1973 Sorg Handily Takes Louisville ASA

Louisville, Ky. (April 22, 1973) - Dave Sorg, driving a 1972 Chevelle, handily won round two of the American Speed Association “Circuit of Champions” late model stock car series Sunday at Fairgrounds Motor Speedway here, expertly fending off repeated challenges from a stellar field in the 100 lap feature event.

Carl Smith was second, with Tommy Spaugh third. For Sorg, the victory was especially sweet, as he was disqualified for weight violation after finishing second in an ARCA event at the same track two weeks ago. Under the lighter, 8 pounds per cubic inch ASA regulations, however, Sorg’s victory easily withstood a post race week check.

Defending ASA champion, Denny Miles, jumped into the lead from his pole position in the main event and enjoyed a comfortable straightaway lead until the record-breaking 100 lapper’s only caution flag appeared on lap 17, necessitated by a first turn entanglement between Carl Elwanger and Ellis Herbert.

On the resumption of racing speed on lap 20, Miles became the target of intense attack by veteran Bill Kimmel and Carl Smith. Into dense slower traffic, both Kimmel and Smith passed on lap 25 two dump Miles into third position.

Kimmel seemed destined for a fast ride at the front of the pack until he was overhauled by a determined Smith on lap 36. Smith had but a short tenure at the head of the train, however, as Sorg swiftly annexed Kimmel at 39 laps and got under Smith for the lead on lap 47.

Spectacularly moving through traffic by half distance were Larry Moore and Moose Meyers. Moore, thrusting forward from 22nd starting spot, had climbed to eighth position before his 1971 Ford overheated on lap 69. Meyers, charging hard in the back of the pack, moved into the top five by lap 70.

Sorg was firmly in command by the 70 lap mark, but a furious battle raged between Kimmel and Smith for second spot. Spaugh, driving an inspired race, mounted a charge by lap 80 and sailed past Kimmel for third on lap 87.

At the finish, Sorg maintained a straightaway length lead on the third-mile circuit over second-place man, Smith. Spaugh claimed a well-earned third, nipping by Kimmel, in fourth, and Moose Meyers earned the most cars past award, claiming fifth after clawing his way from 21st starting position.

Sorg, in taking a main event, said new track record for distance of 27 minutes, 37.17 seconds. Heat race wins were claimed, in order, by Darwin Blankenship, Herb Rose, Carl Elwanger and Miles. Kimmel dominated the trophy dash and Meyers earned his feature race starting birth by winning the consolation race.

Results -

1. Dave Sorg
2. Carl Smith
3. Tommy Spaugh
4. Bill Kimmel
5. Moose Meyers
6. John Sommerville
7. Bud Toohey
8. Jerry Norris
9. Shorty Hinshaw
10. Willard Googe
11. Joe Doty
12. Frank Dewboys
13. Bob Goodfliesch
14. Jack Johnson
15. Carl Elwanger
16. Denny Miles
17. Larry Moore
18. Darrell Basham
19. Vern Schrock
20. Gene Christie
21. Joe Vincent
22. Billy Howe
23. J. Robinson
24. Ellis Herbert

1998 - Frank Kimmel Takes ARCA Salem Honors

 

Salem, Ind. (April 19, 1998) - Frank Kimmel drove Larry Clement’s Chevrolet to victory Sunday at Salem Speedway in the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200, scoring his sixth career ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series victory and first ever ARCA win on the half mile, high banked Indiana oval.

Kimmel, from nearby Jeffersonville, Ind., gave the local fans the charge they were looking for when the current series points leader crossed the final finish line 3 car lengths in front of Mark Gibson, the only other driver on the lead lap. “I want to thank all my fans for standing behind us,” said Kimmel in victory lane. “We wanted this one bad I know you did to. It’s tough to survive Salem for 200 laps in your car, it has to be set up just right to do it. Fortunately my crew set me up with the perfect handle here today and showed. This car would stick anywhere.”

Josh Baltes, who led 12 laps, Dan Pardus and Rick Groetsch, scored their best career ARCA finishes of third, fourth and fifth respectively, just one lap down.

Kimmel was impressive on afternoon leading three times for 87 laps, nearly half the distance. However, Kimmel had his hands full for much the way having to fend off constant challenges from Bob Strait, Dill Whittymore and Gibson. Strait, who started the race from the pole, led 52 laps and was a constant threat until the 13-time ARCA winner got caught up in a turn two accident trying to sneak underneath the spinning car of Mike Lorz.

Whittymore also had his hometown contingent cranked up after leading 34 laps, but a brush with the turn four wall ended his day while running second just 21 laps from the finish. Strait, Lorz and Whittymore were uninjured.

Gibson was a show all in himself. After crashing his primary car in earlier practice session, his crew had to unload the backup car, plant a motor beneath the hood and watch as the Winder, Ga., driver methodically raced from the 29th starting position to challenge for the win.

Dear late-model specialist John Gill led 15 laps and appeared to be one of the fastest drivers in the field until his engine expired on lap 63.

The race was slowed 13 times for 78 caution flag laps, all for fairly minor incidents and debris.

Results -

1. Frank Kimmel
2. Mark Gibson
3. Josh Baltes
4. Dan Pardus
5. Rick Groetsch
6. Eric Smith
7. Calvin Councilor
8. Jeff Finley
9. Randy VanZant
10. Joe Cooksey
11. Mark Voight
12. David Boggs
13. Brian Conz
14. Norm Benning
15. Jerry Middleton
16. Steve Stevenson
17. Bill Baird
18. Chuck Weber
19. Todd Coon
20. Wes Russell
21. Dill Whittymore
22. James Hylton
23. Curt Piercy
24. Bob Strait
25. Billy Venturini
26. Mike Lorz
27. Andy Belmont
28. Richard Hampton
29. John Gill
30. Toby Massie
31. Drew White
32. Rob Julian
33. Dennis English
34. Jason Weatherton
35. Scott Baker

April 16, 1972

1979 – Martin opens ASA season with Winchester win

 

Winchester, Ind. (April 15, 1979) – Handed the lead when the first and second place runners were eliminated in a wreck, Mark Martin, the 20-year-old defending ASA driving champion, took full advantage of the situation and held on to edge Rick Knotts of Paw Paw, Mich., by one second for victory in the Champion Motor Home 100 at Winchester Speedway. It was the inaugural event of the ASA’s 1979 Circuit of Champions late model schedule.

“I didn’t expect to win this race,” Martin exclaimed after the contest. “My luck hasn’t been too good here, but it sure was today.”

Don Gregory of Columbus, Ohio, sent his Cutlass ahead of pole-sitter Dave Roahrig’s Camaro at the green and led the first lap around Roger Holdeman’s high-banked half-mile racing plant.

Randy Sweet of Kalamazoo, Mich., also pulled around Roahrig on the first lap and then sent his Camaro past Gregory in the north turn the second time around the track to grab the lead. Mike Eddy of Midland, Mich., nailed Roahrig on the same lap to take over the third spot.

Eddy passed Gregory on the sixth circuit to take over second and one lap later, Knotts moved past both Gregory and Roahrig to settle into third.

Martin started making his move to the front on lap 11, passing sixth place Bob Sensiba of Middleville, Ohio, then moved ahead of Roahrig on lap 20 and then overtook Gregory one turn of the track later.

It was Sweet, Eddy, Knotts and Martin in that order until Martin went by Knotts on lap 46 – just two turns of the track before misfortune smacked both Sweet and Eddy.

Johnny Banks of Windsor, Ont., who had brushed the wall earlier in the race with his Camaro, drifted from the top of the track towards the bottom just as Sweet and Eddy were coming up to lap him on the 48th lap.

With no place to go after he ran out of room trying to get by below Banks, Sweet plowed head-on into the steep bank at the inside bottom of the track and the resulting damage finished him for the day.

Eddy, meanwhile, cut to the top attempting to get around Banks but completely spun around without touching anything. However, the stress on the machine fouled up the clutch and Eddy, after a quick pit stop and a jump back into the action, completed just four laps before the clutch went out and made him a spectator for the rest of the afternoon.

That gave the lead to Martin and put Knotts in second and that’s the way the remainder of the race went.

John Anderson of Massillon, Ohio, finished third after a fine driving performance brought him all the way from his 13th starting position. Pat Schauer of Watertown, Wis., took fourth followed by Ray Young of Dolton, Ill.

Results –

1. Mark Martin, Batesville, Ark.,
2. Rick Knotts, Paw Paw, Mich.
3. John Anderson, Massillon, Ohio
4. Pat Schauer, Watertown, Wis.
5. Ray Young, Dolton, Ill.
6. Bob Coffey, Indianapolis, Ind.
7. Harold Scott, New Castle, Ind.
8. Frank Gawlinski, Lansing, Ill.
9. Richard Craig, Cowan, Ind.
10. Ed Baer, Fort Wayne, Ind.
11. Terry Shirley, Seymour, Ind.
12. Bob Sensiba, Middleville, Ohio
13. Dave Roahrig, Plymouth, Ind.
14. Ed Hoffman, Bensenville, Ill.
15. Don Gregory, Columbus, Ohio
16. Mike Eddy, Midland, Mich.
17. Randy Sweet, Kalamazoo, Mich.
18. Johnny Banks, Windsor, Ont.
19. Kenny Hemphill, Oakmont, Pa.
20. David Hall, Grandview, Mo.

April 14, 1990

1970 - It's Dickson at Dayton; third win in four starts

Dayton, Ohio (April 12, 1970) - Larry Dickson won the 40-lap feature as the USAC sprints made their 1970 debut on the high banks of the Dayton Speedway Sunday afternoon. Dickson, driving Ken Lay’s black deuce, inherited the lead on the 30th lap when Rollie Beale blew the engine in his Kilman Chevy while holding a comfortable lead.

Johnny Parsons drove a steady race to finish second in the Hughes Chevy. Third want to defending Sprint champion Gary Bettenhausen in the Davis Ace. Fourth was Cy Fairchild in the Stahl #36 with Lee Kunzman fifth in the Leffler #4.

The race was stopped on the first lap when Claire Lawicki, starting on the outside the seventh row, drove head-on into the guardrail at the end of the main grandstand.

Lawicki miraculously suffered only a broken wrist and minor leg injuries although he was trapped in his car for some 5 minutes while rescue crews worked to free his legs from the cock pit.

Two spectators, attempted take photos restricted area where they were told to leave before the start of the race, were also injured.

On the restart to Kunzman charged out front from his pole position with Dickson second and Beale third. Kunzman led for the first three laps until Beale drove under them in the first turned to take over the lead. Once in front Beale began to build a commanding lead. Dickson and Parsons also got my Kunzman to hold second and third.

Beale was well on his way to his first win of the year and Dickson had just about resigned himself to finishing second when the engine let go on Beale's car. Dickson held a comfortable lead over runner-up Parsons at the finish. For Dickson it was his third win in four races this year.

Results -

 

1. Larry Dickson
2. Johnny Parsons
3. Gary Bettenhausen
4. Cy Fairchild
5. Lee Kunzman
6. Greg Weld
7. Bill Puterbaugh
8. Jerry Poland
9. Dee Jones
10. Charlie Masters
11. Karl Busson
12. Merle Bettenhausen
13. Doc Dawson
14. Mel Cornett
15. Rollie Beale
16. Salt Walther
17. Sonny Ates
18. Todd Gibson
19. Don Nordhorn
20. Claire Lawicki 

1989 - Shear remains king of Rockford Speedway

Rockford, Ill. (April 10, 1989) - They don’t call him “Joe Rockford” for nothing. 

For the past 20 years, Joe Shear has ruled the Rockford Speedway, winning a countless number of races there. Sunday, the driver from Clinton added another by capturing the 12th-annual ARTGO Spring Classic late model stock car race at the speedway.

As in the past, Shear was dominant on the paved one-quarter mile raceway. This time, however, the job was a bit easier as he started the race from the pole position.

“The track was really cold when we qualified today,” said Shear, in reference to the 32-degree weather and the unusual starting grid spot. 

“I just couldn’t get a hold of the track because the tires were so cold. Once the race got going, the tires heated up and when they did, the car really went.” 

Shear didn’t take the lead immediately in the 89-lap event as the other front row starter, Don Leach of Beloit, got the drop on the green flag and Shear to assume the top spot.

Shear calmly tucked in behind Leach, working the bottom groove while looking for an opening. Leach obliged on lap six, sliding up the raceway in turn one. Shear quickly steered by and wasted little time leaving Leach and the rest of the field in his wake.

“This car has a brand new Lefthander chassis and I want to tell you, it works,” said Shear. “I could just put the car anywhere I wanted to, even in traffic.”

Back in the pack, Green Bay’s Scott Hansen was working through the field from his ninth starting position. The day's top qualifier with a time of 13.492, Hansen was struck to the bottom of the racetrack, moving into the sixth position by lap 10. 

“There were some guys that gave me a pretty good run, but it just took me too long to get through the pack,” said Hansen. “My car was working just great down on the bottom and I could pretty much do whatever I wanted to do. 

Ten laps later, Hansen’s Buick Regal was battling Leach for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Shear had run off to nearly a half of a lap lead and was already lapping some of the backmarkers that started the 22-car event 

By the time Hansen got by Leach on lap 36, Shear was long gone. In the end, only Hansen was on the lead lap, as Shear breezed to the win by nearly three-quarters of a lap.

“I knew with Joe starting up where he was, I’d need a miracle to catch him,” said Hansen. “The race went green all the way, which I was surprised to see. Maybe if we'd have had a caution somewhere in there, I’d have been able to do something with him.”

“Seems like second place at Rockford and me get along pretty good,” added Hansen. “I was second in the National Short Track Championships here last fall and while I'd have liked to win today, while I’d have liked to win today, starting out the season place finish in the first race of the year is still okay.

Leach held off Steve Holzhausen of Bangor and Dousman’s Conrad Morgan over the last three laps to take third place with Kevin Cywinski, Steve Carlson, Tim Fedewa, Terry Baldry and Dennis Lampman rounding out the top 10.

“I really love racing here,” said Shear of the Rockford oval. “This is where I started racing and I’ve always felt comfortable here."

Results –

1. Joe Shear
2. Scott Hansen
3. Don Leach
4. Steve Holzhausen
5. Conrad Morgan
6. Kevin Cywinksi
7. Steve Carlson
8. Tim Fedewa
9. Terry Baldry
10. Dennis Lampman
11. Jeff Finley
12. Al Schill
13. George Prziborowski
14. John Olson
15. Jerry Wood