Ramo Stott
Cedar Rapids, Iowa (April 28, 1972) – A pair of red flags were about the only serious moments Ramo Stott had Friday night, en route to capturing the 50-lap Iowa Grand Memorial Race of Champions at Hawkeye Downs.
An estimated 4,000 braved chilling temperatures and the threat of rain to see the season-opener for late model stock cars at the Downs.Ramo didn’t disappoint them…
The Keokuk dandy – the biggest name in the star-studded field – took the lead in his 1970 Dodge on the initial lap and was never headed as he copped the top prize of $600.
However, Stott, the two-time ARCA national champion, who will begin racing full-time on the USAC stock car circuit starting Saturday night at Knoxville, Iowa, had his anxious moments.
Like, when the first of two red flags halted the action on the recently resurfaced half-mile dirt oval. To that point, Ramo had a comfortable lead over second-running Fred Horn of Marion in a ’70 Plymouth Roadrunner.
With Horn on Stott’s rear bumper on the restart, it was a question of who could outrun who. Not for long, though.
Eight laps later, Horn went out when he lost a header and Ed Sanger of Waterloo charged into second place in his ’70 Monte Carlo that he drove to four track titles last season.
Another red flag, this one on lap 26, brought the field together again, but Ramo wasted no time in putting some daylight between him and Sanger.
“I didn’t know if he (Sanger) was going to turn it on or not,” Ramo drawled. “So, I stuck my foot into it. I wanted to stretch my lead, but still keep the same pace.”
Ramo said the track, “held up better than I thought it would. In fact, it held up beautifully.”
Sanger pocketed $450 for his runner-up finish. Another car from Sanger’s stable, a ’69 Chevy driven by Red Dralle of Evansdale, took third place and $300.
Ron Perdock of Washington, in a Monte Carlo, finished fourth and Ron Prymek of Iowa City, was fifth piloting a Ford Torino.
Stott, Dr. Al Mayner of Winthrop, Cal Swanson of Reinbeck, and Glen Martin of Independence won heat races. Bill Zwanziger of Waterloo won the 20-lap semi-main.
Results –
1. Ramo Stott, Keokuk
2. Ed Sanger, Waterloo
3. Red Dralle, Evansdale
4. Ron Perdock, Washington
5. Ron Prymek, Iowa City
6. Cal Swanson, Reinbeck
7. Bill Barthelmes, Troy Mills
8. Phil Reece, Des Moines
9. Don Hoffman, Des Moines
10.George Barton, Ankeny
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