RIP - Mike Niffenegger 1940 - 2017

Michael Larry Niffenegger was born March 12, 1940 at the Washington County Hospital, the son of Arlis and Muriel I. (Michel) Niffenegger.  He graduated from Kalona High School and on June 17, 1961 he was united in marriage to Joyce Altenhofen at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Richmond. 

Mike was the best husband and dad anyone could ever ask for.  Mike "The Flying Dutchman" was best known for his career as a late model race car driver, and is in the Hall of Fame at Hawkeye Downs, Farley and West Liberty.

Mike sold cars, worked at Slabach Construction and grew 200 acres of tomatos for Heinz.  He was a member of the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, and many auto racing associations.  Mike loved to fish, play cards, play pool and visit and entertain his many friends.  In his younger years he was an excellent swimmer and enjoyed playing golf. Spending time with his wife and daughter was very important to Mike.

1961 - Ramo Stott Wins; Set 3 Stock Marks

Ramo Stott

 

 

Cedar Rapids, Iowa (May 21, 1961) - Ramo Stott of Keokuk piloted his 1961 Ford to an International Motor Contest Association world record breaking first place Sunday afternoon in the 200-lap late model stock car race at Hawkeye Downs.

 
Stott erased 100-mile mark Don White’s of 1 hour and 33 minutes set in 1958 with a time of 1 hour 31 minutes on the fast Downs half-mile dirt oval.

 
The near capacity crowd saw two other marks shattered during the afternoon. Another Keokuk driver, Dick Hutcherson, also driving a ’61 Ford, set a time trial record of 25.96 seconds to break the 1957 mark of 26.48 held by Johnny Beauchamp. During the time trials, 6 drivers bettered the record 9 different times.

 
Hutcherson also set a record for 50 miles. He toured the oval in 45 minutes and 20 seconds to better Ernie Derr's 1960 mark of 45 minutes and 41 seconds.

 
The race was probably the closest ever witnessed on the Hawkeye Downs track with the first 3 drivers - Stott, Hutcherson and Chub Liebe of Oelwein - finishing bumper to bumper.

 
Hutcherson jumped to a quick lead and was never headed until a pit stop on the 140th lap gave the lead to Stott. He never lost that lead. "Hutch" was turning lap times of between 26 and 26.05 seconds during his lead.

 
Derr, the defending IMCA champion and current point leader, moved all the way from 5th place at the start of the race up to 2nd at the three-quarter mark, but slipped to 4th again after a pit stop on the 170th lap.

 
After grabbing the lead at 140 laps, Stott stopped to refuel during the 143rd lap but was still in the lead after returning to the track.

 
Even though the race was slowed down for 7 laps by the caution flag, Hutcherson and Stott wheeled their cars to record breaking times.

 
Results -


1. Ramo Stott, Keokuk, Iowa
2. Dick Hutcherson, Keokuk, Iowa
3. Chub Liebe, Oelwein, Iowa
4. Ernie Derr, Keokuk, Iowa
5. Johnny Jones, Russell, Minn.
6. Newt Bartholomew, Carlisle, Iowa
7. Bill Moyer, Des Moines
8. Ron Snow, Red Wing, Minn.
9. Roland Wilson, Omaha, Neb.
10. Vern Carmen, Madrid, Iowa
11. Dick Johnson, St. Paul, Minn.
12. Gerry Harrison, Topeka, Kan.
13. Buzz McCann, St. Paul, Minn.
14. Cal Swanson, Reinbeck, Iowa
15. Jerry Draper, East Moline, Ill.
16. Bob Reynolds, Oklahoma City, Okla.
17. Darrell Bradley, Keokuk, Iowa
18. Milo Van Oudenhoven, Kenosha, Wis.
19. Duane Telle, Minneapolis, Minn.
20. Lenny Funk, Otis, Kan.
21. Don Harvey, Rockford, Ill.
22. Jerry McCredie, Keokuk, Iowa
23. Ole Brua, Albert Lea, Minn.
24. Don Bitner, Peoria, Ill.
25. Paul Burrow, Sycamore, Ill.

Today in Racing History

 

 

May 20, 1973

 

 

 

 

 

Today in Racing History

 

 

May 19, 1991

 

 

 

Today in Racing History

 

 

May 18, 1973

 

 

 

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.