1972 - Sanger wins with a Chevy

Ed Sanger, Waterloo, Iowa, accepts the trophy from Darby Orange (left) and Judi Becker (right) after winning the late model feature at the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds in Oskaloosa, Iowa, on Wednesday night, May 17, 1972. — Beetle Bailey Photo

 

 

 

Oskaloosa, Iowa (May 17, 1972) - Ed Sanger of Waterloo was the big winner of the super stock feature Wednesday night at the Southern Iowa Speedway here in Oskaloosa.

 

Sanger, driving a Chevy, took the lead from Bill Martin on the tenth lap of the 20-lap race; Martin of Council Bluffs managed to hold off a hard-changing John Moss and Sanger thru the first half of the face.

Moss, of Iowa City, was right on Sanger’s bumper when the two cars crossed the finish line. Martin came home a good third ahead of Bill Zwanziger of Waterloo. Ramo Stott of Keokuk and Ron Hemsted of Lone Tree were fifth and sixth respectively.

The drivers were so anxious that the red flag came twice before one lap was even completed. The first when several cars bunched up in the second turn and second when Ramo Stott went off the backstretch.

George Barton of Ankeny, in his first appearance here this year, captured the 15-lap semi-main. Barton took the lead on the sixth lap from Jerry Roberts of Prairie City, who had led the first five laps. Roberts then held the second spot in a three-car bottle with Roger Kruse and Phil Reece. After a mix-up on the last lap that involved a little fender bending, Karl Sanger took second followed by Reece, Kruse, Tim McDonough and Larry Wasserfort.

 Bill Martin led all the way to win the first heat ahead of John Moss. Chris Maurer of Colfax won the second heat with Bill Newman a very close second. Mel Morris led for seven laps before a blown head gasket forced him out of the race.

Bill Beckman took the third heat with a good-sized lead over second place Stott. Ron Hemsted managed to win the fourth heat by holding off Ed Sanger and Dave Chase of Council Bluffs. Sanger and Chase were breathing down Hemsted’s tail pipe all the way.

The race was halted on the seventh lap when Mike Niffenegger, Don Hoffman and Chase tangled in the fourth turn. As they were coming out of the turn, Niffenegger became airborne and flipped wildly down the front straight landing upside down just past the flagman. On his first twisting flip in the air Niffenegger hit the top of the fence post in front of the grandstand, breaking it, but luckily, he didn't go over or thru the fence.

Even those fans that come to see wrecks applauded enthusiastically and heaved a huge sigh of relief when Mike crawled out of the demolished car. Mike received leg and neck injuries, not believed to be serious.

Ed Baker of Norwalk repeated his win of last week when he took the checkered flag for the Sportsman feature victory. Ed Osborn was second followed by Skip Gray of Ottumwa. Tom Johnson of Eldon brought out the red flag when he went sailing thru the third turn outside guard rails. Those steel rails just flew as Johnson plowed thru. He was uninjured in the mishap.

John Moss took over the point lead with 1,010 points. Ed Sanger has 985 and Don Hoffman, 880.

 

Results –

Heat #1 - 1. Bill Martin, Council Bluffs

Heat #2 - 1. Chris Maurer, Colfax

Heat #3 - 1. Bill Beckman, Lisbon

Heat #4 - 1. Ron Hemsted, Lone Tree

Semi-Main - l. George Barton, Ankeny

Feature - 

1. Ed Sanger, Waterloo

2. John Moss, Iowa City 

3. Bill Martin

4. Bill Zwanziger, Waterloo

5. Ramo Stott, Keokuk

6. Ron Hemsted

7. Bill Newman, Burlington

8. Dave Chase, Omaha, Neb. 

9. Red Droste, Waterloo

10. Curt Hansen, Dike 

1976 – Wolfgang Sweeps Fairmont Sprints

Doug Wolfgang is joined by car owner Bob Trostle after his win at Fairmont Speedway. - Photo courtesy of Todd Kaltved

Fairmont, Minn. (May 14, 1976) – Doug Wolfgang of Des Moines, Iowa, won everything but a lucky number during the sprint car program at Fairmont Speedway on Friday night.

Had the 23-year-old pilot purchased a race program, he probably would have won that also as he scored a clean sweep, winning the trophy dash, heat and 25-lap feature.

Wolfgang’s evening started in the second heat when he put the Trostle-built sprinter into the lead at the start and never looked back, outdistancing Butch Bahr of Grand Island, Neb., by a full straightaway.

The trophy dash was the closest finish of the evening. Bill Mellenberndt of Sioux Falls, S.D. put the “Nashville Club” #97 out front on the first lap and held it until the final turn on the last lap. Coming out of turn four and with the checkered flag in sight, the magneto failed on Mellenberndt’s car and he went abruptly powerless. Wolfgang, who had been running a strong second, dipped low on the inside and sped past for the lead and the win.

In the main event Wolfgang would start 13th, survive a first-lap tangle with Bob Hansen, grabbed the lead on lap 10, and then proceeded to smoke off the competition.

By lap 22, he had built a half lap lead on the rest of the field when the yellow came out for an accident.

On the restart, he put the Van’s Mobile Homes #18 car to work on the high side of the track and three lap later had an eight-car margin on second-place Barry Kettering of Minneapolis.

Bob Hop of Mendota, Minn., would finish third followed by Dick Morris of Sioux City, Iowa, and Dennis Olson of Braham, Minn.


Results –

Heat #1 – Roger Larson, Madison, S.D.
Heat #2 – Doug Wolfgang, Des Moines
Heat #3 – Dick Morris, Sioux City, Iowa
Trophy dash – Doug Wolfgang
Feature –
1. Doug Wolfgang
2. Barry Kettering, Minneapolis
3. Bob Hop, Mendota, Minn.
4. Dick Morris
5. Dennis Olson, Braham, Minn.
6. Roger Larson
7. John Stevenson, St. Paul, Minn.
8. Mike Thomas, Des Moines
9. Daryl Dawley, Sioux Falls, S.D.
10. Butch Bahr, Grand Island, Neb.

1973 – Sutcliffe Sprints to Knoxville Victory

Dick Sutcliffe won the super modified feature at the Marion County Fairgrounds after a head-to-head battle with last week's winner, Eddie Leavitt. - Beetle Bailey Photo

 

 

Knoxville, Iowa (May 14, 1973) – Cool weather greeted the Midwest’s top super sprints as they made their second appearance of the ’73 season at the Marion County Fairgrounds on Saturday.
A head-to-head battle was in store for the fans in attendance between Dick Sutcliffe of Greenwood, Mo., and last week’s winner Eddie Leavitt of Kearney, Mo.

Leavitt would jump out to the early lead and it appeared he was well on his way to his second consecutive victory. However, two caution flags for spinouts allowed Sutcliffe to get the jump on Leavitt on the second restart.

Once in the lead, Sutcliffe would run and hide from the rest of the field, lapping all but the top four finishers.

The feature’s two caution flags were brought out first for Roger Larson of Solomon, Kan., who spun in the second turn and clipped the fence. He was uninjured but done for the evening. The second yellow was for Lonnie Jensen of Lincoln, Neb., who spun in the second turn as well and was sidelined for the remainder of the event.

Roger Larson was the fast qualifier in time trials, touring the half mile in 21.21 seconds. Larson, Sutcliffe and Darry Dawley of Sioux Falls, S.D., were heat winners. Lonnie Jensen won the trophy dash and Bob Fisher of Mount Vernon, Ill., was the consolation winner.


Results –


1. Dick Sutcliffe, Greenwood, Mo.
2. Eddie Leavitt, Kearney, Mo.
3. Jerry Blundy, Galesburg, Ill.
4. Thad Dosher, Topeka, Kan.
5. Darryl Dawley, Sioux Falls, S.D.
6. Bill Utz, Sedalia, Mo.
7. Larry Kirkpatrick, Wood River, Ill.
8. Junior Parkinson, Kansas City
9. Ray Lee Goodwin, Kansas City
10. Bill Cohee, Topeka, Kan.

Today in Racing History

 

May 10, 1984

 

 

1977 – Sanger Tops Tunis Season Opener

Ed Sanger picked up where he left off last year at Tunis Speedway. Pictured with Sanger is (l-r) flagman Cy Bohr, 81-year-old track owner Judd Tunis, and Cindy Bohr, daughter of the flagman. - Earl Schwartz Photo

 

 

Waterloo, Iowa (May 7, 1977) – Ed Sanger’s initial late model feature win came in the season opener at Tunis Speedway on Sunday night.

Sanger held off a late charge by new teammate Curt Hansen of Dike, Iowa, to take the checkered flag and the top prize of $575. The late model feature usually pays $525 but Aikey Salvage of Cedar Falls, Iowa, kicked in an extra $50.

Four restarts during the course of the 25-lap main event kept cutting the size of Sanger’s lead, and the defending track champion couldn’t shake Hansen.

A red flag on lap 19 allowed the field to catch up with Sanger for a final restart, but the Waterloo, Iowa, veteran pulled away in the final circuits to seal the win.

Hansen, despite a last-ditch effort to pass Sanger, settled for runner-up honors, Red Dralle of Evansdale, Iowa, placed third, with Stan Stover of Reinbeck, Iowa, fourth and Emory Fretheim of Decorah, Iowa, in fifth.

Usually, Tunis Speedway’s feature order is determined by an inverted point standings format, but since this was the season opener, drivers drew for heat positions.

Sanger's victory in the third heat gave him a starting position in the second row for the feature. Gary Crawford of Independence and Stan Stover also won heat races, thus, putting those drivers on the front row for the 25-lapper. Tom Bartholomew of Waterloo, Iowa, won the 15-lap semi-main.

Dan Lake of Washburn, Iowa, was the sportsman feature winner. Lake passed John Weers of Readlyn, Iowa, with only two laps to go to take the victory.

Dick See of Independence, Iowa, won the 10-lap roadrunner race which featured only eight cars.


Results –

Heat #1 – Gary Crawford, Independence
Heat #2 – Stan Stover, Reinbeck
Heat #3 – Ed Sanger, Waterloo
Semi-main – Tom Bartholomew, Waterloo
Feature –
1. Ed Sanger
2. Curt Hansen, Dike
3. Red Dralle, Evansdale
4. Stan Stover
5. Em Fretheim, Decorah
6. Gary Crawford
7. Dan Nesteby, Waterloo
8. Denny Osborn, Cedar Falls
9. Jack Mitchell, Cedar Falls
10. Karl Sanger, Waterloo

Today in Racing History

 

May 6, 1995

 

 

 

Today in Racing History

 

 

May 5, 1979