Charles Pauley

31/12/1912 - 5/1/2010

Record updated 20-Dec-22

Charles Leroy Pauley was born in Herington, Kansas.  As a teenager, he remembers watching such drivers as John Gerber and “Dad” Harrier race at Abilene, Kansas when he attended the races there with his uncle, Henry George Pauley (1897-1962).

Henry Pauley built a bobtail racing car and attempted to copy John Gerber’s successful machine as closely as possible.  Pauley found Gerber willing to share his knowledge and they visited for hours at a time about what Pauley would need to do to build a competitive racing car.  Pauley’s bobtail utilized a 4-cylinder Chevrolet engine with an Oldsmobile head which increased the compression and had larger valves than a stock Chevrolet head.

Charles Pauley raced from 1932 through 1934 spending most of that time in his uncle’s #14 bobtail Chevrolet.  Some of the later races were in a white #28 Frontenac that Henry purchased from Jim White shortly after White moved to Herington, Kansas.

Charles recorded the information about many of the races that he competed in, in a small notebook.

Charles Pauley’s fiancée, Pauline Buckman, enjoyed watching the auto races except when Charles was competing, so he gave up driving and they were married in 1935.  Charles had taken a job with the Rock Island Railroad in 1929 and remained with them for more than 45 years.