COWBOY O'ROURKE                                                       

By Stan Kalwasinski

            Cletus Joseph "Cowboy" O'Rourke was one of the true legendary, colorful, fun-filled characters of  Chicagoland auto racing in the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s.

            "Cowboy" was a hot dog in the midgets, a main event winner," said Emil Andres, a nine-time Indianapolis 500 starter and longtime friend and competitor of O'Rourke's.  "He did real well in the midgets.  No matter where he ran, he was a front-runner.  A terrific guy."

            Born in the coal-mining town of Minonk, Ill. on February 25, 1914, O'Rourke began his racing career at the old Evanston Speedway around 1932, driving in the stock car events in a buddy's brand new, stripped down, V8-powered Ford.  O'Rourke finished third in his first taste of feature race competition and was a regular competitor in the stock cars for the next few years.                                                                                                                   

            O'Rourke earned the nickname "Cowboy" from the Evanston track announcer for his hard charging, rough riding, race to the front, flamboyant driving style.  By 1935, O'Rourke was racing the fairly new, open wheel midgets on the West Coast, seeing action at the famed Gilmore Stadium near Los Angeles.  That season saw O'Rourke involved in a wild crash with him ending up  five rows  into the Gilmore grandstands and spending several months in the hospital. 

            O'Rourke was back in the Chicago area for the 1936 indoor midget racing season at the 124th Field Artillery Armory.  O'Rourke had the distinction of perhaps being the first driver to win a race upside down when he bested Duke Nalon by about a half of a car length in a match race at the Armory in 1937.   

            O'Rourke teamed with Milwaukee midget car owner Fred Tomshe for a number of years with the duo winning their fair shares of races.   O'Rourke won 19 victories in 21 starts in 1940 for Tomshe.

            "Cowboy" went out on the East Coast in one of Tomshe's cars," reminisced his friend Andres.  "He did real good.  He won a lot of races out there."

            O'Rourke suffered near-fatal injuries in a midget racing accident at Thawville, Ill. in May of 1941.  During heat race action, O'Rourke's right rear tire let go sending the "Cowboy" flipping end over end several times.  O'Rourke suffered a broken neck and serious head injuries.  After months of recuperation, the unstoppable O'Rourke returned to the midget racing wars and scored a 100-lap victory at Chicago's old Riverview Stadium just before World War II put an end to all racing competition.

            O'Rourke also tried his hand from time to time racing sprint cars or "big cars" as they were known during his era.  O'Rourke passed his driver's test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1948, but mechanical problems kept him from putting Joe Lencki's Speedway Cocktail Special mount in the famed 500.  O'Rourke was also a riding mechanic for Al Gordon in a winning effort at the Oakland (Calif.) Speedway in 1935.  O'Rourke was scheduled to ride with Gordon again at California's Legion Ascot Speedway a few weeks later.  Gordon's regular riding mechanic, Spider Matlock, returned instead with the duo both perishing in the final race ever held at Ascot.

            The "Cowboy" raced the small cars after World War II and into the 1950's.  O'Rourke was crowned the indoor midget racing champion at Chicago's International Amphitheatre in 1951.   After his racing day's O'Rourke operated a number of “watering holes” in the Chicago region, each becoming popular stops for the area racing fraternity. 

            At the age of 83, O'Rourke passed away on October 28, 1997 and was survived by his sons, Patrick and Thomas, six grand children and two great grand children, along with two sisters.  O'Rourke was preceded in death by his wife, Edith, in 1991.

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