaryville, Ind.

Although we know now much more information, the author is astill nxious to learn more about Jay Frank, either before, during or after his racing career. If you have some relevant information please contact the author at kevracerhistory@aol.com.

The author sincerely appreciates the contributions to this article by Thomas Schmeh, Dick Jordan, Ken Clapp, Donald Davidson, Jim Thurman Stan Kalwasinski and the members of the Nostalgia forum at TrackForum.com (http://www.trackforum.com).