1973 - Melton Gets Fairgrounds Racing 6th Year in Row

Des Moines, Iowa (January 26, 1973) - Homer Melton will again promote weekly stock car races at the Iowa State Fairgrounds this summer.


The Milan, Ill., promoter was awarded the contract for the sixth straight year when the Iowa State Fair’s board of directors met at the Fairgrounds.

His proposal was for the fair to receive 40 percent of total income after sales taxes and he will pay a $5,000 purse, up $800 from the money paid weekly at the end of last season.

Melton was one of four groups still in consideration for the prize. Eight groups had originally submitted bids and four were eliminated at a December 14th meeting.

Others remaining in consideration were Denny Murray and Tom Spagnola, both Des Moines used car dealers; Keith Knaack of Vinton, racing promoter there and at Waterloo, and Bob Hilmer of Dysart, the 1972 late model stock car champion at the Fairgrounds.

Knaack and Hilmer had proposed a $4,500 purse and 35 per cent of total income after sales taxes or a $5,000 purse and 30 percent. Murray had offered a $5,000 purse plus a weekly contingency fund - of $1,000 and would have paid the fair 40 percent of total income, less taxes. Spagnola had guaranteed the fair $65,000 or 40 percent, whichever was greater, and would have paid a $5,000 purse with an $800 contingency fund.

Iowa State Fair Secretary Kenneth Fulk said the board considered six criteria in making the decision: managerial ability, knowledge and experience in auto racing, promotional plan, financial responsibility, purse offered and percentage to the fair.

“Homer definitely had the most experience in racing,” Fulk said. “And I used a point system to score the candidates. Homer won, although not by much.”

Before the board made its decision, there was considerable discussion about contingency funds, which would have meant a $5,800 or $6,000 weekly purse, and how it would affect the racing program.

Melton and Knaack both voiced opinions that large purses would draw big-name drivers from around the Midwest and they would push out the local talent. Also it was felt that the cream of talent at other Iowa tracks would be drawn to Des Moines and the smaller tracks would be hurt.

Harry Duncan of Columbus Junction, Iowa, a board member for many years, said this had to be avoided. Murray wanted to put most of his contingency money on the lower end of the purse and pay more drivers.

This is apparently what Melton will do. He said he will meet soon with a committee of drivers and set up the purse breakdown for 1972.

He at first indicated the winner of the 25-lap late-model feature would receive $600 this season and the winner of the 15-lap sportsman feature would be paid $300. But this is subject to change. The late model winner received $500 and the sportsman winner $225 at the end of the ‘72 season.

Spagnola was disappointed that his bid was not accepted and he said he felt he had the best offer. “I guess they thought I was trying to buy the track,” he said of his offer to guarantee the $65,000. “I learned some things and will definitely bid again if given the chance.”

Murray said, “I believe the board made a fair decision. I believe that my bidding will make the Fairgrounds a better place to race and I am happy that it has had the effect of raising the purse.”

Melton has acknowledged that he was worried about losing the promotion opportunity. “I am happy that the fair board has the faith to again give me the opportunity,” he said.
Melton has been in auto racing promotion for 17 years.

1938 - Challenge of Gus Schrader to World Carries $5,000 Side Bet

Chicago, Ill. (January 24, 1938) - Gus Schrader of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, five times world dirt track racing champion, has issued a challenge “to any driver in the world” for a series of match races on dirt with a $5,000 side bet.


Backed by the Racing Corporation of America which contends it stages 75 per cent of all dirt track racing in the United States, the 48-year-old veteran will defend his title either on half mile or mile tracks - or both.

Schrader has been racing 24 years. He holds approximately half the dirt track records in existence and for five years has been the kingpin of the racing circuit under the sanction of the International Motor Contest Association.

If his challenge is accepted, it will be the first similar series since Sid Haugdahl defeated Ralph De Palma three out of five races at Ascot in 1923.

The sandy-haired Iowan won his dirt track title against the toughest sort of opposition. Racing for the RCA, which now is headed by John A. Sloan Jr., “Gloomy Gus” met picked drivers on a circuit, traveling to 41 cities from Massachusetts to Montana and Minnesota to Florida.

Sloan is the son of the late J. Alex Sloan, pioneer-racing promoter, who broke with the American Automobile Association to found the International Motor Contest Association. J. Alex was credited with making Barney Oldfield famous; he picked Leon Duray off a street corner and made him a threat in the 500-mile classic at Indianapolis, and gave first opportunities to Tommy Milton, Sid Haugdahl and others.

Sloan and his troop operated before 2,545,821 spectators in 1931 and completed their fourth consecutive year without a fatality either to driver or spectators.

“We have plenty of crashes, but few fatalities,” Sloan said. “When there's a crash our drivers know what to do. It’s the inexperienced driver who begins to panic that causes most of the trouble around a racetrack. We won't let them race until they’re ready for fast competition.”

IMCA’s big day last year was at the Minnesota State Fair, where 161,484 paid customers flocked into Minneapolis and St. Paul, breaking all attendance records for dirt tracks.

The Minnesota fair topped the list last season. Des Moines, Iowa was second, Atlanta, Ga.; third with Topeka, Kan.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Springfield, Mass.; Sedalia, Mo.; Spencer, Iowa; Shreveport, La.; and Ionia, Mich.; also in the first 10.

Spencer, Iowa, a little town of only 5,000, drew 15,000 fans in two days.

1974 - Invitation for drivers to race at West Union

West Union, Iowa (January 19, 1974) – Larry Sommerfelt, the latest driver turned promoter, announced recently he was going to head late model street stock racing at the Fayette County Speedway located here starting next season.


Sommerfelt, a regular driver in the stock car class at Tunis Speedway in Waterloo, Iowa, for many years, said he was amazed by the tremendous response from the West Union people associated with the Fayette County Fairground.

“Public response is good,” commented Sommerfelt. “We plan on running on Friday nights and any driver is welcomed to come and participate with us,” he concluded.

The new promoter stressed that the race track will pay on a percentage basis to be announced later. Sommerfelt said there’ll be a women’s race every week along with a trophy dash as well as a novelty race on the program.

The new promoter held a meeting in October at West Union when rules were discussed. The association plans on having a $250 claim on the engine. This means the short block only, no carburetor, headers, clutch, flywheel, distributor, fuel pump or bell housing. These rules were adopted to hold the cost of racing to a minimum.

The one-fourth mile banked dirt track expected to drop the green nag in the middle of May 1974. It is located on the south edge of West Union.

Cars must be 1955 through 1974 and American made. No quick changes are allowed. Only original type suspension will be permissible. A seven inch maximum tire width, which may be cross-grooved along with stock ignition, must be used. The race cars must have four wheel brakes and engines must be in original stock position and cannot be crossbreed. There will also be a two-barrel limit on the engines.

A field of 25 cars is expected for the upcoming season.

Gordon Woolley: Even an Outlaw can win a Championship

Gordon Woolley in the Weinberger #1 at Des Moines - 1963 (Bob Mays Collection)



by Lee Ackerman
Omaha, Neb. - The dictionary defines an outlaw as “someone outside the law.” In auto racing, the term has usually been used to describe someone who did not run regularly with sanctioning bodies but just ran wherever he wanted to. One of the first drivers that I can remember that fits that description to the letter was Gordon Woolley.

Woolley started racing jalopies in the 1940’s in his hometown of Waco, Texas and moved on from there. He would later become known for his black boots, scarlet driving suit and yellow helmet. But he was best known as a “real racer”, one who would race anywhere and everywhere with anyone and the miles he put on his vehicles to get from racetrack to racetrack showed it.

For years he drove all over the country as a driver for hire. He would be gone for weeks at a time. It was said that he always returned home with two suitcases; one filled with all the money he had won and the other with dirty clothes.

Woolley began racing with IMCA in 1960. The IMCA Sprint car series was a steppingstone to USAC and the Indy 500 back in those days. He would finish 10th in points that first year with IMCA winning at Northwest Missouri State Fairgrounds in Bethany. In 1961 he finished 11th in points after a serious accident in mid-season winning at Meyer Speedway in Houston. Consistency, but no wins got Gordon an 8th in IMCA points in 1962. During these years Woolley would race many other places as he was too independent to be tied down to one circuit.

Woolley started the 1963 season driving the Chet Wilson Chevy. As was tradition, the IMCA Sprint Car season started at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. On February 9, Gordon qualified sixth and then finished third in the second heat. He was running second to Pete Folse in Hector Honore Offy when Folse experienced a problem and Woolley shot by and took the win. It would be the highlight of the four race meet for Woolley and he left Tampa in seventh place in the points after Folse won the last three races.

By the time the IMCA Sprint series raced again on the Winchester High Banks on May 12, Woolley had switched rides and was now behind the wheel of the Colvin-Young Chevy. He would finish fourth in his first outing in that car. Five days later at Illiana Speedway he would qualify third and finish third. On May 25 at Sun Valley Speedway in Anderson, Indiana it was the 15th running of the grueling “Little 500.” Gordon continued his consistency and came home third.

At Des Moines on June 2 he ran second to a Johnny White in the Weinberger Chevy in the Hawkeye Futurity. A sixth at Dayton and a fourth back at Winchester and another runner up to White and Woolley was still holding down third place behind White and Folse. White made it four wins in a row at Hawkeye Downs on July 4 and was starting to build a substantial lead over Folse and Woolley.

After 17 days off, the series went to Winchester again with Woolley getting a fifth and White tenth. On July 26 the series entered the fair stage and with races almost daily. In fact they ran at both Champaign, Illinois and Minot, North Dakota on the 26th. Folse won at Minot with White third and Wooley fourth at Champaign. Folse won again at Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin on the 28th with White second in the Lempelius Offy. Wooley would finish 10th in the Goodrich Chevrolet.

Woolley got back on track at Lacrosse, Wisconsin winning in the Colvin-Young Chevy. White responded by winning one of two shows at Knoxville, Illinois. Woolley beat Folse at Eldon, Iowa. Then a strange thing happened. Johnny White bolted to USAC and Gordon Woolley ended up in the Weinberger Chevy. In his first outing in the car he won the feature at Ionia, Michigan. That same day, Folse won at Springfield, Missouri. Suddenly the IMCA championship had become a battle between Woolley and Folse. Could Woolley give Chevrolet an IMCA Championship or would the Hector Honore Offy win its eighth championship in nine years.

Woolley won again at Wausau, Wisconsin with Folse fourth. Woolley lost a wheel the first day at Sedalia but came back to set a new track record on the mile and run second to Al Unser in the feature. Woolley now had a 241 point lead.

From this point in the season the wins for Woolley and Folse slowed down as the competition got even stronger as big name drivers migrated to the Midwest to run the busy fair season. In fact, Folse would not garner another IMCA feature win the rest of the season. On August 24 Woolley would pick up a big win at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. New Mexico’s Al Unser would take home the 50 miler on the mile at Sedalia the following day.

Woolley would continue to pick up wins during the busy big fair season winning on September 5 at the Nebraska State Fair in Lincoln and then again the following week at Topeka and finally on September 15 at Muskogee, Oklahoma. Woolley would pick up one last win this time on the paved facility in Nashville, Tennessee and coast to the 1963 IMCA Sprint Car Championship. His win would give Chevrolet their first IMCA Sprint Car Championship and would bring to an end the long reign of the Offenhauser.

By this time in his career, the lanky Texas was averaging 60,000 miles a year going to and from race tracks. He preferred the dirt tracks to the high banked paved ovals of USAC. He did get a chance in USAC Sprints in 1964 but it was short lived. “I got out of the car to get a drink of water, and when I got back, the owner had another driver sitting in the car.” said Woolley.

In 1964 Woolley also would get an offer for Indy in the Dayton Walther car but it didn’t work out. “My chance didn’t work out. I guess I wasn’t suppose to race at Indy. A lot of guys I knew never got a chance to take the rookie test. I know I could have raced if I hadn’t hurt me eye.” Woolley recalled later.

Woolley would return to racing in IMCA finishing 13th in the IMCA standings in 1964, picking up a win and then 3rd the following season in Hector Honore’s Black Deuce registered several wins and also picked up a CRA win at El Centro in the Pop Miller car.

Woolley would continue to race with IMCA off and on throughout his career but also you could find him hitting more outlaw shows as well.

Gordon Woolley in the Goodrich #6 at Des Moines - 1968 (Armin Krueger Photo)

In 1972 Woolley would race his final Sprint Car race at the Devil’s Bowl in Mesquite, Texas, although he would continue to drive stock cars in the Waco area. The World of Outlaws did not arrive on the seen until 1978 and before that there was Jan Opperman, Bobby Allen and others. But before them there was Gordon Woolley, “A True Outlaw.”

Special thanks to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum for letting me use some of their materials for this story.

1973 - Irv Janey Is USAC’s Top Rookie

Milwaukee, Wis. (January 13, 1973) - Irv Janey of Cedar Rapids has been selected stock car rookie of the year for 1973 by the United States Auto Club.

Announcement of the honor came Saturday night at the annual awards banquet at the Pfister hotel here. Janey was presented a plaque on behalf of USAC by Al Miller, auto-racing editor for The Cedar Rapids Gazette.

“This is my biggest thrill in racing,” Janey said. “And that includes winning the IMCA title in 1972. There is only one winner and you get only one chance to win the award. I’m just very pleased. I just wish my dad (Ed) was alive to see this.”

Irv’s closest competition for the award came from Bob Whitlow, the ex-Detroit Lions football player. Janey is the second driver from Cedar Rapids to win rookie honors in the last five years. Verlin Eaker was chosen in 1969.

The 31-year-old Janey, who was sidelined for a month and missed three racing events after being seriously burned in an accident at Michigan International Speedway last July, finished 11th in the point standings. But Irv and car owner Marty Sixt of Iowa City both finished eighth on the point-fund money list and received $708 a piece.

The total point-fund melon was $35,000 and the biggest slice ($3,161) went to Butch Hartman who won an unprecedented third straight stock car championship.

Ramo Stott, another Iowan from Keokuk, was second in the point derby and second in the point fund, claiming $2,164.

Janey, whose ride was a 1973 Dodge Charger under the Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. banner, had his best finish with a fifth place at Lacrosse, Wis.

“But we were competitive all season,” he added. "I thought we ran with the best on the half mile and mile and a lot of time we were running in the top three before something went wrong with the car.”

Janey and Sixt announced they would run the full USAC schedule in 1974. However, this year Irv will have two Chargers at his disposal - one for asphalt and one for dirt.

1968 - Frank Winkley named new Downs’ race promoter

Cedar Rapids, Iowa (January 12, 1968) - Frank R. Winkley of Minneapolis, Minn., well-known promoter of Auto Racing, Inc., under the International Motor Contest Association banner, today was named race promoter at Hawkeye Downs by the All-Iowa Fairboard.


Winkley, 60, was awarded a one-year contract by the fairboard. He replaces Homer Melton of Rock Island, who governed racing at The Downs for three seasons. Under Winkley, The Downs’ may continue to operate as a regional division of IMCA.

“Wink’ is no stranger to the Cedar Rapids track, having promoted annually for the last several years programs involving late model stocks, midgets, sprints and super stocks.

“I think Cedar Rapids has the finest racing plant in the Midwest,” Wink said. “With the avid racing fans here, I see no reason why this shouldn't be one of the top racing areas in the country.”

“I've been promoting racing for 30 years and I think I understand drivers and fans. The drivers like to make money and race fans want to see racing at its best. We need cars to get the public and when we get the crowds, the drivers will start making money.”

The Downs will continue to operate on Saturday nights. Most of Wink's other promotions’ tentative plans involve Sunday afternoon dates (aside from the fair), so he expects to be at the Cedar Rapids locale two-thirds of the time.

Bernie Carlson of Minneapolis, one of the nation's outstanding flagmen, will serve as starter at the Downs. Carlson was tabbed “the best man I've got on my staff” by Wink and he'll run the show when the latter is absent.

Winkley plans to promote at least one major racing event each month. In fact, the 1968 campaign will get the green flag with the Hawkeye 200 for late model stock cars on April 28. Another major event will be the World 100 for super modifieds on May 30.

Tentative plans call for the regular Saturday night programs to start May 4.

Who Can Remember These Tracks? Part III

 Waterloo, Iowa

Converse, Indiana

Great Bend, Kansas

Monticello, Iowa

Branson, Missouri

Urbana, Illinois

Ottumwa, Iowa

Lacrosse, Wisconsin

Austin, Minnesota