Saturday, March 16, 2024

1976 - Ken Walton Completes Finest Year in Racing


Reprinted from Hawkeye Racing News


Driving for Vince Fiala, Ken Walton won the Freeport track championship in 1974. He's shown here after a feature win at the half-mile track. 


Cedar Rapids, Iowa – In just four years, Ken Walton has gone from “scared to death” in his first stock car race to winning a season championship in 1976.

Ken started drag racing a Camaro in 1967. He owned and maintained his own car except for the engines, which stock car veteran and mentor Darrell Dake built. Walton eventually decided that there was no money to be made in drag racing and decided to try his hand at going in circles instead of straight forward.

In 1973, he purchased a 1964 Chevy Nova from the late Bill McDonough and headed for the track. On his first night out, he started 11th out of 22 cars and finished third. When the season came to a close, Walton had finished in the top 10 in points at not one, but three tracks, Cedar Rapids, Farley, and Freeport. In addition to those three tracks, Ken would win the Jones County Fair race in Monticello, out distancing the likes of Curt Hansen and Ed Sanger.

Starting the 1974 season, Walton picked up a ride with Cedar Rapids car owner Vince Fiala. Driving a 1974 Chevelle, Ken won eight features that year, including the season championship at Freeport Speedway. He would finish second in points there as well. He would also win one main event at Farley, finishing in the top five in the year-end point standings and sixth at West Liberty.

In 1975 and 1976, Walton would pilot a ‘75 Camaro for renowned race car builder and owner Duane Schneider of Iowa City, Iowa.

The first year with Schneider would not be one of Ken’s best, with most of the season being plagued by engine woes but Walton still managed to finish in the top-10 in points at any track that he competed at consistently.

Towards the end of the season, he did earn a hard-fought victory in the 75-lap Gateway Classic at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill. What made the win so satisfying was the fact that during the race, the ignition wire shorted out. Taking his shoulder harness off so he could reach the ignition to put the wire back into the socket, Walton couldn’t get his strap hooked back up. Later in the race, the right rear shock came unhooked making it a very bumpy and uncomfortable ride for the remainder of the race. Despite a sore back from being tossed around the cockpit of his car, Walton was a happy winner in victory lane afterwards.

1976 would be a much more positive year for Walton. He would win both the season championship at Freeport and also his first point’s title. The points weren’t decided until the final race of the year, as Roger Dolan of Lisbon, Iowa, and Walton both had a chance of winning the whole deal that final night. Walton would put on a dominant performance, lapping the field (and Dolan) to clinch the title.

At Cedar Rapids, Kenny would finish eighth in points, sixth at West Liberty and ninth at Oskaloosa. He was also leading in points at Mason City, when it closed earlier than expected. At the Spirit of 76 late model special at Hawkeye Downs in July, Walton, racing with a broken clutch, still managed to finish fourth in what was an outstanding field of drivers.

In four years of racing, Ken Walton has gained the respect of his fellow drivers and has proven that he can run with the best of them. His future goals? “To be better than Ed Sanger someday.”

Editor’s note: Two years later, Ken Walton of Viola, Iowa would reach the top of the late model mountain, winning the prestigious World 100 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.



Sunday, March 3, 2024

In Memory…Hector Honore (1905 – 1983)

 

Hector Honore with Pete Folse at Des Moines - 1960 




By Larry Sullivan

Thomson, Ill. (March 3, 1983) – Born in Belgium and coming to this country as a small boy, Hector Honore settled with his family in Pana, Ill., a southeastern Illinois town commonly referred to as “The City of Roses.”

As a small boy at the age of 10, Hector told this writer that he decided he wanted to be an automobile mechanic and every night after school and on weekends, worked in various garages and filling stations.

In the early 30’s, Hector started his own automobile repair business and for the next 40 years or more, specialized in truck repair and his shop was known as “Hector’s Congress Alley,” where the race clan would gather.

Honore’s first race car was a Rocker Arm Cragar in a Hillegass chassis which he purchased in Penna, Ill., for the 1936 racing season and drove himself for the first two years. He finished ninth at Franklin, Ind., in a feature won by Joie Chitwood. Honore stated that his success was mediocre competing with the Midwest Dirt Track Racing Association at tracks like Salem, Ind. (Fairgrounds), Franklin, Ind., Columbus, Ind., Evansville, Ind., and Huntington, Ind.

In 1938, Hector chose “Wild Charley” Sczcendy of South Bend, Ind., to pilot his brand-new D.O. Hal and the duo won a feature at Huntington, Ind., the first day out. Hector stated that Charley was “Wild” but if he finished, he usually won the race. Sczcendy crashed multiple times during the season and was upside down five times but was never injured.

During the 1938, ’39, and ’40 seasons, Vern Trestor of Indianapolis drove for Honore and won several races as did another drove who drove occasionally, Frank Weirer. Ott Butler of Indianapolis drove the Honore Hal in eight race meets and won four times in the car known as the “City of Roses” with large red roses on each side of the cowl of the cream-colored #2. Spider Webb and Bus Wilbert also drove a time or two for Honore in the early 40’s.


Hector Honore with Bill Puterbaugh at Knoxville, Ill. - 1966



Hector came out of retirement in 1940 and drove for himself and competed in four race meets with him winning three features and finishing second in the other. Harold “Stagger” Shaw of Indianapolis took over as pilot in 1941 and won his first nine features in succession and the tough MDTRA championship for the season, but ironically on the last day of the racing season when he was to be crowed champion at Franklin, Ind., a water sprinkling truck pulled onto the track while Shaw was hot lapping, and he couldn’t stop or avoid the truck and hit it head-on at top speed. He received serious injuries from the accident and passed away 24 days later.

Honore came out with a new machine in 1946 with Cliff Griffith of Indianapolis as his driver, and the car still a D.O. Hal dubbed as the “City of Roses” #2 and Cliff won the MDTRA championship two years in a row, 1946 an ’47. During the ’46 season, Griffith had an appendix attack and had to have surgery. Don Turner was chosen to drive the Honore machine at Franklin, Ind. Being that the car was leading the point standings for the season, the car was handicapped to start last in both the heat race and feature event. Turner, starting last in a field of 13 cars on narrow county fairgrounds track originally built for horse racing, moved quickly up to second place after only three laps. But, while attempting to take the lead, ran over the wheel of the car he was passing, went end over end crashing, and died four days later from the injuries he received.

In 1948, Hector switched to Offy power, a 220-cubic inch engine with Bobby Grim of Indianapolis as his driver. In his first time out, Grim set fast time and finished a close second to Jimmy Wilburn, who was also a driving a Offy, a 270-cubic inch engine, at Bloomington, Ind. On Grim’s second outing with the car at Celina, Ohio, he set fast time and won the feature, defeating Wilburn. Both of the meets were sanctioned by the Central States Racing Association.


Hector Honore with Bobby Grim at Belleville, Kan. - 1955



For the next 11 years, Grim continued to drive for Honore mostly under International Motor Contest Association sanctioning, winning 183 features, setting over 150 track records, and winning the IMCA national championship four years in succession, 1955 to 1958, and was runner-up for the title five other years.

Pete Folse from Tampa, Fla., took over the wheel of the Bardahl Black Deuce after Grim moved to greener pastures and won his first four features driving the car, en route to winning the 1959 IMCA national title. Folse would be Hector’s pilot for the next five years, and win the 1960 and ’61 titles, giving Honore seven consecutive IMCA titles. He finished runner-up two other years.

Folse’s best year with the car was 1961 when he won 31 features in 42 starts. Grim’s best year was 1955, winning 27 main events in 32 meets.

In 1964, Jerry “Scratch” Daniels of St. Paul, Minn., took over the Bardahl, now powered by a Chevrolet engine. Daniels won seven features that season and finished third in the point standings. In 1965, Gordon Woolley of Waco, Tex., took over the driving chores, winning five features and finishing third in the point standings.

Bill Puterbaugh of Roxana, Ill., took over for Hector for the 1966 season, won four features, was runner-up another seven times, and placed third in the final IMCA point’s chase.

Jim Moughan of Springfield, Ill., started as the driver for the Black Deuce in 1967 and won the annual Hawkeye Futurity in Des Moines in June. Later that season, Don “Itch” Daniels took over and won two feature events. If my memory serves me correctly, Tom Custer of Rock Island, Ill., also drove the car a time or two during the ’67 season.


Hector Honore with Jerry "Scratch" Daniels at Tampa, Fla. - 1964



It was after the 1967 season that Hector Honore decided to call it quits. He claimed he traveled over 1.1 million miles during his career and raced in 35 states as well as Canada.

As told to me by Hector himself, his cars, the R.A. Cragar, the D.O. Hal, the Offenhauser, and the Chevrolet, won 434 features, 704 heat races, and set 216 records.

The Offenhauser powered cars had only three drivers: Bobby Grim, Don Branson, and Pete Folse. In 1954, Grim was injured in an accident at Belleville, Kan., with Bob Slater and lost five weeks of driving in which he was replaced by Branson, of Champaign, Ill., who won three of five features he started.

For 19 consecutive years, the Offy and Chevy powered cars ran under the sponsorship of Bardahl Oil products out of St. Louis. The car was known as the “Black Deuce” during this same time period. During Honore’s entire career, all of his car carried the #2.

From 1948 to 1967, the Bardahl cars, both Offy and Chevy, won 284 features, of which 266 were Offy-powered victories and 19 were Chevy-powered wins. Honore said he probably won in the neighborhood of 150 features with his R.A. Cragar and D.O. Hal from 1936 to 1947.

This writer saw such drivers as “Wild” Charley Sczcendy, Harold Shaw, and Cliff Griffith winning features with Honore’s cars and it was a potent Hal which won the MDTRA championship three successive years, 1941, ’46, and ’47. The association ran no races from 1942 to 1945 because of World War 2.

Honore’s 434 feature wins is a record for a car owner and may be topped only by the great Ralph DePalma or Gus Schrader.

May he rest in peace. Adios.


Wednesday, February 28, 2024

The 1990 Knoxville Nationals - Scruffy Sneaks By on the Low Side

 

Bobby Allen



By Lee Ackerman

Knoxville, Iowa - If you search the names of the winners of the world-famous Knoxville Nationals from the mid-80s through the mid-90’s in the middle of all the Nationals won by driver’s named Kinser or Wolfgang, you will find one of the most popular wins in Knoxville National history. It was the night that Bobby Allen (known affectionately as Scruffy) snuck by on the low side and claimed the biggest win in sprint car racing and a check for $35,000.

The 30th Annual Knoxville Nationals started off on Wednesday, August 15, 1990, pretty much as might expect. “The King of the Outlaws” Steve Kinser set fast time, won his heat, and then won his qualifying feature to earn a perfect score of 500 points to put himself on the pole for Saturday Night’s Knoxville National A Feature event.

On Thursday night things didn’t go quite as you might expect them too. Oh, Mark Kinser did his part as he also set fast time, won his heat and his qualifying feature to earn a perfect score of 500 and a starting spot on the outside of the front row of Saturday night’s A feature next to Steve.

But strange things were starting to happen. First, Hanover, Pennsylvania’s Bobby Allen, who never seemed to have much luck in his previous 22 appearances at the Nationals, set second quick time, won his heat, and finished fourth in the feature to earn a second row inside starting spot in the big dance by posting 492 points.

The bad news that happened on Thursday night was that defending Knoxville National Champion and five-time winner of the race, Doug Wolfgang, did not fare so well. In fact, his night was a total wipeout. After qualifying fourth in time trials, “Wolfie” collided with Rick Montgomery in the fourth heat and then slammed the front stretch wall total destroying is #8 Payless Hardware & Rockery Schnee and ending his night. Wolfgang did come back on Friday night, win his heat, finish well back in the A feature, and place fifth in the Race of States.


Doug Wolfgang

 

On Saturday night, Wolfgang had his work cut out to say the least. Starting in the D feature, “Wolfie” won the 12-lap affair. Tagging the back of the 15-lap C feature he charged up through the field to finish second to Pennsylvania’s Keith Kauffman, earning a starting spot at the tail of the 22-lap feature. “Wolfie” charged through the field to win that event and earn the 20th starting position in the feature. When the checkers waved in the 30-lap Knoxville Nationals, he finished fifth, successfully passing 62 cars in 79 laps.

When the green waved on the main event, most bets would have been on a driver named Kinser to win the contest, given that both Steve and Mark were starting on the front row and had been extremely fast all weekend. But first you have to finish to win and that’s where things began to happen.

Steve grabbed the lead, but on the backstretch, Mark took over the point when the magneto on Steve’s #11 mount started to malfunction. The engine lasted for 13 laps before the “King of Outlaws” night was over.

Meanwhile up front, Mark started pulling away from the field, opening up a half straightaway lead and by lap 10 was lapping back markers. But then on lap 23 the caution waved for Dave Blaney and Mark stopped on the backstretch with a broken rod, thus putting both Kinser’s and race favorites on the sidelines.

If you have ever watched Bobby Allen, chances are you didn’t find him up by the outside guard rail but more than likely much closer to the inside guardrail. Allen loves the bottom and has won races where it has taken the announcers and officials several laps to realize Allen is in the lead.

In this case, everybody knew “Scruffy” was in the lead, but he had a challenger, actually the TMC Stanton Challenger of Sammy Swindell, the 1983 Knoxville Nationals winner, who also had a bit of a history of bad luck at the Knoxville Nationals.

Swindell’s mount had started smoking and spitting oil midway through the 30-lap affair and he was fortunate to pick up some extra tear-offs during the caution. With six laps to go and smoke streaming from his engine Swindell was on the charge and determined to add a second Knoxville Nationals crown to his resume.

On lap 26, Swindell charged high by Allen to take the lead coming off the fourth turn but then a brush with the outside retaining wall caused his right rear tire to lose air pressure and slow him down. Allen regained the lead with a third turn pass as the two charged to the white flag and held of Swindell for the final one and quarter laps to win by three car lengths.

“Everything seemed to work my way tonight.” said Allen in victory lane. “The racetrack was perfect for me - they actually ran the top way up and some of the guys had trouble. I don’t care, I won and I’m happy.”


Knoxville Nationals winner Bobby Allen (center) is joined on the podium by runner-up Sammy Swindell (left) and third-place finisher Steve Smith Jr. (right). 

 


Allen picked up $35,000 for the win, Swindell $23,000 for second and Steve Smith, Jr. (who finished on seven cylinders) $15,000 for third. Danny Lasoski brought his overheating mount home fourth and Doug Wolfgang (who passed 57 cars during the nights activity brought him car in fifth.

Wolfgang was extremely gracious towards the man who replaced him as National’s champion. “Bob does it all and he has since about the 60’s,” Wolfgang said. “So, my hat’s off to him and I’m glad that if I couldn’t win it, I couldn’t figure out a better guy deserving to win.”

Allen remained at the victory platform signing autographs, for several hours after the awards ceremony was complete. 18,000 fans were on hand for Saturday night’s races.

Certainly, it was a well-deserved win for Allen and the crowd loved the exciting finish and the outcome. It certainly has to be listed as one of the most surprising wins in Knoxville National history. It also provided fans with the unexpected (both Kinser’s breaking), it provided them with Wolfgang’s amazing charge from the D feature to a top five in the A and for the drivers it was proof once again of the old saying from “Wide World of Sports”, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

Bobby Allen was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1998.


Monday, February 26, 2024

1956 – Flock Snares 160-Miller at Daytona


Tim Flock shows off his trophy after winning at Daytona. 



Daytona Beach, Fla. (February 26, 1956) – Tim Flock, the 31-year-old member of Atlanta’s high-speed Flock family, powered his 1956 Chrysler 300B over a rain-slickened beach and asphalt course on Sunday afternoon at an average speed of 89.156 miles per hour to capture the Grand National Championship Circuit Race.

Flock, who captured the 125-mile modified race here two days ago, took the lead from his pole position starting spot and stayed in front throughout the entire grind except for a few moments on the 23rd lap when he stopped to refuel.

He went back in front before the next lap was completed and closed out the race, 57 seconds ahead of Billy Meyers of Germantown, N.C., who was jockeying a 1956 Mercury.

The race took 1 hour, 40 minutes, and 24 seconds.

Trailing by one lap and 10 seconds in third place was courageous Ralph Moody of Dania, Fla., whose 1956 Ford rolled over completely on lap 26, only to end up on all four of its wheels. Moody finished the race with a smashed hood and the windshield knocked out.

The event was marked by a number of pileups at both ends of the 4.1-mile oval track and only 38 of the 79 starters were reported by race officials as to completing the race.

Flock picked up the winner’s trophy and collected $4,025 as the first-place purse.


Results –


1. Tim Flock, Atlanta, Ga.
2. Billy Meyers, Germantown, N.C.
3. Ralph Moody, Charlotte, N.C.
4. Jimmy Lewallen, High Point, N.C.
5. Jim Reed, Peekskill, N.Y.
6. Garvin Rendahl, Rio, Wis.
7. Bob Korf, Dayton, Ohio
8. Herb Thomas, Sanford, N.C.
9. Fonty Flock, Atlanta, Ga.
10.Gwyn Staley, North Wilkesboro, N.C.


Sunday, February 25, 2024

1966 – Goldsmith’s ‘Waiting Game’ Wins Daytona 100-Miler


Paul Goldsmith stands in victory lane with Miss Firebird, Winkie Louise (left), and Miss Hurst Golden Shifter, Linda Vaughn (second from right), after the Muncie, Ind., driver won the 100-mile qualifying race at Daytona.  



Daytona, Fla. (February 25, 1966) – Paul Goldsmith played the waiting game and it paid dividends - $1,000 worth.

The quiet, lanky Goldsmith vaulted off the fourth turn and squeezed between Richard Petty and Curtis Turner to win the first 100-miler Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

The victory earned Goldsmith the third starting position in Sunday’s Daytona 500 behind Petty and polesitter Petty. Goldsmith and Petty waged a close duel from lap 2 until the very finish.

Goldsmith, running second in his 1965 Plymouth, waited until the fourth turn on the last lap to make his move. Using the draft, he slipped by Petty and nipped the “Randleman Rocket” by the length of a car hood.

Don White of Keokuk, Iowa, driving a 1965 Dodge, finished third with hometown favorite Marvin Panch and Fred Lorenzen of Elmhurst, Ill., both driving 1966 Ford’s, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

Goldsmith said afterwards he thought he had waited too long before making his move and “was going to run in second.”

“I saw that we were going to run into traffic, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get by using the draft and get by Richard. I started to go by him on the backstretch but then I figured then he’d be able to slingshot by me when we got to the fourth turn, so I just waited and decided to take my chances on the front stretch.”

Petty and Goldsmith were racing by three other drivers including Turner, who was a lap back, when Goldsmith made his move.

“I didn’t know if there was going to be enough room to get by. I just hoped there would be – and there was.”


Results –


1. Paul Goldsmith
2. Richard Petty
3. Don White
4. Marvin Panch
5. Fred Lorenzen
6. Sam McQuagg
7. Gordon Johncock
8. Darel Dieringer
9. Larry Frank
10.Cale Yarbrough
11.Curtis Turner
12.James Hylton
13.Roy Mayne
14.Calvin Kelly
15.Ned Setzer
16.Henley Gray
17.Wayne Smith
18.Bob Derrington
19.Buddy Baker
20.Larry Hess
21.Johnny Allen
22.Gene Petro
23.Johnny Rutherford
24.Ronnie Chumley
25.Tiny Lund


Saturday, February 24, 2024

1967 – Lorenzen Gas Gamble Pays Off with Daytona Win

 

Fred Lorenzen gives a wave from victory lane after winning the 100-mile qualifying race at Daytona. 




Daytona Beach, Fla. (February 24, 1967) – Fred Lorenzen gambled on gas mileage Friday and drove 100 miles without a pit stop to win the second of a pair of races leading up to Sunday’s Daytona 500 for late model stock cars.

Lorenzen, of Elmhurst, Ill., ran out of gas just before he completed the 40 laps around the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway in his 1967 Ford but coasted across the finish line with a record speed of 174.583 miles per hour.

Darel Dieringer of Charlotte, N.C., was second, Cale Yarborough of Timmonsville, S.C., was third, Dick Hutcherson of Camden, S.C., was fourth, all in Fords. Richard Petty of Randleman, N.C., was fifth in a 1967 Plymouth.

Lorenzen’s record broke the old mark of 170.777 set by Junior Johnson in 1964.


Results –


1. Fred Lorenzen
2. Darel Dieringer
3. Cale Yarborough
4. Dick Hutcherson
5. Richard Petty
6. Mario Andretti
7. Don White
8. Paul Lewis
9. Sonny Hutchins
10.Innes Ireland


Friday, February 23, 2024

1969- Yarbrough Wins Daytona 500




Lee Roy Yarbrough is joined by his wife Gloria after winning the Daytona 500.





Daytona Beach, Fla. (February 23, 1969) - Sheer determination and skill brought Lee Roy Yarbrough his biggest payoff in eight years of big-time stock car racing. But pit crews will debate for a long time whether a tire change might have made the difference between the winner and second-place Charlie Glotzbach in the Daytona 500 Sunday.

In the background of the mechanical controversy were two former champion drivers – Junior Johnson, who prepared Yarbrough’s 1969 Ford Talladega, and Cotton Owens, who did the same with Glotzbach’s 1969 Dodge Charger 500.

Yarbrough, who was runner-up in both the Daytona 500 and Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway last year, passed Glotzbach one mile from home and finished a car length in front.

“I was going flat out, and I couldn't slingshot past him off the fourth turn,” Glotzbach said.

Yarbrough, giving his account of the final laps, said, “I actually caught him on the lap before but decided to wait till the last lap, where he could not gain enough momentum to pass me back.”

They waged a two-car duel through the last 100 miles after Donnie Allison - who led 87 of the 200 laps around the 2.5-mile high-banked track - brushed the wall and lost some of his speed.

The crucial tire change came 50 miles before the finish. Yarbrough pitted 21 seconds. In addition to fueling, the changed the left rear tire. Glotzbach was in the pit only 18 seconds, just for fuel.

When both cars went into the final laps, it appeared the three-second difference had won the race for Glotzbach, the comparative newcomer from Georgetown, Ind. But Yarbrough steadily closed in.

After he got past a dangerous situation just before passing, Glotzbach, he had the tiny speed margin that brought him $38,950 in prize money compared to $18,425 for Glotzbach.

That dangerous situation cropped up when the two cars overtook a slower one on the backstretch.

“I went past him on one side and Charlie on the other side,” Yarbrough recalled. "I just hoped he was experienced enough to look in his rear view mirror and wouldn’t just move over the other way when he saw the first car come by.”

He was…

Aerodynamic design of the Talladega model was credited for faster speeds, and Yarbrough actually set a race record of 157.950 miles per hour. It wiped out the 154.334 mark set by Richard Petty in 1966.

Ford took the next two places behind Glotzbach. Donnie Allison of Hueytown, Ala., finished third, one lap back, and collected $13,275. A.J. Foyt of Houston was fourth and got $5,800. Buddy Baker of Charlotte, N.C., who started a Dodge on the pole, came home fifth for $10,050.


Results –


1. Lee Roy Yarbrough
2. Charlie Glotzbach
3. Donnie Allison
4. A.J. Foyt
5. Buddy Baker
6. David Pearson
7. Benny Parsons
8. Richard Petty
9. Andy Hampton
10.Ray Elder
11.Vic Elford
12.Richard Brickhouse
13.Friday Hassler
14.Jabe Thomas
15.James Hylton
16.Neil Castles
17.Dave Marcis
18.Bill Seifert
19.Frank Warren
20.Elmo Langley
21.George Bauer
22.Dub Simpson
23.Bill Champion
24.Henley Gray
25.Don Tarr
26.E.J. Trivette
27.Cecil Gordon
28.Buddy Arrington
29.Wendell Scott
30.Bobby Isaacs
31.Wayne Smith
32.Richard Brooks
33.Ramo Stott
34.Ben Arnold
35.Earl Brooks
36.Swede Savage
37.Dick Johnson
38.Cale Yarborough
39.J.D. McDuffie
40.Bobby Johns