Dark Year
The 1950 season opener at Lakewood proved to be tragic, as James Brinkley lost his life in a first turn crash.
Coming off of the successful end to the 1949 season, things looked bright for Lakewood Speedway going into the ‘50s.
But 1950 turned out to be the bloodiest and most brutal year in the track’s history. James Brinkley, an Alabama native who worked as a mechanic in Hapeville, Georgia, was making only his third career start in a stock car event at the track on March 27 for Lakewood’s season opener.
During one of the heat races leading up to the main event, Brinkley’s car overturned in the first turn. He was thrown from the car and pinned underneath. He was transported to nearby Grady Hospital, where he died moments later.
Two other racers were also injured before the day’s events were over.
Mike Joseph of Pennsylvania was a 14-year veteran of midget racing, and was one of the founders of the American Racing Drivers Club, serving as its president.
Veteran midget racer Mike Joseph lost his life while shaking down a AAA Big Car at Lakewood in May of 1950.
The AAA Big Car event at Lakewood on May 7, 1950 was one of Joseph’s first stints into the upper ranks of open wheel racing. It was also one of the final AAA events prior to the running of the Indianapolis 500.
Unfortunately, it would be his last. During a shake down run, Joseph’s car went out of control, striking an embankment. The car somersaulted through the air twice, throwing Joseph 40 feet. He suffered severe head injuries, and died later at an area hospital.
One of the most infamous and horrifying moments in racing history occurred at Lakewood on June 11, 1950.
It was during the running of a 100-lap NSCRA stock-car event. It was a hot and typically dusty day at Lakewood, as the fans watched Jack Smith lead late in the going.
Florida racer Skimp Hersey was competing in a 100-lap NSCRA event at Lakewood on June 11, 1950.
One of the drivers competing that day was John Edward “Skimp” Hersey, a 37-year-old native of St. Augustine, Florida. Hersey had just slid his car off into the treacherous first turn when disaster struck.
For some reason, Hersey’s car got away from him, and went tumbling side over side, coming to rest on the passenger’s side against the turn one embankment.
In those days, many drivers racing at Lakewood would keep an army gas can in the car. That was so if they ran out of gas on the backstretch, they would pull off and get enough gas in the car to get back around to the pits. Otherwise, they were cutoff from the pits by the lake, and would be stranded for the day.
When Hersey’s car began to tumble, the lid came off of the gas can, coating the inside of his racer with fuel.
When the car came to rest, something sparked, and the racecar became an inferno.
The accident occurred right in front of the grandstands. An estimated 15,000 people watched in horror as flames shot up from his car.
This photo appeared on the June 13, 1950 edition of The Brownsville Herald from Brownsville, Texas. Hundreds of newspapers all over the country carried the photo, depicting Hersey’s fiery accident. Such photos of auto racing tragedies were the norm for newspapers of the day.
Suddenly, disoriented and on fire, Hersey emerged from the burning car. He stumbled from the wreck and sat down on the track, still burning, as the crowd screamed for someone to help.
The closest person to the accident was a photographer for an Atlanta area newspaper (which is still being published today). The photographer had moved out onto the track and had been taking photos of the scene when Hersey emerged from the flames.
The photographer never moved towards Hersey. He continued taking photos. They ran the in gruesome sequence on the front pages of the next day’s paper.
Hersey was finally helped, and was transported to an area hospital. He made it through the night, but died the next morning, just as the photos of his accident were hitting the streets on the front page of the paper.
Aside from the tragedy that had been seen at the track, Lakewood continued to show some of the best racing in the south in 1950. The AAA sanctioned a 200-mile stock car event on September 10.
A late race pass by Georgia Racing Hall of Famer Billy Carden gave him the edge and the win over NASCAR champion Red Byron in the event.