1973 – Niffenegger a winner again at West Liberty

Mike Niffenegger 

West Liberty, Iowa (August 11, 1973) – Point leader Mike Niffenegger showed his true driving skill when he took over a much slower car and still rode home to a victory in the feature race at the West Liberty Fairgrounds on Saturday night.

Niffenegger broke his drive shaft during hot laps and was forced to borrow the car of Phil Larson. He went on to win the second heat and survived a hot duel with first Mel Morris of West Liberty and then Ron Prymek of Des Moines.

Morris was close on Niffenegger's heels until the 14th lap when he broke an axle and was forced from the race. Prymek took over second in the 17th lap and put up strong challenge.

Tom Riggs of Davenport won the fast dash, although there were no time trials. Participants and pole positions were selected by a random drawing.

Morris won the first heat and Bill Hopp of Muscatine the third. Larry Rummelhart of Riverside captured the semi-main. Heat wins in the street stocks were claimed by Tom Rock of Atalissa and Gary Frauenholz of West Liberty. Rock then went on to win the feature.

Results –

Late Model -

1. Mike Niffenegger, Kalona, Iowa
2. Ron Prymek, Des Moines
3. Ron Hemsted, Lone, Tree, Iowa
4. Benny Hofer, Rock Island, Ill.
5. Larry Rummelhart, Riverside, Iowa
6. Bob Hem, Andalusia, Iowa
7. Don Morgan, Muscatine, Iowa
8. Bill Hopp, Muscatine, Iowa
9. Ken DeGood, Iowa City, Iowa
10. Jim Gerber, Long Grove, Iowa

Street Stock - 

1. Tom Rock, Atalissa, Iowa
2. Dave Birkhofer, Muscatine, Iowa
3. Gene Hearst, Muscatine, Iowa
4. Paul Dickey, West Liberty, Iowa
5. Don Stucker, Coralville, Iowa
6. Wayne French, Muscatine, Iowa
7. Pat Purdy, West Liberty, Iowa
8. Bud Kile, West Liberty, Iowa

1965 - Smart driving, rain and happy winners

Allentown, Pa. (August 10, 1965) – United States Auto Club sprint car drivers opened the Great Allentown Fair on Saturday afternoon on what is supposed to be a half-mile dirt track. The surface on some asphalt tracks isn't as hard as the sun-baked oval at Allentown was for Saturday's event.

Jud Larson's many years’ experience, on all types of racetracks, paid off. The big Texan drove into the winner's circle at the end of the 30-lap feature race on a set of rear tires made of the softest rubber imaginable.

It took just three laps for Larson to move from his ninth place starting position to the front of the pack. As far as first place was concerned the race was over.

Fourteen cars started the feature and at one time or other during the race, 13 of them made a run for second place. But all that could be seen of Jud was the tail of his Watson-built sprinter disappearing in the distance.

This was one time when action back in the pack was enjoyed by race fans. Greg Weld, Don Branson, and Mario Andretti hooked up in as tight a three-car race as has ever been seen. For several laps the three were circling the track side-by-side.

Mario's engine went lame and Greg finally spun-out. Grandpa Branson finished back in the pack.

Bud Tinglestad, in one of his few appearances in the sprints this year, took second place honors. Jerry “Scratch” Daniels was third; Ronnie Duman, fourth; and Bobby Unser, fifth.

Jud said after the race, “I learned about these soft tires dodging trees, when we used to race up and down the side of a hill in Texas.”

They have another sprint race scheduled for Wednesday at the Fair. Unless someone takes those rear tires off Jud's car, he is as near to being a “sure-thing” as you will ever see in automobile racing.

It pleased Jud more to “out smart” the USAC regulars, and several local heroes, than if he had battled them for 30 laps before winning.

The County Fair Board told USAC that all race personnel had to be out by 4:30 p.m. because Liberace was coming in at that time to get ready for his evening show. Thanks to Jud's soft tires everyone was on their way to Langhorne ahead of the deadline.

Promoters Irv Fried and Al Gerber spent thousands of dollars paving the “Big D” at Langhorne; its history as a mile-dirt track was the longest in automobile racing. But with the rear-engine cars taking over, it seemed that the days of dirt track championship racing was about finished. So Langhorne was paved.

Guess what showed up for the second race - 12 dirt championship cars, six front engine roadsters, and seven rear engine cars. Of these seven rear engine cars only four were in any shape to run.

In spite of having anew shape and surface, the track is still better for an engine with a high torque range rather than high engine speeds.

Jimmy McElreath’s winning car is a rear engine machine, but it has a high-torque Offenhauser furnishing the power.

McElreath has won both of the Championship races that have been run on the “D” since it was paved, so it must be a winning combination.

The qualifying runs of Don Branson and Gordon Johncock, both breaking the world's record for one-mile tracks, made many people wonder are the old style cars out-dated after all?

Here again is where the “what ifs” take over in racing. If it hadn't been for a few minor problems, Andretti's seat coming loose for example, one of the old style cars could have won this race. But if Columbus had gone East instead of West where would we be?

It was a good race and well worth seeing, the only thing I didn't enjoy was getting caught by the SECOND downpour, standing in the middle of the track taking a picture of wet racecars.

1962 - Rougher Than Jalopies, But Mickey Likes ‘Big Time Racing’

Columbus Junction, Iowa (August 8, 1962) - Misfortunes that John Mickey has suffered in his first season on the late model stock car circuit haven't dampened the 25-year-old Columbus Junction resident's enthusiasm for “big time racing.”

The current season still has quite a while to run, but when he raced here at the Louisa County Fair Mickey said that he and co-partner, Gene Stewart of Washington, plan to stay in late model competition in 1963.

“Yes,” Mickey said during his recent visit here. “We’ll run again next year - only with a 1963 Pontiac. Their present entry is a ‘62 model of the same make car.

At the present time Mickey appears to be headed for “Rookie of the Year” honors in the IMCA (International Motor Contest Association).

As of last week he was sixth in the official point standings, the only “rookie” or first-year driver to be among the top 20 in points. Officials note that Mickey has had more than his share of tough-luck which has prevented him from possibly climbing even higher in the standings.

While he has yet to win a feature race, Mickey has been in front more than once, only to run into some kind of trouble. Prime examples are two Knoxville races, one at Knoxville, Iowa and the other at Knoxville, Ill.

In the Iowa race, he appeared to be a sure winner, but conked out soon after making a pit stop.

The story making the rounds was that a pit crew member “goofed” by inadvertently dumping a can of water into the gas tank instead of grabbing the container with fuel in it.

John was anxious to straighten out that matter as he talked while waiting for time trails to begin at the fair races here. “That’s not really what happened at all at Knoxville,” he said. “Somehow or another we got gas in a can which had some water in the bottom of it.”

The Knoxville, Ill., race was just the night before the late model races here. There, Mickey pulled out in front and then cracked a cylinder head on his car. To make things even more miserable, the tow truck on which Mickey and Stewart haul their car developed engine trouble en route back to Columbus Junction.

Only through the cooperation of a rival driver, four-time national champ Ernie Derr of Keokuk (Who won the feature here) was Mickey able to compete at all. 

Since all parts for IMCA cars must come from the factory, Mickey did not have a head for his machine after his trouble in Knoxville, Ill. However, Derr had a spare part at his home in Keokuk and said he would loan it to Mickey. Arrangements were made for a friend to pick up the spare part at Derr's home at 7 a.m. the day of the races here, but Mickey was shocked to have the person who was going to run the "errand" walk into the garage near noon and tell him that “I overslept.”

A quick trip was made to Keokuk and the engine repaired with less than an hour to spare until the races at the local fairgrounds. The tow truck engine also had been overhauled the same time because of the busy schedule ahead.

While Mickey is a “rookie” in the IMCA organization, this is his sixth season of stock car driving. Before going to late models he was an annual contender in the Mississippi Valley Speedway Club’s jalopy circuit. He was the point champion once, second twice and third twice.

How’d he get into racing? “Well, one night Lee Zarby (also of Columbus Junction) decided to quit driving and I got in and started,” John says, “’I’ve been at it ever since.”

Mickey, who is on the road most of the time on the racing schedule, does some work at Fisher Motors here, where he’s been employed since about 1954. From now until fall, IMCA drivers will average a race about every other day. State fair time will be their busiest, when they compete five straight days in Minnesota and three at Des Moines.

Officials regard the coming weeks as the one which “will make or break drivers financially.”

No official figures were available, but one official said he figured Mickey “might be breaking even about now.” They left no doubt, however, that their organization is a profitable one for the top drivers, as Derr earned nearly $30,090 last year. He strictly drives cars for a livelihood and has no other occupation.

When he visited here, Mickey was very outspoken on his feelings toward the IMCA. “We’re just one big happy family,” he said, “That is, we’re one big happy family until we get on the race track and then it’s every man for himself.”

Asked how he would compare driving jalopies and late model cars, Mickey replied that “This (Late models) is easier. Maybe I shouldn't say it, but one reason this is easier is we have better all-around drivers in the IMCA. Every man has lots of experience.”

“Then, too, we have all kinds of power in the car when we need it. With jalopies you usually have it floored, hut here you know you have the power and speed if it’s needed in a pinch.”

Prize money also is a lot greater. “The best feature race this year paid off $1,750 to the winner."

Mickey’s travels already have taken him to such points as Atlanta, Ga., Houston, Tex., Toledo, Ohio, and Minot, N. D. After the races here, drivers raced Saturday night at Donnellson and twice Sunday at La Crosse, Wis. Stewart will accompany him in the tow truck.

Keokuk, Iowa, drivers have long dominated the top spots in the IMCA races and Mickey has come to regard them highly. The top spot in John's esteem, of course, is held by Derr. “He really knows this business,” he said, “They’re all tough, though.” Most of the Keokuk men, like Mickey and Stewart, do all their own mechanic work.

How does Mickey feel about all the misfortunes that have befallen him even though he's done fairly well so far?

“Well, I’ve been disappointed at times, but not necessarily discouraged. Sometimes I get pretty mad. I was so mad at it (the car at Knoxville) last night I didn't care if I ever saw it again.”

Usually I just walk around it when I'm mad. Sometimes I get so mad that I kick it, cuss it, then go home and sleep and then come back and work on it.”

“Work on it (the car)” is something. Mickey and Stewart have been doing since last December when they, got it. He estimates they worked on the auto about four nights a week until June 1 and then every day since then.

Eventually, Mickey and Stewart hope that their car ""Big John" will really live up to its name despite the fact that Mickey is just 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds.

1959 - Pete Folse cops feature at Knoxville; Blundy second

Pete Folse and Hector Honore were a formidable duo. 

 

Knoxville, Ill. (August 7, 1959)- An estimated 3,500 fans jammed the Knox County Fairground track at Knoxville Friday night to watch some of the nation's top drivers compete in the IMCA sanctioned speedway-type auto races.

The 20-lap feature attraction, National Circuit Sweepstakes, saw Pete Folse of Tampa, |Fla. boot home his No. 2 Offenhauser ahead of the field.

The winner was dueled all the way by Jerry Blundy of Galesburg, who held the lead early in the race. Red Hoyle of Colona, who had trouble earlier in the race when his throttle stuck, took third place in the feature. The winning time for the event was 9 minutes and 05.08 seconds, a track record.

The first track mark of the evening was recorded in the inaugural dash, a 7-lap race, which saw the winner Duke Hindahl of Pekin clocked at 3 minutes and10.27 seconds. Colby Scroggins of Los Angeles, Calif., was second in this heat while Folse was third and Blundy fourth.

One of the best battles of the evening came in the five-lap match race, which saw Blundy finish just in front of second place Folse. This pair scrapped for the No. 1 spot the entire distance.

The National Speedway Dash for seven laps went to A. J. Shepherd of Wichita, Kan., who edged Fritz Tegtmeier of Elgin for the front-running position. This race was interrupted after two complete laps when the car driven by Bud Stearn of Long Beach, Calif., caught fire. The race was continued after the fire was extinguished, but no time was kept.

Scroggins won the American triumph dash, touring seven laps in 3 minutes and12.28 seconds with Blundy taking second place.

Arnold Knepper of Belleville, Ill., won the American Pursuit race. In this 10-lap affair cars are eliminated when completely passed. Knepper's time was 4 minutes and 39.42 seconds.

Folse turned in the best qualifying time of the night at 26.65 seconds for the half-mile. This was just off the track mark of 26.62 seconds set by Bobby Grim of Indianapolis, Ind., in 1957. Blundy's qualifying time was 27.01. 

Al Sweeney, National Speedways president, was starter for the races.


Results - 

1. Pete Folse
2. Jerry Blundy
3. Red Hoyle
4. Colby Scroggins
5. A.J. Shepherd
6. Fritz Tegtmeier
7. Duke Hindahl
8. Jimmy Jones
9. Phil Ashline

1966 – McCluskey First at Reading

 

Reading, Penn. (August 6, 1966) – Point leader Roger McCluskey of Tucson, Ariz., hustled his way to first place on lap 8 and then went on to win the 30-lap USAC sprint car race before 5,500 fans at the Reading Fairground.

Young Greg Weld of Kansas City, Mo., who had the fastest qualifying time and set a track record in the first heat, was running second in the feature when he broke a cam gear  in the third turn on the final lap and coasted to the finish line to take sixth.

Second place was inherited by Don Branson of Champaign, Ill., who had led for the first 7 laps until McCluskey passed him and then ran second until Weld snuck by him on lap 25.

National champion Mario Andretti of Nazareth, Penn., finish third after running fifth until lap 29 when he sneaked by Bobby Unser of Albuquerque, N.M., and then advanced one more spot after Weld dropped back.

Unser would settle for fourth place while Larry Dickson of Marietta, Ohio, was scored in the fifth spot.

McCluskey’s winning time for the 15 miles was 12 minutes and 11 seconds.

Branson, who started on the outside of the front row, beat Weld to the first turn and managed to hold the lead until McCluskey slipped underneath him in turn four of the eighth lap.

The only close call during the entire program came during the main event on lap 14 when Andretti ran into the rear wheel of Bobby Unser as the two battled down the home stretch. But both were able to keep their cars under control.

Weld, driving his own roadster, had the evening’s fastest qualifying time at 23.43 seconds and he won the first qualifying heat in the time of 3 minutes and 11 seconds wiping out the old mark of 3 minutes and 13 seconds set by Johnny White in September of 1963.

1966 - Stott Beats Derr in Hawkeye Fair Feature

Ramo Stott takes a victory lap after winning the 50-lap IMCA late model stock car feature at Hawkeye Fairgrounds in Burlington. 

Burlington, Iowa (August 5, 1966) - Discounting the stiff competition involved amongst amateur hot-rodders getting out of the Hawkeye Fairgrounds parking lot, Ramo Stott won the big race Friday night at the IMCA late model stock car races.

In a duel between Stott and Ernie Derr described by announcer George Rogerson of Burlington as a “side by side, wheel to wheel, fender to fender, bumper to bumper” affair, Stott passed Derr on the 28th lap of the 50-lap feature and eventually claimed the race by two car lengths.

Most of the other drivers in the field, faced with the sorry fact that they had as much chance beating the Keokuk duo as Myrtle French does in getting a downtown restroom, lagged behind from the start.

Only three competitors (Lenny Funk, Larry Phillips and Ed Negre) managed to survive being lapped by Derr and Stott. By finishing the 50 laps, they garnered the next three places.

This sort of mismatched racing in which Stott and Derr overpower the others with their Chrysler sponsored hemi-powered cars, could come to an end next year since Chrysler will drop its stock car interests. Thus, all drivers will be independent.

According to Gene Van Winkle, vice-president of the National Speedways and impresario of Friday's races, this will make for a much better racing card.

”The little men will have a better chance than they do now,” he said. “And we should get more cars and closer races. This year we had fewer factory cars than last, and there have been more cars competing.”

Still, he says, “Ramo and Ernie are going to be awful tough to beat, even if they are on an independent basis.”

Asked if the Ford Company will put any of its autos in IMCA races next season, as is has suggested it might, Van Winkle said he doubts it; since Ford, too has pondered discontinuing its manufacturing of souped-up stock cars.

Although he feels competition would be better if Ford doesn’t expand, Van Winkle said IMCA rules provide that any manufacturer who has 500 stock cars sold can not be blackballed from IMCA racing.

Getting back to the other race; Friday night, there was less of the usual fender bending than might occur at the kiddy car track in Crapo Park. Several spin-outs provided the only quasi action.

Derr set two track records in his first two attempts, winning the time trials with a 27.03 second clocking (breaking Stott’s 1962 mark of 27.11) and the first 10-lap heat race in 4 minutes and 45 seconds (breaking Dick Hutcherson’s 1964 record of 4 minutes and 50 seconds).

Derr took control of the heat race in the fourth lap, and held off a strong challenge of John Mickey to take the race by 50 yards. Lenny Funk won the second heat, wiping out Stott by 25 yards.

The third 10-lapper went to Lewis Taylor of Shawnee, Kan., who stretched way ahead of the field after grabbing the lead from Phil Atkinson in the seventh lap.

Stott also outran Derr in the 5-lap STP Handicap (with the four car field rounded out by the autos of Funk and Mickey).

By spurting away from the slower pair in the straight-aways, but getting outmaneuvered on the curves, Derr and Stott eased away from Mickey and Funk; with Stott eventually winning fairly easily.

Results –

Time Trials - Ernie Derr (27.03)

Heat #1 - Ernie Derr

Heat 2 - Lenny Funk

Heat #3 - Lewis Taylor

STP Handicap - Ramo Stott

Consolation - Hank Melhorn

Feature -

1. Ramo Stott
2. Ernie Derr
3. Lennie Funk
4. Larry Phillips
5. Ed Negre
6. Lewis Taylor
7. Ole Brua
8. Bob Janey
9. John Mickey
10. Blaine Morrow

August 3, 1961