1956 – Eberts Wins 100-Lap Stock Car Race, Aided by Rival’s Blowout

Dick Jepson off Hoxie, Kan., had a rough day at the IMCA stock car races at the Wisconsin Valley Fair at Marathon Park. Here, Jepson (58) bangs into the rear of Bernie Hentges in the early going of the IMCA stock car feature.

Wausau, Wis. (August 19, 1956) – For 83 laps Sunday, Bucky Wagner of Manitowoc, driving a 1956 Chevrolet steadily and skillfully, appeared a certain winner in the Wisconsin Valley Fair’s 100-lap stock car race at Marathon Park.

However, with just 17 laps to go in the IMCA-sanctioned race, Wagner’s vehicle had to make a pit stop for a tire change and the two-minute delay was enough to cost the Badger rider a major victory. The winner, then, was Shorty Eberts of Avondale, Mo., who piloted his 1956 Ford over the 50-mile test in the time of 54 minutes and 27.67 seconds.

Eberts was running in the third spot for most of the way, trailing Wagner and Wayne Lee, a Burlington, Iowa, driver steering a new Pontiac. Then, on the 82nd lap, Eberts passed Lee into second place and at just about the same time, the front-running Wagner’s car blew a tire and Eberts zoomed into the lead, holding it the rest of the way.

Lee would hold on to finish second with Ben Pritzl of Two Rivers, driving a ’56 Ford, finishing third. Fourth place went to Jerry Peterson, also of Two Rivers, driving a ’54 Oldsmobile. Wagner, despite his late-race hard luck, came back to finish fifth.

No driver had more tough luck than Dick Jepson of Hoxie, Kan., who at times, may have figured he’d been better off staying in bed. First, Jepson was involved in a three-car collision in the first few yards of the race and since a full lap had not been completed, IMCA rules permitted the race to start completely over.

Minor repairs got Jepson’s car ready for the complete restart but the crash sidelined Bob Burdick of Omaha, Neb.

On the eighth lap, Jepson bumped into a car drive by Bernie Hentges of Anoka, Minn., on the east turn and again, after some “surgery,” Jepson was back on the track again.

Finally, on the 28th circuit, the hood of Jepson’s car suddenly sprang up, blocking his vision, and he was forced to make a pit stop. Most drivers, at this point, would have decided to take up a different sport, but the persevering Jepson got back into action and finished a respectable seventh.

The time set by Eberts wasn’t too far off the national record for the distance, which is 51 minutes and 51.25 seconds. That mark was set a year ago by Don White in a race at Sioux Falls, S.D.

White, the IMCA stock car point leader, was in Wausau on Sunday but the Keokuk, Iowa, speedster was forced to be a spectator. His car had been damaged in a race in Marshalltown, Iowa, the day before and he had not the time to procure another ride.

Fair officials estimated paid attendance at 6,000, though about 3,000 others saw the program from behind fences, atop box cars, and perched in trees.


Results –


1. Shorty Eberts, Avondale, Mo,
2. Wayne Lee, Burlington, Iowa
3. Ben Pritzl, Two Rivers
4. Jerry Peterson, Two Rivers
5. Bucky Wagner, Manitowoc
6. Windy Magnuson, Green Bay
7. Dick Jepson, Hoxie, Kan.
8. Newt Bartholomew, Carlisle, Iowa
9. Roland Hanson, Green Bay
10.John Detert, Wausau
11.Bob Guffy, Des Moines, Iowa
12.Bud Dahlke, Wausau

More than 6,000 spectators await the start of the 100-lap International Motor Contest Association stock car contest at the Wisconsin Valley Fair. Bucky Wagner, the fastest qualifier, leads the field. Wagner would lead over 80 laps before a flat tire cost him victory.