1968 – Richert Wins Southland 100

Jerry Richert accepts the trophy from IMCA’s Nick Nachicas after winning the Southland 100 for IMCA sprint cars at State Fair Speedway. – Bill Causey Jr. Photo

Shreveport, La. (May 5, 1968) – Jerry Richert, a three-time International Motor Contest Association national sprint car champion, edged past defending champion Karl Busson to grab the checkered flag in the Southland 100 for IMCA sprint cars at the Louisiana State Fair Speedway.

Piloting his Wagner Chevy Special to a 42 minute and 21.82 second clocking over the 50-mile, dirt covered half-mile speedway, Richert, from Forest Lake, Minn., eclipsed the IMCA world standard of 45 minutes and 14 seconds set in 1955 by Jud Larson in Des Moines.

Busson appeared to have the race won when he took the lead on lap 34 nut smoke started billowing from his Cedoz Chevy just 10 laps shy of victory.

Busson stayed in the race despite suffering the burning spray of hot oil pouring from his engine but was overtaken a quarter mile from the finish by Richert.

Billy Jack Casper of Dallas, Tex., finished third followed by Shady McWhorter of Fort Worth, Tex., and Gordon Woolley of Waco, Tex., the 1963 IMCA national champion.

Jim Moughan of Springfield, Ill., took the early lead and held it until Smokey Jones of Dallas, Tex., crashed into the retaining wall in the second turn on the 24th lap, bringing out the caution flag which enabled the field to close the gap.

Busson took the lead on lap 34 after the race resumed full speed. Moughan started to fade soon after and finally drove into the infield on lap 78 and collapsed from heat exhaustion.

That left only Busson and Richert to battle for the $4,200 purse. Richert stayed within seconds of the leader for 20 laps but Busson slowly began increasing his margin until he ran into over-heating problems at the 45-mile mark.

Moughan set a new State Fair Speedway record for one lap in time trials, speeding to a time of 23.71 seconds, which erased the old mark of 23.91 seconds set by Bobby Grim in 1956.


Results –


1. Jerry Richert, Forest Lake, Minn.
2. Karl Busson, Toledo, Ohio
3. Billy Jack Casper, Dallas, Tex.
4. Shady McWhorter, Fort Worth, Tex.
5. Gordon Woolley, Waco, Tex.
6. Lee Kunzman, Guttenberg, Iowa
7. Sonny McDaniel, Pasadena, Tex.
8. Cliff Cockburn, Dallas, Tex.
9. Jack O’Donnell, Fullerton, Calif.
10.Ollie Gibbon, Fort Worth, Tex.
11.Jim Moughan, Springfield, Ill.
12.David Horton, Mesquite, Tex.
13.Tommy Johnson, Dallas, Tex.
14.Charles Sitton, Dallas, Tex.
15.Len Kaiser, Dallas, Tex.
16.Ralph Parkinson, Wichita Falls, Tex.