July 18 – The Pepsi-Mountain Dew Special at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, is becoming a Ken Walton benefit. Walton, who won the race in 1978, repeated that win on Wednesday before a packed grandstand of race-goers – and he did it in grand fashion. Starting in the fifth spot on the grid, The Viola, Iowa, hot shoe moved rapidly to the front, passing Bill Zwanziger of Waterloo, Iowa, on lap 12, never to be headed again for the final 36 circuits. Zwanziger held on to the second spot and Dick Schiltz of Waterloo, Iowa finished third, passing Gary Crawford of Independence, Iowa in the final five laps. Crawford and Denny Osborn of Cedar Falls, Iowa, rounded out the top five finishers.
July 19 –
North Dakota speedways have been very kind to Des Moines, Iowa, standout Don
Hoffman. The opening night of the North Dakota State Fair Championships was no
exception. Hoffman, who won a 100-lapper in West Fargo, N.D., in June, survived
two caution flags and a like number of red flags before winning the 50-lap
feature over the best field of cars to ever appear at the Fairgrounds Speedway.
The triumph, which netted Hoffman $2,000, was not an easy one, despite the fact
that he had a rather comfortable lead over runner-up Clayton Petersen of Grand
Island, Neb., at the finish. Hoffman, who started ninth in the 31-car field,
had to work his way through traffic before collecting the lead on lap 37 when
pacesetter Leon Plank of Mondovi, Wis., slowed with mechanical problems.
Following Hoffman and Petersen to the line was Tom Nesbitt of Thunder Bay,
Ontario, Jim Bruggeman of White Bear Lake, Minn., and Steve Egersdorf of St.
Paul, Minn.
July 20 –
Jim Buhman of Bettendorf, Iowa, was surprised but delighted when he was
presented the checkered flag for winning the 35-lap mid-season championship for
the limited late model division at Hawkeye Raceway in Blue Grass, Iowa, on
Friday night. Point leader Larry Armstrong of Moline, Ill., led the entire
race, but got tangled with Denny Stewart of Davenport, Iowa, who was second,
Jim Gerber of Long Grove, Iowa, who was third, before crossing the finish line.
Buhman cleared the three-car fracas and took the checkers first before a
stunned crowd.
July 20 –
Larry Wasserfort of Waterloo, Iowa, grabbed his first feature Boone (Iowa)
Speedway feature win of the season on Friday night. Wasserfort took over the
lead on lap 8 from Steve Shannon of Norwalk, Iowa, and held it the rest of the
way to the checkers. Des Moines’ Bill Davis put the pressure on Wasserfort
along with Arnie Braland of Boone for several laps but Davis’ car developed
mechanical issues towards the end of the race and Braland’s ride lost its power
steering and he barely managed to hold on to the runner-up position over Dan
Nesteby of Waterloo, Iowa. Bill Rice of Des Moines took fourth while Shannon
settled for fifth.
July 20 – A
day that included a flight from North Dakota to Minneapolis and then a car ride
from Minneapolis to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, paid off for three Iowa late model
drivers at Hawkeye Downs Speedway on Friday night. The three – Verlin Eaker of
Mechanicsville, Ed Sanger of Waterloo, and Gary Crawford of Independence – had
driven in the first of three programs at Minot, N.D., on Thursday night. The rain-delayed “Winston 50” late model
special attracted a great field of cars, including the three weary travelers who
were driving borrowed cars. Verlin Eaker, the winner, drove a Camaro normally
powered by R.J. Bruggeman of Dubuque, Iowa. Crawford, who finished fourth,
drove the car piloted regularly by A.E. Mayner of Winthrop, Iowa. Sanger, who
was scored in sixth, wheeled the Camaro of Tom Bartholomew of Waterloo.
July 21 –
Waterloo, Iowa’s Mike Krall started the day with no engine in his IMCA modified
and Dick Covington of Vinton, Iowa, ended it with no front tires or rims, but
both won feature events at Vinton (Iowa) Speedway on Saturday night. Krall’s
first engine in his Vega modified was claimed for $300 under the rules
following Thursday’s event at the annual Benton County Fair. The new engine
sputtered and coughed its way through the heat event, which ended when Krall
lost his drive shaft. Not outdone by adversity, he came back in the feature to
wrap up his second consecutive checkered flag of the season. Covington, who had
earlier won his heat race, was leading the feature event by a sizeable margin
over Steve Hendryx of Mount Auburn, Iowa, when his tires and rims came off the
car on the last lap. Keeping control of the car, despite having only rear
tires, Covington limped towards the finish line with Hendryx closing quickly.
July 21 -
The young redhead from Clarence Hills, Ill., Art “Fireball” Fehrman, scored and
impressive victory in the special 50-lap DeKalb County Championship for super
late models at Sycamore (Ill.) Speedway on Saturday night. Fehrman took the
lead from Roy Jelinek of Carpentersville, Ill., on lap 8 and was never headed
after that. The real battle was for second place with defending track champion
Larry Mosher of Belvedere, Ill., and John Engelkens of Morrison, Ill., dueling
for the latter part of the race before Engelkens prevailed.
July 21 – An
accident at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway on Saturday night claimed the life of a
race car driver – the third this month – and injured two track officials. Dick
Stoneking of Oquawka, Ill., was killed when his sprint car flipped on the front
straightaway during the B-main and crashed into the flag stand. Flagman Gary
Johnson of Colfax, Iowa, and his assistant, Steve Koons of Knoxville, were
injured when the impact to the stand threw them onto the track. Neither was run
over and both were taken to Collins Memorial Hospital where they were listed in
good condition. The accident occurred when Stoneking, running at the back of
the pack while coming around the curve to complete the second lap, went out of
control and began flipping down the front stretch. His car began climbing the
track fence and crashed into the flag stand.
Stoneking, 26, had been racing for six years and the last two years had
been a regular at the Knoxville half-mile. He was pronounced dead at Collins
Memorial.
July 22 –
Tom Bartholomew of Waterloo, Iowa, became the fifth double late model winner of
the season at Tunis Speedway in Waterloo on Sunday evening as he drove to a
convincing victory in the 25-lap feature. Bartholomew made the early portions
of the race a runaway, claiming the lead by the end of the first lap and
building that margin up by more than a straightaway when the red flag came out
on lap 15. Bartholomew rebuilt that lead of several car lengths before the
checkered flag waved. The real battle in the late model main was for second
place, with Dan Nesteby of Waterloo prevailing in a dogfight with Tom
Fitzpatrick of Gilbertville, Iowa. In other action, Larry Schmidt of New
Hampton, Iowa, won the sportsman feature while Vern Jackson of Waterloo took
honors in the roadrunner feature.
July 22 – It
took the better part of the year, but Darrell Zweifel of Rochester, Minn.,
finally won his first late model feature in front of a record crowd at Dodge County
Speedway in Kasson, Minn., on Sunday. Zweifel led the last 10 circuits after
battling John Foegen of Winona, Minn., throughout the 25-lap contest. Bob Saterdalen of
Oronoco, Minn., took third, followed by Bob Lawrence of St. Paul and Lance
Matthees of Winona.
July 22 –
Pulling a maneuver few thought possible, Gary Crawford of Independence, Iowa,
shot past Ed Sanger of Waterloo, Iowa, in the 50-lap feature event to capture the
main event as well as the North Dakota State Fair Championship in Minot,. N.D.
Crawford passed Sanger on the outside coming out of turn four to take the top
spot on lap 45 and cruised to victory, his second in as many nights, to claim
the overall title by 22 points over Sanger and Don Hoffman, Thursday night’s
winner. Verlin Eaker, the 44-year-old chauffeur from Mechanicsville, Iowa,
finished fourth in the run for the fair crown followed by 23-year-old Jim
Bruggeman of White Bear Lake, Minn.
July 23 –
Veteran pilot Bill Utz of Sedalia, Mo., added to his list of victories by winning
the 30-lap winged sprint car race at Saline County Speedway in Marshall, Mo.,
on Sunday night. The program was sanctioned by National Speedways Contest
Association (NSCA). Utz worked through the field quickly from his fourth row
starting spot, taking the lead by lap 5 and going on to win by nearly half a
lap. Tim Green of Sacramento, Calif., earned runner-up honors while Shane
Carson of Oklahoma City, Bob Thoman of Higginsville, Mo., and Gene Gennetten of
Parkville, Mo., rounded out the top five.
July 24 – Ed
Sanger of Waterloo, Iowa, won the annual “Cheater’s Day” at the Brown County
Fairgrounds in Aberdeen, S.D., on Tuesday night. Sanger pocketed $999.99 for
his feature win and added another $55.55 for his heat win. The top three
finishers in the main event were all Iowa drivers a Sanger was followed across
the finish line by Don Hoffman of Des Moines and Dick Schiltz of Waterloo,
Iowa.
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