1962 – Ward pockets $100,000 plus for Indy 500 victory

Rodger Ward accepts the laurels of victory after winning his second Indy 500.

Indianapolis, Ind. (May 30, 1962) - Rodger Ward, who dresses like a bank president, plays bridge and golfs in the low 80's, will politely relieve Speedway owner Tony Hulman of something over $100,000 tonight at the annual 500-mile auto race victory dinner.

The 41-year-old master of closed-course racing was just as smooth yesterday when he drove his new A. J. Watson custom-built speedster to his second Memorial Day victory in four years. He set a record of 140.292 miles per hour against A. J. Foyt's year-old mark of 139.13.

It was a remarkable 12th straight start in the world's richest auto race for the veteran Indianapolis sportsman-businessman. And he proved again that you can't beat experience at the 52- year-old track.

Parnelli Jones of Torrance, Calif., who turned the first 150-mile-an-hour lap over the relatively flat track during the time trials, did his best to back up predictions that he would run away from the pack in his Agajanian special.

Jones, in only his second 500, led for more than half of the race but brake line trouble messed up his pit stops and he finished in seventh place.

Foyt, of Houston, Tex., last year's winner, led briefly on one of Jones' pit stops then Ward took charge on the 26th lap. Foyt lost a wheel and was lucky to walk back to the pits.

Ward's teammate, Len Sutton of Portland, Ore., led nine laps after Ward made his last pit stop, then came back to finish second after his own final halt for tires and fuel.

Ward and Sutton drove on the Leader Card team, financed by Robert C. Wilkie of Milwaukee, who also owned Ward's 1959 winning car. Their one-two team finish was the first since Mauri Rose and Bill Holland dominated the late 1940's in the Blue Crown Specials.

Popular Eddie Sachs, Pottstown, Penn., was a hard luck loser for a second straight year. Taking third money, he actually was on the track a shorter time than Ward or Sutton. Sachs finished 8.43 seconds back of Sutton and 20.29 seconds back of Ward, and his pit stops tools 24.5 seconds longer than Ward's efficient stops.

Sachs started in 27th place, gaining 24 positions. Ward had to advance only one spot. He started in second position as a result of the second-best qualifying time against Parnelli's pole winner. Sutton started fourth.

Troy Ruttman of Dearborn, Mich., the 1952 winner, also showed the huge crowd some tremendous hard charging. He started in 30th place and fought his way to second before an overheated engine retired him.

Unofficially finishing back of Sachs were Don Davis, Phoenix, fourth; Bobby Marshman, Pottstown, Pa.; fifth; rookie Jim McElreath, Arlington, Tex., sixth; Jones, seventh; Lloyd Ruby, Houston, Tex., eighth; 1960 winner Jim Rathmann, Melbourne, Fla., ninth, and .Johnnie Boyd, Fresno, Calif., tenth.

All of the first four finishers broke the record.

For the fourth straight year, the race was run without a fatality. And for the second straight year, Jack Turner of Seattle was the only driver hurt. He suffered a fractured pelvis and other injuries in a four-car pileup early in the race but was reported in good condition.

The wreck also took out Bob Christie, Grants Pass, Ore.; rookie Chuck Rodee, Indianapolis, and rookie Allen Crowe, Springfield, Ill. Shorty Templeman of Seattle, who had been rated a strong contender, got back in the race after bumping the wall and finished eleventh

The amount of the purse, which depends on the gate, will not be known until the victory dinner tonight. It totaled $400,000 last year.

Results –

1. Rodger Ward
2. Len Sutton
3. Eddie Sachs
4. Don Davis
5. Bobby Marshman
6. Jim McElreath
7. Parnelli Jones
8. Lloyd Ruby
9. Jim Rathmann
10. Johnny Boyd
11. Shorty Templeman
12. Don Branson
13. Jim Hurtubise
14. Ebb Rose
15. Bud Tinglestad
16. Roger McCluskey
17. Paul Russo
18. Troy Ruttman
19. Bobby Grim
20. Dan Gurney
21. Chuck Hulse
22. Jimmy Daywalt
23. A.J. Foyt
24. Dick Rathmann
25. Eddie Johnson
26. Paul Goldsmith
27. Gene Hartley
28. Paul Russo
29. Jack Turner
30. Bob Christie
31. Allen Crowe
32. Chuck Rodee
33. Bob Veith

1954 - Homer Claytor New Star in IMCA Racing

Cedar Rapids, Iowa (May 29, 1954) - The IMCA’s winningest driver of 1954 has filed entry for Sunday’s annual Memorial Day speedway-type classic at Hawkeye Downs, it was announced Saturday by officials of Auto Racing, Inc., who will present the events.

He is Homer Claytor, 34-year-old veteran of 12 years in the speed sport, who makes his home in Tampa, Fla. Claytor currently leads the IMCA point standings race by virtue of his early season wins at the Florida State Fair in Tampa, the association’s first 1954 sanctioned events. He has met defeat only once this season, at Salem, Ind., where he took second place in the feature event. He was also victor in two non-IMCA meets held in Jackson and Saginaw, Mich.

Claytor probably got his start driving race cars at an earlier age than any other chauffeur in the game today. Acting as a pit-man for his older brother Floyd in 1932, Homer, age 12, “borrowed” the race car while his brother was attending the prize-money payoff after the race. The older brother returned to find Homer entered in an impromptu race with another of the drivers.

Homer says, “It took me a while to get over the lickin’ I got but I guess that’s where I lot the bug.”

He will drive the “Diz” Wilson Offenhauser, the same car which he has been nearly unbeatable this season, in Sunday events. “Cush” Revette, another Tampa driver who was scheduled to arrive in a Wilson entry Sunday, was injured in a. spectacular end-over-end flip at Jackson, Mich., and will be unable to appear here. Wilson, the wealthy Mitchell, Ind., garage owner, has named Floyd Duvall of Fort Wayne, Ind., to drive the Ranger powered car in place of Revette. Wilson stated that he and his mechanics have spent several days putting the car back in shape.

Another entry reaching officials today is that of Bob Carpenter, the “Wabash Cannonball”, from that Indiana city, who will sit behind the wheel of a car described by race officials as one of the most spectacular in action today, the Wickliffe Ranger. The Ranger-powered car features over $500 in chrome-plating work alone, and carries an amazingly brilliant metallic purple paint job. Carpenter is former two-time Central States Racing Association national champion, and is regarded by race officials as one of the top drivers entering for Sunday’s seven-event program.

Another Ranger-powered machine will be driven Sunday by Verne “Speed” Chamberlain of Minneapolis, Minn., the latest driver to file entry.

Qualifying time trials will get the action under way at Hawkeye Downs at 1:30 p.m.

1977 - Jeff Bloom Wins Second Little 500

Anderson, Ind. (May 28, 1977) – Jeff Bloom, charging from a second row position, took the lead on the 392nd lap and stayed there to record his second victory in the “Little 500” sprint car classic Saturday night at Anderson Speedway.

The Kalamazoo, Mich., driver had moved into second place by the end of the first 100 laps and never was below second at 100-lap intervals thereafter. He led from the 210th lap until the 234th when he blew a tire in a minor collision before regaining the lead later in the race.

Bloom was the benefactor of a yellow light late in the race, although his closest challenger, Robert Smith of Gibsonton, Fla., who had started on the pole, actually gained on him during the yellow.

Bloom’s time of two hours, four minutes and 21.407 seconds was a new track record on the newly-named oval, formerly known as Sun Valley Speedway. Smith finished 10 seconds back and Dave Scarborough of Largo, Fla., was third. Fourteen of the 33 cars were still running at the end of the race.

Bloom had taken a 10-second lead by the 450th lap and increased his lead to 13 seconds, or almost one full lap, by the 481st when the yellow came on for Bob Seelman of Lansing, Mich., who hit the outside rail on the first turn.

 

Smith charged into the early lead and held it for the first 40 laps. Then Rick Ferkel of Findlay, Ohio, went high on the front stretch to take the lead from Smith, holding it until the 80th lap when Smith regained the advantage. Ferkel again went ahead on the 92nd lap, holding it until the 210th lap when he made a pit stop and Bloom went into the lead.

Ferkel continued in the lead until the 210th lap when Bloom passed him on a pit stop. Bloom, the 1972 winner, built up a seven-lap lead but lost five laps on a pit stop in the 233rd lap. Bloom managed to hold onto his lead, though, until lap 291 when he bumped Ron Semelka of Wauseon, Ohio, on the homestretch. Blowing his right rear tire, be was forced to pit for five laps and Smith moved back into first place.

Smith built up a nine-lap lead by the 376th lap after Bloom had lost five more laps on a pit stop two laps earlier. Then on the 392nd lap Smith pitted and stalled on reentry, having to be re-pushed by his pit truck. In the process he lost his entire nine-lap lead and Bloom went ahead for keeps.

 

There were few accidents in the early going, making for a clean race. On the 23rd lap Bud Frazier of Chillicothe, Ohio, spun going into the first turn but ducked into the infield and stopped before reaching the second turn, avoiding traffic.

On the 52nd lap there was a six-car pileup as Bob Seelman of Lansing, Mich., went sideways going into the second turn. Involved in the pileup were Richard Jackson of Evansville, Charlie Wilmot of Middletown, Ohio, Bobby Allen of Hanover, Pa., Dick Gaines of Floyds Knob and Galen Short of West Unity, Ohio. Wilmot and Allen’s cars were stuck together and Allen was unable to continue when the cars were freed.

The yellow light came on in the 133rd lap when Bill Davis of Battle Creek, Mich., spun on the second turn. Eight laps later the green light returned, but on lap 143 Lennie Waldo of Columbus, Ohio, spun in the fourth turn and was hit by Short and by Indianapolis 500 veteran Sammy Sessions of Middleville, Mich. Sessions limped on until the 160th lap before being forced out of the race.

1963 – Lucky Derr Good Topeka Mudder

Ernie Derr

Topeka, Kan. (May 27, 1963) – Lady Luck deserted Bob Reynolds of Edmund, Okla., during the 47th lap of the IMCA late model stock car race on Memorial Day, and Ernie Derr of Keokuk, Iowa, took advantage to win the rain-plagued 50-lap feature before 7,000 soaked fans.

Reynolds, wheeling a 1963 Ford, had taken the lead from Derr on lap 16 and was breezing to an easy victory when the axle broke. He coasted to the pit area as Derr, flying through the mud in his ’63 Pontiac, flashed into the lead.

The program, promoted by National Speedways, Inc., was delayed two hours when rain hit right after the record setting time trials. The rain lasted for 30 minutes, and then it took another 90 minutes to work the track back into shape for racing.

The surface, still gooey and very slick, seemed to pose no problems for Reynolds early on as he glided through traffic from his sixth starting position. Once he caught Derr, he had no problems passing the defending champion.

Newt Bartholomew of Carlisle, Iowa, would take runner-up honors followed by Lenny Funk of Otis, Kan., who would take third place. Gil Haugen of Sioux Falls, S.D., would earn fourth and Reynolds would limp back out onto the track and take fifth.

Both Ramo Stott and Dick Hutcherson, the other “Keokuk Komets” were victims of bad luck themselves. Stott, bothered by a muddied windshield and overheating, tried to make a pit stop on lap 26, but skidded into a light tower, putting him out of action. Hutcherson spun on the lap 18, tagging the wall hard and ending his day.

Stott would set a new track record in time trials, touring the big half-mile in 27.10 seconds. He was the third driver to hold the record that day. Chub Liebe of Oelwein, Iowa was the first to break the old mark at 28.30 seconds and then Hutcherson momentarily held it at 27.46 before Stott, ironically, waved off a 27.02 clocking before making his final run.

Feature Results –

1.       Ernie Derr
2.       Newt Bartholomew
3.       Lenny Funk
4.       Gil Haugen
5.       Bob Reynolds
6.       Luther Poteet
7.       Thurman Lovejoy
8.       J.B. Martin
9.       Bob Bennett
10.   Ralph Wilhelm

May 22, 1979

1970 - West is SIRA winner

Pokey West

by Ida May Van Genderen
Oskaloosa, Iowa (May 20, 1970) - Pokey West captured the Super Stock feature last night at races held here on the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds oval.

In fact, the West Chester driver didn’t stop at just one race. He also won the trophy dash and the first heat race.

In the main event, West took the lead in the second turn of the first lap and held it the full 15 laps to victory. Coming in a close second was Ron Hemsted of Lone Tree. Mark Mosier of Washington and George Barton of Ankeny were third and fourth respectively.

The red flag was flown twice during the main. The first time before one lap had been completed. Phil Reese of Des Moines lot it coming out of the fourth turn and broad slid his car, crashing through the pit fence.

The red came out again on the seventh lap when Bob Bonzer of Liscomb lost his right front tire and rode the fence between the first and second turns. Neither driver was injured in the mishaps.

West took over the lead from Mike Brooks of Hartford on the white flag lap to take home the trophy dash.

Pokey then held off a hard challenging Ron Hemsted to cop the first eight-lap heat race.

Ron Perdock of Washington grabbed the lead at the start and held it all the way to win the second eight-lap heat race. Ron Hutcherson made his final bid and edged put Phil Reese by only a few niches to place second. The race was restarted on the first lap when Mel Morris and John Moss tangled on the second turn and Ed Pilcher of Ottumwa dropped his drive shaft at the start.

Joel Rasmussen of Ames whipped his super stock around the oval to win the third eight-lap heat ahead of Bob Bonzer.

The six-lap Australian Pursuit was won by Ron Hemsted. The drivers were turning laps in the 22-second bracket as they fought their bumper to bumper battle.

John Moss won the 10-lap consolation race. Jerry Roberts of Prairie City finished second.

 

Results –

Trophy Dash - Pokey West, West Chester

Heat #1 - Pokey West
Heat #2 - Ron Perdock, Washington
Heat #3 - Joel Rasmussen, Ames
Australian Pursuit - Ron Hemsted, Lone, Tree
Consolation - John Moss, Iowa City
Feature -

1. Pokey West
2. Ron Hemsted
3. Mark Mosier, Washington
4. George Barton, Ankeny
5. John Moss
6. Ron Perdock
7. Joel Rasmussen
8. Marvin Korns, Brooklyn

May 18, 1990