At a young age Colbath's father departed the family, and by 1910 Isabella had remarried to C. James Frame, and had relocated with her husband and son to Pasadena, California.

On July 5, 1923, Frame set his first world record in San Luis Obispo, California, driving a mile on a dirt track in 43.4 seconds.

[2] By 1924, Frame was running his own car on the dirt track at Culver City, California, finishing second in a 100-mile race held there on July 5.

He was brought back in 1928 by car owner Bill White to drive the same Duesenberg which had won the race the previous year.

[9] Frame dueled fellow competitor Howard Wilcox of Indianapolis over the last 75 miles in front of a packed crowd of 155,000 spectators to win the victory in a race in which only 10 of 40 starting cars managed to finish.