Wayne Larson (left) was crowned king of the Midwest Late Model
Championships at Elko Speedway. Owner-promoter Phil Stewart gets ready to
present the giant trophy as Miss Elko Speedway, Pat Sacks, applauds the winner.
– Bob Bergeron Photo
By Bob Utecht
Elko, Minn. (September 15, 1968) – Wayne Larson of Bloomington, making only one pit stop to pick up four gallons of gasoline, enough to maintain rear-end weight, drove his 1966 Chevelle to first place in the first annual Midwest Late Model Championships on Sunday, pocketing $1,000 for his efforts.
Dan Prziborowski of Savage, the gopher state asphalt champion, came in second and took home earnings of slightly more than $950. Prziborowski chased Larson for over half of the 100 laps but couldn’t find the room to pass the plucky winner.
Prziborowski also claimed the official Minnesota State Championship after winning the overall money in the season championships for both Elko Speedway and Raceway Park in Shakopee.
A trio of Shakopee drivers, Billy Ries, Larry Smith, and Duane Marshall, finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Driving a Plymouth, Ford, and Chevrolet, respectively, proved that Shakopee is a veritable car builder’s haven. Together, the three drivers took home close to $1,700.
Prziborowski set the track’s fast time in qualifying with a time of 15.3 seconds on the 1/3-mile paved asphalt track, but it wasn’t enough to erase Ron Olson’s track record of 15.2 seconds.
Sunday’s race drew a crowd of 4,500 fans and Saturday’s crowd was over 3,00. A total of over 50 of the top late model drivers in the Midwest came to Elko for the $7,500 jackpot.
A couple of Wisconsin drivers, Dick Trickle of Wisconsin Rapids and Marlin Walbeck of Rib Lake, finished sixth and seventh, respectively. That was a respectable showing, considering that neither driver was present for Saturday’s qualifying nor were forced to start Sunday afternoon’s 100-lapper at the rear of the field.
One of the most exciting parts of the 100-lap feature was watching Excelsior’s Bruce Sparrman moving all the way from his 19th starting position to third place in his 1959 Plymouth before he locked wheels with Marshall and had to leave the race.
Owner Phil Stewart was pleased with both the huge crowd and the operation of the championship invitational. “It was great to see so many of the Midwest’s top drivers come in for the big money, and it was even greater to see our own drivers win so much and handle themselves so well on the track. I can’t wait for another season to roll around.”
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