1956 – Bryan Cops 250-Mile Race at Milwaukee

 

Jimmy Bryan accepts his trophy from Bob Wilke after winning the 250-mile national championship race at Milwaukee. – Steve Noffke Collection 

Milwaukee, Wis. (August 26, 1956) - Jimmy Bryan of Phoenix, Ariz., king of the nation’s dirt tracks, won his first championship race on pavement Sunday by coming from behind to capture the 250-mile event at Wisconsin State Fair Park.

Bryan, driving the Dean Van Lines Special, finished in the twilight after the race had been red flagged twice and restarted because of rain and an accident.

No one was hurt but the same John Zink Special which Indianapolis 500 winner Pat Flaherty cracked up a week ago in Springfield, Ill., was damaged seriously when it hit the wall and caught fire after 155 laps.

Ed Elisian of Oakland, Calif., was unhurt when the fuel tank burs, setting the car on fire and causing a 25-minute delay in the racing action.

Racing action had been stopped earlier for a half-hour after the first 48 laps due to rain.

Johnny Boyd of Fresno, Calif., led the first 228 miles but Bryan passed him on the backstretch and ran untouched for the remainder of the race. Boyd, whose Bowes Seal Fast had been smoking badly since lap 175, pulled into the pits for an adjustment and lost two laps as a result.

Jimmy Reece of Oklahoma City, Okla., driving the Dunn Engineering “roadster” finished second, more than a lap behind the winner.

Rodger Ward of Los Angeles, driving the Wolcott Special, finished third with Eddie Sachs of Greensboro, N.C., piloting the Ray Brady Special, coming in fourth. Boyd would settle for fifth place.

The race didn’t end until 6:30 – taking almost four hours. The State Fair crowd of 22,735 stayed in their seats despite the interruptions. The yellow flag came out a total of seven times, five of them due to rain. The others were Duke Dinsmore of Dayton, Ohio, hitting the north wall on lap 114 and Billy Garrett of Burbank, Calif., spinning out at the head of the main stretch.

Don Freeland, who was running second in USAC points, only 440 behind Pat Flaherty, lost a chance to gain when his Bob Estes Special was forced out after 102 laps with a sour magneto. Freeland was running eighth at the time.


Results –

1. Jimmy Bryan
2. Jimmy Reece
3. Rodger Ward
4. Eddie Sachs
5. Johnny Boyd
6. George Amick
7. Jack Turner
8. Bob Veith
9. Earl Motter
10.Johnnie Tolan
11.Johnnie Parsons
12.Al Keller
13.Cliff Griffith
14.Johnny Thomson
15.Jim Rathmann