1950 – Iowa State Stock Race to Melvin

Tommy Melvin climbs out of his stock car after winning 100-mile race at the Iowa State Fair.

Des Moines, Iowa (September 1, 1950) – Tommy Melvin, a 29-year-old veteran of dirt track racing, Friday captured the 100-mile stock car grind before 20,000 fans at the Iowa State Fair.

It wasn’t until the 141st lap that Melvin, who quit the furniture business to 4 years ago in Los Angeles for a racing career, took the lead.

Through the first 50 miles, Eddie Anderson of Grinnell set the pace, hauling in $100 in lap prizes before a blown tire sent him to the pits.

Anderson managed to get back in the race and was attempting to overhaul Melvin when another blown tire threw his car against the east wall on the 168th lap. The impact damaged the front end of Anderson’s car so badly he couldn’t make repairs and return.

Second place went to Herschel Buchanan, the veteran Shreveport, La., driver who formerly raced the big engine jobs around Iowa and Minnesota fairs. Buchanan drove a steady pace the entire way, staying with the leaders all afternoon.

Dick Howe of Chicago, who took over the lead when Anderson left for a tire change on the 101st lap, finished third. Howe led until the132nd circuit, when, he too, was forced to the pits with a blown tire.

Rodney Clark of Wichita, Kan., then inherited the lead but he didn’t stay there very long either. The Kansas driver, with Melvin on his rear bumper, blew a tire on the 141st lap and the eventual winner moved in to stay there.

Melvin was clocked in 1 hour, 58 minutes, and 54.82 seconds, a time that shaved the previous mark of 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 58.79 seconds that was registered by Don White of Keokuk here on July 4.

White was also a tire victim in the early stages of the contest and was never able to get back into contention. He finished out of the first 12 money-paying spots.

Clark, one of the brief leaders when tire troubles sent Anderson to the pits, was closing in on Melvin with 10 laps to go when another tire blew, this time on the rear. Rather then pull into the pits, Clark kept going and finished in ninth with a rear flat.

Trailing Howe, the third-place finisher, was Ralph Dyer of Shreveport, La., who came in far behind to finish fourth. Fifth spot went to Carl Lilienthal of Atlantic, who barely qualified as one of the 20 fastest cars to make the starting field.

Buchanan was forced to change tires prior to the start of the race due to a complaint that his treads were of the racing variety.

However, hours after Melvin crossed the finish line, Eddie Anderson told the Des Moines Register, “The tires that Melvin used were racing tires and the promoters agreed that they were racing tires and changed the pay schedule, with each finishing driver advancing one notch.”

“Buchanan, who finished behind Melvin, received top money,” Anderson said. “That’s an admission that racing tires were used,” he added.

Following the race, promoter Al Sweeney inspected the tires and declared them to be of “stock variety”.

Anderson, who finished out of the money, said he personally inspected Melvin’s tires immediately after the race.

Results –


1. Tommy Melvin, Los Angeles, Calif.
2. Herschel Buchanan, Shreveport, La.
3. Dick Howe, Chicago
4. Ralph Dyer, Shreveport, La.
5. Carl Lilienthal, Atlantic
6. E.V. Derr, Fort Madison
7. George Christianson, Chicago
8. Jim Morgan, Davenport
9. Rodney Clark, Wichita, Kan.
10.Larry Wheeler, Omaha
11.Don Smith, Topeka, Kan.
12.Wayne Snyder, Perry