Jack, as he was known to everyone, not only worked for the Velie Car Company in Moline, Illinois, but also participated in several races with these cars. In 1910, during the 3rd Annual Los Angeles to Pheonix Road Race there were 14 cars entered, including a Velie owned by E.R. Stearns and driven by Jack. The cars left L.A. just before midnight on November 5th, made a control stop in Ehrenberg and arrived at the Pheonix Fairgrounds on November 7th for the Territorial Fair (Arizona didn't become a state until 2 years later) The Velie clocked in at just under 20 hours, which was good enough for 5th place in the 418 mile race. On August 25, 1911, Jack raced in an 8 day Reliability Run covering 500 miles with just one point taken off his score. My father always said Jack raced in the first Indy 500, but Howard Hall drove the Velie Car in that race. It could be that Jack had some sort of involvement in it, just not actually driving. During his marriage to Isabelle, they had moved a total of 17 times for his jobs. During his later years, he was working for General Motors Truck and Coach. He had to move to Cuba where they were introducing a new line of buses. Isabelle stayed in the U.S. and what was only supposed to be a year or two, turned out to be seven. They had 3 children, Dorothy (my grandmother), Isabelle, and John Jr.
Jack, as he was known to everyone, not only worked for the Velie Car Company in Moline, Illinois, but also participated in several races with these cars. In 1910, during the 3rd Annual Los Angeles to Pheonix Road Race there were 14 cars entered, including a Velie owned by E.R. Stearns and driven by Jack. The cars left L.A. just before midnight on November 5th, made a control stop in Ehrenberg and arrived at the Pheonix Fairgrounds on November 7th for the Territorial Fair (Arizona didn't become a state until 2 years later) The Velie clocked in at just under 20 hours, which was good enough for 5th place in the 418 mile race. On August 25, 1911, Jack raced in an 8 day Reliability Run covering 500 miles with just one point taken off his score. My father always said Jack raced in the first Indy 500, but Howard Hall drove the Velie Car in that race. It could be that Jack had some sort of involvement in it, just not actually driving. During his marriage to Isabelle, they had moved a total of 17 times for his jobs. During his later years, he was working for General Motors Truck and Coach. He had to move to Cuba where they were introducing a new line of buses. Isabelle stayed in the U.S. and what was only supposed to be a year or two, turned out to be seven. They had 3 children, Dorothy (my grandmother), Isabelle, and John Jr.
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