Mason City, Iowa (August 11, 1956) – Johnny Beauchamp showed why he’s the leader in the International Motor Contest Association stock car point standings Saturday afternoon at the North Iowa Fair.
Before an overflow crowd of 5,000, the Harlan, Iowa, driver scored his 19th feature win of the season, winning the 200-lap event by a full two laps over his nearest competitor, Lenny Funk of Otis, Kan. Beauchamp drove a 1956 Chevrolet while Funk wheeled a 1956 Dodge.
Beauchamp’s winning time was 1 hour, 51 minutes and 20 seconds goes down as a local record. The previous best mark of 1 hour and 52 minutes was set by Wally Dahl of Minneapolis at the 1952 North Iowa Fair.
A crash and pileup on the northwest corner was the only delay in the contest but it took out four top contenders. Knocked out of the running were Chub Liebe of Oelwein, fast timer Bernie Hentges of Anoka, Minn., Don White of Keokuk, and local favorite Ted Zieman of Mason City.
According to a witness, Hentges smacked the fence on the northwest curve, Zieman then tried to go through the fence to avoid another collision but hit Hentges. White and Zieman had no place to go and piled into Hentges and Zieman. Newt Bartholomew of Carlisle was also involved but was able to continue and finished sixth.
Lee Pinckney of Des Moines and Jerry Draper of Moline, Ill., were running third and fourth midway through the feature when they both spun out. Each fell back a notch in the final standings.
Beauchamp and Funk were well ahead of the rest of the pack at the midway point. Beauchamp was actually running faster during the last half of the race than his fastest time trial run.
The field wasn’t quite as large as expected and the start of the race was delayed an hour. Many of the drivers were detained in their trip to Mason City by the highway patrol for illegal towing of their race cars. One of the drivers paid a wrecker $25 just to tow him to the fairgrounds so he could compete. At least eight other drivers didn’t arrive even for the late start.
Results –
1. Johnny Beauchamp, Harlan
2. Lenny Funk, Otis, Kan.
3. Chris Skadal, Des Moines
4. Lee Pinckney, Des Moines
5. Jerry Draper, Moline, Ill.
6. Newt Bartholomew, Carlisle
7. Dick Johnson, St. Paul, Minn.
8. Glen Strellner, Cedar Rapids
9. Bob Guffey, Des Moines
10.Bob Chauncey, Mason City
11.Chub Liebe, Oelwein
12.Bernie Hentges, Anoka, Minn.
13.Ted Zieman, Mason City
14.Don White, Keokuk
15.Jim Clearwater, Des Moines
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