April 12, 1959

1968 - Independence, Waterloo Tracks Go IMCA

Independence, Iowa (April 11, 1968) - The Independence Racing Association, which involves the Waterloo and Independence racetracks, has voted to affiliate with the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA), according to co-promoter Lyle Shriver.


“We had a meeting with the drivers and we've decided to fly the IMCA banner this year,” the genial Shriver said. “We've checked everything out and we are satisfied that IMCA won't interfere with our own association.”

The move by IRA should solidify the new three-track circuit, created when Cedar Rapids decided to switch its racing programs to Friday night from Saturday.

Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, under the promotion of Frank Winkley, already operates under the IMCA banner, while Indee will race Saturday night and Waterloo on Sunday night. Shriver was enthusiastic to say the least about the set-up.

“It's the greatest thing for modified racing that's happened in the last five to ten years as far as the three tracks are concerned,” Shriver said. “We plan to cooperate to the fullest. Winkley and our group will check special events so we don't conflict with each other and I really don't anticipate any problems.”

Shriver said he expects a membership of about 100 drivers and car owners between the three tracks. With that, about 40 cars are expected to be at each program, although an ideal race field is about 28 cars.

IRA has plenty of top drivers signed up. Many were or still are big favorites at The Downs, including Red Droste, Mert Williams, Cal Swanson, Bob Hilmer, Bill Zwanziger and Chub Liebe. The latter, however, is expected only to compete part-time at The Downs.

Others include Ed Sanger, Curt Hanson, John Webb, Roger Kruse, Dave Maxson, Stan Stover, Gale Card, Rich Krafka, Bud Jensen, Glenn Martin and three Minnesota hotshots - Paul Fitzpatrick, Leroy Scharkey and Jack Smith.

Some improvements are now being effected at the Indee oval where the guardrail is being moved to the front of the grandstand and vapor lights are being installed. Drivers will have the benefit of more lighting, but less reflection.

1977 - Slicing the wind with Janet, Ramo, Ron, and Terry

Ramo Stott (83) and rookie Terry Ryan (61) were the unlikely front-row starters in the 1976 Daytona 500. Ryan, making his NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National debut, became the first rookie to start on the front row at Daytona. Stott retired with engine problems shortly after the halfway point, while Ryan finished sixth.

Daytona, Fla. (April 10, 1977) - A loud speaker blared, “The garages are closed for the night. Drop your tools, and go home.”

Dick Hutcherson ripped off a two-inch length of adhesive tape and carefully affixed one end to the rear fender of his car and the other end to the underside of a tarpaulin draped over it. He repeated the procedure on the other fenders.

It was a finishing touch to a tense, hectic day of tuning, testing, tightening - It was the final few hours before the nineteenth running of the Daytona 500, the super bowl of late-model stock car racing.

Hutcherson’s tape job was a precaution. Later, if he found the tape had been peeled away, he would know the tarp had been lifted - perhaps for someone to tamper with the car - the car that his brother, Ron, would be driving the next day. If everything went perfectly, Ron would pilot the Camaro around the 2.5-mile track 200 times to finish in the No. 1 spot.

Forty-two drivers were entered. Hutcherson, from Keokuk, was one of those with Iowa connections. Ramo Stott, also of Keokuk, was another Iowan entered. So was Terry Ryan of Davenport.

The fourth Iowa driver had to crash a barrier to get into the race. The sex barrier…

That was Janet Guthrie, the first woman to compete with the likes of A.J. Foyt, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, David Pearson and other titans of auto racing. Guthrie’s Iowa link is tenuous. She was born in Iowa City, but moved out of the state 35 years ago at age three.

Ultimately, she and her supped-up Chevrolet Camaro would become Iowa’s last hope in the 1977 Daytona. Someone had given her a sign that said, “A woman’s place is everywhere.”

She wanted to put it on the car before the race started, but she either didn’t have time or she forgot. Some of the big-name drivers got into a 200-mile Saturday romp, but most - including all of the Iowans - chose to spend the day gearing up for the 500-mile grind.

“I want to be as fresh as I can for the 500 tomorrow," said Ryan. During the race, you’re going the length of a football field every second, so you don’t have any time to relax.”

To win, he would have to average at least 150 miles an hour, including time consumed in pit stops.

“A blink of the eye,” said Stott, “and you can be up against a wall.”

Ron Hutcherson - Daytona - 1977

Ron Hutcherson, 33, lanky and soft spoken, was entering his fourth Daytona 500. He runs a paint and wallpaper store in Keokuk. Like all drivers, he has absolute faith in his car and crew.

“There’s no one here that we can’t run with,” he declared, thus putting his car and team right up there with the Yarborough – Foyt – Pearson - Petty clan.

If fear exists in the hearts of race car drivers, it's hard to find. That was a natural question for Guthrie, and one she’s obviously had to answer many times.

“Scared? Not on the track. I wouldn’t belong out there if I was,” she replied. There are those who still don’t think she belongs “out there” - fear or no fear.

“Breaking the sex barrier in auto racing really hasn't been completed. One woman can't change all the attitudes,” she said. “But there’s been progress. I’m told that, even David Pearson has said some good things about me. Yarborough and Petty are the last major holdouts. When they finally accept me, then the battle will be pretty well won,” Guthrie said.

Janet Guthrie

At 38 and single, Guthrie has run in 145 races. She has been in a few track smash-ups, but has never been hospitalized. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in physics. She worked seven years in the aerospace industry as a physicist before her love of automobiles lured her into racing.

Guthrie caught the nation’s eye last year when she became the first woman to pass rookie tests for the famous Indianapolis 500 Memorial Day race, but then failed to qualify for the prestigious event.

“There’s a recurring theme that I don’t deserve the shot I’m getting in racing,” she said. “I’ve built my own engines since 1964, and I've done without as much sleep and spent as much money on racing as anyone here at Daytona. But there are some who think I just waltzed in here because I’m a woman,” she snapped.

For Ryan, the brief Saturday afternoon trial run confirmed a nagging suspicion among his crew that something was amiss. There was. A bent push rod in his Camaro's engine broke during the run. But with 20 hours to go before the start of Sunday’s 500, there was plenty of time for the Iowan’s mechanics to tear apart the engine and repair it.

There are various estimates as to what it costs to run a late model stock car on the NASCAR circuit. Hutcherson said it would range from $200,000 to $300,000 a year. A car owner pays the bills, such as the $1,200 worth of tires that Stott said be would expend at Daytona alone. A sponsor, such as Jack Housby (Housby Mack) of Des Moines, antes up some cash just to have his name printed on the auto. He sponsors Stott’s car. Drivers make their own deals with the car owners.

Stott had one word for his car’s trial performance in Saturday's test: “Decent.” The 42-year-old veteran was about to go into his twelfth Daytona 500.

“I think about the glory things of racing, not crashing,” be said. “All I worry about is how I can get up to the front of the pack. Some nights I get to thinking, ‘Can I draft up to Petty?’ or something like that.”

Drafting is a popular maneuver in auto racing. It’s nothing more than following bumper-to-bumper to a car in front, taking advantage of the lead car’s vacuum effect as it slices the wind. Some drivers settle for this tailgate position for many laps until they have an opportunity late in the race to “slingshot” around the car ahead.

Over at the Hutcherson stall in the rows of open garages in the speedway’s infield, Leon Hutcherson of Keokuk, father of mechanic Dick and driver Ron, watched as Dick and other pit crewmen “applied security” to their car.

Inside its trunk they disconnected the pipes to the gas tank and sealed them with tape. On the car’s exterior, the gas tank opening was taped shut, and wire seals were affixed to the trunk and hood lids. Then Dick taped the underside of the tarp to the car’s fenders, the final touch.

“They put guards out here at night, but they can’t see everything,” explained the elder Hutcherson. “We can’t prove it, but on Thursday, we had an oil leak in the car, and we think someone might have been messing around because we found a loose nut on the motor. Johnny Rutherford had the same thing happen,” he said.

For the fifth time, the public address announcer ordered everyone out of the garages, and some of the mechanics even made moves as if they might obey.

Daytona 500 race day dawned cool, cloudy and unruly. The clouds and coolness eventually faded, but the wind didn’t. It later was to whip what some drivers said were “tons of trash” - hot dog wrappers, cups and other paper items - out of the vast grandstands onto the track. It was sucked into the speeding cars, clogging radiators and overheating engines. Two-thirds of the cars starting the race failed to finish, many because of the “trashing.”

More than 135,000 people converged that day on the Daytona Speedway, creating traffic jams that lasted longer than the race itself. The week before the race, the Daytona Speedway became a hub of madness. More than 6,000 persons flew into nearby Orlando, Fla., on the Friday before race day, setting a one-day record for that city's international airport. There wasn’t a motel room available within 100 miles of Daytona.

Among the fans was none other than Billy Carter, who out-drawled everyone when he told the throng how much he liked stock car racing. Oakland Raider quarterback Kenny “Snake” Stabler was there. He said he admired the courage of anyone who would drive a car at 180 miles an hour.

The speedway infield looked like a rock festival with Winnebago’s. Jeans clad youngsters toted coolers of beer to the tops of the campers and settled in for the day. A few thousand transistor radios blared forth constant country-western. Pretty girls hawked souvenir programs and Cale Yarborough T-shirts. Young boys raced toy cars in the dust outside their parents’ RVs. Girls in backless blouses mingled among people huddled over hand warming campfires.

The band from Daytona’s Seabreeze High School performed in front of the grandstand during the pre-race hoopla. Someone in the infield shot aerial bomb fireworks at an ABC-TV helicopter. The Goodyear blimp lolled overhead. The race drivers were introduced individually as they climbed onto a reviewing stand then descended to a good-luck kiss from a Southern belle decked out in a Winston cigarette uniform.

Ryan stumbled on the stand. Stott tried to kiss the girl with his brimmed hat on, but it got in the way. He took it off. Guthrie didn’t kiss the Winston girl.

Then it was time…

“We have something new this year,” mentioned the race announcer. “For the first time ... LADY and gentlemen! (Dramatic pause) START YOUR ENGINES!”

The roar of 42 un-muffled, hyped-up engines was deafening. Ron Hutcherson had said earlier that he is unable to hear for a full day after be races.

The cars loom away, committed to an afternoon of chase. Pit crews stood by nervously the first few laps of the race, then began edging around, building up for their eye popping performances.

Refueling, a change of four tires, a windshield cleaning, a check under the hood and a drink of water or juice for the driver - all in less than 30 seconds.

For Iowans Ron, Ramo and Terry, it was not a good day. Hutcherson’s engine blew up before the race was half over. He was out. Stott hit a wall He was out Ryan blew a tire on the 168th lap and smashed up. He was out. Stott and Ryan had been close to the leaders. Observers said Ryan did a superb driving job to prevent a more serious accident that would have involved other cars.

That left Janet Guthrie as the only native Iowan still in the race. Her car ran “beautifully” for the first 100 laps, she said later. “Then, the engine went sour, probably due to some sort of ignition problem.”

“They called me into the pit, looked under the hood, and sent me back out,” she said.

Guthrie’s machine putt-putted around the track as her nervous crew counted down the laps and flashed the number remaining on a blackboard. Her car started to smoke. A NASCAR official raced on foot to the Guthrie pit shook his finger at the crew and told them angrily to wave the Guthrie car in. They ignored him. Janet kept driving.

Initially, she was listed as finishing ninth. A later recount of the laps, however, dropped her to twelfth, still good for $17,390 in prize money for her first Daytona 500. For winning it, Cale Yarborough picked up $163,700.

An hour later, Guthrie was still besieged by autograph seekers - men autograph seekers. “Ya’ll one hell of a woman,” one of them drawled. “Hang in there, Janet. Next year, ya’ll gonna win it.”

Winner Yarborough was asked if Guthrie was improving. His off-color reply, which had nothing to do with auto racing - broke up a gallery of reporters.

The Iowa men drivers were considerably more gracious. “Janet has as much right on the track as I do. She does a good job, keeps a cool head,” Ryan said. Hutcherson and Stott agreed.

“But,” added Ryan, “she’s coming into our world; we’re not going into hers, so I don’t feel that we have to do anything differently just because she’s around.”

Guthrie no doubt would agree.

1993 - Mark Kinser wins Hutchinson with last-lap pass

Mark Kinser acknowledges the crowd after winning the World of Outlaws sprint car feature at Hutchinson Raceway. Mark used a last-lap pass of his cousin Steve to score the victory. - Dennis Krieger Imagery 

Hutchinson, Kan. (April 9, 1993) – Mark Kinser led 40 laps in the World of Outlaws’ first two “A” features this season only to finish 17th and third. In the last three main events, he has led three laps and won twice.

Go figure…

Mark continued his winning ways Friday night when a capacity crowd packed Hutchinson Raceway Park. Steve Kinser, his second cousin, appeared to be cruising to his third consecutive victory at Hutchinson when he drove his Valvoline #11 around Danny Wood high in the third turn. Mark steered the #5 Maxim into the vacated low groove and out-dragged Steve to the finish line for the $5,200 victory.

“The track is in good condition,” Mark told the crowd afterwards. “It’s the best I’ve ever seen it.”

“The King of the Outlaws,” a two-time feature winner at Hutchinson, chopped .272 seconds off the previous one-lap record with a 14.908 second (90.555 mph) run during qualifying.

Then Steve earned the right to start the main event on the outside pole by following Kenny Jacobs under the checkered flag in the trophy dash.

In the feature, Jacobs drove immediately into the lead as the green flag was thrown. In his wake were both Kinser’s and Johnny Herrera.

Within a lap, Jacobs opened up an eight-car-length advantage that grew to half a straightaway five laps into the 30-lap contest.

Steve caught Jacobs in heavy traffic midway through the ninth lap and took the lead with a low post move into turn four. Kinser, unable to steer clear of heavy traffic, was reeled in by Jacobs, Mark and Herrera within two laps.

Once Steve cleared himself of lapped traffic, he opened up a 10-car-length advantage. He had opened up a straightaway margin on his closest pursuers when Mark took over the runner-up spot by passing Jacobs high in the second corner midway through the race.

Steve re-entered lap traffic with eight laps remaining. But Mark narrowed the gap within three laps. He took a shot at the lead low in the first corner on lap 28, but was turned away.

Two laps later, with the white flag flying, Mark made the winning pass when Steve strayed from the low groove. Following the Kinser cousins across the line were Jacobs, Herrera, and “B” feature winner Danny Lasoski.

Heat winners were Jerry Stone, Steve Beitler, Danny Wood, and Pete Butler.

Results –

1. Mark Kinser
2. Steve Kinser
3. Kenny Jacobs
4. Johnny Herrera
5. Danny Lasoski
6. Dave Blaney
7. Joe Gaerte
8. Stevie Smith
9. Andy Hillenburg
10. Bobby Davis Jr.
11. Greg Hodnett
12. Jac Haudenschild
13. Terry McCarl
14. Terry Gray
15. Jerry Stone

1991 – Cywinski takes Rockford ARTGO opener

Rockford, Ill. (April 7, 1991) – Wisconsin’s Kevin Cywinski soared past Michigan’s Dennis Berry on the 70th lap of the ARTGO Spring Classic 150 before a near capacity crowd at the Rockford Speedway to score an impressive victory.


It was the second career win for the 26-year-old former Wausau West High School football and wrestling star, who is becoming quickly one of the newest stars on the ARTGO Challenge Series tour. Cywinski won the four-track Central Wisconsin Racing Association (CWRA) championship in 1986.

Dennis Lampman, in his best ever ARTGO finish, held off a determined Steve Carlson for second place money while Jim Weber and Conrad Morgan rounded out the top five,

A total of 11 of the 26 starters completed the full 150 laps, which was interrupted five times by caution periods.

Berry, in his first visit to the Rockford quarter-mile, outgunned Bob Brownell at the drop of the green flag for the lead.

Cywinski grabbed second place on lap 13 just as an eight-car mishap took place in turn four, which brought out the yellow and shuffled the field. Three cars dropped out at that point.

Following a rash of infield pit stops, Berry and Cywinski kept the crowd on the edge of their seats as the dueled back and forth on the tight oval. After repeated attempts on the inside lane, Cywinski made a spectacular outside pass coming down the front stretch on lap 70 to take the lead for good.

On lap 121, Steve Carlson ducked inside Weber for third place money as Weber glanced off of the homestretch wall at full speed. With a dozen laps to go, Carlson squeezed past Lampman only to drop back in the next turn.

Rounding out the top 10 were Tom Carlson, Robbie Rieser, Scott Hansen, Ed Holmes and Joe Shear.

Both Hansen and Shear were considered by most as the favorites going into the race, but both missed the top 16 in time trials and had to compete in qualifying heats to make the feature. A mere 28/100 of a second separated the quickest 16 timers of the 47-car field.

Larry Schuler was the fastest in time trials, but he settled for 18th after a brake problem early in the contest. Berry dropped out after 115 laps and was scored in 19th.

Results –

1. Kevin Cywinski, Mosinee, Wis.
2. Dennis Lampman, Racine, Wis.
3. Steve Carlson, West Salem, Wis.
4. Jim Weber, Roseville, Minn.
5. Conrad Morgan, Dousman, Wis.
6. Tom Carlson, La Crosse, Wis.
7. Robbie Reiser, Allenton, Wis.
8. Scott Hansen, Milwaukee, Wis.
9. Ed Holmes, Portage, Wis.
10. Joe Shear, Clinton, Wis.
11. Al Schill, Franklin, Wis.
12. Steve Holzhausen, Bangor, Wis.
13. Johnny Spaw, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
14. Bill Venturini, Chicago, Ill.
15. Bob Brownell, Crystal Lake, Wis.
16. Kregg Hurlburt, Northfield, Minn.
17. Neil Callahan, Merrill, Wis.
18. Larry Schuler, Minooka, Ill.
19. Dennis Berry, Clarkston, Mich.
20. Tony Strupp, West Bend, Wis.
21. Dick Harrington, Plainwell, Mich.
22. John Ziegler, Brooklyn, Wis.
23. Matt Kenseth, Cambridge, Wis.
24. Bryan Reffner, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.

1951 - Stock Cars Vie Sunday at Raceway

Wayne Adams (left) presents an award to Bud Koehler at Raceway Park as promoter Pete Jenins looks on. - Photo courtesy of Stan Kalwasinski (Bob Sheldon Collection)

Blue Island, Ill. (April 5, 1951) - Stock car racing, postponed last Sunday after a week of wet, rainy weather topped with a blanket of snow, will get underway again Sunday at 2 p.m. as more than 50 post-war automobiles take to the Raceway Park quarter-mile track for the second of the afternoon series of races.


The Ford make cars will attempt to even the score with the “Flivver Fighters” in the team race heats. The initial victory in the resume of the team battles was won by the non-Ford family of cars, led by victories scored by Eddie Anderson in a 1951 Nash, and Red Duvall in a 1946 Packard. They outmaneuvered three Mercury’s.

Bud Koehler, Blue Island’s 1949 stock car champion, was presented with a trophy by Wayne Adams, Midwest representative of the national automobile weekly that conducted a national election last year to find the most popular stock car driver. Koehler was voted the most popular driver in the Midwest last year, and placed second in the national balloting.

Koehler, who wound up against the steel retaining wall during an Easter Sunday semi-final race, will have his 1949 Ford with the familiar number “77” back in condition for the second of the stock car series Sunday.

Time trials will start at 12:30. Eleven contestants will drive in each of the four heat races, giving the drivers 44 starting spots to seek in the time trials. The 12 fastest cars and drivers will start in the semi-final race and 24 cars and drivers will be eligible for the 25-lap feature race. The slowest 12 cars will start up front in the feature and the first 12 fastest cars will get the pear positions according to the way they finish in the semi-final race.

Reading and Racing; The Inaugural Sweepstakes

By Kyle Ealy
Reading, Pa. – For some 25 plus years, it was tradition for the sprint cars of the United States Auto Club to kick off its season at the historic half-mile of the Reading (Pa.) Fairgrounds.

The event would see its fair share of exciting finishes, jubilation and heartbreak, and legendary drivers in victory lane…

It all started on April 29, 1956, as Tommy Hinnershitz took the victory on a day that saw three drivers hospitalized and another requiring special treatment after some furious action on a cold and wet afternoon.

Chuck Weyant of Springfield, Ill., took an ambulance ride to the local hospital with a broken right arm after his car bounced off a fence, flipped over in the air and ripped through a fence on the second turn during time trials.

Hinnershitz almost found himself in the hospital instead of victory lane after he barely avoided a huge pileup on lap 12 of the scheduled 30-lapper.

Bernie Hart, who was running dead last in the field, hit a hole in the track, rolled over and came to a stop in the middle of the race track. Hinnershitz, who started on the pole after setting fast time (25.01) was leading the pack and had to squeeze through on the rail, barely avoiding Hart’s machine.

“There was just enough room to get through,” Hinnershitz would say later. “I even pulled in my shoulders in because I was sure I was going to hit him.”

Hart, meanwhile, unbuckled his belt and was attempting to exit his car when Jiggs Peters struck head on. Peters was knocked unconscious and Hart was thrown from his car. Al Herman, coming out of the turn, narrowly avoided running over Hart, who was now crawling across the track.

Bill Brown and Len Duncan, running side by side happened upon the scene, with Brown tagging Peter’s car head on. Duncan swerved to avoid that mess only to hit Hart, who was on his feet now. Duncan would drag Hart 100 feet down the backstretch before getting his car to a full stop.

Surprisingly, Hart remained conscious through the whole ordeal although he did suffer a broken leg and several abrasions. Both he and Peters, who suffered a concussion and lacerations, would be hospitalized for several days. Brown suffered only minor bruises and was released. The fact that no one died was a miracle.

After a long delay to clean the mess up, the race was restarted only to see rain come on lap 24. Official attempted to wait it out but finally awarded the victory to Hinnershitz. Gene Hartley of Indianapolis was second and Rex Easton of Springfield, Ill., was third. A crowd of 10,200 watched what became an eventful day of racing.

 

Johnny Thomson - 1957 Sweepstakes Winner

The March 31, 1957, race would see two records broken on the track, not to mention a record payout to the winner. Johnny Thomson would be the beneficiary of all three of those records.

A crowd of 7,500 enjoyed a warm, sunny Spring day and watched Thomson break the track record in qualifying, running the half-mile in 23.94 seconds, breaking Jud Larson’s mark by one-hundredth of a second. He would also set a record in the 10-lap qualifying event, winning in the time of 4 minutes and 11 seconds.

Thomson had everything going his way in the 30-lap main event as well, shaking defending race winner Tommy Hinnershitz’s advances early on and then putting some distance between him and the rest of the field. Don Branson, Charles Musselman, Jiggs Peters and Ernie McCoy would round out the top five.

Promoter Russ Moyer presented Thomson with a check for a whopping $1,456, the greatest amount ever presented to a sprint car winner on a half-mile track in Eastern Pennsylvania.

The winner of the April 20, 1958 race (now called the Reading Inaugural Sweepstakes) was a late entry because winning car owner John Fray of Bridgeport, Conn., couldn’t decide who should drive his newly-built Offenhauser. As Fray would say later, “I was looking for the right man”. Because of his long thought process, Fray would be assigned the final entry for the race, but after the checkers waved, there was no doubt that he definitely had found the right guy.

Jiggs Peters of Plainfield, N.J., who was almost killed in the ’56 race, snatched the lead from defending champion Johnny Thomson on lap 14 and increased his margin from there, winning handily. The race actually covered only 29 laps due to a scoring error by USAC officials but an extra lap wouldn’t have helped those chasing Peters.

Tommy Hinnershitz, who started fourth, would eventually get by Thomson for second on lap 26 and Van Johnson of Norristown, Pa., would pick up third passing Thomson on the final turn on the final lap.

It was a disappointing day for Thomson, who was fast qualifier on the day and dominated his 10-lap qualifying event. During the feature, however, he found himself struggling as the track became more slick as the laps wound down. While all of the other drivers changed to slick rubber before the main event, Thomson decided to gamble and go with knobby tires. “I figured knobby tires would give me more bite on the outside cushion but it got slick in a hurry. I had nowhere to run,” he explained. “Sometimes you gamble and win. Today I gambled and lost.”

Elmer George, the heavy-footed chauffeur from Speedway, Ind., had an easier time winning the Inaugural Sweepstakes race on April 5, 1959, than he did just getting into the main event.

George, the day’s second fastest qualifier with a time of 26.63 seconds, jumped into the lead at the wave of the green and treated the 5,000 plus fans to some fancy driving, holding off Jud Larson of Kansas City, Mo., who was behind the wheel of the Bud Sherk Offy. Van Johnson of Pittsburgh would finish third followed by Jim McWhitney of Anderson, Ind., and Eddie Sachs of Center Valley, Pa.

At the beginning of the day, it didn’t appear as though George would even make the field. Despite being second fastest in time trials behind Larson, George was forced out in his first qualifying heat and finished fifth in the second. Since only four cars out of each heat earned berths into the starting field, George was forced to qualify through the consolation, which he would win easily.

Larson set fast time at 26.18 seconds, won his match race with the Midwestern sprint champion Eddie Sachs, obliterated the field in his heat and clearly looked like the man to beat in the 30-lap main event. 

So George went out and beat him…

When A.J the driver teamed up with A.J. the car owner, you had to get up pretty early in the morning to get ahead of them. On Sunday, April 17, 1960, no one got up early enough.

Foyt, of Houston, Tex., drove Watson’s Offenhauser to victory in the 30-lap Reading Inaugural Sweepstakes before a paid crowd of 3,094 fans. And the feat was accomplished with a motor that would have kept most men out of the race.

But A.J. Watson wasn’t most men…

The Watson car had actually been tested in March and upon their arrival, it was quickly discovered that some water had been left in the radiator. Somewhere between Houston and Reading, the water became frozen and split the block on the side and on the top. Watson and his crew sealed the top and with a borrowed water plate, made the necessary repairs on the side as well. As one observer remarked, “With anyone else, they would have been out of business. But not with Watson; he always finds a way to win.”

Foyt started on the front row alongside fast qualifier Don Branson and grabbed the lead on the first lap. His only serious competition was Jim Hurtubise in the Barnett Brothers Chevy, and he beat the Lennox, Calif., chauffeur by four seconds at the stripe. The rest of the field was pretty well stretched out with Jiggs Peters taking third, Branson in fourth and midget driver Bob “Two Gun” Tattersall taking the fifth spot.

 

Foyt would return to the Reading Fairgrounds the following year, this time as the defending USAC national sprint car champion. He would once again, claim victory in the season opener on March 26, 1961. This time, however, Foyt would not run away from the field like the year before.

A crowd of 5,026 watched A.J win it the hard way by spotting Jim Hurtubise the lead and then come charging back to collar “Herk” on the 23rd lap and go on to win by nearly a quarter of a lap.

When Hurtubise, who started on the pole, moved into what looked like a commanding lead in the early going, most were willing to concede victory. A.J. Foyt wasn’t part of that group. Foyt, who said that his car was “operating smoothly” despite a rough track, put the Offenhausers one up in what would be a season-long duel with the Chevrolets.

Hurtubise, Cotton Farmer, Roger McCluskey and Hurtubise’s teammate, A.J. Shepherd, rounded out the top five. Bobby Marshman was the fastest qualifier with a time of 25.75 seconds but had motor issues and didn’t finish the race.

 

Jim Hurtubise would make one small mistake on March 25, 1962, at the Fairgrounds and it would cost him $10. During the first qualifying heat, Hurtubise had the lead and it appeared he was going to win, but on the final lap he slipped high going through the first and second turns, allowing Don Davis to slip under him and take the win. Davis won $40 and Hurtubise received $30.

That would be Hurtubise’s last slip of the day…

“Herk” would have things pretty much his way the rest of the afternoon as the transplanted California, now living in North Tonawanda, N.Y., set a new one-lap record in qualifying with a time of 23.85 seconds and then led from start to finish in the 30-lap feature.

A crowd of 5,170 saw Don Davis start on the pole but it was Hurtubise who was first to the corner and as they exited onto the backstretch, he was clearly in command. Reading Eagle sportswriter Bob Riegner put it best when he wrote, “Hurtubise drove like a bank robber the rest of the way”.

The best battle of the day was between Davis and Parnelli Jones of Torrance, Calif. They battled wheel to wheel for the balance of the race with Jones finally getting the nod on the very last lap. Fourth went to Bobby Marshman with ’59 winner Elmer George in fifth.

It may as well been called “Chase A.J. Foyt Day” at the Reading Fairgrounds on March 24, 1963, as no one was able to catch the speedy Texan. The winner of the 1961 Indianapolis 500 turned in a letter perfect performance before a paid crowd of 5,126 as he captured the Reading Sweepstakes race.

A.J. had the fastest qualifying mark in time trials with a time of 24.24 seconds, won his 10-lap qualifying heat and led from start to finish in the 30-lap main event. Foyt walked off with $1,254 out of a purse of $6,245, well over the guarantee of $5,000 offered by Reading Fair President John Giles, who was in his first promoting venture.

It wasn’t all gravy for Foyt however. Some of it was hot water...

Just as he took the checkered flag, a hose let loose and he was sprayed with hot water on his legs. He jumped up on the back of his car, got runner-up Roger McCluskey to push him around the track and then was treated for some painful (but not serious) burns on his legs, thighs and hands.

Foyt and MCluskey were followed by Don Branson, driving the Beletsky Chevy, Allen Crowe in the Iddings Chevy and Elmer George in the HOW Special.

Injuries to two of USAC’s brightest stars marred the Reading Sweepstakes event on March 29, 1964. A.J. Foyt won his record third Sweepstakes race on the half-mile, but that accomplishment was overshadowed by the injuries that Roger McCluskey and Don Branson sustained in the event.

McCluskey was injured when he flipped his racer just as he was finishing his second lap of qualifying. The accident occurred in the same spot that he spun out during warm-up laps. He suffered a compound fracture of the left forearm, bruising on his right shoulder and hand, and a concussion to boot.

Branson suffered a compound fracture of the right forearm when he was struck by a flying dirt clod. He and McCluskey were both hospitalized and were reported in satisfactory condition, although it was questionable whether either driver would be healthy enough to compete in the Indianapolis 500, which was a month away. (McCluskey didn’t recover in time to compete – Branson recovered and would finish 13th in the race).

Jud Larson’s baby needed a new pair of shoes and papa took care of her nicely on Sunday, April 4, 1965, as the strapping blond Texan, now based out of Indianapolis, pocketed nearly $1,000 for sweeping the USAC Sweepstakes program before a Reading Fairgrounds crowd of 8,000. Larson’s wife had given birth to their third child just weeks before.

Cornering several drivers before the race, Larson warned, “When you fellows get over my way, you better stop and see the new baby or my wife will skin me alive.”

Don Branson, who would spend the afternoon chasing and finishing second to Larson in the race, jokingly called Larson “unsociable”. He said, “I wanted to get a look at the new oil pans on your car, but he never let me get close enough to look at them.”

Larson, who dominated the feature from start to finish in his A.J. Watson sprinter, and Branson pretty much controlled things throughout, although a couple of IMCA speedsters, champion Jerry Richert of Forest Lakes, Minn., and Greg Weld of Kansas City - gave strong indications that they should not be overlooked in future sprint car events. Richert was third fastest in time trials, third in his heat and third in the feature. Weld, a recent graduate of the super modified ranks placed a solid fourth. Asphalt specialist Jim McCune of Toledo took the fifth spot.

An estimated crowd of 6,500 shivered their way though the Reading Sweepstakes program on March 27, 1966 as Jud Larson would give a repeat performance, winning his second 30-lap main event in a row. Any chill Larson experienced during the afternoon matinee was warmed by the $710 he earned by winning the feature and an additional $200 for being fast qualifier on the day (24.42 seconds).

Jud started on the pole, surrendered the lead to Red Riegel on the first lap, regained it on the seventh circuit and then outran everyone in sight from there on. Reigel would settle for second, Arnie Knepper of Belleville, Ill., took third, Roger McCluskey fourth and USAC national champion Mario Andretti of Nazareth, Pa., rounding out the top five.

Ironically, the same track that Larson would experience triumph in March is where tragedy would strike on June 11, 1966. During a USAC-sanctioned sprint car race, Larson and William “Red” Riegel would tangle in the first turn, both flipping over the three-foot concrete wall and rolling seven or eight times. Both were killed instantly. Larson, the hard drinking, chain-smoking Texan was 43 years of age.

Jerry “Scratch” Daniels was running high and Rollie Beale was running low. Larry Dickson of Marietta, Ohio, piloting the Nesler-Venezia Racing Special was running anywhere he pleased because that’s a luxury you have with leading a race.

Dickson drove to an easy Reading Sweepstakes victory in April 2, 1967 as USAC launched its season opener before an estimated crowd of 6,500 at the Fairgrounds. It was Larry’s second straight USAC victory at the historic half-mile and it came on the heels of his Reading Fair win last September.

When Larry got cranked up, no one could come close to him. But he got himself in some second-lap congestion that put top qualifier Greg Weld and Jerry Richert on the shelf for the afternoon. Dickson was riding the inside, struggling with Rollie Beale for the top spot when his magneto switch cut out and his car slowed rapidly. Weld, who was right behind, said, “I saw Larry slow down and I had almost came to a stop and was going to go around when Jerry hit me from behind.”

Dickson was able to continue but Weld, suffering major suspension trouble after the hit, had to withdraw and Richert, who spun around and hit the outside wall, also was unable to go on.

When the green flag dropped after the restart, Dickson hit the gas and took off on Beale and the race was pretty much over. Beale and Daniels would battle for second spot with Daniels finally getting the nod. Beale, Bobby Unser and Toledo’s Karl Busson followed.

 

Dickson would continue his streak at Reading the very next year, although his victory on March 31, 1968 would be anything but easy. Dickson out dueled Pennsylvania super modified star Ray Tilley for the full 30 laps before prevailing before 9,000 race fans.

Even though Dickson was scored as the leader for 27 laps after securing the point on the third lap but Tilley had his nose out front on several occasions throughout the contest and threatened to steal all of the marbles in the late going against the USAC veteran.

“I told myself that I needed to go after him, even though I was really tired,” Dickson would say from victory lane. He would manage to keep the nose of his sprinter in front of Tilley’s and won by a few feet at the finish, securing the fat part of the $6,675 purse offered by Reading Fair President Lindy Vicari.

Bill Puterbaugh of Roxana, Ill., who was the fast qualifier (23.85 seconds) for the first time in his USAC career, wound up third and gained one spot when hard-charger Chuck Booth who was running a strong third and challenging Dickson and Tilley, broke his axle on the final lap of the race. Rollie Beale finished fourth but was never a serious threat to the top three, and Bobby Adamson, the second quickest qualifier, rounded out the top five.

 

Dirt track racing can be a guessing game at times and on March 30, 1969, Jerry Daniels guessed right at the Reading Fairgrounds and Larry Dickson guessed wrong. And that’s why Daniels, of St. Paul, Minn., walked off with fat share of the lucrative purse for winning the 30-lap feature during USAC’s sprint car season opener before a chilled crowd of 5,000 fans.

Dickson, the fast qualifier, winner of the first heat, and the defending race winner, wound up placing 14th when he tried to change a tire during a caution period and got caught up on the jack when the green flag went out. “We changed tires before the main,” Larry said, “but it wasn’t the hot setup we wanted. So I gambled on getting the tires changed but we didn’t make it.”

Dickson, who did most of his racing in the early afternoon, tried to guess what the track conditions would be like for the 30-lap main event – it was not a good guess.

Polesitter Mickey Shaw grabbed the initial lead before mechanical problems sidelined him on lap four. Lee Kunzman of Guttenberg, Iowa, fresh off a 100-lap USAC midget victory in the Astrodome, took over the reigns with Daniels hot on his tail. But Daniels, who said he felt he “could catch” Kunzman, found the opening he needed on the 27th lap, when Lee got caught up behind a lapped car on the backstretch.

On the same lap, Herman Wise of Atlanta, Ga., went by Kunzman as well for the second spot. Kunzman would settle for show spot while Bill Puterbaugh and Bob Pratt of Union City, Ind., would follow.

Daniels was quick to call his wife on the phone to inform her of his first Reading victory, which was also a first for car owner Ray W. Smith of Eaton, Ohio. Smith, who had Dickson as his driver for the ’68 season, said that the car had just been put together the night before and Daniels put the car through its paces flawlessly.

The 1969 race would be the last year the Reading Fairgrounds would play host to the season opening race for the USAC sprint car division. Starting in 1970, the season opener would not have a regular home. Over the next few years, several venues such as Eldora, Tri-County and Salem would be the sites of season openers.

In 1979, just like the days of old, the Reading Fairgrounds hosted the USAC sprint car season opener on April 14th, with Paul Pitzer, driving Bob Sweikert’s sprinter, winning the 40-lap main event. It would be Pitzer’s first career USAC win in what would be the last USAC race at the track.

The Reading Fairgrounds track closed for good on June 29, 1979.