Countdown: Kansas

Cup title sponsor puts Sunflower State at center of NASCAR

The Sunflower State has always been at the center of it all.

The geodetic center of North America is located in Osborne County. This spot is used as the central reference point for all maps produced by the government. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is located in Smith County near Lebanon.

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Places like Dodge City, Wichita and Abilene were either the last stop on the way to the western frontier -- or for some, the first real taste of the Wild West. Kansas was home to such figures as Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, aviator Amelia Earhart, activist Carrie Nation, comedian Buster Keaton and clown Emmett Kelly.

The world's biggest ball of twine reportedly resides in Cawker City, while the second-largest electric shovel sits in West Mineral. Kansas is home to Boot Hill, the National Teachers Hall of Fame and a recreation of Dorothy's farmhouse.

NASCAR's connection to Kansas goes all the way back to the first Strictly Stock race in 1949 -- and continues with a state-of-the-art racetrack on the outskirts of Kansas City.

Best behind the wheel

• Jim Roper, Halstead

"Alfalfa Jim" Roper's career in racing was nearly as unusual as the circumstances around his lone NASCAR win.

Unlike many of today's racers, Roper got a late start. He purchased his first midget car in 1944, when he was already 27. After the war ended, Roper drove several different types of cars, including stock cars and roadsters, winning the track championship at CeJay Speedway in Wichita in 1947.

During one race in Salina, Roper spun out and went through a wooden fence into a field of alfalfa, turned around and finished the race. When he stopped afterward, the car was full of alfalfa, which earned him that nickname.

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While racing in the regional International Motor Contest Association series in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Iowa in 1949, Roper learned about the first NASCAR Strictly Stock race at Charlotte through a comic strip. So he and friend Millard Clothier took two new Lincolns from Clothier's car dealership in Great Bend and headed for Charlotte Speedway to race in the 200-lap event, which paid $2,000 to win.

A crowd estimated at more than 20,000 people ended up covered in dirt as the 33 cars churned up huge plumes of dust. Local driver Glenn Dunnaway was three laps in front of Roper's overheating Lincoln when he took the checkered flag.

But Dunnaway's springs were declared illegal because they were not factory installed equipment and his car was disqualified, handing the victory to Roper. NASCAR then dismantled Roper's engine in a post-race inspection, leaving him without a way to get back to Kansas.

Finally, a North Carolina dealership put a replacement engine in the Lincoln and Roper drove the winning car back home. Roper would compete in only one other NASCAR race, finishing 15th at Hillsboro two months later.

Roper continued to race cars until he suffered a broken vertebra in a sprint car accident in 1955. He went on to work as a flagman, built race cars for other drivers and moved to Texas, where he bred thoroughbred horses.

He died in June of 2000 at age 83.

Other noteworthy drivers from Kansas

• Terry Bivins, Shawnee Mission: Had six top-10 finishes in 18 races in 1976, including an eighth in the Daytona 500 but finished second in rookie of the year balloting to Skip Manning

• Bruce Hill, Topeka: 21 top-10 finishes in 100 starts, including fifths at Rockingham, Darlington and Dover in 1975

We wish ...

	Martin Martin's lone win in '05 came at Kansas Speedway. Credit: Autostock
	Kansas Speedway Cup winners Year Driver 2001 Jeff Gordon 2002 Jeff Gordon 2003 Ryan Newman 2004 Joe Nemecheck 2005 Mark Martin Busch winners Year Driver 2001 Jeff Green 2002 Jeff Burton 2003 David Green 2004 Joe Nemechek 2005 Kasey Kahne Truck winners Year Driver 2001 Ricky Hendrick 2002 Mike Bliss 2003 Jon Wood 2004 Carl Edwards 2005 Todd Bodine • Track Page: Kansas Speedway

Miler Jim Ryun had become a NASCAR driver.

Perhaps the greatest runner never to win an Olympic gold medal, the Wichita native was the first high-school miler to break the four-minute barrier and set the world record several times. He was eliminated in the semifinals of the 1,500-meters in 1964, finished second in 1968 to Kip Keino of Kenya and fell during a preliminary heat in the '72 Games.

Keeping it on track

• Kansas Speedway

In 1996, International Speedway Corporation began exploring the idea of building a track in the Midwest. Bonds were sold in 1998 and construction on the 1.5-mile tri-oval began a year later.

Tickets for the 2001 season went on sale on Aug. 17, 2000 -- and within a week, nearly 80 percent of the season tickets had been sold. Paving on the track begin in September of that year and construction was completed in the spring of 2001.

Jeff Gordon won the first two Cup events there, starting with the inaugural race on Sept. 29, 2001.

Other tracks which have hosted NASCAR races

• Lakeside Speedway, Kansas City: A hotbed of racing for more than 40 years and currently hosting the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series, it's one of the few tracks which was paved but is now a slightly banked dirt half-mile.

• Linn County Speedway, Pleasanton: This three-eighths-mile, semi-banked clay oval about an hour south of Kansas City is nicknamed "Tornado Alley" and part of the Dodge Weekly Series

A word from our sponsor

• Sprint Nextel, Overland Park

The official series sponsor of NASCAR's premier division, Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business and government customers. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks offering industry leading mobile data services; instant national and international walkie-talkie capabilities; and an award-winning and global Tier 1 Internet backbone.