1958 - Bettenhausen: No Limit on Indianapolis Speed

Cedar Rapids, Iowa (November 23, 1958) - Tony Bettenhausen, described recently as an “aging tiger” in the treacherous business of racing autos, doesn’t agree with the experts who think the famed Indianapolis track has reached its limit for producing speed.

“There is no limit to speed at Indianapolis,” says Tony, a vigorous 44-year-old who last month won his second national driving championship.

“It's simply a case of engineering,” he explains. “Besides developing more speed, the construction of the cars must constantly change so the speed can be used.”

Bettenhausen, a two-time national driving champ and a 12-time contender at Indianapolis, was in Cedar Rapids on Thursday and Friday to speak on highway safety, as part of a nationwide program sponsored by the Champion Spark Plug Company.

Bettenhausen is a member of the famed Champion 100 Mile-an-Hour Club, has driven more miles on the Indianapolis Speedway than any other active driver, and travels from 35,000 to 40,000 miles a year on the nation’s highways.

“Highway safety is the same as race track safety,” Tony tells student groups. “The key points are the condition of your car, mental alertness and courtesy.”

Tony is one of the best known and best liked of the nation’s top drivers, and he has come a long way since, his early days of racing when: he was tabbed as “cement head”.

“It's a funny thing,” he explains. “I won my first national title in 1951 when I won 8 of 11 championship races. I won the title for the second time this year and didn’t win a race. But I finished second 4 times and was among the top 5 in all but one race.”

Despite the age of 44, Bettenhausen is going back to Indianapolis next spring. The farm boy from Tinley Park, Ill., has never won a “500” mile title, although he finished second in 1955 and fourth a year ago.

“I'll be driving the same car next year,” Tony explains, “but it will be for a new owner. Also, it has been completely changed. The motor will be on its side next spring. A lot of the cars will change the position of the motor.”

Bettenhausen is a farmer when he isn’t driving. He was born on a farm near Tinley Park, and he and his family still live in the same farm home.

“We farm 518 acres,” says Tony. “How do I find time? I have sons 15 and 17, and they do much of the work.”

The farm was largely responsible for Bettenhausen becoming a driver 23 years ago.

“I just got tired of horses and the old, hard way of doing things. I bought a race car when I was 20 and started driving when I was 21."

The State Fair Century

1974 State Fair Century Program

By Kyle Ealy
Indianapolis, Ind. – When mentioning the USAC stock car division and one-mile dirt tracks, the Springfield Mile and Du Quoin usually come to mind first.

But there was another one-mile dirt oval track that that these full-bodied stockers competed on, yet the event was over looked by most, mainly because it was run in the heart of sprint car country.

The Indiana State Fairgrounds was more noted for one of the biggest sprint car races of the year; The Hoosier Hundred, which started in 1953 and still runs to this day, every September.

In 1962, though, the USAC stock cars came to town and would start a tradition of their own that would last 14 years; the State Fair Century.

On Wednesday night, September 5, 1962, Paul Goldsmith, St. Clair Shores, Mich., led all the way and won the first USAC 100-mile stock car race ever run on the Indiana State Fairgrounds track. Goldsmith was more than one mile in front of second place Don White of Keokuk, Iowa, at the finish. Goldsmith would collect $4,300 for his dominant victory.

John Rostek of Fort Collins, Colo., Eddie Sachs of Coopersburg, Pa., and Elmer Musgrave of Niles, Ill., would round out the top five in a race that averaged 71.768 miles per hour in a race that was slowed with 19 laps run under caution.

A spectator, Jack Abbott of Indianapolis, was injured when Skeets Wyman of Chicago spun into the rail midway in the race. Abbott was knocked temporarily unconscious when a piece of the broken rail hit him in the chest.

1963 State Fair Century Program - Photo Courtesy of Doug Abry

A hard charger from Houston, Tex., by the name of A.J. Foyt, would increase his point’s lead by claiming his fourth USAC stock victory of the season, when he grabbed the win at the fairgrounds on September 4, 1963.

Foyt had trailed Keokuk’s Don White for the entire race and it looked like victory was well in White’s grasp until mechanical problems arose on his machine with 6 laps to go. Foyt charged past and pulled into victory lane five laps later.

Foyt, driving a Ford for the first time this season, covered the distance at an average speed of 74.69 miles per hour. Gary Bettenhausen of Tinley Park, Ill., and John Rostek would follow Foyt across the finish line.

The 1964 event proved one thing…that A.J. Foyt could win a race no matter what obstacles were thrown in his way. The Indianapolis 500 winner not only impressed those watching from the grandstands but most certainly left an impression on the 29 other competitors who showed up that evening.

On September 9th, Foyt, who blew the engine of his own 1964 Dodge in practice, would borrow the car of teammate Len Sutton of Portland, Oregon and started in 30th place, the last spot in the field.

The Houston charger passed 13 cars in the first two laps around the one mile dirt track. With the help of some cautions, would eventually get around pole sitter Bobby Marshman of Pottstown, Pa. and Don White of Keokuk for second place at the halfway point of the race.

On lap 56, race leader Parnelli Jones would be involved in a skirmish with Lloyd Ruby sending him to the infield and allowing Foyt to inherit the lead. From there, Foyt held strong over the remaining 39 laps to seal the deal. Foyt would cash in on $4,315 for his heroic efforts. 

A.J. Foyt accepts his trophy from Indiana State Fair's Oscar T. Blank after winning his third straight State Fair Century. 

The old saying, “Better lucky than good” would apply to Foyt for the 1965 race. Once again, much like the 1963 race that he won with only laps remaining, Foyt would find himself in victory lane because of someone else’s misfortune.

Paul Goldsmith, driving a 1965 Plymouth, had led for 76 laps after moving to the front when pole winner Parnelli Jones of Torrance, Calif., made a pit stop. Goldsmith was leading Foyt by about three-fourths of a mile and appeared to have the race wrapped up as he took the white flag for the 100th lap.

But entering the backstretch, Goldsmith suddenly lost power and started coasting slowly as he entered turn three…he was out of fuel.

Foyt, piloting a 1965 Ford, would catch Goldsmith with less that a quarter-mile to go and take his third straight win in the event as Goldsmith sputtered along, helpless. Norm Nelson of Racine, Wis., Canadian Billy Foster and Don White would follow as Goldsmith would limp across the finish line to take fifth.

Don White would finally release the stranglehold that Foyt had with an impressive victory on August 26, 1966. White, the 1963 USAC stock car champion, took the lead on the 35th lap and steadily pulled way from the field.

Even a self-induced spin on the 99th lap didn’t stop White from taking the checkered flag nearly half a lap ahead of Norm Nelson. A. J. Foyt, running up front most of the day, but never a factor, would finish third. A pair of Plymouth’s, driven by Chicago’s Sal Tovella and open wheel star Jim Hurtubise finished fourth and fifth respectively.

The victory, White's third in a row on the USAC stock car circuit, netted him $6,122 from a total purse of nearly $22,000.

Don White would end A.J. Foyt's domination of the State Fair Century, winning in 1966 and 1967. He's shown here with car owner Ray Nichels. 

White would return to the fairgrounds on August 25, 1967 and successfully his State Fair Century title. Including a win at the Hoosier Classic there in June, It marked the third straight victory for the Iowan on the Indianapolis dirt. It would also strengthen his point lead, in which he would eventually lay claim to the national title that year.

He steered his Dodge Charger through the 100-mile run at an average speed of 83.97 miles per hour, well the standard of 86.393 miles per hour he set last year. White wrestled the lead on the 70th lap and held it to the finish.

Parnelli Jones and A. J. Foyt, the main battlers in that year's Indianapolis 500 classic, gunned it out with White through the mid-way point for the lead with Foyt leading the first 37 miles. Both White and Jones would pass A.J. when the Indy 500 champ took an unscheduled pit stop. As it turns out, Foyt would develop front-end problems on his Ford, finally bowing out on lap 83.

White pocketed $6,707 for his first place finish and Jones, driving a Ford Fairlane, grabbed $3,400. Al Unser of Albuquerque, N.M. was third, Paul Goldsmith fourth and Norm Nelson in fifth.

When A.J. Foyt was in his prime, he took a backseat to no one and when the State Fair Century rolled around on August 23, 1968, Foyt made sure there he was the man standing in victory lane when the dust had settled.

A.J. Foyt exits his car after winning the State Fair Century for a fourth time in 1968. - Wayne Bryant Photo

Foyt led 99 of 100 laps and battled back challenger Butch Hartman to win the 100-mile stock car race. The victory at the Indiana State Fairgrounds strengthened Foyt's position as the U.S. Auto Clubs' leading stock car driver that season. Foyt picked up nearly $7,500 for winning with his Ford Torino. Foyt would go on to clinch the national title that year.

Hartman, from Zanesville, Ohio, dogged Foyt tracks from the 64th lap until his Dodge Charger tagged the wall with 5 tours remaining. He would still manage to hold on to second place and a $3,800 payday.

Roger McCluskey of Tucson, Ariz., took third followed by Al Unser. Don White, the defending two-time race champion and winner of the last four events at the fairgrounds, earned the pole position and stayed up front with Foyt in the beginning until engine trouble sidelined him for good on the 35th lap.

Whatever A.J Foyt could do, Don White proved he could do could do it better and on August 22, 1969, the 43-year-old veteran would lead 99 of 100 laps to win the State Fair Century for the third time in four years.

A record crowd of 19,270 paid a record purse of $30,190 of which White earned $10,300. Foyt pressed White for most of the race, but an extra pit stop for tires dropped him to seventh place.

Bobby Unser of Albuquerque, N.M. and his brother Al finished second and third. White led all but one lap. Al Unser took that one during flurry of pit stops under the caution light after a three-car wreck midway in the race that would delay the race for almost an hour. Jim Lord of Colgate, Wis., rolled completely end over end, taking out a light pole and cutting off power to the backstretch in the mishap. Lord was unhurt and power was restored but it didn’t stop White in dominating the race.

White, piloting a 1969 Dodge Charger, would grab his second consecutive State Fair Century victory on August 28, 1970, in a race halted twice by accidents. Lem Blankenship of Keokuk, Iowa was second in a 1969 Plymouth followed by Norm Nelson in a 1970 Plymouth, Jack Bowsher of Springfield, Ohio, in a 1970 Ford and Butch Hartman behind the wheel of a 1969 Dodge.

Butch Hartman (75) and Don White (3) lead the field to green in the 1970 State Fair Century. - John Mahoney Photo

Nineteen of the 30 starters were running when the race ended. Bowsher, the top qualifier at a speed of 89.820 miles an hour, led the first 26 laps. Bowsher drove the car that was originally assigned to A.J. Foyt. Foyt failed to make the race in time, because he was practicing for the California 500 in Ontario, Calif.

Lem Blankenship led on the 27th tour then Bowsher took over from laps 28 to 33. Blankenship would regain the point until White took the top spot for good.

J.C. Klotz of Fort Wayne escaped harm when his car slammed into the inside wall of turn one, halting the race on lap 10 for 1 hour and 4 minutes. The long delay was necessary to repair the wall. Billy Ries’ car hit the outside wall of turn two, stopping action 10 minutes on lap 91.

The A.J. Foyt/Don White stranglehold on the State Fair Century had to come to an end sometime and on August 29, 1971, it finally did as a new face, other than Foyt’s or White’s, graced victory lane for the first time since the inaugural race in 1962.

In copping the 10th annual event, Bobby Unser proved not only to be the fastest, but perhaps the strongest of those who survived this pseudo-demolition derby which forced three re-starts. The victory was the second straight on the USAC stock car division circuit for Unser, who had won two weeks earlier at Milwaukee.

Defending USAC stock car champ and current point leader, Roger McCluskey of Tucson, Ariz., was a close second with the nose of A.J. Foyt’s Ford Torino just inches from the bumper of his Plymouth Super Bird. Foyt was the fast qualifier on the day, posting a time of 39.515 seconds, or a speed of 91.033 miles per hour. NASCAR star Bobby Allison of Hueytown, Ala., took fourth place in a car originally entered for Unser’s younger brother, Al, who couldn’t make it in time from the Indy car race in California. Twenty-one cars still were running at the finish out of a starting field of 30.

Other leaders in the race were Les Snow of Bloomington, Ill., who led for 19 laps and Tiny Lund, Cross, S.C., who was in control for 10 laps (27 through 37) until his engine went sour.

The junk production started on the fourth lap when Leonard Blanchard of Louisville Ky., wiped out about 30 feet of the inner guard rail while coming out of the second turn. That action stopped the race on the ninth circuit. Later on the 66th lap, Verlin Eaker of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, crunched a gaping hole in the outside fence between the first and second turns and again the race was halted.

On the 71st lap, just after the race had restarted after another caution, A.J. Foyt tried to pass race leader Les Snow of Bloomington, Ill., but began to skid sideways. Other cars attempting to avoid Foyt went to the outside and by the time you could say “look out” at least two-thirds of the field was standing still midway through the first and second turns. The cars of Mark Dinsmore, Woody Walcher, Paul Feldner, and Denny Wilson were retired from the spartanic clash.

Because the one-mile dirt oval at the fairgrounds was initially designed for horses to race on, no guardrail on either the inside or outside of the track had ever been constructed. So every time a car tore a piece of the flimsy cyclone fence down, the welding crew had to be called and the long patch-up work was done while the race is halted.

Race fans were expecting a battle between Roger McCluskey and Jack Bowsher to materialize. But Bowsher, who was trailing the first place McCluskey by just 22 points in the USAC stock car division, called it quits in his Ford after completing 34 laps. Don White, qualified for the event, but later blew an engine and was forced to withdraw from the contest.

Al Unser, driving a 1971 Ford Torino owned by Rudy Hoerr, would win State Fair Century on Sunday afternoon, August 27, 1972 before a paid crowd of 11, 300 race fans. The victory paid Unser $4,450 out of a $15,000 total purse.

The two-line Indianapolis 500 winner completely dominated the 30-car field by leading every lap except the 31st lap when he made his mandatory pit stop giving the lead momentarily to Ralph Latham of Cincinnati, Ohio, in a 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

Latham and Unser shared the front row starting position with Unser on the pole after a record breaking run of 38.86 seconds (92.64 mph) around the one-mile dirt oval. To show on dominant Unser was, on lap 19, of the 100-lap race, he turned in an amazing lap time of 38.20 seconds in traffic. He continued to build an insurmountable lead, which Latham could not contend with.

Two yellow flags slowed the action in the first 50 laps. The race was stopped on lap 61 after a chain reaction pileup occurred on turn two caused by Al Bunkofske spinning his '72 Ford and being hit broadside by Dan Dickey in a ‘70 Dodge Charger. Lem Blankenship, Chuck McWilliams, and Bud Schroyer were also involved.

After a delay of 17 minutes the race resumed until six laps later when Butch Hartman spun his ’72 Dodge causing another six-car pileup and yet another red flag. Ray Bolander's ‘72 Monte Carlo, Bay Darnell's ‘72 Dodge, Tiny Lund's ‘70 Chevelle, Ramo Stott’s ‘72 Plymouth and Jim Tobin’s ‘70 Dodge were all crunched in the fracas with only Bohlander, Hartman and Tobin able to continue. It took almost 25 minutes to clear the wreckage.

On the restart Latham gave a quick challenge to Unser coming out of turn two but Unser pulled away and sailed on to victory by a seven second margin. Latham managed to beat out Roger McCluskey by six seconds while McCluskey's ‘70 Plymouth finished about five seconds ahead of Sal Tovella's ‘72 Plymouth. Paul Feldner of Colgate, Wis., in a ‘70 Dodge finished fifth one lap back with Butch Hartman taking sixth in a fender less ’72 Dodge.

Jack Bowser would win the State Fair Century on August 26, 1973, leading 84 of 100 laps. The last two laps of the race were the hardest by far for the Springfield, Ohio veteran. Bowsher, who led second place Butch Hartman by more than 14 seconds with 10 laps to go, was forced to slow down perceptively when his right tire shredded near the start-finish line on the 98th lap.

He was barely one car length ahead at the end after Hartman brought the crowd of 7,877 to its feet by creeping closer and closer on the backstretch and through the final two turns. Bowsher never lost control despite the flat.

“I knew it was going bad. I kept signaling the pits, but we couldn't come in,” said an exhausted Bowsher, who grabbed the lead for good on the 36th lap of the 100-mile race on the one-mile fairgrounds dirt oval.

Bowsher, who collected about $7,500 for the victory, averaged 84.517 miles per hour for the race. Veteran Norm Nelson of Racine, Wis., making his first start on dirt in more than two years, finished third, followed by Ralph Latham and Ramo Stott.

Stott began a record breaking day by lowering Al Unser's 1972 track qualifying record of 38.86 seconds to 38.41 in a Dodge Charger. Bowsher also broke Unser's record, pushing his Ford Torino around the track in 38.73. Bowsher also established a one-lap race record, clocking 38.20 seconds on the 50th lap. Unser had held the old race record of 38.28.

Every event, it seems, has that one upset, where some underdog surprises everyone and takes the win against all odds.

For the State Fair Century race, that day happened on August 25, 1974 and Bay Darnell was the driver. Darnell, a little round man with a big smile and even bigger heart, had gone winless on the USAC stock car circuit for 13 years.

That was until the 43-year-old driver from Deerfield, Ill., outdueled the top names in USAC stock car racing to win the 13th annual race and a check for $4,500.

Bay Darnell is all smiles after winning the 1974 State Fair Century, his first career USAC stock car victory. - Kyle Ealy Collection

He did it driving the wrong car, heavily taped because of a broken shoulder and fighting the burden of never having won a feature race in all of those years on the tour. Darnell, known as “The Great Pumpkin” because of the bright orange driving suit he wears when racing, said “I can't even tell you how I felt when I saw the checkered flag out there. There were just too many things to think about.”

“I won with a 1974 Dodge and it's my asphalt (track) car. I totaled out my dirt car and broke my shoulder last week at Springfield, Illinois, and I didn't even think I’d be here,” Darnell said.

But he credited a “miracle doctor” with patching him up well enough to go a grueling 100 laps on the Indiana State Fairgrounds one-mile dirt track.

“The shoulder didn't give me any trouble. I didn't even feel it once we got started. I put this thick padding in back of me in the seat. It was so comfortable it's never coming out of here.”

USAC stock division stock car leader Norm Nelson finished second, followed by defending USAC stock car champion Bart Hartman and former USAC national driving champion Roger McCluskey.

The 5-foot-8, 200-pound Darnell started sixth in the 28-car field. Hartman held the lead for the first 44 laps, Nelson kept it until McCluskey took it for one lap while Nelson pitted on lap 69, then Nelson held it again until Darnell took over for good on lap 95.

It was only fitting that a dominant winner of the State Fair Century win the last event and that’s what happened on August 25, 1975.

After driving for Ray Nichels for many years and dominating the USAC stock car circuit, Don White had become an independent car owner in 1972 and victories, once a common occurrence for the Keokuk, Iowa veteran, were few and far between. The four-time winner of the State Fair Century had seen better days.

But a huge victory in the 200-miler at the Milwaukee Mile in July of 1975 and a couple of top-five finishes at both the Springfield Mile and the Du Quoin Mile in August had given White some much-needed confidence when the circuit came to Indianapolis.

Sure enough, White would win his record fifth State Fair Century stock car race and break his own track record by almost 2 minutes in the process.

White, driving a Dodge, took the lead on the 73rd lap of the 100-lap race and finished nearly one lap ahead of his Keokuk, Iowa counterpart, Ramo Stott, driving a Plymouth. White, who set the previous record of 1 hour 9 minutes 26.9 seconds, or 86.4 miles per hour in 1966, finished the 100 miles in 1 hour, 7 minutes and 34 seconds for an average speed of 88.8 miles per hour.

It would be the final State Fair Century at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

While sprint and champ cars rule Indiana all season long, for 14 years the USAC stock cars were king for a day in the Hoosier state.

1955 - Leon DeRock Through as a Big Car Driver

Mason City, Iowa (November 11, 1955) - Leon DeRock of Mason City is finished as a big car auto driver but he's not finished with racing. Next racing season DeRock will be paying more attention to the promotion side of racing and will be driving a new model automobile in stock car races.

It was about six years ago that DeRock astounded the racing world by starting right out to drive an Offenhauser. That sort of business is reserved for experienced dirt track drivers after a few seasons of racing. But DeRock did well and got the bug. Emory Collins, the king of the speedways in the Midwest, was going to retire. So DeRock bought him out. That included his racer, an extra 310 cubic inch engine and crankshafts. Even Offenhauser wasn’t making engines that big anymore.

DeRock even bought a new chassis for his auto. His campaigning was good. He won his fair share of races, set some track records and even made a little money for eating dust and risking his life.

But he’s sold his auto. DeRock has another engine and he’s going to build a new car around it but it will be for sale - not for his own use.

Last summer he got into the promotion business with a big list of drivers who joined him. It was for big cars as well as stock cars. The operation was in five Midwest states with the heaviest concentration of action being in Southern Minnesota.

Just recently Leon arid his brother Mel, partners in Mel’s Smoke Shop, headed the incorporation named Speedway Cars, Inc. Under the wing of this group will be about 60 drivers, most of them with DeRock last summer. Ken Gottschalk figures to be the top driver in the field as he finished first in the Central States Racing Association point standings last year. DeRock was leading at the time he quit competition and wound up in third place.

The early summer big car auto races and stock car races at the North Iowa Fairgrounds were promoted by DeRock, He hopes to land the North Iowa fair dates if the new track is completed for the 1956 fair at the new west city limits site.

Vic Spindler has been hired as the secretary-treasurer of the new organization and his job will be to take care of the correspondence, all bookwork and the finances of Speedway Cars. Upcoming on November 28 is a fair manager’s meeting in Chicago at which major bookings are made for 1956 fairs. Speedway Cars, which again will operate under the sanction of CSRA, will be represented at the meeting to acquire major dates.

DeRock plans a major change in the big car auto racing program for 1956. Whereas most feature races are for seven, 10 or maybe 15 laps, De Rock will run the races over 50 laps to liven enthusiasm, open the field for steady driving, and put an extra accent on endurance of auto and driver instead of giving the “fast autos” the big break to sweep home first on an initial burst of speed.

All of the operation of the new organization will center in Mason City.

The Big Cars at the Wapello County Fair

Ray Lee Goodwin (97) attempts to avoid a spinning Grady Wade (82) during IMCA sprint car action at Eldon, Iowa, in 1967. - Beetle Bailey Photo/Bob Mays Collection

by Lee Ackerman
Eldon, Iowa - Growing up on a farm in Central Nebraska, the highlight of the year was going to the Nebraska State Fair and that meant the Big Cars of International Motor Contest Association (IMCA). This was back in the mid-50’s when IMCA was king and you better get your ticket for the races early because the huge grandstand would sell out. Every year I would buy an IMCA yearbook and memorize them. I knew about every track that the Big Cars raced at and one of those tracks that I remember was the Wapello County Fair in Eldon, Iowa.

Doing a little research in Alan Brown’s fabulous book “The History of American Speedways, Past and Present” I find that racing occurred at the Fairgrounds in Eldon from 1934 through August 21, 1941. Since all IMCA record prior to World War II have unfortunately been lost to history, we will start our story with the first IMCA Big Car race at Eldon after World War II, that being on August 22, 1946.

Deb Snyder, driving Andy Dunlop's #2, would win at the Wapello County Fairgrounds in 1946. - Armin Krueger Photo/Bob Mays Collection

While results for many years after the war are hard to find I do know that the winner of that August 22 race was Kent, Ohio’s Deb Snyder driving the Dunlap Offy #2. Snyder would be crowned the IMCA Big Car Champion in both 1952 & 1953. Snyder would retire following the 1954 racing season a holder of 87 track records.

On August 21, 1947, it would be Emory Collins of LeMars, Iowa driving his own famed #7 Offy picking up the win at Eldon. In 1947 Collins was in the middle of a three year reign as IMCA Champion winning the title in 1938, 1946, 1947 and 1948. Collins would return to victory lane at Eldon on August 25, 1949. Like Snyder, Collins would survive the fate of so many of his fellow competitors killed in action and retire in 1951 to live out his life back in LeMars.

 

The great Emory Collins would win in Eldon, Iowa, en route to winning his fourth IMCA national championship in 1949. - Armin Krueger Photo/Bob Mays Collection

In 1948, it was yet another IMCA champion going to victory lane at Eldon when Frank Luptow of Tampa, Florida wheeled the #3 Lovitti Offy to a win. Luptow would rule the IMCA Big Car scene from 1949 through 1951. Luptow would return to victory lane at Eldon on August 24, 1950. Unfortunately for Luptow, he did not survive the sport being fatally injured in a NASCAR race at the Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia on September 21, 1952.

Bill Holland of Chicago, Illinois winner of the 1951 Eldon Big Car Race did not win an IMCA national championship but he did win the biggest race of them all, the 1949 Indianapolis 500. Holland would make it through his racing career, retiring and living until 1984.

Jimmy Campbell of Bates City, Missouri won the 1952 race in his own #25 Offy and would finish second to Snyder in IMCA points. In 1953, Dick Ferguson of Chicago, Illinois drove Les King’s # K2 Offenhauser to the win at Eldon.

Driving Hector Honore's famous "Black Deuce", Bobby Grim would dominate the half-mile at Eldon, Iowa, during his IMCA championship run from 1954 to 1958. - Bob Mays Collection

That brings us to 1954 and into the picture steps a physically small sized mechanic-car owner from Pekin, Illinois named Hector Honore. Honore may have been small in stature but he carried a whale of wrench because for the next nine years his legendary #2 Black Deuce would grace victory lane at Eldon. For five years (1954-58) Bobby Grim of Indianapolis would drive the legendary Bardahl Special to victory lane.

After Grim departed for Indy Cars, Pete Folse of Tampa, Florida would win the annual Fair event at Eldon in 1959 thru 1962. Honore and his two drivers would win seven straight IMCA Big Car Champions, four with Grim (55-58) and then three with Folse (1959-61). When you think of IMCA Big Cars the first car that comes to mind is the Hector Honore Offenhauser.

Pete Folse would continue with the Black Deuce's domination of the Wapello County Fair, winning there in 1959, '60, '61, and '62. - Bob Mays Collection

Finally on August 8, 1963, the original outlaw, Gordon Wooley of Waco, Texas drove the Calvin/Young #8 Chevy (Yes, I said Chevy) to victory lane at Eldon on his way to winning the IMCA national title. Ironically, Wooley won in three different mounts on his way to the championship.

Chevrolet would be the dominant power plant from that time forward, in 1964 it was Greg Weld winning in the Butler #40. Jerry Richert would drive the #63 Wagner Chevy home to victory lane in 1965, 1966 and again in 1970. In 1967 it was Springfield, Illinois’ Jim Moughan winning behind the wheel of the Merle Heath Chevy #42.

Jim Moughan of Springfield, Ill., accepts the checkers from IMCA's Gene Van Winkle after winning in 1967. - Bob Mays Collection

In 1968 Norm Paul of Auburn, California decided to come to the Midwest and try his hand at the IMCA Fair Circuit and promptly put the Jerry Pittman #98 in victory lane at Eldon. In 1969, local fans got to cheer a local driver to victory lane when John Babb of Ottumwa took the win in Bob Trostle’s Corn Belt #19.

Jerry Blundy (33) of Galesburg, Ill., would tame the half-mile at Eldon, Iowa, in 1971. - Ken Simon Photo/Bob Mays Collection

Jerry Blundy of Galesburg, Illinois behind the wheel of the Mel Moffitt #33 won the Eldon race in 1971 on his way to his second straight IMCA national crown. In 1972 IMCA added a second race at Eldon. This race would be over Memorial Day Weekend and Ray Lee Goodwin of Kansas City, Missouri drove the Gary Swenson #24 to victory lane in that race both in 1972 & 1973. At the annual Fair in race in 1972 the Corn Belt #19 was back in victory lane this time with Greenwood, Missouri’s Dick Sutcliffe behind the wheel.

Bill Utz of Sedalia, Missouri won back-to-back Wapello County Fair races in 1973 and 1974 aboard the Dean Hathman #56. Utz won the IMCA crown in 74, 75 & 77. There was no Memorial Day race in 1974.

Bill Utz (56), shown here racing Dick Sutcliffe (29), would win Wapello County Fair honors in 1973 and 1974. Sutcliffe would take honors in the '72 contest. - Bob Mays Collection

1975 would see Des Moines driver Ralph Blackett win the May race in the Springer #28 and Jan Opperman of Noxon, Montana win the Wapello County Fair race in Speedy Bill Smith’s famed #4X. 1976 would be the last year of the IMCA at Eldon (The series folded following the 1977 season). Gary Scott of Holt Summit, Missouri took the May race in the Hassler#10X and Gene Gennetten of Parkville, Missouri would be the final name added to the list as he won the August race in his own #3.

Gary Scott of Holts Summit, Mo., would be the final IMCA sprint car winner at the Wapello County Fairgrounds in 1976. - Bob Mays Collection

For 30 years after World War II the legendary cars and drivers of the IMCA Big Car Series visited the big half-mile facility at Eldon, Iowa providing local race fans with some of the best dirt track racing in the country.

1966 - Ray Nichels; the Legend Grows

 Nichels boys (l-r) - Joe Weatherly, Len Sutton, Marvin Panch, Rodger Ward, Glenn “Fireball” Roberts and Paul Goldsmith.

Hammond, Ind. (October 30, 1966) - It has been a long-standing joke with Ray Nichels that his home town is one of the few places in the country where he’s likely to have trouble cashing a personal check.

In the South, where the name Nichels and stock car racing go together like ham and eggs, the only things he’s apt to sign are autographs. In Monza, Italy, Mexico City and several spots in England and Canada it’s the same.

They know him at Indianapolis where the “500” is run every Memorial Day, at Darlington, S.C., the first of the South’s super speedways and at Langhorne, Pa., Daytona Beach, Fla., Atlanta, Ga., Milwaukee, Wis., Bristol, Tenn., Watkins Glen, N.Y., Charlotte, N.C., and wherever else man and machine run against the clock and each other.

For nearly 30 years, Nichels has been building, maintaining and racing automobiles. He started in 1937 when he was 15 years old with midget racers. The next step up was a big one, to the United States Auto Club championship circuit. Today, Nichels is the biggest in the country in the late model stock car field.

The Nichels racing stable operates out of a modern, sprawling building at 1111 East Main Street in Griffith, Indiana. From the out side, one would never know that inside welders, engine and chassis experts and painters are busy constructing hemi-powered Dodges and Plymouths.

That's the way Nichels likes it. No hoopla, fanfare or plaudits - just a winning operation. And if he seeks anonymity in the only place the - public will let him have it - in his own backyard – who’s to say he’s wrong?

Nichels is happiest at the racetrack but finds less and less time in which to get away from the paper laden desk on the second floor of his small empire. He works long hours, sleeps only when he has to and smokes half a dozen packs of cigarettes a day. It has become almost a reflex action that every time he answers the phone, Nichels fires up a cigarette. The secretary, out of curiosity, kept track one day of incoming calls only. She quit at 150.

There are some who say he can’t keep up the pace. But Nichels, who claims there are 21 work days in a week, appears to thrive on it. A year ago when Chrysler’s hemi engine was outlawed by NASCAR, things moved at a snail’s pace. Most of the time he was is jittery as a go-go dancer in church

Nichels is at his best when the work load mounts, when the pressure builds right up to race time. He must not only worry about his own entries but also those of some 50 car owners throughout the country for whom he vendors parts.

“You don’t make it if you don't work at it,” he says. “I don’t care what you do; be good at it. If you’re going to be a bum, be a good one. That's all I ask of anybody.”

Ray Nichels was born in Chicago on September 8, 1922. His parents, Rudy and Gladys Nichels moved the family to Griffith in 1929. By the time he was 12 Ray was pumping gas from midnight to 7 a.m. then running off to school. He slept in the afternoon.

In 1937 the Nichels family saw its first automobile race at the old Hammond Speedway. Ray’s dad bought a car at trackside when the race ended. “I was hooked right than and there,” he says “I worked on the car every chance I got, all the while dreaming of the day when I'd be a driver.”

By the time World War II came along and put automobile racing in mothballs for the duration, the Nichels fleet of midgets had grown to five. Ray enlisted in the Navy. In 1946 he returned home, hauled out his wrenches and got the wheels rolling again.

“I’d given up any ideas of driving by then,” he said. “I decided to leave that to the professionals. I knew I was more qualified as a mechanic.”

Midget racing was a big attraction in those days. Nichels, most any week of the season, was driving some 2,700 miles getting to and from as many as nine different race tracks He worked and competed with such drivers as Tony Bettenhausen, Paul Russo, Wally Zale, Ray Richards, Ted Duncan and Ronnie Householder.

Householder, whom Ray says was the “toughest driver I ever saw on a one-mile track”, today heads up Chryslers’ racing division.

In 1947, he and Eleanor Covert were married. The following year, be broke away from the family operation and set out for Indy. In 1949, he teamed with Russo in a car-building venture that is still one of the classic stories heard around race tracks.

Short on money and thin on experience; the two nevertheless built the car in the basement of Russo’s Hammond home. It was an innovation for Indy-type cars, its frame consisting of singular tubing and weighing about 15,000 pounds, some 500 pounds lighter than the other Speedway cars.

“Basement Bessie,” the car was called. Ray campaigned her successfully until 1952.

From then until 1955, he drove a fuel truck during the winter to pay off the bills accumulated during the racing season He worked for a dozen different people on a parade of race cars. One was a test car for the Firestone Rubber Company, in which Sam Hanks broke a proving grounds record at 182 miles per hour.

Pat O’Connor, Ray Nichels and Chapman Root became the first All-Hoosier race team ever to claim the pole for the world’s greatest race in 1956.

Next, he teamed with driver Pat O’Connor. At Indy in 1955, O'Connor was running second with eight laps to go when a fitting on the fuel pump broke. The car finished eighth. The following year O’Connor put the car in the front row during qualifying.

One of Nichels’ greatest moments came from February to May, 1957. In three months at three different tracks, he pulled off what amounted to the equal of golf’s “grand slam”.

In the Pontiac stock cars, which Ray took over in late 1956. Daytona Beach crumbled before a Nichels onslaught. First, Joe Littlejohn won the Flying Mile in record time. Next, Banjo Matthews set fast time in time trials for the Daytona Beach 500. And finally, Cotton Owens, in still a third Nichels Pontiac, won the Beach 500.

This done, Nichels and O’ Connor flew to Monza, where it was said no race tire could hold up under the speed and stress of that particular track. They shattered the track record the first day. By the end of 10 days, they had upped the record 10 miles per hour – from 162 to 172.

With two days in which to get their Speedway car set up for qualifying, Nichels and O’Connor hustled back to Indianapolis Not only did they get the job done but they did it better than anyone else O’Connor put the #12 Sumar Special on the pole with a qualifying speed of 143.948 mph.

It won for Nichels the Mechanic of the Year award Because of a split fuel tank, the car finished eighth in the race. The following year, O’ Connor was killed in the 21-car pileup at the start of the race. For Ray, it was the end of racing.

“I had no more interest in racing,” he says. “I wanted no part of it. Pat and I had become more than friends. We were like brothers.”

It was a year before he returned Pontiac worked on him and a skinny character with a wide smile, who still has a mark on his shoulder where a car went over the top of him in the crash that killed O’Connor, moved into the picture.

Ray Nichels and Paul Goldsmith accept their trophy after winning a USAC stock car race at the Milwaukee Mile in 1962. The Nichels-Goldsmith combination would win USAC national stock car titles in 1961 and '62.

For both Nichels and Paul Goldsmith it has proved a fruitful merger. They've done well at Indianapolis, finishing third and fifth, but even better in the stock cars, winning USAC titles in 1961 and 1962.

Chrysler entered the racing game in 1964 and Nichels and Goldsmith set out to see if the hemi could go. It did and still is.

A. J. Foyt and Bobby Isaac, driving Nichels’ Dodges, finished first and second, respectively, in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona Beach that first season. Last year, Goldsmith won four events in USAC and finished second to Norm Nelson for the driver’s title. Nelson has all but wrapped up a second consecutive championship in his ‘66 Plymouth. Parts for it and teammate Jim Hurtubise’s car come from Nichels

In NASCAR, Goldsmith has won three major events, Dodge Charger driver Sam McQuagg one and Don White, Nichels’ USAC driver, eight.

Ernie Derr has already clinched the IMCA (International Motor Contest Association) title in a Dodge with Ramo Stott, in a Plymouth, second. Iggy Katona, likewise, has wrapped up the ARCA (Automobile Racing Club of America) crown in his Plymouth.

In November, Nichels’ 55-man work force will begin preparing for the 1967 season as stock car racing continues its climb to the top of spectator sports. Already number two behind horse racing, closed-circuit television of several major events should add to its appeal.

For Nichels it has been rewarding. He is holder of more records than any other car owner, for one. He and Goldsmith have expanded their business interests to include the Performance and Safety Center at Ridge Road and Cline Avenue in Highland and G&N Aircraft, Inc., just east of the racing plant in Griffith.

 

But so has he given of himself.

“We race first with safety in mind,” he says. “I would like to think that every time we take the track, we’re in some way improving the car driven on the nation’s streets and highways I know the advances made in tires, brakes and safety features have been a contribution.”

“And I thoroughly enjoy it,” he adds. “If I didn’t I would have gotten out of it a long time ago. Where else does a guy work for 10 cents an hour?”

1974 - Bidding for fifth USAC title - Hartman already eyes '75

Zanesville, Ohio (October 10, 1974) - There is no telling how many more times Butch Hartman will win the USAC stock car championship.

“We hope we can just keep right on going,” chuckles the 34-year-old South Zanesville driver, who has won the title for an unprecedented fifth consecutive season. Even now he is assisting his father and their crew in preparing cars for the 1975 campaign, assuring that a yellow and black Dodge with a red number 75 on the roof and on each door will be the car to beat next year.

“We plan on operating just about the same way that we have been,” he reasons. “Why risk losing a race by trying something radically different?”

The Hartman family enjoys competing and it enjoys winning. It is something that they have become extremely proficient at, winning almost 50 percent of all USAC stock car races entered the last two seasons.

“I've had some interesting offers,” he admits “but I've turned them all down. I even turned down a championship car offer two years ago because I didn't want to spoil what dad and I had going for us.”

The philosophy has paid off to the tune of something far in excess of $200,000 in prize money in the four years that Hartman has been champion. While not necessarily superstitious Butch does continue to carry number 75 on his car instead of the number “one” to which he is entitled, and a crew member faithfully wore the same pair of sneakers for a whole season believing them to be lucky. Even after being replaced with a fresh pair, the sneakers were carried in the cab of the truck that hauls the car to the races. “We went along with this even after somebody left the window down during a rain storm,” laughs Butch recalling the disagreeable aroma that arose from the exhausted footwear.

Hartman had to come from behind to win his fourth title. He staged a season-long struggle with veteran Norm Nelson of Racine, Wis. who was also striving to become the first man to win the title for a fourth time while Hartman's victories were punctuated with the occasional mechanical malfunction. Nelson finished every race. Nelson was fifth or better in all but two of the 19 races with a seventh and a 10th place accounting for his worst finishes. He scored only one victory, but was runner-up in five events, third in four more and fourth in another five. Hartman won eight races but missed the top five in six races and was still behind Nelson in the point standings with one race remaining.

Hartman and Nelson swapped the point lead back and forth six times before the matter was settled. Hartman was 110 points back with three races to go but pulled to within 30 points by winning the next with Nelson second both times. Butch then won the finale at Des Moines September 14 with Nelson fifth to clinch the title.

No man had succeeded in sweeping all four events at the Milwaukee Mile oval until Butch accomplished the feat in 1973 and he almost did it again this year He had to be content with a seventh place finish in the Thursday fair date event, but succeeded in winning the other three. His lack of a win at the Wisconsin track between 1966 and 1972 has been amended with victorious drives in seven of the last eight stock car events there.

Ramo Stott, Roger McCluskey, Nelson, Jack Bowsher, Irv Janey, Bay Darnell, and numerous others are planning all-out assaults on the USAC stock car title for 1975, but they know it won't be easy. Alternatively, Butch is not taking their challenges lightly. Spectators can look forward to some fine racing in the coming season.

1964 - Turner Outlasts Pistone for Charlotte 200 Title

Charlotte, N.C. (October 25, 1964) - Old pro Curtis Turner, driving on a speedway he helped build six years ago, led most of the way Sunday to win the $16,000, 200-mile stock car race for Auto Racing Club of America (ARCA) drivers.

Turner, who last drove in a race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1961 before being banished from the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), jumped in front on the second lap and never was far out of the lead before taking it for good shortly after the midway point.

Driving a 1964 Ford, the 39-year-old Turner, who now lives in Greenville, S.C., drove the distance at an average of 125.296 miles per hour despite three caution flags that slowed the race for 23 laps. He won $3,375.

Tom Pistone of Chicago, driving another Ford, finished second, Jim Cushman of Columbus, Ohio, finished third in a Plymouth, Dick Freeman of Dayton, Ohio, was fourth in a Pontiac, and Allen Oscar of Saginaw, Mich., was fifth in a Ford.

Turner was banished from NASCAR in 1962 for attempting to organize race drivers for the Teamsters Union. He never has been reinstated.

The crowd of about 12,000 gave the wavy-haired local favorite an ovation as he crossed the finish line more than a lap ahead of Pistone, who also has driven races here under the NASCAR banner.

Turner drove a car owned by Jack Bowsher of Springfield, Ohio. Bowsher, who started on the inside pole next to Turner, made a race of it and led for several laps after Turner made his only pit stop at the midway point. Bowsher went out on lap 103 when he burned a clutch, spun into the rail, and ended up on the apron.

The Midwest drivers, for the most part unfamiliar with high-banked speedways such as the Charlotte Speedway, apparently had trouble handling their cars in the 24-degree banked turns.

One caution flag went out on the fourth lap when Harold Smith, a Ford driver from Dayton, spun into the high guard rail and was hit broadside by Blaine Kaufman of Burton, Ohio. Both drivers walked away unhurt.

Smith hit the rail at almost the exact spot where Jim Pardue, a top NASCAR driver, lost his life during tire tests a month ago. Richard Petty, the NASCAR late model champ, hit the same spot a week ago while leading the National 400 with less than two laps to go.

Another caution flag went out Sunday when Oscar and Kenny See of Erie, Pa., tangled in the second turn. Oscar escaped damage and went on to finish fifth.

Results –

1. Curtis Turner
2. Tom Pistone
3. Jim Cushman
4. Dick Freeman
5. Allen Oscar
6. Junior Spencer
7. Mike Smith
8. Terry Blakely
9. Don Arnold
10. Paul Wensink
11. Kenny See
12. Butch Ballard
13. Jack Bowsher
14. Blaine Kaufman
15. Iggy Katona
16. Benny Parsons
17. Frank Wilson
18. Jack Shanklin
19. Don Humesy
20. Danny Byrd
21. Tony Lavati
22. Homer Newland
23. John Baker
24. Jim Robinson
25. Harold Smith
26. Bill Roberts