Something about stopwatches and finish lines simply appealed to Ab Jenkins. He was captivated by speed.
Born in Spanish Fork, Utah, in 1883, young Ab likely never passed on a neighborhood foot race to see who was the swiftest boy around. Later he raced bicycles and then motorcycles, making loops around a Salt Lake City hippodrome.
But it was behind the wheel of ridiculously fast cars where the lifelong Church member became a newsreel regular in the 1930s and 1940s, setting several endurance automobile speed records on the salt flats of Utah's West Desert. Brother Jenkins' motor exploits put Utah on the international racing map — and championed the cause of Word of Wisdom-style living.
The late Wendell Ashton, who covered many of Brother Jenkins' record-setting runs, told the Deseret News that the LDS racer "brought worldwide attention to the Utah Salt Flats for his courageous rides and safety innovations. Few people knew that Ab drove a 24-hour ride without relief four times. His strength came from his clean lifestyle."
Brother Jenkins grabbed headlines at a time when famous athletes could make a slice of cash pitching cigarettes and alcohol. Such endorsements would have run counter to Brother Jenkins' LDS beliefs.
"In a professional sports world, when obscenities are often the language at time-outs and in the locker room, a page could be taken from Ab's book," wrote Brother Ashton in The Salt of the Earth, a biography he co-authored with Ab Jenkins. "(Ab) avoided the vulgar. He did not swear to make a point. Jenkins never touched tobacco or liquor in any form."
Still, Brother Jenkins' fame did provide a few perks. He once appeared on the cover of a Wheaties cereal box. The deal didn't pay a dime — but each year the Jenkins family received a truckload full of Wheaties.
"My mother (Evelyn Jenkins), made a lot of pie crusts with all that cereal," joked Ab's son, Marvin Jenkins.
Endurance speed records didn't allow time for lunch breaks, so Brother Jenkins stayed sharp during his 24-hour salt flat races "chewing gum and drinking milk and orange juice," said Marvin Jenkins.
Don Quixote had Rocinante. Roy Rogers had Trigger. Ab Jenkins had the Mormon Meteor.
Most of Brother Jenkins' endurance speed records were earned behind the wheel of one of three cars dubbed the "Mormon Meteor." The most prolific incarnation was the Mormon Meteor III, a specially built Duesenberg chassis powered by a V-12 Curtis Conqueror aircraft engine. Brother Jenkins' 24-hour speed record of 161 mph, set in 1940, held for almost 50 years, according to Marvin Jenkins.
In 1939, Ab Jenkins found himself in another sort of race after being nominated for Salt Lake City mayor. He won in what Brother Ashton called "the closest contest of his life" by 51 votes. Credit his victory to name recognition. "My father didn't spend a nickel" during his campaign, said Marvin Jenkins.
Ab Jenkins died in 1956. He was 73. Speed records are, indeed, made to be broken. But relatives and admirers say Ab Jenkins' commitment to family, faith and clean living remain unbreakable examples.
E-mail to: jswensen@desnews.com
