This week in history

1991 - In one of the most grueling and unusual Gopher 50's to date, Rick Egersdorf topped the 12th annual edition before a full house at the Steele County Fairgrounds in Owatonna on Wednesday, July 9th. The winner was decided not on the track, but on the scales of the UMP Summer Series event. In a race that saw numerous lead changes and multiple cautions, it was the "Southern Gentleman" Freddy Smith who took the checkers only to come up 42 pounds short on the scale giving runner-up Egersdorf the victory and the check for $4,000. Only eight of the 28 starters were on the track at the finish.

1985 - Dan Boorse of Glendale, Wis., made a daring last lap move to pass Ken Schrader and win the 31-lap (50-kilometer) Badger Midget Auto Racing Association feature at the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wis., on Saturday afternoon, July 7. Schrader, of Fenton, Mo., who eclipsed Stan Fox's midget qualification record by touring the mile at 113.482 miles per hour, grabbed the lead on the 28th lap, ahead of Boorse and Steve Lotshaw of Indianapolis. Two laps later, though, Boorse came around Schrader on the white flag lap and beat both Schrader and Lotshaw by less than a second to collect his second Badger victory of the season.

Larry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., was a frequent winner at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo., during his career.

1974 - Despite having the flu, Larry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., topped some of the best late model drivers in the Midwest, driving his 1973 Chevy Camaro to victory in the Firecracker 100 at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo., on Saturday afternoon, July 6th. From his starting spot on the seventh row, Phillips moved quickly through the pack, which was led in turn by Jack Constable of Princeton, Mo., and then Joe Wallace of Peyton, Colo. Phillips pulled into the lead on lap 43 and then withstood several challenges from Wallace to take the victory. Wallace, Terry Brumley of Springfield, Constable and Ferris Collier of Lampe, Mo., rounded out the top five.

1968 - Ernie Derr, the masterful Keokuk, Iowa charger, drove to an impressive victory in the Iowa 300 at the State Fairgrounds in Des Moines on Saturday, July 7th. Before 12,300 spectators, Derr took the lead on lap 244 when Ramo Stott looped his 1968 Plymouth. In a race that saw nine lead changes, Derr set a new IMCA record for 300 laps, finishing the race in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 27.61 seconds, a full six minutes under the old mark. Verlin Eaker of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Stott of Keokuk, Ole Brua of Albert Lea, Minn. and Freddie Whisler of Shreveport, La., rounded out the top five.