Minnesota State Fair Speedway - 1958
By Kyle Ealy
St. Paul, Minn. – The predecessor to the Northstar 500, which ran annually during the mid-to-late 60’s and early 70’s, the Northstar 350 was a Labor Day tradition at the Minnesota State Fair and was one of the crown jewels of the International Motor Contest Association stock car circuit.
It all started on Monday, September 2, 1957, as Johnny Beauchamp, the “Flyin’ Frenchman” from Harlan, Iowa, captured the very first Northstar 350. Driving his 1957 Chevrolet between heavy showers, Beauchamp proved to be the best “mudders” of them all, winning the first half of the 350-lap contest while finishing second to Don White of Keokuk, Iowa, in the second race.
White finished third in the first race behind Ernie Derr of Fort Madison, Iowa, Beauchamp took runner-up honors in the second race behind White.
The threatening skies and sporadic showers didn’t deter race fans as 30,217 spectators sat through a nearly five-hour program.
Beauchamp picked up $1,350 for his earnings while White pocketed $1,175 for his runner-up finish.
Bobby Burdick of Omaha, a pre-race favorite along with Beauchamp, suffered an accident on the 99th lap of the first race and was forced to retire for the rest of the day.
The lead changed hands eight time in the first race with Beauchamp taking his final lead on the 143rd circuit. The time of the race was 1 hour, 47 minutes, and 11 seconds, which included 43 minutes under yellow when rain made the track unsafe for competition.
Ernie Derr exits his car after winning the 1958 Northstar 350.
Ernie Derr, the dapper looking mechanic from Keokuk, would win the second annual Northstar 350 on September 1, 1958. Derr would ram his 1957 Pontiac to the championship in a drama-filled contest.
Derr’s winning time of 2 hours, 52 minutes, and 17.91 seconds established a new IMCA record. The program also set an all-time attendance record of 32,178.
Johnny Beauchamp, last year’s winner, furnished the drama in the final laps of the 175-mile grind. Making a last-lap charge on Derr, Beauchamp blew a tire on lap 348, crashing hard into the retaining wall. He manhandled his 1957 Chevrolet around the half-mile to hold onto second place.
Pit stop and mechanical difficulty encountered by Bob Burdick were determining factors in the battle of wits and equipment.
For the first 189 laps, less than a straightaway separated Burdick, Derr, and Beauchamp. Beauchamp then dove into the pits for gasoline and four new tires, losing five laps to Burdick.
When Floyd Matter of Hollandale wrecked in the west turn, Burdick and Derr both took advantage of the caution to get gasoline. Derr also changed one tire.
Things looked rosy for the Omaha speedster until his drive shaft gave out on lap 230. Derr took the lead with Russell Gross of Quincy, Ill., one lap behind in second and Beauchamp four laps behind in third.
That’s the way it remained for the next 100 laps until Gross developed engine problems and dropped out. Meanwhile, Beauchamp had made up his four lap deficit and was bidding for first when his tire blew with less than two laps left.
It would be Derr’s biggest win of his 15-year career, earning the “Komet” a reward of $1,500. It also marked his first win at the State Fairgrounds since 1952.
Johnny Beauchamp and chief mechanic Dale Swanson celebrate Beauchamp's victory in the 1959 Northstar 350.
Like many Labor Day motorists, Johnny Beauchamp went for an afternoon drive on Monday, September 7, 1959. After driving 175 miles, he arrived at the same spot he started – out front.
The only thing that marred the pleasant journey was another driver, Ernie Derr, kept trying to pass him. And unlike most holiday drivers, Beauchamp had 29,326 “back-seat” drivers shouting at him.
But the “cruise” around the Minnesota State Fair half-mile dirt oval made Beauchamp $1,500 richer. His winning time was 2 hours, 54 minutes, and 57.13 seconds.
In many respects, Beauchamp drove like he was touring the countryside. He grabbed the lead only two laps in, pounded steadily away with little opposition from the 33-car field, and won by more than a lap over defending champion Ernie Derr. Derr, who had won two Fair features the week before, pressed Beauchamp constantly but was never able to surmount his lead.
Derr received $1,200 for his runner-up efforts while super modified ace Frank Lies of Wichita, Kan., was third and took home $900. Newt Bartholomew of Carlisle, Iowa, and Ramo Stott of Keokuk, Iowa, rounded out the top-five finishers.
Sonny Morgan shows off his trophy after winning the 1960 Northstar 350.
A Texan came to St. Paul on September 5, 1960, and went home with three IMCA world records and $1,500 in his pockets. Sonny Morgan of Beaumont wheeled his 1959 Chevrolet to a dominating victory before 28,745 race fans.
Morgan’s new records were -
1. 125 miles in 2 hours, 1 minutes, and 28.90 seconds compared to Ernie Derr’s standard of 2 hours, 2 minutes, and 49.68 seconds which was set that same year.
2. 150 miles in 2 hours, 26 minutes, and 29.11 seconds compared to Derr’s old 1958 mark of 2 hours, 26 minutes, and 50.55 seconds.
3. 175 miles in 2 hours, 51 minutes, and 31.36 seconds compared with 2 hours, 52 minutes, and 17.91 seconds set by Derr in 1958.
Morgan was the only driver to complete the 350 laps. He beat runner-up Lenny Funk of Otis, Kan., diving a 1959 Plymouth, by three laps and the third-place Derr, in a 1960 Pontiac, by six laps.
Harold "Buzz" McCann holds his trophy after winning the 1961 Northstar 350.
A crowd of 27,500 watched as a hometown boy would win the 1961 Northstar 350, with Harold “Buzz” McCann rewriting some records along the way on Monday, September 4.
McCann finished 17 seconds ahead of second-place Ernie Derr and wiped out Sonny Morgan’s one-year-old world mark for 175 miles, winning the race in 2 hours, 46 minutes, and 46.92 seconds.
McCann also set world marks for 250 and 300-lap and a State Fair record for 100 laps. McCann’s time for 250 was 1 hour, 58 minutes, and 55.41 seconds and 300 was 2 hours, 23 minutes, 7.16 seconds, Derr set a new world’s record for 150 laps of 1 hour, 10 minutes, and 7.23 seconds.
The race was a hotly-contested duel between McCann and Derr for the final 250 laps with the lead changing hands five times. In the final stages, Derr’s car started to drop behind due to low oil pressure. Jules “Chub” Liebe of Oelwein, Iowa, finished third.
The victory paid McCann $1,500 with Derr cashing in $1,200.
The 1962 Northstar 350 will go down as one of the most thrilling finishes in the history of Minnesota State Fair, with Mert Williams of Rochester winning on Labor Day, September 3.
With 26,000 race fans on their feet, Williams, Dick Hutcherson, and Ramo Stott, were running bumper-to-bumper down the front straightaway with Williams winning by a car-length at the finish.
Hutcherson was side-by-side with Williams as the duo entered the last turn, but “Hutch” blew the engine in his Ford, and that allowed Stott to overtake him 25 yards from the finish to finish second. Hutcherson hung on to take third while Lenny Funk was fourth, the last driver on the same lap.
Hutcherson would register a protest regarding the scoring at the endo of the race but a recheck revealed that the original tabulation was correct.
Williams, who drove a steady, consistent race, caught Hutcherson on lap 312, and then set a blistering pace for the remaining 37 circuits.
Ernie Derr, the big money winner at the 1962 Fair, was forced from the race on lap 4 with a broken ball joint on his steering. Buzz McCann, last year’s winner, had mechanical issues all day long, making numerous pit stops and finishing a disappointing 13th.
Williams received $1,500 in prize money and a kiss from Kathleen Hjelle, Princess Kay of the Milky Way.
Dick Hutcherson would win the 1963 Northstar 350 in world record time.
Hutcherson would get a measure of revenge in the sixth and final Northstar 350, winning in a world record time before 20,462 fans. Hutcherson, driving a 1963 Ford would beat Ernie Derr to the checkers by seven seconds to pocket $1,790 of the $9,000 purse. Derr, driving a 1963 Pontiac, earned $1,300. Lenny Funk finished third and collected $910.
Hutcherson’s winning time of 2 hours, 43 minutes, and 38.16 seconds beat the former record held by Buzz McCann by more than three minutes. It was Hutcherson’s fourth win in five days of stock car racing at the Minnesota State Fair. His only loss was to Funk in the 200-lap event the previous Thursday.
Mert Williams, the defending champion, spun and hit the wall on the first lap, and spent the rest of the afternoon watching from the infield.
Derr led the first 41 laps before yielding to Funk, who stayed out front until lap 98. Then, Ramo Stott and Hutcherson began a duel which found the two “Keokuk Komets” exchanging the lead three times before Hutcherson gained the upper hand on the 267th lap.
The “Northstar” would continue on as one of the must-see events on the IMCA stock car circuit, with the race being extended to 400 laps in 1964 and again in ’65. From 1966 to 1972, the race would be 500 laps.
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