1954 – Grim Sets New Mark at Shreveport

Bobby Grim receives congratulations from his wife Betty after he won the IMCA big car feature event at the Louisiana State Fair. – Bob Dial Photo

Shreveport, La. (October 31, 1954) – Bobby Grim took charge of things Sunday afternoon at the International Motor Contest Association big car auto races at the Louisiana State Fair. The “Hoosier Bombshell” pushed his powerful Honore Offenhauser to victories in the third heat and 20-lap feature and shattered the IMCA world’s record and a Shreveport track record.

The feature race was a red-hot duel between Grim and Jud Larson of Austin, Tex., with Larson chasing the speeding Hoosier right down to the wire. Grim turned the 20 circuits in 7 minutes and 10.29 seconds, to set a new IMCA world mark and wiping out the old standard of 8 minutes and 32.63 seconds set by Deb Snyder in St. Paul, Minn., in 1952. The record for the State Fair oval was 8 minutes and 37.07 seconds set last year by Vito Calia.

Grim also fashioned a new track record in the third heat, winning the 6-lap race in a thriller over Herschel Wagner of Hickman Hills, Mo., in the time of 2 minutes and 37.10 seconds, to beat the old record of 2 minutes and 40.87 seconds set in 1953 by Jim McWithey.

Jimmy Campbell of Bates City, Mo., opened the program by winning the first heat in a race which saw both Grim and Wagner spin out. Larson outran Bob Slater of Kansas City to capture the second heat. Larson also won the 4-lap handicap, beating Bob Cleburg of Rio, Wis., to the wire by a car length.

About 6,500 jammed the stands for the races.


Results –


1. Bobby Grim, Indianapolis
2. Jud Larson, Austin, Tex.
3. Jimmy Campbell, Bates City, Mo.
4. Bob Slater, Kansas Cit
5. Herschel Wagner, Hickman Hills, Mo.
6. Don Branson, Champaign, Ill.
7. Marvin Pifer, Adrian, Mich.
8. Curley Wadsworth, Topeka, Kan.
9. Harry Ross, Dallas, Tex.
10.Lee Drollinger, Champaign, Ill.

1967 – Long Grove Grind goes to Adamson

Bobbie Adamson accepts his trophy after winning the National Open at Williams Grove Speedway. 

Mechanicsburg, Penn. (October 29, 1967) - There was never a dull moment for Bobbie Adamson as the Coraopolis, Penn., chauffer drove to victory in the fifth annual National Open before more than 10,000 fans at Williams Grove Speedway Sunday afternoon.

By virtue of his triumph, Adamson became the fifth different driver to win the event, joining Gordon Johncock, Larry Dickson, Lou Blaney and Henry Jacoby.

For the popular young winner, it was the first major triumph of his career. Only last week he had indicated that he desired a $999 win purse rather than the $1,000 which had been posted in hopes that it might change his luck. As it turned out, he didn't need this good fortune.

Adamson had qualified for the fourth starting spot in the 35-car field in Saturday’s time trials. He moved up one spot when the number two man Andy Phillips could not go in the main attraction after blowing his engine In warmups

When the green flag dropped on the field, Kenny Weld, the polesitter, charged ahead but going up the backstretch, Adamson pushed the Hawthorne Special out in front to a lead which he never gave up despite some real pressure throughout the affair. During the first six laps, Adamson opened a 10-length lead.

Then, the first of eight minor mishaps slowed the proceedings, closing up the field. At this time, Weld was running second. This is the way matters stood until the 42nd lap. Coming down the front chute, Bud Cochran slipped by Weld and took over the runner-up spot. From that point, Cochran was never more than five or six lengths behind the leader.

The two pacesetters battled it out for the remainder of the race. On the 84th circuit, Cochran pulled alongside Adamson moving through the third and fourth turns but did not have enough to push ahead. Three laps later, the two were bumper to bumper and stayed that way from then until the 92nd lap when Adamson opened daylight after slipping through lapped traffic.

As the race neared the wire, Cochran again closed on his worthy opponent, but Adamson would not be denied. He simply put his foot into it and remained at the head of the class. When Ray Dovel was involved in a mishap on the 99th lap, the yellow and checkered came out simultaneously, giving the win to Adamson but only by a scant two car lengths.

In third, eight lengths off the pace, was Ted Wise. Bobby Allen, Hanover, Penn., was fourth and Weld fifth.

Saturday, Weld recorded the best showing in the time trials with a clocking of 25.11 seconds for one lap on the half-mile track.


Results –


1. Bobby Adamson
2. Bud Cochran
3. Ted Wise
4. Bobby Allen
5. Ken Weld
6. Frank Gorichky
7. Larry Snellbaker
8. Steve Ungar
9. Dick Tobias
10.Ronnie Rough
11.Mitch Smith
12.Ed Zirkle
13.Bob Gerhart
14.Lynn Paxton
15.Joe Lingle
16.Milford Wales
17.Ray Dovel
18.Larry Cannon
19.Bill Banick
20.Johnny Crawford
21.Gene Varner
22.Ray Tilley
23.George Weaver
24.Bob Weaver
25.Dick Swartzlander
26.Gene Kohr
27.Hal McGilton
28.Rick Schmeylun
29.Bud Crytier
30.Gus Linder

1973 – Anderson, Darkness Win in Salem’s ‘Midwest 300’

John Anderson receives the traditional winner’s kiss after winning the shortened Midwest 300 at Salem Speedway. – Brian Norton Collection

Salem, Ind. (October28, 1973) – Last year, the American Speed Association-sanctioned Midwest 300 stock car race became the Midwest 279 when a massive wreck forced one 100-lap qualifying race to be stopped on the 99th circuit and darkness halted the championship 100 after 80 laps.

Sunday, the second annual event became the Midwest 250.

With darkness about to envelop the Salem Speedway, John Anderson of Detroit, who had driven his 1973 Camaro to victory in the first 100 lap race, took the checkered flag on the 50th of a scheduled 100 laps in the championship race. He walked off with $2,250 in prize money.

In a fender-banging duel for second place, Ed Vanderlaan of Grand rapids, Mich., edged Bobby Watson of Prestonsburg, Ky. Vanderlaan collected $1,085 while Watson received $890. Terry Bivins of Shawnee, Kan., who won the second 100-lap qualifier, finished fourth in the championship finale.

Anderson, the 1973 track champion at Mt. Clemens (Mich.) Speedway, started ninth in the first 100-lapper but quickly moved though the pack to take the lead from Dave Dayton of Indianapolis on the 23rd circuit.

On lap 60, Bill Chambers of Cincinnati and James Hamm of Nashville collided in the second turn and ripped out 110 feet of guardrail. Hamm’s car scaled a tree, bent down the trunk and ended up nestled in the tree’s branches some 15 feet of the ground. Hamm suffered a broken ankle while Chambers escaped uninjured.

The race was stopped for 1 hour and 10 minutes while the guardrail was replaced. On the restart, fast qualifier Dave Wall of Shawnee Mission, Kan., who was running second at the time, spun coming off the fourth turn and triggered a 14-car smashup that delayed the race another 25 minutes.

Following the second restart, Anderson drove on to an uncontested victory.

In the second 100-lapper, Bivins jumped from his third starting position to take the lead from Jim Cushman of Columbus, Ohio, on lap 4. The race continued uneventful for the next 93 laps.

Then Larry Cope of Leroy Ind., brushed a car driven by Ed Angle of Flora, Ind., and vaulted over the turn four guardrail. The car came to rest upright outside the track and Cope was uninjured.

As the field came down the straightway to take the green flag to start the championship race, Anderson car, which was on the inside of the front row, skidded sideways. He regained control in time from wrecking, but the 12 cars piled up behind him, eliminating angle and Neal Sceva of Urbana, Ohio, before the race officially began.

Anderson was allowed to restart from his pole position and was never headed as he finished 3.5-seconds ahead of Vanderlaan and Watson before 5,150 race fans.


Results –


1. John Anderson
2. Ed Vanderlaan
3. Bobby Watson
4. Terry Bivins
5. Dave Watson
6. Dan Conner
7. John Vallo
8. Vern Schrock
9. Charlie Binkley
10.Mike Johnson
11.Mike Eddy
12.Ken Simpson
13.Denny Miles
14.Wayne Carden
15.John Sommerville
16.LaMarr Marshall
17.Ned Webb
18.Jim Hines
19.Joe Wallace
20.Ray Fullen
21.Dennis Wiser
22.Dave Dayton
23.Wayne Watercutter
24.Joe Ruttman
25.Ed Angle
26.Neal Sceva
27.Larry Cope
28.Bobby Sage
29.Charlie Glotzbach

 

1962 – White Drives to Victory in Dixie 400

Rex White is joined by Ms. Racing World, Jean Phillips, after he won the Dixie 400 at Atlanta. It would be White’s last NASCAR victory of his career. 

Hampton, Ga. (October 28, 1962) – Rex White of Spartanburg, S.C., “hitchhiked” his way to victory in the Dixie 400 Sunday, after a duel with Marvin Panch of Daytona Beach, Fla., ended when Panch ran out of gas on the next to last lap.

White ran his 1962 Chevrolet an average speed of 124.787 miles per hour to win the NASCAR-sanctioned event before a crowd of 30,000 at the Atlanta International Raceway.

Joe Weatherly of Norfolk, Va., took second in a 1962 Pontiac, while Panch settled for third and Richard Petty of Randleman, N.C., driving a 1962 Plymouth, was fourth. Fred Lorenzen of Elmhurst, Ill., driving a 1962 Ford, rounded out the top-five finishers.

Roberts led much of the race after starting from the pole position. He and Bobby Johns of Miami, Fla., waged a battle for the lead in their 1962 Pontiacs until lap 186 when Johns blew a tire and spun out.

With Johns out, Roberts pretty much had things going his way and the interest of the crowd soon swayed to the battle between White and Panch, driving a 1962 Ford. It was at that time that White “hitchhiked” by driving closely behind Panch, letting the vacuum created by the lead car pull or “draft” him along – thus saving gas.

Just 32 laps from the finish, however, Roberts pulled into the pit area, ostensibly for a tire check. Two laps later, he pulled in again and then ended the race driving at half-speed. His crew reported afterwards that he was running low on oil and three pistons were burned out.

White, who reported that Roberts, “just moved off and left me,” said that Panch would have been able to do the same thing if he had never pulled away. But the little Spartanburg, S.C., driver stuck to the Ford like glue until the first turn two laps from the end when he made his move and pulled in front.


Results –


1. Rex White, Spartanburg, S.C.
2. Joe Weatherly, Norfolk, Va.
3. Marvin Panch, Daytona Beach, Fla.
4. Richard Petty, Randleman, N.C.
5. Fred Lorenzen, Elmhurst, Ill.
6. Larry Frank, Greenville, S.C.
7. Gene Elliot, Shelby, N.C.
8. Buck Baker, Charlotte, N.C.
9. Jack Smith, Spartanburg, S.C.
10.Glenn Roberts, Daytona Beach, Fla.
11.Dave Pearson, Spartanburg, S.C.
12.Bob Welborn, Greensboro, N.C.
13.Elmo Langley, Wheaton, Md.
14.Ralph Earnhardt, Kannapolis, N.C.
15.Buddy Baker, Charlotte, N.C.
16.G.C. Spencer, Inman, S.C.
17.Jim Paschal, High Point, N.C.
18.Bunkie Blackburn, Fayetteville, N.C.
19.Dwayne Lund, Cross, S.C.
20.Johnny Allen, Atlanta, Ga.

1975 – Smith is Winner in IMCA

Robert Smith

Shreveport, La. (October 26, 1975) – Twenty-one-year-old Robert Smith racked up his ninth feature win of the season but his first-ever in International Motor Contest Association sprint car competition at State Fair Speedway on Sunday.

The Tampa, Fla., youngster also won the second heat race and placed third in the trophy dash.

Skip Manning of Bogalusa came from last place to take the checkered flag in the first heat. Anning was the only Louisiana entry in Sunday’s competition. He also finished third in the feature and fourth in the trophy dash.

John Henson of Huntington, W.Va., edged out Bill Utz of Sedalia, Mo., to win the third heat in a spectacular race. But Henson would have to close shop early when he blew his 350 cubic inch Chevrolet on the first lap of the trophy dash. The car, built by Dave McPherson, was also driven by Sam Sessions to win the 1972 USAC national championship.

Ralph Parkinson of Kansas City, Mo., was the trophy dash winner.

With his fifth-place finish in the feature, Bill Utz was named the IMCA national sprint car champion for the second consecutive year.

Jan Opperman, Jim McElreath, and several other top drivers had entered the weekend competition, they went on to Birmingham, Ala., after the races were rained out on Saturday and rain was forecast for all day on Sunday.


Results –


1. Robert Smith, Tampa, Fla.
2. Ralph Parkinson, Kansas City, Mo.
3. Skip Manning, Bogalusa, La.
4. Bobby Marshall, Dallas, Tex.
5. Bill Utz, Sedalia, Mo.
6. Jerry Stone, Wichita, Kan.
7. Wayne McNally, Dallas, Tex.
8. John Fry, Dallas, Tex.
9. Sidney Clark, Garland, Tex.
10.Dick Standridge, Springfield, Ill.
11.Billy Ray Peters, Dallas, Tex.
12.Gene Kester, Odessa, Mo.
13.Terry Moore, Mesquite, Tex.
14.Phil Howe, Jacksonville, Ill.

1953 -12,000 See Bryan Get Checkered Flag

Jimmy Bryan (second from left) is joined by promoter J.C. Agajanian (left), Ralph DePalma (second from right), and Troy Ruttman (right) after winning the 100-mile race at Sacramento.

Sacramento, Calif. (October 25, 1953) – Jimmy Bryan of Phoenix won the 100-mile auto race before 12,000 spectators at the California State Fairgrounds after a spectacular early crash slowed down the speed pilots.

The time for Sunday afternoon’s event was 1 hour, 15 minutes, and 12.05 seconds, considerably slower than the 1949 and 1950 races here.

Don Olds of Tacoma, Wash., took the south turn of the 13th lap too sharp, spun out, and stalled in the center of the track. Mike Nazaruk of New York, plowed into Olds’ car first and Johnny Parsons of Van Nuys, Calif., winner of the Indianapolis 500, piled up next.

The cars were too damaged to continue and were carted off. Miraculously, all three drivers escaped injury. The yellow light was on for 10 laps, slowing the speed.

Nazaruk, who won the pole position with the fastest qualifying time of 38.32 seconds for the one-mile lap, was ahead at the time of the accident. The mishap gave Bryan the chance to pull to the front. He led Jack McGrath of South Pasadena by a quarter mile with Bob Sweikert of Hayward third.

On the 33rd lap, McGrath took over as pacesetter. But McGrath, who was runner-up to Sam Hanks for the 1953 national championship, developed throttle problems on the 70th circuit. He was in the pits for 12 laps and Bryan took over once again and held his advantage until he received the checkered flag.

At the halfway mark it was McGrath, Bryan, Sweikert, Hanks, and Jerry Hoyt in the top five. At the 75-mile mark, it was Bryan, Sweikert, Hanks, Jimmy Davies, and Hoyt.

At the finish, Bryan led Sweikert by more than a mile and a quarter with Hanks not far behind.

A disappointment to the crowd was the failure of Bill Vukovich of Fresno, this years Indianapolis 500 winner, to qualify. His time of 42.64 seconds was the second slowest time of the day. Andy Linden of Long Beach was the slowest at 42.85 seconds.

Vukovich complained of handling issues, saying the front end bounced in the turns.

With his third-place finish, Hanks clinched the AAA national championship with 1,519 points. McGrath, who finished runner-up in points, had no chance to claim the title, even if he had won the race.

The victorious Bryan, jubilant over his win, was greeted at the finish line by his pretty red-headed wife who bestowed three kisses on his cheek.

“I’m awfully glad to win but I’m awfully tired,” Bryan remarked. “I like this track. It was rough but I’ve driven on tracks a lot rougher than this.”


Results –


1. Jimmy Bryan
2. Bob Sweikert
3. Sam Hanks
4. Jimmy Davies
5. Bob Scott
6. Paul Russo
7. Jimmy Reece
8. Jerry Hoyt
9. Chuck Stevenson
10.Jack McGrath

1966 – Stott Roars to Shreveport Win

Ramo Stott accepts his trophy from race promoter Frank Winkley after winning the 100-lap IMCA stock car feature at State Fair Speedway. – Bill Causey Jr. Photo

Shreveport, La. (October 23, 1966) – A colorful Iowa driver who is frequently occupied with a needle and a sewing machine for work on his uniforms when not busy at his Keokuk, Iowa, garage, scored his 14th victory of the season in International Motor Contest Association competition on Sunday afternoon, driving his 1966 Plymouth to victory in the 100-lap feature at the Louisiana State Fair Speedway.

Stott, a handsome and soft-spoken Iowan, is engaged in a national point battle with Ernie Derr, also of Keokuk, Iowa, who finished second in the feature.

Stott grabbed a world 5-lap record of 2 minutes and 7.72 seconds in the trophy dash and he established a new State Fair mark for 10 laps with a time of 4 minutes and 27.68 seconds during a preliminary race.

“I didn’t feel assured of victory until I saw the checkered flag,” commented Stott. “I feel quite lucky because a week ago I didn’t even know if I was going to race here.”

Stott had wrecked his regular car recently in Minnesota. Last week, Ray Nichels of Highland, Ind., contacted Stott and offered a Plymouth normally driven by USAC regular Paul Goldsmith.

“I think my regular car handles a bit better but this one’s a fine car.”

Stott was the early leader for the first five laps. Derr charged ahead in his 1966 Dodge on the sixth lap right at the start/finish line. Der would lose his lead on lap 37 when he made his mandatory pit stop. Stott did not pit until lap 59.

One observer made the comment that pit stops made all the difference in the outcome of the event. Stott pitted on the east side of the track, just past the start/finish lime while Derr pitted on the west side of the track. By pitting on the east side, Stott had extra time to gather speed to protect his lead.

Derr commented after his pit stop, he experienced brake issues which slowed his pace.

Stott set his track record in the first heat, winning over Lenny Funk of Otis, Kan. Derr won the second heat after taking the lead from Larry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., on the eighth lap.

Stott won the trophy dash and Bob Perry won the 12-lap consolation.

Results –


1. Ramo Stott
2. Ernie Derr
3. Lenny Funk
4. Larry Phillips
5. Paul Feldner
6. Butch Hall
7. Jim Strube
8. Phil Cronin
9. Ken Christie
10.Bob Perry
11.Joe Melichar
12.Tom Roller
13.Tony Barcelona
14.Karl Stouffer
15.Bob Foster
16.Vic Elson
17.Dale Keeling
18.Jerry Wolland