Jim Linder accepts his trophy after winning the Golden Gopher 200 for IMCA sprint cars at the Minnesota State Fair.
St. Paul, Minn. (September 5, 1971) – The “revolution” to rear-engine race cars was put aside for another year when Jim Linder won Sunday’s Golden Gopher 200 in a conventional sprint car at the Minnesota State Fair.
In fact, the finish was a scene which would have been more likely at the Ohio State Fair, since Linder is from Fremont, Ohio, second place finisher Benny Rapp is from Toledo and fourth place Fred Linder – Jim’s brother – is also from Fremont. Those three drivers took home half of the $10,325 purse with $2,400 the winner’s share.
Third place belonged to Bill Madsen of Salt Lake City, Utah, while Norm Ellefson of Spokane, Wash., finished fifth. Dick Kelly of St. Paul, who took sixth, was the top home state finisher.
The crowd of 9,737 was pulling for Ellefson, who drives a sleek wedged-shaped racer built by Jim Tipke. With a 305-cubic inch Chevrolet engine mounted behind him, Ellefson had won last weekend’s sprint feature and looked like a bit of tomorrow racing from the pole position against Sunday’s sprinters.
Ellefson led early but spun out in some dropped oil in the north turn on lap 10. It cost him two laps to get restarted from the tail-end of the pack, but he still had some hopes to win until he got bumped from the rear and spun to a stop on lap 84, then had to replace his tires. He had expected to pit only to agree with the mandatory pit stop, although his fuel could have carried him the distance.
Ellefson, who drove the car to a 14th place finish a month ago on a Kent, Wash., road course against USAC and SCCA Formula 500 cars, worked his way though the field, passing everybody – including the leaders. But the best he could get to was fifth, drawing a big ovation from the crowd when he was announced because the scoreboard didn’t show him that high.
While Ellefson was running his own race, Jim Linder, Rapp and Casey Jones of South Bend, Ind., ran right together for the lead. Linder was leading but yielded that spot to take advantage of a caution light on Barry Kettering’s spinout to fake a pit stop on lap 75.
Pitting while the field was slowed under caution may have been ultimately decisive, because at lap 101, with Rapp and Jones running inches apart, Jones blew his engine going into the first turn. Rapp chose not to pit on the caution for clean-up but ran out of gas and had to coast into the pits on lap 110 as the field resumed its usual pace. The difference in time was about what Rapp lost.
Rapp disputed the finish, figuring he had won, and in what has become traditional at the fair, Fred Linder, Ellefson and several others also thought they belonged higher up in the standings.
The IMCA officials have a back-up crew that helps check off laps for each car, but the amount of grumbling at the end of each long-distance race usually duplicates the number of entries – except for the winner.
Results –
1. Jim Linder, Fremont, Ohio
2. Benny Rapp, Toledo, Ohio
3. Bill Madsen, Salt Lake City, Utah
4. Fred Liner, Fremont, Ohio
5. Norm Ellefson, Spokane, Wash.
6. Dick Kelly, St. Paul
7. Ron Larson, White Bear Lake, Minn.
8. Barry Kettering, Minneapolis
9. Lynn McIntosh, Thunder Bay, Ontario
10.Zeke Inglund, Columbia, Ohio
11.Bob Reznick, Crystal, Minn.
12.Bobby Leaver, Anderson, Ind.
13.Joe Demko, Minneapolis
14.Bobby Jones, South Bend, Ind.
15.Rob Belland, South St. Paul
16.Don Mack, East Grand Forks
17.Jerry Richert, Forest Lake
18.Pat Willis, Elk River
19.Dave Heskin, Crystal, Minn.
20.John Albrechtsen, Winnipeg, Manitoba
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