![Emory Collins in the Nashville Banner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Emory_Collins_in_the_Nashville_Banner.jpg)
Emory Collins (1904 – June 2, 1982) was an American racing driver from
Le Mars, Iowa
Le Mars is the county seat of Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. It is located on the Floyd River northeast of Sioux City. The population was 10,571 at the time of the 2020 census. Le Mars is part of the Sioux City metropolitan area.
Histor ...
. He won the
International Motor Contest Association
The International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) was organized in 1915 by J. Alex Sloan, and is currently the oldest active auto racing sanctioning body in the United States. IMCA is currently headquartered in Vinton, Iowa, and features s ...
(IMCA) sprint car national championship in 1938, 1946, 1947, and 1948. Collins was inducted in the
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a Hall of Fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning officials and media members. The museum is located in Knoxville, Iowa, the ho ...
in 1991. He was known for racing the red number 7
Offenhauser
The Offenhauser Racing Engine, or Offy, is a racing engine design that dominated American open wheel racing for more than 50 years and is still popular among vintage sprint and midget car racers.
History
The Offenhauser engine, familiarly ...
sprint car between 1921 and 1951.
Backgrounds
Collins was born in
Sibley, Iowa
Sibley is a city in Osceola County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,860 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Osceola County. Hawkeye Point, the highest point in the State of Iowa, is also nearby.
History
Sibley ha ...
in 1904 before moving to
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina () is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 C ...
, Canada in 1907.
Collins started working as a mechanic when he was 9 years old.
Collins played ice hockey. He played on the
Regina Pats
Regina (Latin for "queen") may refer to:
Places Canada
* Regina, Saskatchewan, the capital city of the province
** Regina (electoral district)
** Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina
France
* Régina, French Guiana, a commune
United States
* R ...
and on the Canadian National Team in the Olympics.
Racing career
Collins started racing when he was 17 years old in 1921.
Collins' first win came in a
Model T
The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...
at
Semans, Saskatchewan
Semans ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Mount Hope No. 279 and Census Division No. 10. The village is located approximately 125 km north of the City of Regina an ...
.
He took a Chevrolet "big" car to victory lane at
Winnepeg on the following year.
J. Alex Sloan, promoter of IMCA, took Collins to the United States to play on a Chicago professional hockey team and determined that Collins should drive race cars instead.
Collins and
Gus Schrader
Gus Schrader (May 22, 1895 in Newhall, Iowa – October 22, 1941 in Shreveport, Louisiana) was an American racecar driver. He was the 1933–1937 and 1939–1941 IMCA national sprint car champion. He was considered one of the best "Big Car" (as ...
frequently raced against each other in the 1930s and were the class of the field.
Schrader won the 1933 to 1937 IMCA national championships. Collins won the 1938 IMCA national sprint car championship at the final race.
Schrader won the 1939 and 1940 championships and won the 1941 championship before his death.
All racing activities halted in the United States from 1942 until 1945 because of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Collins returned to racing after the war and won the 1946, 1947, and 1948 IMCA Sprint car championships.
He had several wins in 1950 including
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...
,
Oskaloosa, Iowa
Oskaloosa is a city in, and the county seat of, Mahaska County, Iowa, United States. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Oskaloosa was a national center of bituminous coal mining. The population was 11,558 in the 2020 U.S. Cens ...
, and
Lethbridge, Alberta
Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian Rocky Mountains contribute to ...
.
Collins stopped racing in 1951 and he retired from racing at Le Mars.
Career awards
He was inducted in the
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a Hall of Fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning officials and media members. The museum is located in Knoxville, Iowa, the ho ...
(United States) in 1991.
Collins was inducted in the
Kossuth County
Kossuth County () is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 14,828. The county seat is Algona, Iowa, Algona.
History
Kossuth County was founded on January ...
Racing Hall of Fame in 2011.
Collins was a member of the inaugural 2018 class at the Iowa Hall of Fame and Racing Museum.
Personal life
Collins died on June 2, 1982, from a heart attack.
Collins was survived by his wife Irene.
Collins was nicknamed "Spunk".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Emory
1904 births
1982 deaths
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees
Racing drivers from Iowa
People from Le Mars, Iowa
Sportspeople from Regina, Saskatchewan
Racing drivers from Saskatchewan