1977 – Steffe Snares West Liberty Spring Championship

Duane Steffe receives the Spring Championship trophy from Pamela Ervin after winning the 25-lap late model feature. Starter Ed Otten presents the checkered flag. - Earl Schwartz Photo

West Liberty, Iowa (April 16, 1977) – An all-time record crowd of 9,000 race fans saw stock car racing at its best at the Spring Championship opener at the West Liberty Fairgrounds.

With ideal weather, a track that was in excellent shape, and 81 drivers on hand, all eager for their share of the $5,000 plus purse, the evening was jam-packed with action and excitement.

Drivers from all over Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Canada made the call for the season opener. But it was Duane Steffe of Colona, Ill, who took home the big money by winning the 25-lap late model feature.

Heading the list of thrills was seeing the track record broke, not just once, but four times, during qualifying. Three drivers broke the record of 24.21 seconds set by Curt Hansen of Dike, Iowa, in 1975. 

Ken Walton of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, lowered Hansen’s time twice, and now holds the new track record at West Liberty. He toured the half mile in 23.90 seconds in his first lap and then bettered his mark the second time around, in 23.69 seconds. Also breaking the record was Ray Guss Jr. of Milan, Ill., who timed in at 23.98 seconds and Tom Hearst of Wilton, Iowa, with a time of 24.11 seconds.

Steffe has been a regular racing contender at West Liberty for several seasons. Last season he finished third in points. He would start the feature on the outside of the first row and take the lead on the first lap. He would successfully hold off charges from polesitter Gary Webb of Davenport, Iowa and Steve Keppler of Marion, Iowa, who were both on his heels in the early laps.

After several laps, Ray Guss and Tom Hearst would move into the third and fourth spots, joining the battle for the lead. Doing superb driving in only his second time out in his new Camaro, Steffe held off his challengers and kept the lead throughout.

Ken Walton’s new Camaro, in its premier appearance, became overheated towards the end of the race and he would lose several positions before the checkered flag waved. Mike Niffenegger of Kalona, Iowa, the 1976 point leader, didn’t finish at the front of the pack, as he was having mechanical issues as well with his new Camaro.

Late model heat winners were Jim Burbridge of Delhi, Iowa, Bill Zwanziger of Waterloo, Iowa, Ron Hemsted of Lone Tree, Iowa, Gary Crawford of Independence, Iowa and Don Hoffman of Des Moines. Hemsted also won the consolation.


Results –

Fast time – Ken Walton, Cedar Rapids (23.69)
Heat #1 – Jim Burbridge, Delhi
Heat #2 – Bill Zwanziger, Waterloo
Heat #3 – Ron Hemsted, Lone Tree
Heat #4 – Gary Crawford, Independence
Heat #5 – Don Hoffman, Des Moines
Consolation – Ron Hemsted
Feature –
1. Duane Steffe, Colona, Ill.
2. Steve Keppler, Marion
3. Ray Guss, Milan, Ill.
4. Tom Hearst, Wilton
5. Ron Weedon, Pleasant Valley
6. Bill Zwanziger
7. Ed Sanger, Waterloo
8. Tom Bartholomew, Waterloo
9. Ed Mellecker, Iowa City
10. Red Dralle, Waterloo

1984 - Green Roars to Victory at I-70

Tim Green

Odessa, Mo. (April 15, 1984) — Race fans at I-70 Speedway knew that Sunday’s World of Outlaws sprint car feature was not going to be just another 30-lap race when “The Wolf,” Doug Wolfgang, Sioux Falls, S.D., rolled his sprinter in turn three before he even crossed the starting line. One hour and 19 minutes later, Tim Green, Sacramento, Ca., had his first World of Outlaws victory since 1980, and a check for $6,000.

Brad Doty, Orrville, Ohio, jumped into the lead on the first lap followed by Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Ind., Ron Shuman, Mesa, Ariz., and Green. The yellow flag came out on lap 12 as Sammy Swindell, Bartlett, Tenn., spun in turn one.

On the restart, Swindell spun again, this time in turn three. As Swindell was spinning he was clipped by Linus Mack, East Grand Forks, Minn., who did a series of barrel rolls.

As the cars were lining up for the restart the rains came. After the rain delay, the sprinters returned to the track with Green passing Doty on the restart. On lap 18, Kinser got around Doty for second and set his sights on Green.

Kinser caught Green in traffic on lap 25 and moved into first Green who was running with no brakes the last six laps of the race, had to back off in traffic. Lapped traffic behind them, Green went back into first place on the next lap.

“Once I got by the lapped cars, I knew I had it won,” said Green. But it wasn’t over yet. Bobby Davis Jr., Memphis, Tenn., blew a right rear tire coming out of turn four, doing a series of flips along the front straight away wall. The red flag brought the race to a halt setting up a two-lap trophy dash to the finish. The dash was all Green’s as he was pulling away from Kinser as the checkered flag fell.

Rounding out the top five were Doty, Shuman, and Rocky Hodges, Des Moines, Iowa. Rick Ungar, Memphis, Tenn., won the B-feature with the heat races going to Hodges, Sammy Swindell, Jeff Swindell (driving the B&E Electric Sprinter from Clinton, Iowa), and Mike Peters, Wichita, Kan.

Green edged out Sammy Swindell for fast time with a clocking of 16.64 seconds compared to 16.65 for Swindell.


Results –


1. Tim Green
2. Steve Kinser
3. Brad Doty
4. Ron Shuman
5. Rocky Hodges
6. Randy Wolfe
7. Mark Kinser
8. Danny Smith
9. Lee Osborne
10. Rick Unger
11. Mike Peters
12. Terry Gray
13. T.J. Giddings
14. Bobby Davis Jr.
15. Jeff Swindell
16. Sammy Swindell
17. Greg Wooley
18. Todd Bishop
19. Linus Mack
20. Tim Gee
21. Bobby Allen
22. Doug Wolfgang

1970 – Blundy Is Tri-County Ace

Jerry Blundy

West Chester, Ohio (April 4, 1970) – Jerry Blundy took advantage of a yellow flag with 10 lap to go to power past Don Hewitt on the restart and capture the 40-lap International Motor Contest Association sprint car race on a chilly Saturday afternoon at Tri-County Speedway.

The first-ever appearance of the IMCA sprint cars on the half-mile dirt track also saw records fall for every distance race except the yellow flag slowed feature. New 1-lap, 5-lap and 10-lap marks were established.

Blundy, of Galesburg, Ill., started fifth in the 20-car field that had been narrowed down from the 35 entrants, and he was only fifth when an accident on lap 30 dropped back the three cars immediately ahead of him and provided him a golden opportunity.

Blundy took advantage of his chance, shooting past Hewitt, the pacesetter for 30 laps, as the green flag restarted the action. From there, Blundy stretched his advantage, taking the checkered flag with a healthy margin over Dick Gaines. Bill Utz, who ran consistently up front, finished third.

Darl Harrison, the 1969 IMCA national champion, moved extremely well in the feature after poor qualifying runs, and he was battling Butch Wilkerson for second when Wilkerson spun on lap 30. Wilkerson would collect Harrison and Jay Woodside with him in the spinout.

Only Harrison was able to restart the event, and with 10 laps remaining, he pulled back up through the field to finish fourth, nipping Hewitt for that spot on the final lap.

Hewitt, the surprise early leader, ran a fine race for the first 30 laps as he repulsed successive challenges from Wilkerson, Jan Opperman, Dick Sutcliffe, Jay Woodside and Wilkerson again. He would slow noticeably in the final 10 circuits, however, and drop to fifth.

Sutcliffe, the fast qualifier at 20.03 seconds, which was a new IMCA record for a half-mile dirt track, had maneuvered to second place and seemed to be well on his way to passing Hewitt when he spun out and was forced to retire on lap 17.

Jan Opperman, who was holding a strong third throughout the early stages of the race, also saw his chances go out when he spun a lap later.

Chuck Lynch, Benny Rapp, Rick Ferkel, Luke Easter and Bobby Sitz rounded out the top-10 finishers.

Results –

Time trials – Dick Sutcliffe (20.03)

Heat #1 – Eddie Leavitt

Heat #2 – J.D. Leas

Heat #3 – Darl Harrison

Consolation – Don Mack

Feature –

1.    Jerry Blundy

2.    Dick Gaines

3.    Bill Utz

4.    Darl Harrison

5.    Don Hewitt

6.    Chuck Lynch

7.    Benny Rapp

8.    Rick Ferkel

9.    Luke Easter

10.  Bobby Sitz

11.  Ron Perkins

12.  Buzz Rose

1957 - Thomson Sweeps Reading, Set Two New Records

Reading, Penn. (March 31, 1957) – Sunday's USAC-sanctioned Eastern Inaugural Sweepstakes at the Reading Fairgrounds proved to be a happy event.

Not only for the Russ Moyer, the promoter, who was blessed with sunny weather and an estimated 7,500 spectators,  but to Johnny Thomson who snapped two existing records and pocketed $1,456. The prize money was the greatest ever presented to a sprint car winner on a half-mile track in Eastern Pennsylvania.

Thomson, who now makes his home in Boyertown, R.I., topped the field in the 30-lap feature and set records in time trials and the 10-lap qualifying event.

His 23.94 second mark in qualifying erased the standard of 23.95 seconds set by Jud Larson of Kansas City, Mo., last October while the old 10-lap mark of 4 minutes and 16 seconds set by Jiggs Peters of Plainfield, N.J., in October of 1954, was bettered by Thomson in the first heat.

Thomson, who won the Reading farewell last October, had everything going his way in the feature after shaking Oley’s Tommy Hinnershitz early in the race.

A minor collision on the third lap, involving several drivers including Bob Tattersall and Jim Packard, forced the field to an Indian style restart.

At this point, Thomson pulled ahead of Hinnershitz and was never again threatened. Hinnershitz stayed in the race for eight more laps until he was forced to the pits with a faulty spark plug.

Following Thomson across the finish line was Don Branson of Champaign, Ill., Charlie Musselman of Collegeville, Pa., Jiggs Peters, Ernie McCoy of Reading, Elmer George of Indianapolis, Ind., and Bob Cleburg, also of Indianapolis.

Results –

1. Johnny Thomson

2. Don Branson

3. Charlie Musselman

4. Jiggs Peters

5. Ernie McCoy

6. Elmer George

7. Bob Cleburg

8. Bill Randall

9. Eddie Sachs

10. Len Duncan 

The Deery Brothers Late Models Invade Knoxville

Omaha's Steve Kosiski would be the very first Deery Brothers Summer Series winner at the famed Knoxville Raceway. Flagman Ron Dykstra joins the winner in victory lane. - Brendan Sanders Photo

by Lee Ackerman

Knoxville, Iowa - The IMCA Deery Brothers Late Model Series invaded the legendary Knoxville Raceway starting in 1994 for what would be the first of four annual September visits to the famed half mile.

The first of these was held on September 10, 1994, with the running of the “Western Auto Shootout.”  A large field of cars showed up for the event requiring five heats to be ran. Heat race winners were; Todd Cooney, Don Hoffman, Darrell DeFrance, Gary Webb and Kurt Stewart. The B features went to Craig Jacobs and Steve Hennies.

The 26-car, 40-lap feature found Todd Cooney jumping to the head of the pack and leading for six laps before being passed on lap seven by Joe Kosiski. Kosiski would hold the lead for a dozen laps but Gary Webb was closing and after passing Cooney for second, he ran down Kosiski and dove under Kosiski for the lead coming off turn four after a restart.

At the halfway mark Steve Kosiski moved by Joe and into the runner-up spot. Steve Kosiski then started running down Webb despite being slowed at times because of lap traffic. The front runners set a torrid pace, but as the two (Webb and Steve Kosiski) exited turn four to take the white flag, Webb running the low groove started fishtailing and lost some momentum. That was all Kosiski needed as he drove to the high side and went on to take the checkers and a check for $1,500. Webb would finish second, Joe Kosiski third, Hennies fourth and Kevin Cale fifth.

The Deery Brothers returned to Knoxville on September 9, 1995 for the “Housby Trucks Classic.” Again, five heats were contested with wins going to; Boone McLaughlin, Darin Burco, Terry Ryan, Jeff French and Doug Hopkins. The B feature wins went to Todd Cooney and Steve Kosiski.

The feature would turn out to be a battle of cars that had started deep in the field having qualified through the B features. Gary Webb had taken the lead but 16th starting Steve Kosiski had patiently worked his way up through the field and after a caution flag on lap 18, Kosiski was in second and mounting a charge on Webb. The two hot shoes battled side by side for several laps before Kosiski took the lead on lap 26.

Webb hung right with Kosiski battling to get the top spot back until he was passed on lap 33 by Jeff Aikey, who had also come out of the B, having finished second to Kosiski in the second B. Aikey then set his sights on Kosiski and the two fought it out for several laps before Aikey took the point on lap 37. Aikey would hold on to win by 20 yards over Rick Wendling, who like Aikey and Kosiski had came out of the B. Steve Kosiski, Gary Webb and Todd Cooney rounded out the top five.

On September 7, 1996, 43 cars would sign in for the Deery Brothers event at Knoxville. The program would be delayed several times by rain showers and would run quite late but in the end, there was no doubt that Jeff Aikey would become a back-to-back winner at the famed half mile.

The defending race champion got the lead early and despite a number of cautions was never seriously challenged, although Gary Webb tried his best through the first half of the 40-lap event. At the half way mark, Webb would roll to a stop on the backstretch with a flat tire. Brian Birkhofer assumed the runner-up spot but was never able to mount a serious challenge to the fleeting Aikey.

With just three laps to go, the yellow waved again, but Aikey was not to be denied and he went on to win at Knoxville for the second year in a row. Birkhofer would finish second, Tommy Elston, Terry Schlipman and Craig Jacobs would round out the top five.

On September 6, 1997 the series returned to Knoxville for their last visit until 2009. Finally, it was veteran Gary Webb’s turn to visit victory lane. Veteran Ron Jackson would grab the lead at the start of the event and lead and led for several laps before Kevin Pittman used the low groove in turn 3 and 4 to take the point.

On lap 14 Deery Brothers series point leader Harry Walker spun exiting turn four and brought out the caution. Two laps latter and Webb would takeover the second spot from Jackson. At lap 21 the yellow waved again. On the restart Webb went to the high side and made the pass of Pittman for the lead. After battling side by side for a few laps, Webb began to pull away and at the checkers held an eight-car length advantage over Pittman. Sonny Smyser, Tom Hearst and Dean Wagner rounded out the top five.

Heats went to Ron Gustaf, Darrell DeFrance, Tom Hearst and Boon McLaughlin. The B’s were won by Doug Hopkins and Greg Kastli.

It would be nearly 12 years before the Deery Brothers returned to Knoxville on July 8, 2009 for what has become an annual visit. In 2009 it was Tommy Elston picking up the win, 2010 would see Ray Guss, Jr. take the checkers and in 2011 it was Nate Beuesling winning the event.

Sal Tovella (1928 - 2019)

 

 

Chicagoland stock car driver Sal Tovella, who made a name for himself on both the local and national racing scenes, passed away on Sunday , March 10 at the age of 90.

A product of Chicago’s north side, Tovella began racing stock cars at Soldier Field around 1950 with Andy Granatelli’s Hurricane Hot Rod Racing Ass’n supervising the racing action which was sometimes staged to provide more thrills. A deliberate crash or, better yet, a rollover provided fans their monies worth.

Tovella scored his first feature race victory at mammoth Chicago arena on June 21, 1952.  Tovella and his battered ’49 Ford won the 25 lapper before a reported crowd of 18,846. 

A regular at Soldier Field for many years, Tovella, who even drove an Edsel for a time, captured the track’s late model stock car championship in 1963 after a season-long battle with rival Bob Chapman.  A double-points 100-lap victory on June 29, 1963 helped push Tovella and his ’63 Chevy II to the championship.  Tovella had the distinction of winning the last stock car feature race ever held at Soldier Field, scoring the win on June 9, 1968.

Tovella was a long time competitor on the old United States Auto Club (USAC) stock car circuit.  Tovella was USAC’s rookie-of-the-year in 1963, although he made his first USAC start in 1957.  Tovella garnered his first USAC stock car victory on July 30, 1966 at the Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario.  Tovella piloted his ’65 Plymouth to the win in the second 50-lap heat on the 2.5 mile road course, defeating Billy Foster and Roger Regeth.

One of his most memorable victories was his first USAC win at the famed Milwaukee Mile on Aug. 10, 1975.  Behind the wheel of his ’72 Plymouth, prepared by his brother Fred, Tovella took the checkered flag in the 200-miler ahead of Ramo Stott, Roger McCluskey, Butch Hartman and Larry Moore. During his career, Tovella posted a total of six USAC stock car victories, his last coming in 1980 on the one-mile dirt track at DuQuoin, Ill.

From time to time, Tovella would also try his luck in NASCAR Grand National (today’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) competition.  Tovella would compete in 14 NASCAR events during his career, dating back to 1956.  Tovella finished 16th in the NASCAR Grand National event held at Soldier Field on July 21, 1956, Fireball Roberts was the winner with Tovella and his ’56 Ford dropping out with brake problems.   Tovella would race in the Daytona 500 five straight years from 1960 through 1964 with a 14th place finish in 1961 in a ’61 Ford being his best Daytona effort.
Tovella had been in the used car business for most of his life operating his car lot – Sal’s Auto Sales for years on Chicago’s Milwaukee Avenue and later in Elmhurst, Ill.

Race fan, writer and historian, John Carollo once wrote, “Sal’s race shop was not at his infamous used car lot on Milwaukee Avenue. It was a few blocks away and in one of the more, shall we say, ‘active’ neighborhoods in the city. I knew the area. My cousin Mike lived nearby and I all but lived there. The neighborhood around Sal’s shop was one where you could fire up a 750 horse Hemi with no mufflers at any hour of the day or night and not bother anyone. It’s not that the shop was out in the sticks; quite the opposite. It was deep in the city, about a block or two from Western Avenue.”
After his driving career was over, Tovella founded the International Racing Association, a sanctioning body for USAC/ARCA-style cars that ran a full schedule of races from 1982 through 1985.

A resident of Addison, Ill., Tovella was inducted into the Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2012.

The 1962 IMCA Winter National Sprints

 

 

By Kyle Ealy

Tampa, Fla. – Four days of racing would be in store at the Florida State Fairgrounds’ half-mile, Plant Field, February 7-17.

A split-decision in the pits and the absence of a cigar-chewing veteran would play a key role in the season opener on February 7 as the IMCA sprint cars kicked off the 1962 campaign before a chilly crowd of 5,200.

The wrong selection of tires by Pete Folse, a Tampa resident, allowed the hard-charging Jerry Richert of Forest Lake, Minn., to cop the main event. Richert would win the 20-lap feature on the white flag lap, nosing out Johnny White of Warren, Mich. Johnny Rutherford of Fort Worth, Tex., driving the Beatson Special, took third and Folse, driving the legendary Honore Deuce, finished fourth.

Despite the finish, Folse was still able to crack a “wait until next time” grin afterwards. “I couldn’t get enough bite on the track,” was his explanation.

Folse had won his heat and the trophy dash that afternoon, both in high fashion, using knobby tires. He had found a cushion on the high side of the track and had been riding the groove the whole way in both races. “And that’s the way I had planned to run the feature,” he said.

Richert had other plans, though…

“I was using I.V. slicks and decided to keep to the inside groove the whole way,” he said. I sort of felt Pete couldn’t keep to the cushion the whole time, the track changes too much after every race.”

Richert proved to be correct as early on Folse stayed with the lead pack but at the halfway point, the groove on the high side disappeared and Folse was forced to move to the low side of the track and spend the remainder of the race blocking cars just so he could maintain his fourth position.

“Well, we ran the right race for half the distance,” he remarked. Only problem was, it was the wrong half.”

Despite the fact that the majority of drivers agreed that it was one of the strongest fields in recent Winter Nationals memory, there was definitely something missing. Emmett “Buzz” Barton of Tampa, had decided to retire from racing at the end of 1961 and his absence was felt. Barton and Folse had put on some memorable races at the fairgrounds the last three seasons.

The crowd was brought to their feet twice with nerve-shattering flips.

Ernie Borelli, a 23-year-old driver from Brooklyn, N.Y., climbed his Chevy up the north wall, knocking out several panels. He was pulled from the wreckage undaunted, unfazed and unhurt.

The second flip involved a special four-wheel drive engine piloted by none other than the oldest active driver in the field, “The Kentucky Colonel”, 53-year-old Bert Hellmueller of Louisville.

Hellmueller also wowed the fans with his own version of wall climbing, this time on the south wall. His Ranger Special #48 slammed the retaining wall, flipped twice, and coughed up the veteran, spilling him on the center of the track. His safety harness had snapped, and he was in danger of getting hit by traffic.

It was then that oncoming Ed Terry of Plainfield, N.J., spared Hellmueller’s life. “I saw a body flipping in the air, so I intentionally spun my car, so everyone would avoid hitting him…and I’d do it again.”

Thirty-five cars timed in with Herschel Wagner fastest at 26.35 seconds. Heat winners were Mickey Shaw of Berea, Ohio, Peete Folse, and Dick Hope of Tampa. Folse won the match race while Richert won the consolation.

 

 

A 42-year-old grandfather would be the class of the field on Saturday, February 10. Herschel Wagner combined the skill of a veteran with the spirit of a rookie to win the 25-lap feature in record time.

A record crowd of 10,664 watched the Hickman Hills, Mo., driver break a five-year-old track record with his new time of 11 minutes and 45 seconds. The previous record had been held by Bobby Grim, who set the record in February of 1957, a time of 11 minutes and 50 seconds.

Wagner found the groove high on the outside and proceeded to paint the concrete retaining wall and top board fence with hundreds of pounds of dirt thrown from his digging tires. He passed all but two of the 16 drivers in the field before starter Johnny Hicks gave him the checkered flag.

After the race, Wagner commented that the deep digging knobbies made all the difference. “I decided to stick with the knobbies no matter what. The last time (Wednesday) I did it, I lost out.”

While Wagner was way out front, two Midwestern drivers staged another wheel-to-wheel battle. Much like Wednesday’s show, Jerry Richert, and runner-up Johnny White, were bumping and grinding on each other. This time, however, White, driving the Chet Wilson #71 Offy, would get the best of Richert, piloting the McDonald #63 Offy.

Pete Folse was dogged again by mis-fortune. He burned a piston in the second heat and never fully recovered, missing the main event.

Heat races were won by Mickey Shaw, Arnie Knepper of Belleville, Ill., and Al Logan of Los Angeles, Calif. Bud Sterrett of Los Angeles, driving the other Chet Wilson Offy, won not only the 5-lap match race but the 10-lap consolation as well.

You can’t keep a good man down and everyone knew, sooner or later, that Pete Folse would get his licks in.

Before a crowd of 5,500, the three-time IMCA national champ took Johnny Hick’s green flag and ran away from the field, leading all 20 laps on Wednesday, February 14. Saturday’s winner, Herschel Wagner, lined up behind Folse and followed in the winner’s shadow the whole distance. The time of the race was 9 minutes and 27 seconds.

Folse had several things going for him after two dreadful showings the previous outings. He geared low for a quicker getaway and he had a pair of dragster tires with a special tread on the rear wheels.

The wide tires provided enough traction in the turns and straightaways to keep Wagner from mounting a challenge. For his part, Wagner seemed satisfied to hang back and keep his second-place position on the track.

The battle of the feature was behind the two frontrunners, Johnny White and Dick Hope. Hope started 12th and had dodged, slipped and slid his way to the fourth spot. He pulled up on White and for the final three circuits, and then waged a nerve-wracking wheel-to-wheel duel right down to the checkered flag.  At the end, White was in front by mere inches.

Arnie Knepper, Folse, and Ed Terry won heat races on Wednesday. Bud Sterrett won the 5-lap match race and Wagner took the 10-lap consolation.

Folse would close out the ’62 Winter Nationals with another feature victory on February 17. The win would clinch the Florida State Championship and send Folse north with the point’s lead in his quest for a fourth IMCA national title.

Folse would win despite some anxious moments in the closing laps as Johnny Rutherford was gaining on the leader. According to Folse after the race, he heard a car behind him, but thought it was a lapped car. When Rutherford got close enough for Folse to see who it was, “Pistol” Pete stomped the gas pedal to the floor and took the Honore Offy to the cushion to widen his margin.

Folse would win comfortably with Rutherford, Art Knepper, Herschel Wagner and Dick Hope following.

Knepper, Hope and Wagner won heat races, Richert won the 5-lap match race and Johnny White won the 10-lap consolation.

Despite the point lead, Folse would not successfully defend his title. In a see-saw battle that would come down the last race of the season, Johnny White would be crowned the new IMCA sprint car king at the end of the 1962 season.