By Bill Haglund
Wausau, Wis. (August 11, 1974) – Harold Mueller and Leon Plank, both of Eau Claire, showed Wausau race fans some of the best dirt track racing seen at the Wisconsin Valley Fair in recent years as they staged several bumper-to-bumper duels in dominating Sunday’s Pepsi 100 at Marathon Park.
The twin 50-lap features, which actually went into the books as a 30-lapper in the afternoon and a 50-lapper at night, were dominated by the two Chevelle drivers.
But as hot as the action was on the track, a multi-car accident, which sent two drivers to the hospital early in the evening show and some boisterous fans in the afternoon detracted from the competition.
In the first heat of the night show, Wayne Lodholz of Wausau stalled on the back chute of the track on the first lap. Al Stepan of Mosinee made it past but the cars following piled up in one of the wildest melees ever at the Valley Fair races. Tom Pietroski of Wausau and Russ Rueden of Dorchester were conveyed by ambulance to an area hospital.
The fans got into the act when the afternoon feature was shortened from 50 to 30 laps when a number of drivers refused to run 50 laps because of the poor track conditions.
The track had been newly resurfaced but heavy rains on Saturday, and some Sunday morning rain showers made the surface break up and left the track in rough shape. A number of cars suffered mechanical damage in preliminaries as a result.
Fans milled around the grandstands and came out with a chorus of boos each time track announcer Jerry Rohde attempted to explain the situation. Even when driver Tom Steuding tried to explain the situation, he was greeted with a chorus of boos. A number of fans then attempted to get into the infield but were turned away by several police officers.
At that point, several drivers walked across the track to try and talk to some of the fans.
“There was just no way we could run 50 laps,” Steuding explained. “We would have been lucky to have five or six cars running at the end.”
It was finally agreed that any fans from the afternoon show would be admitted free to the evening program.
Mueller set fast time prior to the afternoon show with a 27.17-second clocking, was sixth in the heat, and won the feature. He was first in the fast heat Sunday evening and finished second in the feature to edge Plank for the overall title in the Pepsi 100.
Results –
Afternoon -
Time trials – Harold Mueller, Eau Claire (27.17)
Heat #1 – Ernie Nikolai, Marshfield
Heat #2 – Russ Rueden, Dorchester
Heat #3 – Tim Lorenz, Ladysmith
Heat #4 – Axel Dahlberg, Mauston
Semi – Tom Gebauer, White Bear Lake, Minn.
Feature –
1. Harold Mueller
2. Leon Plank, Eau Claire
3. Phil Prusak, Eau Claire
4. Tom Steuding, Eau Claire
5. Tom Nesbitt, Thunder Bay, Ont.
6. J.J. Smith, Appleton
7. Don Chrudminsky, Wausau
8. Roger Guldan, Marshfield
9. Tom Merkel, Marshfield
10.Bill Herr, Greenwood
Evening –
Heat #1 – Al Stepan, Mosinee
Heat #2 – Bill Herr
Heat #3 – Harold Mueller
Semi – Bill Herr
Feature –
1. Leon Plank
2. Harold Mueller
3. Tom Steuding
4. Tim Lorenz
5. Roger Ress, Marshfield
6. Don Chrudminsky
7. Dan Duellman, Stetsonville
8. Red Steffen, Eau Claire
9. Phil Prusak
10.Roger Guldan
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