Paul Liebbe & Chris Christiansen

These two auto racing officials, Paul Liebbe, left and “Chris” Christiansen (his real name was Dick), were fixtures at many area speedways, including Davenport Speedway, for many years. Liebbe was a longtime auto racing announcer.

He also promoted races for a season or two at Hawkeye Speedway west of Blue Grass. When Liebbe was promoting there, he renamed the facility The Track. Liebbe also hosted the “Around the Track” motor racing news program on radio from 1965 to 1972.

Longtime announcer Phil Roberts, who currently is Davenport Speedway’s announcer, did the program from 1973 through 1990, when it went off the air. In addition to flagging races, Christiansen, who had a trophy business at a Davenport bowling alley, made the trophies that many of the drivers won.

Liebbe, who was born in 1916, died in 1962 and is buried in Lettsville Cemetery, Letts, Iowa. According to his niece, Christiansen lives in the Phoenix area.

This photo is from the Phil Roberts collection.