Clayton Petersen Jr. (98) races Odie Robertson (21) at Colorado National Speedway in 1980. Petersen won the Colorado Challenge Cup in 1978 while Robertson was two-time winner in 1975 and 1980.
by Lee Ackerman
Omaha, Neb. - Stories about race track promoters could probably fill a library. Stories about them run the gamut of possibilities. One such promoter that I’ve heard many stories about is George Butland, the owner of Colorado National Speedway near Erie, Colorado. The first thing that made George unique is that he was born in China and could speak the language fluently.
George ended up in Colorado
and got hooked on auto racing. First, he bought and ran a salvage yard (did you
ever think about all the racers that owned salvage yards). It was called GB
Auto Salvage. In 1972, George and Colorado racer Larry Dechant purchased the
Colorado National Speedway (CNS). At the end of the 1973 George purchased
Dechant’s interest and became sole owner.
During his tenure of
ownership (which ended in 1990) George received four “Promoter of the Year”
Awards. His Fourth of July Fireworks displays were legendry, and it was not
uncommon for George to slip a driver down on his luck a $100 bill. In 1975, he
created an end of the year race called “The Colorado Challenge Cup.”
“I always loved going out to
Colorado to George’s big specials, the All-Star Race and the Challenge Cup,”
recalls Joe Kosiski. “George treated us fairly and we always had some fun after
the races.”
Local ace Odie Robertson
captured the inaugural Challenge Cup, then in 1976 invaders started showing up
and it was Tom Bartholomew of Waterloo, Iowa picking up the win. The next year,
Kansas City’s Terry Bivins took the honors. Then along came 1978 and a driver
from Grand Island, Nebraska named Clayton Petersen, Jr.
Seventy cars from 10 states
were on hand for the 1978 version of the race, but Petersen destroyed the field
winning the 75-lap feature by half a lap. After some discussion due to a
protest being lodged, second place was awarded to Les Stadel of Rapid City, S.D.
Terry Bivins was running second to Larry Stromer of Grand Island, Neb., when
Stromer spun out. Bivins was send to the back of the pack and but put on a driving
display getting back up to finish third. Bob Shryock finished fourth.
“We had the right car, the
right set up, the right engine and the right team.” recalls Petersen. “The car was
really light. Everything on the car was light. It was a new design car we
called ‘The Outlaw’. I couldn’t believe some of the quality cars I was lapping
midway in the race. The funny part of it was that as we rolled into the pits
the left rear tire went flat.”
The 1979 version of the race
turned into a wild affair during the 75-lap A-main. A star-studded field of
over 70 late models from Iowa, Nebraska, New Mexico and Colorado were hand for
the two-day event.
Heat race wins went to Bob
Shryock, Tom Bartholomew, Butch Speicher, Bill Leibig, Steve Lewis, George
Brazil and Kent Tucker. Clayton Petersen, Jr., Ray Slife, Ken Tadolini, Paul
Garrison and Dave Chase won consolation races.
The 75-lap feature started
out with the lead being swapped by Kent Tucker, Bob Shryock and Tom
Bartholomew. As the race progressed the trio steadily pulled away from the
field. At the halfway mark Shryock took command with Bartholomew shooting low
to pass Shryock, but instead the two locked bumpers and spun into the infield.
The lead was assumed by Joe
Kosiski, who had moved up from his sixth row starting position. Kosiski worked
his way through traffic and appeared to be a sure winner, when with three laps
to go, George Brazil ran into a slower car, bursting his radiator and spinning
out of control.
Brazil skidded right in the
path of the leaders and Kosiski braked hard and went high to avoid Brazil. This
allowed Bill Liebig to go low and take the lead and hold on to win the race.
After the race, officials ruled that since all forward motion had continued and
no contact was made between the leader, the yellow flag was not necessary, and
the finish would stand. A heartbreaking way to lose a race as far as Kosiski
was concerned.
Things had started off on
Thursday night with Odie Robertson winning the preliminary feature followed by
Clayton Petersen, Jr. and Bob Shryock. There was plenty of action on Friday night.
Mike Crotty got hit in the rear end which tore the filler spout of his fuel
cell and sent gasoline spilling all over the race track. It erupted in a huge
ball of flame. Crotty was able to leap out of the car and suffered only minor
burns to his hands. His car was not so lucky as it was destroyed.
Later in the same race, Joe
Wallace of Kansas City, Kansas and Dennis Selting of Huron, South Dakota got
together coming off turn two sending both hard into the backstretch wall. The
damage to their cars was so severe they were both loaded on their haulers by
the wreckers. At events end it was Joe Kosiski picking up the win followed by
Tom Bartholomew and Craig Spetman.
The Sixth Annual Colorado
Challenge Cup feature in 1980 wasn’t as exciting as the previous years. Ode
Robertson of Littleton, Colorado took the lead from Omaha, Nebraska’s Joe
Kosiski on lap 10 and was never headed the rest of the distance despite a red
flag on lap 20 and a couple of yellows. Robertson drove to a win of nearly
one-half a lap.
Clayton Petersen, Jr. held on
for second after suffering a flat tire in the waning laps of the race. Butch
Speicher finished third followed by Tom Bartholomew and Fritz Wilson. Early
leader Kosiski suffered a broken rear axle and faded to sixth.
“It ain’t over until it’s
over” certainly held true for the Seventh Annual Colorado Challenge Cup held on
September 12, 1981. Springfield, Missouri’s Larry Phillips took the lead at the
drop of the green and driving like a man possessed opened up a half-lap lead
over second place Mike Niffenegger of Kalona, Iowa. Coming down for the white
flag on lap 49 Phillips engine let go on the back stretch, ending his chance of
winning the Challenge Cup.
Niffenegger led the last lap and
found himself in victory lane with a $3,500 paycheck. Joe Kosiski was not far
behind in second with Shawnee Mission, Kansas driver Andy Claiborne in third,
Gillette, Wyoming’s “Fast Freddie” Lundock in fourth and George Brazil fifth.
Brazil had a long day after
blowing an engine in his heat race the night before. First, he had to qualify
through the last chance race, which he won. Then he started in the back of the
20-lap B feature and won that event which gave him a 21st starting position in
the main event. For his 80 laps of racing, Brazil pocketed $830.
The main event saw just one
caution flag, that being just after the halfway point of the race when Lampe,
Missouri’s Ferris Collier hit the front stretch wall destroying the right front
suspension on the Don Carpenter Camaro. Even that yellow was probably
unnecessary as Collier easily made it to the pits. Other top runners having bad
luck included; Billy Moyer of Des Moines who developed magneto trouble and
Steve Lewis of Arvada, Colorado who blew engine.
The Colorado Challenge ran
for several more years and eventually the Colorado National Speedway would be
paved, thus ending the annual migration of numerous dirt late model teams to
Butland’s facility located on the foothills of the Rockies.
