1966 Winternational Sprints

Tampa, Fla. – Jerry Richert of Forest Lake, Minn., the two-time International Motor Contest Association sprint car champion, made 20 trips around the Florida State Fair half-mile to cop the Winternational Sprints opener on Wednesday afternoon before a crowd 6,113.

But the popular driver had to earn his starting position in the main event the hard way, winning the consolation after failing to qualify through his heat race. It was a full day of successes for Richert, who went out and set fast time with a trip of 26.01 seconds.

Last year, Richert jumped from IMCA to USAC (United States Auto Club) for the first part of the season but returned in time to chase down the title in IMCA for the second straight year.

“The boss was nice enough to let me give it a try,” Richert said. “This year I’m sticking with IMCA. I’d like to win that title for the third straight year.”

He explained that part of the issue with competing in USAC was getting time off from his job at Whirlpool. “You had to compete in all of the events to make progress and I just couldn’t risk taking all that time off and losing my 15 years of seniority.”

Two chargers from neighboring Midwestern states kept the fans on their feet with a nerve-racking battle for the runner-up spot. The last 10 laps saw Jim Moughan of Springfield, Ill., and Dick Gaines of Mitchell, Ind., flip-flop positions several times with Moughan finally getting the upper hand.

Heat victories went to Gordon Woolley of Waco, Tex., Gene Tallman of Clarksburg, W.Va., and Jerry Weld of Kansas City. Jerry Blundy of Galesburg, Ill., won the match race.

Rollie Beale, a handsome 35-year-old from Toledo, Ohio, making his first-ever appearance at the Florida State Fair, won the 25-lap feature on Saturday, February 5. In what was described as one of the weirdest races ever seen on the half-mile dirt.

The feature saw five caution flags wave to clear the track of spun cars and minor accidents. The field took so many pace laps that most of the field had to make a pit stop to take on additional fuel.

Finishing second was Bill Puterbaugh of Roxana, Ill., who held the lead for several laps and third was Tom Bigelow of Whitewater, Wis.

Jerry Richert, the leader through the first 10 circuits, went out of the race with a blown engine and almost caused a pileup when he suddenly through his hand up, signaling he was through, and slowed sharply as he entered the pit area in the first turn.

Cars went around both sides of him, with one smacking his rear tail, and several others heading for the outside wall when the dust thrown up wiped out all vision.

Richert proceeded around the track slowly again, then leaped from his still rolling car right in front of the pit area, his feet bathed in hot oil. He said he wasn’t hurt but more anxious about the condition of his car.

Jerry Blundy, Gordon Woolley and Jim McCune of Toledo, Ohio, also brought out yellow flags in which they all smacked the outer wall.

Meanwhile, Beale continued to sail along in front, building up a lead, losing it on the restart, and then re-building it again. At the finish, he had a 12-car length margin Puterbaugh as he was waved home by the checkered flag from starter Johnny Hicks.

Al Sweeney, president of National Speedways, Inc., said it was the first IMCA-sanctioned victory for Beale, who obviously like the taste of victory.

“I got a little braver than usual,” Beale grinned from winner’s circle. The groove was a little weird, with a low groove on the south side and a high groove on the north side. When I passed (Puterbaugh), I gambled and took the high side on the south turn (going out of the groove), but it worked.”

Richert, Gene Tallman, and Milford Wales of Fawn Grove, Ohio, were heat winners. Jim Moughan won the match race and Jim McCune copped the consolation.

Richert would come back strong for the third leg of the Winternational Sprints, Sunday, February 7, winning his second feature of the series but it didn’t come easy.

The final two laps of the 30-lapper saw Gus Linder bumping the defending IMCA champion on the backstretch and jabbing at him from the inside and outside on the turns. Despite the challenge, Richert managed to hold on for the victory.

Richert brushed off the bumping incident lightly when questioned in the winner’s circle.

“He tapped me a little bit,” he explained. “I didn’t have any trouble. The car was working a little worse near the end of the race. And those caution flags hurt me. To build up that big of a lead and then to lose it under caution.”

Linder, surrounded by even a bigger swarm of fans, said he had the power to get Richert with his 289 cubic inch Ford engine.

“A few more laps and I think I could have taken him,” he said. “I picked out the north turn to make a pass and I was going to try on the outside on the next time around. The fourth turn was the best spot, I just ran out race. It was over.”

The Pittsburgh driver was starting only his second sprint car race of his career. “I won that one,” he remarked. “I came from last place.”

Linder’s experience is driving super modifieds in Pennsylvania, using the same car with a top that can be quickly fitted and removed. He turned the entire grandstand into his own personal cheering section as he worked his way from his 14th starting position in the 16-car starting field. He put on a show in the middle laps with Gordon Woolley, bumping wheels several times before Woolley got sideways and smacked the wall. He suffered a broke tie rod and retired.

Richert led all but the first lap of the race. At the start, he punched the gas pedal and the rear wheels refused to grip on the just-watered racing surface. Jim McCune went out front for one lap before Richert reclaimed his position to stay.

Heat victories went to Richert, Woolley, and Linder. Jerry Blundy won the 5-lap match race and McCune scored the 10-lap consolation win.

Richert would be out for a Sunday drive on Wednesday, February 9, as he scored his third feature victory of the series, easily winning the 30-lap main event while the rest of the field struggled through six caution flags.

Each time the field bunched behind him on a restart, Richert sped away to a healthy lead. He was about 10-car lengths ahead of runner-up Jim McCune when Johnny Hicks dropped the checkers. Finishing further back was Jerry Blundy, Gordon Woolley, and Gus Linder. The fourth program of the series drew a crowd of 5,817.

Although there were dozens of spinouts and Bill Dunn of East Prairie, Mo., took out a section of fence in a flying leap at the wall, the only injury was to the tiny daughter of Tom Bigelow. She was jostled off the top of a trailer in the infield during one of the races and had several stitches taken in her head at an area hospital.

“Only one more to go,” Richert said after receiving his trophy. “That track was like pavement out there. It was the kind of track where you have to let the car do the work. You can manhandle a car on a rough dirt track, but not this one.”

Just then, McCune rushed up to explain how he rammed Richert from the rear on one of the restarts.

“I hit the brake and the car kept going,” he said, half explanation and half apology. Richert grabbed him by the neck and wrestled in friendly fashion as a sign of forgiveness.

Eight-lap heat races went to Rollie Beale, Dick DeBolt of Union City, Ind., and Gus Linder. Jerry Blundy won the match race and Richert ran away with the consolation.

Richert would put an exclamation point during the Winternational Sprints’ finale on Saturday, February 12. He ran away with the 50-lap main event, his fourth such victory in the five-race series, and he picked up $800 for the win. He also earned the title as Winternational Sprints champion for 1966.

Saturday’s race drew 9,513 fans, the largest closing Saturday ever at the Fair, and the five days of racing attracted 38,697 paid attendees, an all-time high.

Richert started on the pole position and finished in front, never once giving away his lead. He wheeled it so easy that it looked to be his best ride of the series, though he said it wasn’t as much fun as it was winning on Wednesday.

“Things weren’t working as good as they did on Wednesday,” Richert said, after receiving his trophy for winning the feature and the Pepsi -Cola trophy as the Florida State champion.

“They tried to make the track heavy for this race, but it didn’t work out that way. I had to take it easy and couldn’t hoof it in the corners like I would have liked.”

“It sure was wonderful being back in Tampa again after missing last year,” he said. “I want to come back again next year.”

So, the defending IMCA champion is off to a good start for his third national championship.

Jim Moughan finished second to Richert, seemingly satisfied to take second place on a greasy clay racing surface. Moughan also ran second to Richert in the 10-lap consolation. Finishing third in the event was Rollie Beale, the only driver to grab a feature win in the series beside Richert. His car was smoking badly in the late stages of the contest and as he caught the checkered flag, the car belched a greasy cloud.

The hero of the day was Dave Lundy of Monroeville, Penn., who got his first chance to start in a feature race during the five-day meet. He had a poor time trial on opening day and was never a starter.

Saturday, he got his chance and climbed from his 20th starting position in the feature and finished an impressive fifth behind Jerry Blundy. He was the most active passer in the field.

Heat races were won by Gordon Woolley, Dick DeBolt, and Gus Linder. Lundy also won the special 5-laap match race.

1965 Winternational Sprints

Tampa, Fla. – Gordon Woolley, the balding gentleman from Waco, Tex., turned the tables on Lady Luck at the Florida State Fair on Wednesday and picked up $605 for winning the feature and consolation during the IMCA sprint car season opener at the Winternational Sprints.

Last year, Woolley started the season at the Winternationals involved in a bad wreck, and that seemed to set the tone for the rest of the season, getting in several more serious accidents that finally forced a doctor to put an end to Woolley’s racing for the rest of 1964.

An opening day crowd of 6,100 watched 51 entries run through time trials in quick order, opening the Golden Anniversary celebration of the International Motor Contest Association.

By the end of the program, it was a smiling Woolley who posed with speed queen Cookie Benken and car owner Hector Honore of Pana, Ill., to receive the 5-foot-high trophy.

“I believe things will change this year,” said the 42-year-old Woolley, the 1963 IMCA national champion. “I started bad here last year and just went downhill from there. Maybe this good start means that’ll I’ll get the championship back. I know Hector would love that.”

Finishing second in the 20-lap series opener was Jim McCune of Toledo, Ohio, the second ranking driver in the 1964 point standings. Third place went to Dave Lundy, a 31-year-old newcomer from Pittsburgh.

Heat wins were scored by Larry Cannon of Danville, Ill., Bill Brown of Danville, N.J., and Wib Spaulding of Granite City, Ill. Buzz Barton of Tampa was the consolation winner.

Starting on the pole position, Woolley was challenged repeatedly in the feature by Barton. Twice, they hooked wheels on the home stretch as they jockeyed for position and both times, Barton’s car swung out and bounced off the outer wall. The second time, Barton’s car swung sideways in front of onrushing traffic as he headed for the pit area. Mechanics and officials scattered in every direction as Barton pulled in, but he managed to keep control and bring the car to a halt.

Woolley said he wasn’t aware that it was Barton with whom he tangled with. “Was that Barton?” he asked quizzically. “I felt the bump and I knew I wasn’t that close to the wall. It happened twice.”

Woolley also hung up the fastest time during time trials, with a run of 28.30 seconds on the smooth half-mile. That earned him $50, as did the first five fastest qualifiers

Curley Boyd of Indianapolis, scheduled to start the consolation, withdrew his car at the last minute when it was discovered that someone had dumped five gallons of water, not fuel, into his gas tank.

The second largest crowd ever to see the Florida State Fair races, 10,323, watched Jim McCune take the lead on the 10th lap and then extend margin from there to win the 25-lap IMCA sprint car feature on Saturday, February 6.

Despite a late caution flag, McCune was nearly a lap ahead at the finish. The 34-year-old Toledo, Ohio, driver hopped from car, flashed a tooth-missing grin at the speed queen, Cookie Benken, and asked where he could get a drink of water.

“It was hard and slick out there, just the way I like it,” said McCune, best known for his pavement driving and it was the asphalt tracks on the IMCA circuit that helped him climb to second place in the point standings late in the season.

“I just started with this car last year, he explained. It runs really good.”

Car owner Ray Smith of Eaton, Ohio, sitting in a wheelchair beside his race machine, offered his congratulations to McCune, who had an agreement with Smith to run the car all season long.

Finishing second to McCune under the checkered flag of Johnny Hicks, was Dave Lundy of Pittsburgh, hands down the hardest working driver at the track that afternoon. He came from his ninth starting position in the consolation to place second and qualify for the feature. He bullied his way from his 14th starting position in the feature on a slick track to score an impressive second-place finish. His overworked engine blew on the white flag lap, and he coasted to the finish line, a car-length ahead of opening day winner Gordon Woolley.

Woolley charged to the front of the 25-lapper from his pole position and held it until lap 7. Then, young Greg Weld of Kansas City pulled up on him on the outside while McCune was on the inside. Weld went into the lead in front of McCune and looked to be a cinch to win the race, but his motor soured a couple of laps later, and he drifted back into the pack while McCune surged to the lead and the victory.

A check of Weld’s machine indicated that lint, probably from an oil rag, had clogged the fuel line and his engine starved as a result. In the series’ opener, Weld was going great guns but an air valve in his fuel tank froze and developed a vacuum, and he couldn’t get enough fuel to his engine.

Heat races went to Jim Moughan of Springfield, Ill., Larry Dickson of Marietta, Ohio, and Carl Williams of Kansas City. Sam Sessions of Nashville, Mich., won the 5-lap match race and Woolley grabbed the victory in the consolation.

“He just guessed right on tires, and I didn’t,” Gordon Wooley summed up, after finishing second to Tampan Buzz Barton in the 30-lap feature on Sunday afternoon, February 7, watched by 7,800 fans. It was the third feature race in the Winternational Sprints series.

It was an endurance race for the 48-year-old Barton, whose face was almost as red as his shirt, as he crawled out of his race car. “Man, I am done,” was his comment, although he had enough strength to collect his trophy and a kiss from Cookie Benken.

The half-mile Plant Field, despite a great job by the ground crew, was muddy and heavy as the day’s action begun but was as hard as concrete when the green flag for the main event waved. Barton’s Offenhauser, owned by Roy Thomas, wasn’t supposed to be in contention. The stock-block Chevies, so the experts reasoned, were better suited for the asphalt like racing surface.

But few had reasoned with Barton, who took his crusty old four-banger from the inside second row to first place in only three laps and then logged what he called, “three hours of driving time,” to the checkered flag.

Barton sailed high past Woolley off the fourth turn – the same place the two had tangled in the season opener – on the second lap but lost his momentary lead between turns one and two. High again in turns three and four, where “I knew I’d have to get up in the loose stuff to pass him,” and Barton was by him for good.

A complete chassis change by Thomas and his crew, plus some different tires, plus Barton’s knowledge of the tricky oval paid off handsomely at the payoff window.

“Everything worked out great, Barton said, downing a cool drink. “We were going to change everything before the trophy dash, but they cut that out and added five more laps to the feature”

The extra five laps added a frown to Barton’s round face. “Man, I’m out of shape. I haven’t been in one of these critters for several months.”

The rotund chauffeur kept Cookie Benken, the speed queen waiting in the winner’s circle, holding the trophy as he peeled several layers off his googles. Not many were needed because Barton was up front most of the race.

“Like a woman getting out of a girdle, isn’t it?” he asked the queen, bringing a big laugh from the crowd surrounding the winner’s circle.

Jim Moughan, an interior decorator when not in a helmet, drove a tremendous race to grab third-place money and was within hailing distance of Woolley in the later stages of the feature.

Russ Laursen of Cumberland, Wis., Ralph Quarterson of Greenville, Penn., and Carl Williams were heat winners while Woolley copped the 10-lap consolation.

Greg Weld, dogged by bad luck in the first three programs of the Winternational Sprints, made himself and the 5,803 race fans happy by winning the 30-lap feature on Wednesday afternoon, February 10.

The crowd sweated out the Weld win and also the 87-degree heat under a cloudless sky. The boiling sun made the track hard and slick and the competition as hot as the weather.

Weld’s good fortune was Gordon Woolley’s misfortune, as the latter spun out of the lead on the 21st circuit and after being relegated to the rear of the field, pulled out of the race. The Waco, Tex., driver figured the odds were too long.

Weld and Woolley were the only two drivers to hold the lead, although Weld and Jim McCune of Toledo, Ohio, swapped second place a couple of times in a tight battle for position.

Surrounded by happy fans in victory lane after crawling from his blue and white #92 sprinter, the 22-year-old was graceful in receiving congratulations and remarked, “They can’t be any happier than I am. I’ve had a rough couple of outings and this victory was much needed.”

Weld said he had a birds-eye view of Woolley’s spin in front of McCune in the fourth turn. “It looked to me that Woolley got out of the groove heading for the homestretch and McCune went under him. Woolley tried to steer back into the groove and the two met and it was all over.”

Woolley spun and McCune tried to brake, with the two cars ending up nose to nose. Weld managed to brake hard and get around the outside of the stalled cars and take the lead for the first time.

McCune finished second and Larry Dickson of Marietta, Ohio, who started 14th, maneuvered his way through the field to take third. Buzz Barton was fourth and Bill Brown finished fifth.

Ron Larson of Milltown, Wis., won the first heat while Jerry Weld of Kansas City, Greg’s brother, was the second heat winner and Dave Lundy of Pittsburgh grabbed the third heat. Greg Weld was also the consolation winner and Tampa’s Frank Riddle won the B-feature for non-money winners.

Weld would run off and hide in the Winternational Sprints finale, winning the Golden Anniversary “50” sprint car race at Plant Field on Sunday afternoon, February 13. While Weld collected two trophies for both of his feature wins, Jim McCune of Toledo, Ohio, won the Florida State Championship, based on points accumulated in the five-race series, including his second-place finish during the finale.

McCune accepted two trophies, one the Kennedy Memorial Trophy presented by Tampa mayor Nick Nuccio and the Pepsi-Cola Gold Trophy, presented by Al Sweeney of National Speedways, Inc., as the Winternationals champion.

McCune accepted his trophies and remarked, “I competed here last year but I was running so far back, that nobody knew I was here.”

Weld took the lead on lap 23 when race leader Gordon Woolley mistakenly charged into the first of the slower lap cars. As Weld passed, Woolley’s car broke the drive shaft, and the lanky Texan was out of the race. Weld’s winning time for the 50 laps was 22 minutes and 43.11 seconds.

Heat races were won by Dave Lundy, Carl Williams, and Bill Roynon of Tampa. The 10-lap consolation went to Tom Bigelow of Whitewater, Wis.

Weld had troubles early in the feature, battling to get past McCune for third place and Buzz Barton for second. After getting past the stubborn Barton, he set sail for Woolley, who had stretched out to a comfortable lead. He closed the gap by lap 17 and started dogging the former IMCA champion. Once in front, Weld almost hit the wall in the south turn, although he was well out in front by that time.

“I was just sleeping in the turns,” he said afterwards. I have to watch myself sometimes when I get way out in front.”

A crowd of 8,307 saw Sunday’s event, bringing the five-race total attendance to 38,261, an all-time high.


Final Point Standings –


1. Jim McCune – 527
2. Gordon Woolley – 440
3. Greg Weld – 410
4. Buzz Barton – 398
5. Bill Brown – 346
6. Jim Moughan – 332
7. Dave Lundy – 330
8. Larry Dickson – 290
9. Larry Cannon – 156
10.Ron Larson – 130

1964 Winternational Sprints

Tampa, Fla. – By the time the 1964 IMCA Winternational Sprints were only one and a half laps old, the defending IMCA national sprint car champion was headed to the hospital by way of ambulance and the 1961 champion was headed home to tell his wife he wasn’t injured in a wreck.

With incredible rapidity, former champion Pete Folse of Tampa flipped four times at the Plant Field half-mile reigning champion Gordon Woolley of Waco, Tex., had rolled three times as the twice delayed races exploded at the start.

Woolley suffered a fracture of a neck vertebrae, facial cuts, and bruises. Dr. J. Peter Marinelli, the track physician, said Woolley would be in traction for at least four or five days and may be hospitalized, “for about six to eight weeks.”

Woolley’s car was destroyed and out for the rest of the series, Folse’s car was expected back on Wednesday.

Woolley flipped his car on the backstretch on the second lap of the first heat. But Folse won the distinction of having the initial crackup of the new year. His came immediately after start Johnny Hicks’ green flag, smack dab in front of the Plant Field grandstand.

Folse, running in the rear of the field and on the outside, tried to cut down in front of the field before the first turn. He was nicked by Jerry Richert’s left front tire. The Thomas Offy’s rear end lifted, then the car rolled over once sideways, followed by three end-over-end flips. The car wound up in the pit area, on its side, knocking down but not injuring a television cameraman. Folse was uninjured.

After regrouping, the first heat took off again, minus Folse. On the backstretch of the second lap, Woolley rode up on Richert’s tire and rolled over three times. His escape was miraculous. As the car rolled, he appeared to be flailed against the track with each bounce of the cockpit. He was unconscious and bleeding about the face for a time but recovered consciousness as he left in the ambulance.

Even feature winner Jerry Richert of Forest Lake, Minn., finished the race in agony that sent him reeling and tumbling to the ground after he climbed from his race car with his feet and legs burned by hot oil. He laid on the edge of the track, each hand squeezed in a hard handclasp of a kneeling crewmember while his driving shoes were tugged from his feet.

In his 25-lap charge around the rough half-mile, he lapped every car in the field except two. Those two, Jerry Blundy of Galesburg, Ill., and Greg Weld of Kansas City, finished in that order. All three drivers were wheeling Chevrolet-powered cars.

He squeezed past by Blundy on lap 21, when the later appeared to be blinded by a shower of dirt from cars they were passing. Until that point, Blundy looked a like a sure winner.

Heats were won by Johnny Logan of Charlotte, Mich., Blundy, and Dick Carter of Saginaw, Mich. Weld won the match race and Jerry “Scratch” Daniels of St. Paul, Minn., won the 10-lap consolation.

Someone asked Folse afterwards if he had passed anyone before the wreck. “If I did, it was in the air,” he replied.

 
Richert would make it back-to-back when the Minnesota speedster won the 20-lap feature on Wednesday, February 12, before a slim mid-week crowd. He would also capture the 5-lap match race.

Favoring the low groove in getting to the front, he stayed with his choice to the very finish. While he drove tight on the inside of the turns, other drivers made exploratory dashes around the rim of the track until the outside was too dry for any traction.

The grinning Richert described his win as “a little bit easier,” than the one on Sunday when hot oil cooked his feet. “We got a new engine in the car,” he said. “And its running great.”

Jerry Daniels of St. Paul, Minn., stayed with Richert from the start, coming up to the front on the same turn with him and worrying him with terrier-like dashes to get by in the late laps. “There was a wide groove out there in the beginning and I was afraid Scratch (Daniels) would get by on the outside,” Richert commented.

While most of the crowd was watching Richert charge into the lead and Daniels’ throw dirt high, steady Harold Leep of Wichita, Kan., picked off those in front of him like a marksman at a shooting gallery. Leep, supposedly retiring to less rigorous work of operating a bowling alley in Wichita, started 10th in the field, worked his way through the field and even gave Daniels a strong run for second.

Heat winners were Buzz Barton of Tampa, Gordon Herring of Golden, Colo., and Walt McWhorter of Wichita, Kan. Jimmy Maguire of Dunellen, N.J., with his eyes still black from a rock that hit him in Sunday’s feature, won the consolation.

Pete Folse, after flipping in the season opener, road a rail around the Florida State Fair half-mile track to win the IMCA sprint car feature on Sunday, February 15.

The feature, scheduled for 30 laps, was brought to an abrupt half after 20 laps when Jerry Blundy flipped several times and a flying wheel from his race car whipped up into the telephone and power lines, putting them out of service for more than an hour.

The wheel landed on top of one of the exhibit buildings and Blundy landed in an area hospital with possible broken arm and other minor injuries.

In gaining his first feature win of the 1964 Winternational Sprints, Folse shook off the challenges of Jimmy Maguire, who in turn was dogged all the way by two-time winner Jerry Richert. They were running in that order from the drop of the green flag until the red flag brought the contest to a sudden halt.

With his feature win, Folse made a 1-2-3 combination for the day with a win in the feature, a second in the consolation and a third in the STP trophy dash.

Jim Moughan of Springfield, Ill., won a record-breaking first heat, Bill Brown of Denville, N.J., won the second heat, and Walt McWhorter was the third heat winner. Maguire won the trophy dash and Richert was the consolation winner in record time.

Moughan’s time of 3 minutes and 46.20 seconds broke the mark of 3 minutes and 48.47 seconds set last year by Steve Travers and the time of 4 minutes and 32.32 seconds set by Richert in the 10-lap consolation erased a record time of 4 minutes and 36.08 seconds set by the great Frank Luptow back in 1948.

Folse, a bit winded after his victory, was only interested in talking about the injured Blundy than his own victory.

“Something must have happened to his car,” Folse said. “He’s a heady young man, he wouldn’t do anything foolish.”

It was all Jerry Richert again as the Winternational Sprints finished a four-race stand on Sunday, February 17. Richert not only won the 30-lap feature race, his third victory in the series, but he made it look so easy it appeared when he took over the lead on lap 5. In addition to his feature win, he won his heat and finished second in the trophy dash.

It was another thrill show for the 6,500 in attendance, with more flips and spins on the tricky half-mile dirt track.

Karl Busson of Toledo, Ohio, took a series of six rolls and end-over-end flips in the third heat after riding over Dick Mealy’s car. The final flip smashed the car upside down, crushing the roll bar on the driver Busson was pinned in the wreckage until a wrecker could pry the bar away. An early check of injuries showed a broken finger and lacerations on the face.

During the consolation, Gary Costin of Oak Grove, Mo., tangled wheels with Bill Brown and flipped twice after slapping up against the outside wall on the same north turn.

It was a jubilant Richert that rode under Johnny Hicks’ checkered flag at the finish of 30 laps. He hopped out of his car and hugged each of the car owners (Wagner, Johnson, and Wilson) with such fervor that it drew a chuckle from the crowd.

However, he was a little more bashful receiving his kiss from the speed queen and the two trophies, one for the feature win and the other as the Florida State champion.

It was the easiest victory of the two weeks for Richert. He started in the third position, nipping at Jimmy Maguire while Pete Folse built himself a lead. Richert kept the pressure so tight that Maguire spun out on lap 3and was out of the race. Richert then started on Folse and took the lead on the fifth lap with a charge around the outside groove of the track.

After that, he sat back and counted laps as they were signaled to him by his crew. Folse finished second and hard-working Harold Leep was third.

Afterwards, Richert conceded that he was more concerned with Maguire than Folse. “Maguire could haul it down the straightaways with me,” he said. “I figured I could get Pete because I was sticking my car great in the turns.”

Richert came from the last row to win the first heat. Al Unser of Albuquerque, N.M., won the second heat over Bill Roynon and Jim Moughan. Shady McWhorter of Fort Worth, Tex., made a late bid and won the third heat. Maguire won the 5-lap match race and Carl Williams won the consolation.

1963 Winternational Sprints

Tampa, Fla. – Gordon Woolley of Waco, Tex., won a stirring 25-lap feature on the opening day of the Winternational Sprints on Wednesday, February 9, without knowing the checkered flag was meant for him.

He rode across the finish line thinking that Pete Folse was so far ahead of him that he couldn’t see the finish of the race. Folse, however, was sitting on the backstretch with a dead car after leading every lap but the last one.

“I didn’t know I had won,” an elated Woolley exclaimed, climbing from his car. “I didn’t know until I went around on the parade lap and saw Pete sitting there. I knew there was car sitting on the backstretch, I would have never guessed it was Pete.”

A puzzled Folse climbed from his race car as a crowd swept across the infield shouting questions. The answers were, “I don’t know what went wrong. I wasn’t getting any fuel. No, I don’t think I ran out of gas.”

Several minute later, he found out from owner Hector Honore that the fuel pump had been jolted loose from the Offenhauser engine by jarring holes on the rough half-mile track.

Jerry Richert of Forest Lake, Minn., driving an Offenhauser, finished second and Jerry Blundy of Galesburg, Ill., was third in another Offy.

Heat races were won by Folse, Johnny White of Warren, Mich., the 1962 IMCA national champion in a Offenhauser, and Jigger Sirois of Shelby, Ind., in a Chevy. Richert won the 5-lap match race and the 10-lap consolation.

The race drew a record 10,554 fans, about 500 more than last year’s all-time high. They filled the grandstands, bleachers, and swarmed the infield, keeping police officers busy shooing them out of the pit area.

Folse built up a half-lap lead in the early going, lost his advantage due to a restart caused by a spinout, and was three-quarters of a lap ahead of Woolley when his car coasted to a stop on the backstretch. He had passed all but two of the starting 18 cars.

It was a tough break for the three-time IMCA champion, out to retain his title but he shrugged it off with a quiet comment, “That’s part of racing.”

It took some time for Wooley before he realized he was the winner. He stood breathless in the middle of the crowd that surrounded his car and tried to answer questions. Someone handed him the trophy and he started to hand it back, then it hit him that it was his trophy, and he was the man the photographers were shooting.

He admitted that he was afraid that at one time he would not be able to finish the race.

“The motor was heating up,” he explained. “I dropped down to the inside and got out of the loose stuff and it cooled down. The whole front end is clogged with dirt, the radiator is full of it.”

It was a happy, grinning Folse on Sunday afternoon, February 10, when he climbed out of his Bardahl Black Deuce, the winner of the 25-lap feature. Receiving spontaneous hugs and kisses from women and hearty handshakes from men, it was happy contrast to the season opener.

It was a well-earned victory for Folse, who made four attempts to get by Herschel Wagner of Hickman Hills, Mo., to take over the lead in the late stages of the race. Wagner held on to take second with Jerry Daniels of St. Paul, Minn., coming across the finish line in third. Both Folse and Wagner were in Offenhauser’s, and Daniels was driving a stock-block conversion Chevy.

The races drew a crowd of 7,200.

Twice, Folse almost flipped his car as he attempted to drive around Wagner on the high side of the south turn. “I couldn’t cut in to go down the chute,” he said. “Every time I tried to cut down, the front end dug in. I finally came through the turn and went down the backstretch on the outside.”

Dick Hope of Tampa, Steve Travers of New Castle, Penn., and Ed McVey of Kansas City were heat winners. Folse also won the 5-lap match race and Wagner took the consolation.

Folse would make it two in a row when the IMCA sprint cars met again for the third leg of the Winternational Sprints on Wednesday, February 13. But it was anything but easy for the “Flying Frenchman.”

The four-time Florida State champion and three-time IMCA king jumped to the lead in the first corner and roared away from the pack. About three-quarters through the race, Bob Hogle “kissed” the wall in the north turn and starter Johnny hicks was forced to dig out the yellow flag.

When the race finally resumed at peak speed, Folse wound up the 20-lapper by passing almost everyone in the field.

Reigning IMCA champ Johnny White finished a distant second in his best showing thus far into the new season. Jerry Daniels finished third, his second straight podium finish in two outings.

Folse and White collected heat wins as did Jim McCune of Toledo, Ohio, his first career IMCA victory. Gordon Wooley won the consolation.

The match race was called off after Arnie Knepper of Belleville, Ill., taking over Herschel Wagner’s mount, created a big draft in the infield by taking out a large section of the south wall when his steering arm broke and he made a “sudden right-hand turn.” Knepper walked away with some bruises.

To most of the slim crowd, Folse’s feature victory looked like a Sunday afternoon pleasure ride on an empty highway. But Folse said he worked harder in this race than he did Sunday when he made three attempts to get by Herschel Wagner.

“I worked awfully hard in the feature,” Folse said. “I didn’t have to worry about passing anyone, but the track was kind of funny. It looked good but it wasn’t. I got crossed up on the backstretch several times and almost lost it. I was as slick as greased glass.”

That fourth turn was awfully rough,” he continued. “I just kept bouncing around.”

The Saturday, February 16 program was washed out, so the Winternational Sprints finale took place on Sunday afternoon, February 17. To no one’s surprise, Pete Folse sped to a narrow win in the 30-lap feature, winning his fifth consecutive Florida State championship and leaving Tampa with a 135-point lead over Johnny white in his bid for a fourth national title. White, the defending national champion, finished third in the feature.

“I have to get all the wins I can on dirt,” said Folse, following his third consecutive feature win at Plant Field. “Johnny is the greatest driver I’ve seen on a banked asphalt track. And you saw how good he was here on this dirt track. Well, he’s 10 times better on banked asphalt.”

And if you look at the schedule, we have 13 races on banked asphalt, then there are five more on flat pavement. I can run with him on the flat stuff – not past him, but with him.”

Four other times, Folse has left Tampa with the IMCA point lead and three times he was still on top when the season concluded. White upset the precedent last year.

Jerry “Scratch” Daniels – with some help from Folse – slipped into the second spot in the feature, his best showing of the four-day speed program.

“Pete was running right up next to the rail,” said Daniels. “There was some loose stuff there and Pete was throwing it back. Johnny was sliding out on it a little in the first turn and I got under him when he got loose.” Daniels snuck past White two laps from the end.

Folse led from start to finish, hugging the rail the whole way. He admitted afterwards he almost made a costly mistake.

“I almost went with knobbies,” said Pete. “Boy, I would have been in sad shape. I changed just before the feature to the wide asphalt tires.”

Folse, White and Steve Travers were heat winners. Jerry Blundy won the STP match race and Jim Nelson of Flint, Mich., won the consolation.


Final point standings –


1. Pete Folse – 470
2. Johnny White – 340
3. Jerry Daniels – 270
4. Jerry Blundy – 220
5. Buzz Barton – 210
6. Gordon Woolley – 180
7. Bob Hogle – 156
8. Jerry Richert – 146
9. Herschel Wagner – 140
10.Dick Hope - 110

1962 Winternational Sprints

Tampa, Fla. – Jerry Richert of Forest Lake, Minn., turned the tables on dame fortune and worked 10 miles of pixilated track to win the Winternational Sprints opener at Plant Field on February 7.

That turn in luck was a contrast to last year’s opening day event when Richert was being hoisted into the back of an ambulance after a spectacular wreck on Florida State Fair’s half-mile.

This time he was hoisted up upon his mud-splattered race car to receive a kiss from International Speed Queen Pat Schmidt, a trophy from Fair exhibiter Roland d’Albis, a hug from car owner Bill McDonald and congratulations from the 5,200 in attendance.

It was a come-from-behind type of day for Richert. He came from his fourth starting spot in the consolation to win that event and qualify for the feature. In the feature, he started seventh in a fast field and battled inch-by-inch to the front.

He rode nose to tail on Johnny White of Warren, Mich., for 14 of the 20 laps and managed to get by on sheer audacity on the white flag lap. White settled for second and IMCA champion Pete Folse of Tampa, was a puzzled third. Richert’s winning time for the race was 9 minutes and 21.72 seconds.

Richert, who finished fourth in the IMCA point standings last year, was taking his first ride in the McDonald car since destroying it in a wreck at Spencer, Iowa, last September. White joshed Richert good-naturedly for banging him from the rear all through the feature.

Folse, after walking away with the 5-lap match race and winning the second heat in championship fashion, Folse appeared almost to be a shoo-in to win the feature, but he ran out of tires and groove in the middle of the main event.

Asked if he was going to change tires for the feature, he laughed, “What? After I won two races on them and I’m sitting in the saddle, starting in the front row of the feature.”

But it was tires that beat Folse. He ran away and hid from the field for the first 10 circuits, then lost the bite in the outside groove. After that, he fought for every inch as the rest of the pack moved up and two slipped by.

There were several minor spinouts during the program with Ernie Borelli of Brooklyn, N.Y., and veteran Bert Hellmueller of Louisville bringing a united scream of anguish from the crowd with spectacular flips.

Hellmueller flipped on the south end of the track and his Ranger tossed him aside like a rag doll when his safety belt broke. He got to his feet, dazed for a moment, but quickly assured everyone that he was fine. Ten minutes later, he was fussing around his car, checking it for Saturday’s races.

Mikey Shaw of Berea, Ohio, took a Chevrolet-powered sprinter out on the track and blew over the Offenhauser’s to win the first heat win. Folse sailed to an easy win, well ahead of Arnie Knepper of Belleville, Ill., in the second heat. The Tampa fans received their little bit of satisfaction when Dick Hope came from fifth to first in the third heat. Folse won the four-car match race easily and Richert took the consolation ahead of Ted Ready of St. Paul, Minn.

Herschel Wagner, the 42-year-old grandfather, combined the skill of a veteran and the spirit of a rookie to win the 25-lap feature in record time on Saturday, February 11, before a record crowd of 10,640.

The Hickman Hills, Mo., driver broke a five-year-old record with his time of 11 minutes and 45.92 seconds for the 25 laps and must have broken a few hearts along the way. He passed all but two of the 16 starters before he was waved with the checkered flag by starter Johnny Hicks.

While Wagner was way out front running his own race, one Michigan driver and another from Minnesota were staging their own wheel-to-wheel battle just like the Wednesday before. But this time, Johnny white came out ahead of Jerry Richert, finishing second and third, respectively,

Heats were won by Mickey Shaw, Arnie Knepper, and Al Logan of Los Angeles. Bud Sterrett of Los Angeles was the 5-lap match race winner and also won the consolation.

Pete Folse was dogged by misfortune again. He burned a piston in the middle of the second heat and was out for the day. Local favorite Dick Hope was also a victim of breakdown as the driveshaft on his Chevy broke and put hi out of commission.

In the feature, Wagner found the groove on the high side, and he painted the concrete retaining wall and top board fence with hundreds of pounds of dirt from his digging tires.

“Folse and I decided to stick to knobbies this time no matter what,” Wagner explained. “We did it last time, of course, and lost out.”

“Things may have been different if Pete had been in the race and we both had the same tires.”

Wagner climbed out his Thomas Offy to get away from the heat. He was told of his record time as he stood on the cool damp clay surface in his boxing shoes that he wears for driving.

The record was originally held by Bobby Grim, who set it in February of 1957 in the Honore Offy. It was 11 minutes and 50.72 seconds, almost five seconds slower.

Pete Folse would finally get his licks in, winning his first feature event on the third day of the four-race Winternational Sprints series on Wednesday, February 14.

Folse took no chances with victory, jumping to the front as the green flag dropped and staying there for the full 20 laps. Herschel Wagner lined up behind Folse in the starting field and rode with him the entire distance.

Earlier, Folse won the second heat, charging to the front like a bucking bronc. He finished third in the four-car match race.

Arnie Knepper drove the Moca Offy to the win in the first heat and Ed Terry of Plainville, N.J., was first in the third heat in the Kurtis Special. Bud Sterrett won the match race in the Wilson Offy and Wagner won the 10-lap consolation.

Folse and Wagner dueled several times for the advantage at the start of the feature, causing Johnny Hicks to withhold the green flag and brining the partisan crowd of 5,000 to their feet. But Folse persisted, the flag waved, and Folse looked like he had been shot out of a cannon.

Folse had several things going for him. He was geared low for the quick getaway, and he had a special pair of dragster tires with a special type of tread on the rear wheels. The wide tires gave him plenty of traction in the turns and straightaways to keep Wagner from mounting any serious challenge. For his part, Wagner seemed pretty content to let Folse do his thing and concentrate on keeping his own position on the slick track.

The battle of the feature was between Johnny White in the Wilson Offy and Dick Hope in the Johnson Chevy. Hope started in the 12th position and dodged, battled, slipped, and slid up to the fourth spot. He pulled up on White with three laps to go and they waged a spine-tingling exchange of wheels right down to the checkered flag.

At the end, White was in front of Hope by mere inches at the finish line.

Folse would battle a determined youngster, a tough track, and a mangled front end on the Honore Offenhauser, but emerged the feature winner and point champion as the Winternational Sprints came to a close on February 17.

The determined youngster was Johnny Rutherford of Fort Worth, Tex., driving the Beatson Chevy. Rutherford said after the race had there been one more lap, he would have been able to pass the three-time IMCA champion.

The tough track was a maze of grooves, with every driver trying to find his own place to run. As Folse said of his tire selection, “We guessed wrong on the tires again but at least they held up this time.”

The mangled front end was a bent front axle, a bent radius rod and a broken shock absorber, the result of a tangle in the match race.

“It sure made it hard to drive,” Hector Honore remarked after the race.” It sure wore Pete out.”

But it was a happy Folse that patiently signed autographs for fans for well over an hour afterwards. The champion came out of the four days of competition in the lead for his fourth IMCA crown and picked up 130 points to claim the Florida State championship for the third year in a row, winning in a squeaker over Herschel Wagner by 10 points.

Rutherford, starting in the fourth spot, pulled up to third on the second lap, second on lap 16, and closed up on Folse with only three laps to go. He almost nudged in front on the final round, but Folse managed to pull in front with a big sweep around the outside of the final two turns.

Arnie Knepper came up to get in the battle in the late laps and finished a close third. Wagner was fourth and Hope finished fifth.

The match race, shortened when three of the four cars tangled in the south turn, was won by Jerry Richert and Johnny White won the consolation.

The next day, it was announced that Al Sweeney and National Speedways, Inc., would extend the Winternational Sprints from four days of racing to five days starting in 1963.


Final point standings –


1. Pete Folse – 350
2. Herschel Wagner – 340
3. Johnny White – 300
4. Johnny Rutherford – 280
5. Jerry Richert – 268
6. Arnie Knepper – 250
7. Dick Hope – 190
8. Gordon Woolley – 165
9. Mickey Shaw – 135
10.Jerry Blundy – 115

1961 Winternational Sprints

 

Tampa, Fla. – After two false starts in his heat race that put him in the consolation to qualify, Pete Folse of Tampa, the 1960 International Motor Contest Association champion vindicated himself before a capacity crowd of over 10,000 by winning the 20-lap feature on the opening day of the Winternational Sprints at Plant Field on Sunday afternoon, February 11.

Folse took a back seat several times that afternoon, first in time trials, when he was timed second fastest behind Jerry Blundy of Galesburg, Ill., who had the best time of 27.75 seconds. During the first heat race, he jumped the start twice, where he was sent to the back of the starting field. After failing to finish in the top four in his heat, he was forced to qualify for the main event through the consolation, which he won handily.

Folse was clearly the leader from start to finish. He found the groove during the running of the consolation and rode it from start to finish in the feature. He won the race in the time of 9 minutes and 54.41 seconds.

Finishing second to Folse was a hard-charging Jerry Richert of Forest Lake, Minn., followed by Jim McElreath of Arlington, Tex., Jerry Blundy, and Buzz Barton of Tampa.

Barton was the hard luck driver of the feature. He started ninth and worked his way up to second and was quickly closing in on Folse with only a few laps to go when his motor started shutting down. He started dropping back in the field and eventually finished fifth. He later found that his fuel line was clogged.

Late in the afternoon, the clay was piled high enough in the turns to give the Offenhauser’s some bite into the loose stuff for traction. Folse rode the outer rim all the way and was coming out of the final turn onto the straightaway with his rear wheels almost halfway around.

Richert made a fine recovery from a poor start. He started on the inside of the second row but quickly dropped back to seventh before the first lap was complete. From there it was an uphill battle to regain lost ground and place second.

Dick Hope of Tampa made a favorable impression with the hometown crowd by winning the first heat. Johnny Rutherford of Fort Worth, Tex., won the second heat, Sonny Helms of Carlisle, Iowa, was the third heat winner. The Armstrong trophy dash went to Jerry Blundy.

Dick Gaines of Mitchell, Ind., electrified the crowd during time trials doing three fast snap rolls going into the first turn and continuing with a fourth roll that tore out a 12-foot section of wood fence. The car was demolished with a broken frame and twisted wheels, but Gaines came through without a scratch.

Folse and Buzz Barton would raise a few neck hairs in their next battle on Wednesday, February 15, before 4,800 fans. The two Tampans, both driving Offenhauser's, licked a hard, slick track that threw them a racing curve in every event. Folse came out of the feature winner and Barton was second by the blink of an eye.

Folse used loose dirt, switches in tires and experience in winning the 20-lapper and the second heat. In the heat he went up into the loose clay at the top of the track to get a bite from the slightly wet dirt, but later in the afternoon found that same clay had turned to dust, so he came down and hugged the inside.

After watching the consolation race, Folse switched tires for the feature and drove the corners tight like a midget pilot. Barton, who worked his way from his tenth starting position, by sticking his wheels under car after car, couldn’t get a wheel under Folse.

On the final turn coming out of the north curve, Barton made one last bid to get by Folse, going wide into the corner in a boardslide, but he started his slide too soon and killed his speed coming down the straightaway.

Hal Rettberg of Albany, N.Y., driving a stock block sprint car, took third, Jerry Blundy was fourth, and Jerry Richert grabbed fifth.

The time for the feature was 9 minutes and 49.52 seconds, due partly to slick track and also a yellow flag that slowed the field for two laps.

Gordon Woolley of Waco, Tex., won the first heat over Johnny Rutherford, both driving Chevy’s. Folse broke from his eighth starting position to second position in a sweep through the first and second turn and was up to first coming out of the fourth turn to score an easy win in the second heat. Hank Rogers of Bayside, N.Y., won the third heat ahead of Sonny Helms. Leroy Neumayer of Compton, Calif., won the 5-lap trophy dash and Jerry Blundy was the consolation winner.

A glass slick track and some tricky maneuvering provided the 8,200 fans in attendance some thrills as Buzz Barton manhandled the Lempelius Offenhauser to a 25-lap feature victory on Saturday, February 18.

The win came after a brush of wheels between then race leader Pete Folse and Barton as the green flag waved on a late restart. Folse slipped from first place to fourth in recovering from the partial skid his car was thrown into when Barton hit his left front wheel and knocked the dust cover off the wheel hub.

Leroy Neumayer and Jerry Richert, both in Offenhauser's, slipped past Folse during the skid, and finished second and third, respectively, eight laps later. Folse would recover to finish a close fourth.

“Pete knows I didn’t do it on purpose,” Barton said to Hector Honore, car owner of Folse’s car. “It was just one of those things.”

Honore inspected the damage to his Offy and explained that Folse was not looking for the green flag to be thrown at that time and was caught completely by surprise.

“There was a tow truck still on the track,” Honore said. The two truck was clearing the track following a tangle between Jerry Blundy and Harold Leep of Wichita, Kan., that did little damage to either car.

There were dozens of spinouts during the program, one that almost caught starter Johnny Hicks in a slide directly in front of the grandstand.

Barton would win the first heat using the same tactics he used in the feature, charging hard on the straightaways, and ducking to the inside to squeeze by his competitors. In the feature, he came from his eighth starting position to the front, taking one car on each lap. In the heat, he was even quicker, moving from his third starting spot to first in only two laps, taking cars on the iron-hard north turn.

Folse took to the outside of the track to win the second heat while Jerry Shumaker of Wichita, Kan., was the third heat winner. Jerry Richert won the trophy dash and Leroy Neumayer took home the consolation victory.

Folse would close out the four-day stand of the Winternational Sprints, winning his heat, the 30-lap finale and claiming the overall point title for the Florida State Championship on Sunday, February 19.

In the main event, Folse was so far out in front of the rest of the field he was almost a forgotten man in the race. He finished a full quarter of a lap over Jerry Blundy.

The attention of the 7,200 spectators was focused on the battle for third place, between the stubborn Leroy Neumayer and the even more stubborn Buzz Barton.

The position of the first three cars were set after the first lap and rode that way the rest of the race. Barton, starting back in the ninth position, charged like a bull going at a matador to the fourth spot.

Barton would bump Neumayer several times, but the latter refused to budge. After running nose to tail in a rough struggle through the 21st lap, Barton backed off and kept his position until the checkers waved.

Upon reaching victory lane, Folse would spring out of his car, point to the three oil spots on his shiny boots and good-naturedly complain to car owner Hector Honore about keeping his “office” clean.

The trophy dash was run after the feature because of a threat of reports of rain close by. A reporter asked Folse if he wanted to run in the 5-lap race matching the four fastest cars, even after winning the 30-lap feature.

“Do I wanna run? Sure, I wanna run!”

Heat race honors went to Jim McElreath, Folse, and Dick Carter of Merrill, Mich. Blundy won the 10-lap consolation and Blundy won the trophy dash.


Final point standings –

1. Pete Folse – 500
2. Buzz Barton – 360
3. Jerry Blundy – 290
4. Jerry Richert – 228
5. Jim McElreath – 195
6. Johnny Rutherford – 153
7. Arnie Knepper – 150
8. Gordon Woolley – 130
9. Harold Leep – 115
10.Sonny Helms – 105

1960 Winternational Sprints

Tampa, Fla. – The 1960 International Motor Contest Association racing season opened with a bang at the Florida State Fair on Wednesday, February 4, with Tampan Pete Folse making the first defense of his circuit title, winning the opening day feature of the Winternational Sprints in the Hector Honore Offenhauser before a crowd of 4,500.

The bang was provided by two drivers who collided with each other and the grandstand wall, halting the scheduled 15-lap main event on lap 13 with Folse sailing safely along in front of the field.

Jerry Shumaker of Wichita, Kan., one of the drivers involved in the spectacular crash, was taken to a local hospital with a back injury, and the other driver, Jerry Richert of Forest Lake, Minn., was treated at the track with minor cuts.

The Shumaker car lost a wheel and part of the front end when Richert climbed over his car while the two drivers battling for position. Shumaker collided with the wall while Richert’s car entered the first turn smoking badly.

Folse exhibited the combination of a heady driver wedded to a beautifully prepared machine as he not only won the feature but turned in the fastest time, 28.03 seconds, on the half-mile clay track.

Buzz Barton, another Tampan, whose always accepted the challenge of the walled Plant Field, was second in the feature and Jerry Blundy of Galesburg, Ill., was third.

Heat wins went to Richert, Dale Reed of Wichita, Kan., and Barton. Folse also won the 5-lap match race and A.J. Shepherd of Gardena, Calif., who fought with his car all afternoon, gritted it out and won the 10-lap consolation.

Folse made sure of his victory in the feature by jumping out front in the first turn, followed closely by Barton. Through the first five laps, Folse continued to increase his lead until the race was halted on the 13th circuit. On the restart, Folse pulled away again and was comfortably in front when the checkered flew.

Folse would make it two in a row when the IMCA big cars returned for the second program of the Winternational Sprints, on February 6. For the 9,500 in attendance, the Saturday afternoon races were almost a repeat of the series opener, with Folse winning the 20-lap feature and the Armstrong trophy dash as well as placing second in his heat.

Folse took the “Black Deuce” around the tire-scarred half-mile under a leash, feeling his way on the turns lap after lap as the groove changed. He was well in front of second running Jerry Blundy and A.J. Shepherd finished third, both drivers in Offenhauser's.

The excitement of the feature came when Johnny White of Warren, Mich., slashed viciously into the outer wall coming down the front straightaway and then spun down to crash the inside wall while cars dodged on either side. White was stunned by the bone-rattling impact and slumped over the steering wheel for several minutes after the car came to rest. White would be uninjured, but his car was demolished.

White’s crash came midway through the feature, stopping the clock and preventing Folse from getting a time for his 20 laps of work. The restart forced him to rebuild the healthy lead he had over the rest of the field.

Shepherd, Blundy, and Cecil Beavers of Bedford, Ind., were heat winners and Herschel Wagner of Hickman Hills, Mo., won the 10-lap consolation.

Folse would capture his third straight feature win of the Winternational Sprints on Tuesday, February 9, winning the 20-lapper with some smart driving on the half-mile clay. With a crowd of 4,800 looking on, Folse quieted the scream of the Bardahl Offenhauser to a purr and rode the inside rail to the triumphant wave of the checkered flag.

Second-place finisher Parnelli Jones of Torrance, Calif., chose to hug the rail and the bumper of Folse’s car the entire way but wasn’t able to get a look at first place. Well back of Folse and Jones was Buzz Barton claiming third.

The slick track gave warning during hot laps when Hugh Randall of Louisville, Ky., took his car out and washed out the front end of a wall. After that spectacle, every mechanic in the pit area was seen rushing to change their “knobby” tires to flat, wide “slicks”.

Folse was also seen about an hour before race time walking around the track, testing the softness and looking for any weak spots. There was no weakness, though, the dirt was packed and bound tight like asphalt.

Starting on the pole position, Folse never wavered out of the thin groove. Jones stayed quietly behind him for the first 11 circuits as the two drivers pulled away from the rest of the field, then began tail riding Folse through every turn, waiting for the defending IMCA champion to make a false move.

After the race, Jones commented, “I couldn’t even get a wheel through, he had it pinched tight.”

After the race, Jones was treated for a badly burned left leg, suffered when he blew a water hose on opening day.

Folse received congratulations from Florida governor LeRoy Collins after the feature – and the governor, unknowingly, walked off with Folse’s reward, the checkered flag. Folse still had the Governor’s Trophy.

Jerry Blundy, A.J. Shepherd and Al Chamberlain of Altoona, Penn., were heat winners, Harold Leep of Wichita, Kan., was the match race winner and Jones took the wreck-shortened consolation.

The Winternational Sprints series finale would see Buzz Barton snap the three-race winning streak of his fellow Tampan, easily winning the 25-lap capper on Saturday, February 13, in the Ker-Mac Offenhauser.

Folse, hoping to set a precedent with four straight feature wins, had to be satisfied with second place, although he finished the four-race meet with enough points to clinch the Florida State championship and gave him a great start on his second IMCA national championship.

Although Folse got a great jump at the start of the 25-lapper, he lost it on the 20th go-round, and gave up ground steadily for the remaining five circuits. Even so, he was well in front of third-place finisher A.J. Shepherd at the finish.

Somewhat winded from wrestling his car, Barton had little to say after his car pulled up to victory lane. “I kept after him. That was all. I just kept after him.”

Folse’s comment was that he had the wrong tires. “I had knobbies on the rear end and after the sixth or seventh lap, I couldn’t get them to stick,” he said. “That doesn’t take anything away from Buzz, he’s a great driver and deserved to win.”

Some beautiful driving was demonstrated by Herschel Wagner, who started the race in 12th and finished in the fourth spot, just a few feet behind Shepherd.

Heat races were won by Parnelli Jones, Jerry Blundy, and Dick Carter of Merrill, Mich. Dale Reed won the Australian Pursuit race and Barton took the 5-lap trophy dash.

Probably the most remarkable thing was of the afternoon was the luck of promoter Al Sweeney, who put the race on despite the presence of storm warnings and was able to finish the six-race program without interruption.

Final point standings –

1. Pete Folse – 380
2. Jerry Blundy – 280
3. Buzz Barton – 220
4. A.J. Shepherd – 180
5. Dale Reed – 155
6. Jerry Shumaker – 155
7. Herschel Wagner – 140
8. Parnelli Jones – 130
9. Dick Carter – 120
10.Harold Leep - 100