1960 – Neumayer Wins as Shepherd Falters

LeRoy Neumayer (left) is joined by runner-up A.J. Shepherd after Neumayer won the 50-lap Minnesota State Fair finale for IMCA big cars. – Merle Wilson Collection

St. Paul, Minn. (September 4, 1960) – LeRoy Neumayer of Compton, Calif., had a fellow Californian to thank for the $1,000 prize he won Sunday afternoon in the final International Motor Contest Association big car race at the Minnesota State Fair.

His benefactor was A.J. Shepherd of Gardena, Calif., who had been leading the championship event until his ride developed magneto trouble.

“A.J. was outrunning me,” said Neumayer, who had been trailing Shepherd for 49 of the 50 laps in the race.

Then, 27,202 spectators saw Shepherd pound on his steering wheel and jump up and down in the cockpit of his machine trying to coax more speed out of it. But Neumayer shot past him and won with three car lengths to spare.

With Mickey McCormick’s third-place finish, that gave the Diz Wilson stable a one-two-three finish.

Jerry Richert of Forest Lake, Minn., set a new world’s IMCA 12-lap record for the half-mile track as he sped the 6 miles in 4 minutes and 48.71 seconds to win the Minnesota State Championship for the third straight year.

Shepard wound up the point leader in big car racing at the fair with two wins in two features and second place finishes in two others.


Results –


10-lap Sprint – Jim McElreath, Arlington, Tex.

Australian Pursuit - Bill Sullivan, Sacramento, Calif.

Minnesota State Championship –

1. Jerry Richert, Forest Lake
2. Ted Ready, St. Paul
3. Jim Wegschneider, St. Paul
4. Roy Seidenstricker, Minneapolis
5. Hal Burns, Minneapolis

Championship –

1. LeRoy Neumayer, Compton, Calif.
2. A.J. Shepherd, Gardena, Calif.
3. Mickey McCormick, Mitchell, Ind.
4. Buzz Barton, Tampa, Fla.
5. Jerry Richert
6. Jim McElreath
7. Ray Duckworth, Anderson, Ind.
8. Bert Hellmueller, Louisville, Ky.
9. Bill Sullivan
10.Johnny Rutherford, Ft. Worth, Tex.