Al Sweeney and National Speedways, Inc., welcome fans and drivers during opening ceremonies for the 1968 IMCA Winter Nationals at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.
By Kyle Ealy
Tampa, Fla.
(February 7-17, 1968) – The five-event IMCA Winter National Sprints in February
of 1968 would prove to be a two-man show as Bobby Adamson of Coraopolis, Penn.,
and Jerry Richert of Forest Lake, Minn., would split a pair of features at the
Florida State Fairgrounds’ half-mile with Adamson, in his first trip down
south, winning the overall title.
Richert, a
three-time IMCA national sprint car champion, would win the series’ opener on
Wednesday, February 7, winning the 30-lap feature and collecting $600 on a
dusty afternoon at the Fairgrounds.
A gamble on
the last restart proved to be the difference for Richert. The gamble was Richert
could take the high road and fortunately there was just enough weight to the
dirt to give him the acceleration to power his Frank Wagner Chevy past Jerry
“Haircut” Lepinski of St. Paul, Minn.
Lepinski,
the fastest qualifier at 27.86 seconds on the half-mile, settled for second
while Dick Sutcliffe of Greenwood, Mo., took third. Ralph Parkinson Sr. of
Wichita Falls, Tex., and Gus Linder of Pittsburgh would round out the top five.
Happy about
the win, but not too pleased with track conditions, Richert said after his
victory that he would, “I sure would like to see them let us use knobs so we could show
the fans the way the races use to be."
Heat winners
were Ray Tilley of Clearfield, Penn., Earl Halaquist of Sidney, N.Y., and Barry
Kettering of St. Paul, Minn. Wayne Reutimann of Zephyr Hills, Fla., would win
the consolation.
Jerry Richert of Forest Lake, Minn., won two IMCA sprint car features during the IMCA Winter Nationals.
Richert
would find the track to his liking again three days later, February 10, as he
scored his second straight IMCA sprint car win. With a little better racing
surface, Richert was winding the half-mile so tightly that he actually turned
in times three seconds faster than the quickest laps turned in previous time
trials.
At the end
of the 30-lap event, Richert had a straightaway advantage over second-place car
Gus Linder, the Pittsburgh flash, who had worked his way from his seventh starting
position. Pole-sitter Jerry Lepinski took third followed by Bobby Adamson and
Darl Harrison of Tiffin, Ohio.
Richert
started on the inside of the second row and quickly drifted to top of the
track, where he turned loose every horse in his engine. He was in front, going
down the backstretch and after that it was just a case of who was going to
finish second.
There would
be a close call when a caution flag would come out on lap 17, costing Richert
his quarter-lap lead. Starter Johnny Hicks, thinking the track was clear, waved
the green and the field charged towards the first turn, only to find two tow
trucks still parked there. Richert narrowly avoided the trucks and when coming
back down the homestretch, shook an accusing finger at Hicks for almost costing
him the race.
Richert,
Karl Busson of Toledo, Ohio, and Don Nordhorn of Mitchell, Ind., were heat
winners Earl Halaquist of Sidney, N.Y., won the consolation.
Bobby
Adamson, who brought a great set of credentials with him on his first trip to
Tampa, had a little “Lady Luck” to win the 30-lap feature on Sunday afternoon,
February 11.
Adamson took
the checkered with Jerry Richert charging at his tailpipes, and Ray Tilley
right behind him.
Time trials
turned everything topsy turvy, putting some of the favorites out of contention
early. The fastest single lap was recorded by Richert at 27.22 seconds with
Bill Roynon of Tampa second fastest at 27.24 seconds.
Roynon would
take the lead at the start of the feature and once hee was settled in, took the
middle of a very narrow groove on the track. Richert would attempt to pass
Roynon on the straights but was never able to get the nose of his car more than
even with the rear tire of Roynon’s. As Roynon was receiving starter Johnny
Hick’s cross flags signaling the halfway point of the race, the crankshaft on
Roynon’s car broke.
As Roynon’s
sprinter swerved, he nicked Richert, who swung to the outside on the
backstretch and Adamson shot through on the inside to take over the lead. That
was the end as far as the race was concerned. The groove was too narrow for
anyone to pass on and Adamson cruised to victory.
“It looked
to me that Jerry bumped him,” Adamson said, describing the incident afterwards.
“Jerry swerved to the outside to avoid hitting Bill and I got past him on the
inside. If Jerry had gotten in front right then, I would have never been able
to get by him. The groove was just too narrow.”
It was a
relatively quiet race day, lacking the flurry of spinouts like the first two
days of racing. The quick development of
the narrow groove provided little passing. Once the green flag waved and the
cars cleared the first turn, they settled in and the race took the shape of a
parade.
Dale Reed of
Wichita, Kan., Jerry Blundy of Galesburg, Ill., and Al Murie of Kansas City
were heat winners while Bill Roynon took the consolation prize.
The only
race that Adamson or Richert wouldn’t win would be the fourth event on
Wednesday afternoon, February 14. Benny Rapp of Toledo, Ohio, normally right at
home on pavement, showed ‘em he could win on dirt as well in winning the 30-lapper
and a $600 paycheck.
It would be
another dusty and rough afternoon for the drivers as the dry, rough surface
would eliminate some of IMCA’s top sprint car stars. 1967 IMCA national
champion Karl Busson, Buzz Barton, Wayne Reutimann and Bill Roynon weren’t even
fast enough to qualify for the main event.
The
40-year-old Rapp would start on the pole but it was two-time winner Jerry
Richert jumping out to the lead from his outside starting front row position and
leading the race for the first 15 laps. A broken drive line would send Richert
to the pit area, giving Rapp, who had been choking on Richert’s dust, the top
spot. Rapp stayed there without much challenge the rest of the way.
Gus Linder,
who had passed more cars in the four meets to date, would finish second
followed by Ralph Parkinson Sr, Bobby Black of Middletown, Ohio and Ray Tilley
of Clearfield, Penn.
The tricky
half-mile proved many a guesser wrong as it started out fast but ended up slow.
A filthy,
dirty Rapp complained that he couldn’t see through the clouds of dust in the
turns. In fact, the dust throughout the whole program became so bad that the
consolation had to be red-flagged after one lap and the water wagons would be
sent out to re-water the track. The moisture wouldn’t last long and the race
had to be cut from 10 laps to 8.
Bobby
Adamson, Darl Harrison of Tiffin, Ohio, and Jay Woodside of Kansas City scored
heat wins while Gus Linder won the shortened consolation.
Bobby Adamson scored two victories at the 1968 IMCA Winter Nationals, including the 50-lap finale.
Bobby
Adamson would win his second Winter National Sprints feature, the 50-lap finale
that saw two drivers go to the local hospital with injuries.
The injured
drivers were Ralph Parkinson Sr. and Hank Smith of Mt. Ayr, Iowa, both flipping
on the second lap of the main event.
The wipeout
of the first two cars in the feature put Jerry Richert in front of the field at
the start where he would lead the first four circuits. Gus Linder would pass
Richert on lap 5 and lead the next four laps before Adamson, who started in
11th, powered past him for the lead, and was ahead to stay for the remaining 40
laps.
It had been
a slow start to the day for Adamson, who turned in poor times in qualifying, so
he had to start a little farther back in the field. But his wheels were shod
right before the feature and he was able to blow by cars in what was his own
private groove on the topside of a near-perfect track.
Adamson,
Richert and Karl Busson grabbed heat wins and Don Nordhorn nabbed the
consolation.
Al Sweeney,
president of National Speedways, Inc., credited track superintendent Joe Aiken
with finding the solution on the last day of racing. Water was applied all
night and then three tons of calcium chloride was spread to keep it wet and
dust free. Probably something today’s promoter wouldn’t be able to get away
with.
Sweeney said
total attendance for the five-day meet was 38,592, 105 below 1967’s all-time
record attendance, but Sweeney mentioned that it was 10 degrees cooler than the
previous year.
Results –
February 7
1. Jerry Richert, Forest Lake, Minn.
2. Jerry Lepinski, St. Paul, Minn.
3. Dick Sutcliffe, Greenwood, Mo.
4. Ralph Parkinson, Wichita Falls, Tex.
5. Gus Linder, Pittsburgh, Penn.
6. Bob Adamson, Coraopolis, Penn.
7. Karl Busson, Toledo, Ohio
8. Ray Tilley, Clearfield, Ohio
9. Chuck Lynch, Springfield, Ill.
10. Earl
Halaquist, Sidney, N.Y.
February 10
1. Jerry Richert
2. Gus Linder
3. Jerry Lepinski
4. Bob Adamson
5. Darl Harrison, Tiffin, Ohio
6. Karl Busson
7. Bill Roynon, Tampa, Fla.
8. Buzz Barton, Tampa, Fla.
9. Don Nordhorn, Mitchell, Ind.
10. Ray
Tilley
February 11
1. Bobby Adamson
2. Jerry Richert
3. Ray Tilley
4. Ray Lee Goodwin, Raytown, Mo.
5. Harold Leep, Wichita, Kan.
6. Don Nordhorn
7. Karl Busson
8. Chuck Lynch
9. Bob Black, Middletown, Ohio
10.
Jerry
Blundy, Galesburg, Ill.
1. Benny Rapp, Toledo, Ohio
2. Gus Linder
3. Ralph Parkinson
4. Bobby Black
5. Ray Tilley
6. Lee Kunzman, Guttenberg, Iowa
7. Charley Masters, Waddy, Ky.
8. Gordon Woolley, Waco, Tex.
9. Whitey Harmon, Blue Springs, Mo.
10. J.D.
Leas, Quaker City, Ohio
February 17
1. Bobby Adamson
2. Ray Tilley
3. Jerry Richert
4. Don Nordhorn
5. Earl Halaquist
6. Jerry Weld, Kansas City
7. Jerry Blundy
8. Jon Backlund, Kansas City
9. Al Murie, Kansas City
10. Darl
Harrison
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