1975 - Dolan wins State Fair IMCA race

Des Moines, Iowa (August 24, 1975) - Roger Dolan, hounded steadily by Ed Sanger, won the International Motor Contest Association sanctioned late model stock car feature race Sunday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. 

Dolan, of Lisbon, took the lead on lap nine of the 60-lap event and drove a strategic race in holding off Sanger of Waterloo before an estimated crowd of 4,500. 

Sanger put his 1974 Camaro into second place on lap 17 and passed Dolan's 1974 Chevelle on lap 37, only to have the position change negated by a caution flag.

Sanger believed he tipped his hand in his aborted attempt to take the lead coming off the second turn.

“When they canceled where I passed him with the yellow flag he knew where I'd try to pass,” Sanger said. “After that, he drove higher in the turn.”

Sanger made one other attempt on the final lap to pass Dolan but that also failed.

“On the last lap, Collier (third-place finisher Ferris) tagged my tail and set the car off a little,” Sanger explained. 

Dolan won $1,000 for capturing the IMCA race in his first attempt. The top three cars battled the final 24 laps, but Dolan said he ran only fast enough to win.

“I didn't want to burn the tires off in the corners,” said Dolan, who finished second to Sanger in Saturday's program “I just had enough to hold him (Sanger) off. 

Sanger was the fastest around the half-mile oval during time trials in 26.61 seconds and won $650 for his runner-up finish. Collier collected $475 for third.

Dan Dickey of Packwood was fourth, followed by Jim Hager of Liberty, Mo., Dave Chase of Council Bluffs and Stan Stover of Reinbeck.

Joe Wallace of Payton, Colo., guided his 1969 Camaro to an easy victory in the 15-lap consolation race. Wallace was forced out of the feature with mechanical problems on the thirty-second lap. Wallace started on the fourth row in the consolation but zipped past Chase on the seventh lap and pulled away for the victory. George Barton of Ankeny took second, followed by Chase and Hager, the second-fastest qualifier in time trials.

Sanger, Hager, Chase, Dolan, Barton and Bill Martin battled in the six-lap match race for the fastest qualifiers with Martin taking the checkers.

Martin, of Council Bluffs, winner of the second heat race, pulled away from second-place finisher Barton on the third lap after both started on the front row.

Results –

1. Roger Dolan, Lisbon, Iowa
2. Ed Sanger, Waterloo, Iowa
3. Ferris Collier, Lampe, Mo.
4. Dan Dickey, Packwood, Iowa
5. Jim Hager, Liberty, Mo.
6. Dave Chase, Council Bluffs, Iowa
7. Stan Stover, Reinbeck, Iowa
8. Wayne Kluber, Alexandria, Minn.
9. Bill Rice, Des Moines, Iowa
10. Bill Schwader, McClausland, Iowa
11. Richard Swanson, Harlan, Iowa
12. Chuck Bosselman, Grand Island, Neb.
13. Lee Pinckney, Des Moines, Iowa
14. Don Hoffman, Des Moines, Iowa
15. Shorty Acker, Windsor, Mo.