Cedar Rapids, Iowa – In the 1950’s and 60’s, one of the more popular stops for the IMCA stock car division was Hawkeye Downs Speedway in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Starting in
1952 and continuing until 1961, the series would hold two race cards during the
All-Iowa Fair, held annually in August. The first of the two would be
highlighted by a 100-lap, 50-mile feature; longer than most races on the
series’ schedule, but merely a tune-up for what was to come. Termed the “Corn
Belt Race”, the second main event, usually held a day or two later, was a
200-lap, 100-mile slugfest.
Two thoughts
came to mind when researching this article. Being that the race was in August;
the heat had to be unbearable not only for the drivers, but for the fans in
attendance. The second notion that came to mind; Completing 200 laps would
require 800 left-hand turns of the steering wheel...steering without the
“power” that we take for granted today.
To win a race
that distance, a little luck can’t hurt either, and that is exactly what the
first winner needed – and got.
Wally Dahl, a
hard-luck driver from Minneapolis Spencer , Iowa
On Tuesday, August 12, 19 52, Dahl’s
fortune improved as he came from behind in a thriller to capture the inaugural 100-mile
Corn Belt race.
Dahl was more than a half-lap behind
Jimmy Clark of Fort Worth , Tex.
But despite
animated pleading from his pit crew to come in, Dahl mashed the gas pedal on
his 1951 Hudson Clark on the 192nd lap and won going away as Clark was forced to rock his car through the final five
laps to get the most of a dwindling gas supply.
According to Cedar Rapids Gazette race reporter Jack Ogden, the race was 'one of the
best of the season, with a finish that was hard to beat'. Dahl and Clark battled
hub to hub with less than 10 laps to go and Dahl was never out of danger,
running on only three tires.”
It was a bitter windup for Clark, who
trailed Don White of Keokuk for the first 11 laps and then led all the way
until the final eight of the 200-lap race. At one point he was more than full
lap ahead of the field.
Dahl won the title in 1 hour, 54
minutes, and 36 seconds - a fast pace considering that at least a dozen laps
were run under the caution flag. Dahl and Clark
were followed by Ernie Derr of Fort
Madison , Iowa Minneapolis Shreveport ,
La.
Hard driving Ernie Derr of Keokuk
scored a car-length victory over “Wild” Bill Harrison of Topeka , Kan. August 16, 19 53
Piloting a 1952 Oldsmobile, which he
had used to lead the IMCA point race for most of the year, Derr took over the
point on the 51st lap, and was never headed, winning in 1 hour, 55 minutes and 56
seconds.
Three cautions slowed the action and
kept Derr from making the contest a runaway. The final caution, with 20 laps to
go, allowed Harrison to close the gap, making
for a blazing finish during the final 5 tours.
The Keokuk speedster then pulled
nearly a lap in front before the yellow flags began to wave. Chuck Magnison was
less than 10 yards behind the second running Harrison
in his bid to get to the front when he crashed through the fence on the west
turn. A blown right front tire caused the
accident, but a severely damaged radiator kept him from returning to action.
Sunday’s test saw only eight of 15
cars finishing the grueling distance. The most serious of accident came on the
190th lap, when three coupes tangled while dueling through the first turn. Dick
Johnson of St. Paul , Minn. Plymouth
The events were nearly an hour late in
getting underway, probably because hundreds of race fans were still jammed on
the roads approaching the fairground. It was said that some fans spent up to 40
minutes traveling the last six blocks to the grounds.
On August
15, 19 54
He drove 200 laps without a pit stop
in winning the Corn Belt in convincing
fashion. A crowd estimated at 8,000 watched the Topeka Fort Worth , Tex.
The non-stop
performances were unusual, since most of the field of 19 cars found the hot day
and the hard track too much of a test for their equipment. Possibly more
remarkable however, was the fact that not one lap was run under the yellow caution
flag even though most of the cars were in the pits at least once with minor
mishaps such as blowouts and an assortment of engine problems.
Most of the highly rated Iowa Harrison took over the lead and was never
challenged.
Ernie Derr would capitalize on his
brother-in-law’s misfortune to win the accident-free Corn
Belt race on August 14, 19 55
When White dropped out, Derr’s chief
challenger would be Herschel Buchanan of Shreveport
Like Bill Harrison the year before,
Derr did not require a pit stop in winning the long-endurance contest. His time
for the 100-miler was 1 hour, 47 minutes, and 34 seconds. The fast condition of
the track also enabled Derr and Buchanan to establish one-lap track record of
30.10 seconds in the time trials. A crowd of 7,500 watched the afternoon
events.
The 1956 Corn Belt race would not run in conjunction with the All-Iowa Fair, instead taking place on May 20. Bud Burdick, driving the last 20 laps with a bent wheel, captured the trophy and the cash in winning the 200-lap feature.
A crowd estimated at 9,500 saw Burdick take the top spot on the 130th circuit when leader Darrell Dake was forced into the pits. The Omaha, Neb., driver rolled the last 70 laps to score the victory.
Dake, who led the race from the 61st lap to the 130th, was one of the hard luck drivers in the field. He did manage to rally late and drew within 50 yards in the closing laps, only to his car forced to pit again, winding up fourth in the final standings.
Defending IMCA national champion Don White was the early leader but was forced to the sidelines for good with a broken fan in his radiator. Johnny Beauchamp, who qualified fastest with a time of 29.98 seconds around the half-mile, also led in the early going but experienced his share of mechanical issues. He managed to come back and finish fifth.
Sonny Morgan of Beaumont, Tex., who also led laps, finished second followed by Bob Burdick, Dake, and Beauchamp.
In 1957, there wasn’t a more
dominant driver in the IMCA stock car ranks than Johnny Beauchamp of Harlan , Iowa
Naturally, the ’57 Corn Belt races at the All-Iowa Fair would be a notch on Beauchamp’s
championship belt. And he would do it in convincing fashion...
On August 18, 19 57
“The Harlan Flash” won all three races
he entered, with a blazing 1 hour, 33 minutes, and 53 second performance in the
100-mile tour topping his list of accomplishments. He trimmed almost 5 minutes
off the record he had set at the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul
A hometown driver would give Beauchamp
all he could handle in the main event. Darrell Dake pushed Beauchamp to the
100-mile record, using everything his 1956 Ford had to give. Dake ran less than
5 seconds behind the leader for the last 11 circuits but didn’t have enough to
take the vaunted #55.
Beauchamp and Dake would lap the rest
of the field in the 100-mile feature that saw only eight of the 16 cars that
started able to finish after the blistering pace that saw the record established
despite seven caution laps. That caution occurred when the rear axle on George Miller’s 1957 Pontiac
broke on the 86th lap, shearing a wheel and sending the car skidding into the
infield. Luckily it didn't overturn, and he was shaken but not injured.
Dake, who was quickly becoming one of
IMCA’s great young stars, had himself a field day. In addition to running under
the world’s record on the evening program, he was third the afternoon feature
and won the eight-lap first heat by a nose, edging out another up and comer, Bob
Burdick, in the day’s closest finish.
Ernie Derr, for the most part, had
been somewhat absent for IMCA competition during Beauchamp’s reign in ’56 and
’57, competing with other racing sanctions. In 1958, Derr decided to come back
and make another title run and when the stock cars arrived in Cedar Rapids August
17, 1958, Corn Belt
race, Derr and Bob Burdick were locked in a tight battle.
Derr would score an important victory
on this day before 7,500 fans, winning the 200-lap feature and putting himself
safely into the point’s lead as well. As expected, the duel on the half-mile
was between Derr and Burdick, but motor trouble canceled Burdick’s bid for
continuing his title run.
The young Omaha
Derr’s winning time was 1 hour, 35
minutes and 54 seconds, less than 2 minutes shy of the IMCA world 200-lap
record. Derr might have set a new mark, except for two caution flags
that slowed the field down a total of 4 laps.
Derr, who drove a 1957 Pontiac and
Burdick piloting a 1958 Ford, were the only two drivers who held the lead after
the 33rd lap. Darrell Dake, who set fast time on the half-mile with a 27.65
second run, led for the first 32 circuits in his ’57 Chevrolet. He would end up
in seventh place. Jules “Chub” Liebe of Oelwein ,
Iowa
Despite Darrell Dake being a
consistent winner on the IMCA circuit elsewhere, the Cedar Rapids speedster had
been somewhat jinxed on his hometown track, not having been able to score a
feature victory.
On Sunday, August 23, 19 59 , Dake changed all that by
heading home a 16-car field in the 200-lap IMCA championship race before some
6,000 fans - going the route in a respectable 1 hour, 38 minutes, and 45
seconds on a track that was dangerously slick at the start. He finished more
than a lap ahead of runner-up Lennie Funk of Otis , Kan.
Dake was in third in the early going
but moved up to second on lap 89. Shortly after the halfway point, Dake was a
half lap behind the leader Bob Kosiski of Omaha
When Kosiski pitted his ’59 Thunderbird
on lap 114, Dake powered his 1957 Chevrolet to the front and was never
challenged after that, although Funk did threaten for the lead when Dake pitted
on lap 130.
Kosiski was the hard-luck driver on
the afternoon; he entered the pits at 114 laps, he returned to the track and
immediately was making ground on Dake only to spin out of contention on the
back stretch.
Ramo Stott would chauffeur his 1960
Ford convertible to one world record and nearly set another on August 21, 19 60, as
the late model stock cars brought the 25th anniversary of the All-Iowa Fair to
a close.
The young Keokuk , Iowa Oskaloosa , Iowa
Stott came back in the evening before
a sellout crowd of about 7,000 to cop the grueling 200-lap event in 1 hour, 33
minutes, and 4 seconds, just 2.5 seconds off the IMCA world’s record for a half-mile
dirt track. He probably could have set the mark if the race hadn’t been slowed
for 5 laps due to a spinout.
The fans saw quite a battle all the
way for the top spot. Stott, Joe Dolphy of New Brighton , Minn. Plymouth Otis , Kan. Plymouth
Finally, on the 147th lap, Dolphy gave
up his runner-up position to refuel. Within the next 10 laps, the top four
drivers had all made a pit stop for fuel. From then on, the top three spots were
pretty well settled, with Stott, Dolphy and Funk finishing in that order.
The final Corn
Belt race, held on August 20, 19 61
While racing in Mason City , Iowa Pontiac Cedar Rapids
After being announced as a late entry,
the Keokuk, Iowa
McCredie grabbed the lead on the 134th
lap after both of the pre-race favorites, Chub Liebe of Oelwein and Buzz McCann
of St. Paul, Minn., were forced to the sidelines with car trouble.
Liebe was probably the tough luck
racer of the day. The Oelwein pilot led the 20-car field for 116 laps and looked
like a sure winner, as he had lapped every competitor by the time, he turned the
115th lap. But on the next circuit, engine trouble on his ’61 Ford forced him
out of the race. McCann faced the same difficulty in later laps, the time trial
leader picked up where Liebe left off and led the pack until the 134th lap. A
broken axle eliminated him and his ’61 Ford.
After securing the top spot, McCreadie
was never headed after that cruising to an easy victory in front of a very
pro-McCreadie crowd. The top three finishers in the race, in fact, were
unexpected. Art Brady of Peoria, Ill., driving a 1960 Thunderbird, was a
surprise second place finisher and Johnny Babb of Ottumwa , Iowa
The IMCA stock car series would
continue to stage 200-lap, 100-mile races at Hawkeye Downs for many years to
come, but the 1961 Corn Belt race would be the
last time the popular division would have a long-distant contest during the
All-Iowa Fair.
