Johnny Ritter

 

 

                    His racing and life with photos and printed material

 

                                             By Tom Avenengo

 

                                                    Part Five

 

Due to the size of this article, I’ve had to break it down into five parts.

 

Part five consists of some of his history, his racing feature wins, His induction into the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame, and his induction into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame and some articles about his fatal accident.

 

Johnny Ritter was born on August 27, 1910 in Austria, and moved to the U.S. in 1920, and settled in Saginaw, Michigan.  He started racing big cars in 1934 at Davison, Michigan. Ritter was killed in October 1948 in a pit accident (hit by an out of control midget driven by Carl Faulkenham of Leicester, MA) at the Medford Bowl, in MA, which resulted in a broken neck, which was listed as the cause of death.  Helping Ritter change the tire on that night was Robert Van Blarcon 26, of Ridgewood who received leg injuries. Also injured was George Hatfield owner of the track.  During his midget career he drove the following cars:  His outboards #3 and #163, the Jerry Willets “Sugar Blues” #31 Offy, the Gordon #2, Holzbaugh #3 outboard and the Allen #18 Outboard, along with his own Offy #3.  He also drove the Cheeseman #8 at the 100-mile midget race at Goshen, NY, and at Nutley, cars numbered 2, 23 & 28.  He was married to Nadine, and they had two children, a daughter, Sharyn and a son, John, Jr.  He was 38 years old at the time of his death.

 

Note:  The above paragraph, with a few additions by me, was included in his race winning records when they were sent to me.

 

 

Johnny Ritter feature wins

1937

September 6         Escanaba, MI                 Upper Peninsula State Fairgrounds

November 21       Chicago, IL           Armory       Elto             30 laps       

Johnny drove the Holzbaugh #3 outboard during at least part of the season.                                           

1938

May 1         Detroit, MI           Zeiter’s Midget Speedway       20 laps

May 5         Detroit, MI           Zeiter’s Midget Speedway       20 laps

May 12       Detroit, MI           Zeiter’s Midget Speedway       20 laps

Postponed feature from Sunday 5/8.

May 12       Detroit, MI           Zeiter’s Midget Speedway       20 laps

May 22       Detroit, MI           Zeiter’s Midget Speedway       20 laps

September 5         Bronx, NY           Castle Hill Speedway              20 laps

October 30  Nutley, NJ            Nutley Velodrome        

 

Zeiter’s became Motor City Speedway in latter years. 

 

1939

March 19    Nutley, NJ            Nutley Velodrome     #23 Ritter Elto

April 2        Nutley, NJ            Nutley Velodrome

 

May 26       New York, NY     Castle Hill Speedway              35 laps

June 18       New York, NY     Coney Island Velodrome                  35 laps

June 25       New York, NY     Coney Island Velodrome                  35 laps

June 27       New York, NY     Castle Hill Speedway              35 laps

July 2                   New York, NY     Coney Island Velodrome                  35 laps

July 4                   New York, NY     Castle Hill Speedway              35 laps

July 9                   New York, NY     Coney Island Velodrome                  35 laps

July 23        New York, NY     Coney Island Velodrome                   35 laps

August 9     Nutley, NJ            Nutley Velodrome

 

August 12   Nutley, NJ            Nutley Velodrome

August 16   Nutley, NJ            Nutley Velodrome

August 23   Nutley, NJ            Nutley Velodrome

August 26   Nutley, NJ            Nutley Velodrome        

September 5         New York, NY     Castle Hill Speedway              35 laps

 

1939 Notes

During the 1939 season, Ritter won the track championships at the following speedways:  Nutley Velodrome, Coney Island Velodrome and the Castle Hill Speedway in New York.  At the Castle Hill Speedway he ran 29 of the 33 races held, placing in the first five, in feature events, 24 times.

 

1940

May 21       New York, NY     Castle Hill Speedway      

June 2         Union, NJ             Tri-City Stadium     accident   19 laps

July 2                   New York, NY     Castle Hill Speedway              30 laps

July 9                   New York, NY     Castle Hill Speedway    

July 16?      New York, NY     Castle Hill Speedway                       

September 15       Union, NY           Tri-City Stadium           25 laps

October 18  New York, NY     Castle Hill Speedway              150 laps  Time 41:35.0

November 3         New York, NY     New York Coliseum                30 laps       

Drove his own yellow Elto during the season.

 

1941

May 13       New York, NY     Castle Hill Speedway              30 laps

1939 and 1940 track Champ

May 20       New York, NY     Castile Hill Speedway   

May 25       Union, NJ             Tri-City Stadium                     25 laps                

June 17       Freeport, L.I., NY          Freeport Stadium

June 20       Freeport, L.I., NY          Freeport Stadium

June 24       Freeport, L.I., NY          Freeport Stadium                    25 laps

July 14        Freeport, L.I., NY          Freeport Stadium

July 15        Freeport, L.I., NY          Freeport Stadium                      25 laps

July 18        Freeport, L.I., NY          Freeport Stadium

July 29        Freeport, L.I., NY          Freeport Stadium

August 1     Freeport, L.I., NY          Freeport Stadium

August 6     Union, NJ             Tri-City Stadium                     25 laps

 

August 15   Freeport, L.I., NY          Freeport Stadium

September 23       Freeport, L.I., NY          Freeport Stadium

 

1942

May 17       Allentown, PA     Dorney Park Speedway           25 laps

 

1946

May 9         Philadelphia, PA  Yellow Jacket Speedway                  25 laps       

May 26       Paterson, NJ                  Hinchliffe Stadium                            25 laps

June 9         Paterson, NJ                  Hinchliffe Stadium                            25 laps

August 20   Paterson, NJ                  Hinchliffe Stadium                            50 laps

September 3         Paterson, NJ                  Hinchliffe Stadium                            25 laps

October 15  Paterson, NJ                  Hinchliffe Stadium                            25 laps

October 15  Paterson, NJ                  Hinchliffe Stadium                            50 laps

                                                                   Two Features run on 10/15

1947

February 19         New York City, NY       Kingsbridge Armory

May 29       Philadelphia, PA  Yellow Jacket Speedway

June 12       Philadelphia, PA  Yellow Jacket Speedway                  25 laps

July 15        Paterson, NJ                  Hinchliffe Stadium  Jerry Willets Offy #31

August 4     Bridgeport, CT     Candlelite Stadium

September 2         Paterson, NJ                  Hinchliffe Stadium                            25 laps

September 28       Danbury, CT                 Danbury Fairgrounds

October 12  Avon, CT             Cherry Park Speedway           75 laps

November 12       New York City, NY       Kingsbridge Armory                         25 laps

Johnny debuted his new Kurtis Offy in September of 1947.  This is the same car that Rodger Ward drove at Lime Rock, CT many years later and won the Formula Libra race against some of the world’s best drivers and road racing cars.

 

1948

March 3                New York City, NY                 Kingsbridge Armory                        25 laps

March 27              New York City, NY      Kingsbridge Armory                         25 laps

August 18   Buffalo, NY                   Buffalo Civic Stadium

September 16       Agawam, MA                Riverside Park Speedway

 

 

 

From the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame:

 

 

Johnny Ritter
Inducted into the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.

The mighty mite of midget racing was little Johnny Ritter, who just barely broke five feet tall with a 1/2 inch to spare. Johnny was born in Austria on August 27, 1910. His family moved to America in 1920 and settled in Saginaw, MI. Ritter started his racing career in 1934 at Davison, MI. in the big car ranks.

Many of Ritter’s fans claim his best race ever occurred early in 1937, when he out drove a stellar field of the country’s top midget drivers at the Chicago Armory indoor title event.

Johnny put on his greatest display of driving skill in early May of 1948. He had started the season as an owner-driver and was maintaining two cars. Both cars carried Johnny’s favorite yellow paint job and lucky #3, with a 4-60 Elto outboard and an Offenhauser for power plants.

Johnny Ritter’s career ended at Medford, Massachusetts on October 12, 1948. He was fatally injured by an out of control racecar while fixing a tire on his own car in the infield pit area. He was 38 years old.

 

From the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame:

 

National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame

Johnny Ritter

Inducted into the Hall of fame in 2003

Originally from Saginaw, Michigan, Johnny started driving big cars in 1929.

When the midgets became popular in 1934 Ritter took a liking to the smaller cars and switched to them for good in 1936.

His career blossomed after he headed east, becoming a mainstay in the sport from the middle 30’s until his death at the Medford (Massachusetts) Bowl in 1948 at age 37. (Actually he was 38, having been born in Austria on August 27, 2010 – my note) In 1938 he placed 8th in the final standings at both Bridgeport, Connecticut and Castle Hill, (Bronx) NY. In 1939 he won Championships at Castle Hill and the Nutley Velodrome. He was third in the AAA Eastern point standings as well.  During his career Ritter won five track titles, Nutley in 1939, Castle Hill in 1939 and 40, Freeport, New York in 1941 and Paterson, New Jersey’s Hinchliffe Stadium in 1946.  His death came on October 12, 1948 on the 20th lap of a 200-lap event at the Medford Bowl. Ritter was changing a tire on the track apron when a midget racer crashed into him. Several people, including the track owner, George Hatfield, were injured as well.

 

Articles about his death:

JOHNNY RITTER FATALLY HURT AT MEDFORD TITLE SHOW

 

 By Mack Macleod.

 

Medford, Massachusetts October 12th.

 

A holiday crowd of about 2500 fans attended the final program of midget races held this afternoon at the Medford Bowl, where a 100 lap Championship race was scheduled as the season's finale.  The entire program went off without a hitch, until the event was halted on the 42nd lap by a tragic mishap that cost the life of popular little Johnny Ritter of Paterson, New Jersey, and sent his pit man John Van Blarkum of Ridgewood, New Jersey and promoter Abby Hatfield to the hospital with severe injuries.

 

The feature race got under way with Ritter on the pole and Chet Conklin on the outside, followed by eighteen other starters.  Ritter immediately took the lead and Bob Foss soon moved the McNutt number 1 Offy past Conklin into second spot, and started to really push Ritter for the lead.  On the 16th lap Herb Haynes tossed a hose going by the starting line and he spun, with Boston Blackie sliding through the water and into the first turn fence.  Billy Eldridge hit the slick and spun into the fence and was hit by Haynes - Haynes' car as he bounced off the rail.  The race was flagged immediately and the track dried up, while Haynes was treated for burns to his feet and legs.  On the restart, Ritter again assumed the lead with Foss in hot pursuit.  Johnny Kay worked up in the Cascia Offy, along with Bert Brooks in the Wilson number 2 Offy, and Johnny Black and Bob Disbrow moved up to threatening positions behind the leaders.  On the 40th lap, Ritter suddenly slowed on the backstretch and looked over at his right rear wheel, as Foss took over the lead spot.  Ritter pulled into the infield on the homestretch, only about 6 or 8 feet from the track, and signaled for a new wheel, which was rushed out to him.  And while in the process of changing it, the car driven by "Dynamite" Duggan went out of control, coming full speed off the fourth turn, and before Duggan could recover full control, the car tore along the edge of the infield, striking Van Blarkum, Ritter and Hatfield, who was coming out to try to get Ritter's car moved further into the infield.  Ritter passed away almost instantly from a broken neck, and Van Blarkum (Van Barkum?) received a compound fracture of the left leg, plus other body and head injuries, while Hatfield was thrown to the ground, with both legs badly shattered.  The races were halted and the injured men rushed to the hospital.  Foss was declared the winner of the event, followed by Disbrow, Kay, Brooks, Black and Conklin. 

 

 

And:

 

13 Oct 1948

Saginaw Race Driver Killed
John Ritter Loses Life In Massachusetts
Medford Mass-  John Ritter, 37-year-old native of Saginaw who left home almost 20 Years ago for a career as a race car driver, was killed last night when struck by  a midget racer while changing the  tire of his own car at the Medford Bowl.
Two others, Robert Van Blarcon, 26, of RidgewoodN.J., Ritter's mechanic, and George Hatfield, 40, owner of the track, were injured critically.
Ritter left Saginaw in 1929 to drive regular race cars on Midwest and Eastern tracks.  In 1936, when the midget race craze started in the East, Ritter switched to the small cars.  He had been a veteran driver on midget tracks since racing at the Cedarhurst, Long Island, N.Y. oval, and at Nutley, N.J.  and Castle Hill, N.Y.
At Castle Hill he won the track championship in 1939 and 1940.
During his big car career, Ritter had two serious crackups, one hospitalizing him for eight months.
He was the second driver to be killed within three days, Ted Horn, leading big car driver, was killed Sunday at an Illinois track.
Ritter is survived by his widow, the former Nadine Drouillard of Detroit, and their two children, John Jr., 10, and Sharyn, 3;  his mother, Mrs. Mary Ritter of Saginaw who has been living with him in the East during recent years;  a brother, Joseph A. Ritter, and sister, Mrs. Gus Kuruda.
.

 

The end.