May 25 –
Larry Phillips held off repeated challenges from veteran Willie Crane and
narrowly won the “Commerce 125” late model stock car race at Fairgrounds
Speedway in Springfield, Mo., on Friday night. Phillips powered his 1969
Chevelle to the lead on lap 25 with Crane following right behind. Phillips’ car
proved strong in the straight-aways but Crane’s 1972 Pontiac handled better
through the turns. Crane caught Phillips on several occasions and would pull
even with him but could never muster a pass. Phillips would take the checkers
only a couple of car lengths ahead of Crane. Frankie Davis took third, with
Dean Roper in fourth and Fred Tiede in fifth.
May 25 – Del
McDowell of Ames, Iowa, took the lead on the second lap and went on to win the
20-lap super stock feature at Boone (Iowa) Speedway on Friday night. Arnie
Braland of Boone, Iowa, winner of the last two features, developed clutch
problems early in the main event and was never a factor. Arlo Dorenbush of Boone
would finish second behind McDowell followed by Mike Majors, also of Boone.
Dale DeFrance of Marshalltown, Iowa, would end up in fourth and Larry Jackson
of Des Moines, Iowa, was fifth.
May 25 – Jim
Wyman of Griswold, Iowa, showed the crowd at Shelby County Speedway in Harlan,
Iowa, why he was the defending late model track champion as he took the early
lead in the “A” feature and ran away from the rest of the pack in an easy
victory. Wyman was never seriously challenged by the strong field of
contestants that included second place finisher Jack Golder of Hooper, Neb.,
Paul Zdan and Don Schlondorf, and Ed Janisch, all of Omaha, Neb.
May 25 –
Darrell Dake of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, swept the late model program at Hawkeye
Downs Speedway in Cedar Rapids on Friday night. Dake’s victories came in the
25-lap feature, Australian Pursuit, and first heat. Dake was also the fast
qualifier on the evening, touring the half-mile in 24.84 seconds. Pokey West of
West Chester, Iowa, won the consolation event and other heat wins went to
Verlin Eaker of Cedar Rapids and Ed Sanger of Waterloo, Iowa.
May 25 –
Wayne Huntley of Hastings, Neb., powered his newly built 1969 Camaro to a
feature victory at the Speed Bowl in Red Cloud, Neb., on Friday night. Huntley
swapped the lead with Craig Lockhart of Red Cloud several times before finally
securing the top spot with only a few circuits left. Lockhart would spin in the
final lap allowing Kent Tucker of Aurora, Neb., and Al Humphrey of Giltner,
Neb., to scoot by for second and third place respectively.
May 25 – Ray
Guss of Milan, Ill., took the 25-lap late model feature on a slick and chilly
evening at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport, Iowa. Ron Weedon of
Pleasant Valley, Iowa would take runner-up honors while Mike Niffenegger of
Kalona, Iowa, Irv Janey of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Duane Steffe of Colona,
Ill., would round out the top five.
May 25 –
Denny Hovinga, the popular driver from Laurens, Iowa, almost made a clean sweep
of the late model program at the Kossuth Speedway in Algona, Iowa, on Friday
night. Hovinga won the trophy dash,
first heat and 25-lap feature. Bob Lewerke of Britt, Iowa, was fast qualifier
on the evening, clocking in 19.27 seconds. Bob Shryock of Estherville, Iowa,
would finish second to Hovinga in the main event followed by Russ Trulson of
Britt, Bruce Sommerfeld of Fort Dodge, Iowa, and Jack Piper of Mason City,
Iowa.
May 26 –
Dick Gaines of Floyd Knobs, Ind., would win the rain-shortened “Little 500” at
Sun Valley Speedway in Anderson, Ind., on Saturday night. Gaines would take the
back seat to Jerry Richer of Forest Lake, Minn., in the beginning stages of the
long-distance contest but would grab the lead on lap 11 and never relinquish
for the remainder of the race, which was halted on lap 282 due to heavy rains.
Bobby Black, who finished second, was four laps behind the winner. Gaines’
earnings were approximately $6,000 including the first place money of $4,000 in
silver dollars and lap money.
May 26 –
Lyle Nabbefeldt of Nekoosa, Wis., was killed Saturday evening during time
trials at Dell Motor Speedway in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. Nabbefeldt was the 22nd
car to qualify and was his first run for the night. He hit the wall head on in
turn one, with the car climbing the wall and taking out the fence. Jim Back of
Vesper, Wis., would set a new track record of 14.411 seconds and Dick Trickle
of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., would win the feature later that evening.
May 26 – The
Bureau County Fairgrounds in Princeton, Ill., opened their gates to the UARA
midgets for the first “full-sized” midget show to be seen on the half-mile flat
dirt circuit. Newt White of Lockport Ill., driving the George Holterman Chevy,
would win the 25-lap feature after battling John Tenney of Battle Creek, Mich.,
for much of the race. Danny Frye Jr. of St. Louis, Mo., would take third
followed by fast qualifier Rich Vogler of Glen Ellyn, Ill., and Elton Porter of
Houston, Tex.
May 28 – Ron
Carlson of Duluth, Minn., captured the 20-lap sprint car main event, edging out
Cliff Kwadahl, also of Duluth, by only a few feet in Midwest Sprintcar
Association (MSA) action in Brainerd, Minn., on Monday night. Bill Dollansky of
Princeton, Minn., led the first 16 laps before spinning out and having to
restart at the rear of the pack. Dick Kelly of St. Paul would claim third
followed by Dennis Olson of Graham Minn., and Don Mack of East Grand Forks,
Minn. Polesitter John Stevenson of St. Paul, Minn., flipped his racer on the
first lap but escaped unharmed.
May 28 – Joe
Shear of South Beloit, Ill., made it three wins in a row, as he drove his ’73
Camaro to the Memorial Day 50-lap championship at Rockford (Ill.) Speedway.
Shear, who started 18th in the 28-car field, methodically made his
way to the front of the field, finally getting around race leader Dave Watson
of Beloit, Wis., on backstretch of the final lap. Watson would settle for
second while Lee Schuler of Lockport, Ill., would finish third. Bob Anzinger of
McHenry, Ill., would take fourth and Vaughn Gerke of South Beloit, Ill.,
grabbed fifth.
May 28 – The
North Iowa Speedway in Mason City, Iowa, was the only track in the area not
postponed by rain so all of the top drivers from northern Iowa and southern
Minnesota showed up to do battle for the Memorial Day special. When the dust
cleared, it was Tom Bartholomew, a 22-year-old upstart from Waterloo, Iowa, who
took home the first place money. It was Bartholomew’s first trip to the North
Iowa facility and only his second career late model victory. He took the lead
from Wendell Kuehn of Rochester, Minn., on lap 3 of the main event and then
fought off the challenges of Dave Bjorge of Austin, Minn., and Willie
Richardson of Hayfield, Minn., for the remainder of the 25-lap contest.
May 29 –
Karl Sanger of Waterloo, Iowa, bested his brother Ed Sanger, also of Waterloo,
in the late model feature and trophy dash on Tuesday night. Jack Mitchell of
Cedar Falls, Iowa, would finish third in the feature after winning the second
heat. Bill Barthelmes of Troy Mills, Iowa, the third heat winner, would finish
fourth in the feature followed by Red Dralle of Evansdale, Iowa.
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