Saturday, August 31, 2024

1957 – Californian Wins 100-Mile Du Quoin Race

 


A smiling Jerry Unser accepts his trophy after winning the 100-mile USAC late model stock car race at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds. – Dick Mossoney Photo




Du Quoin, Ill. (August 31, 1957) – Jerry Unser of Long Beach, Calif., won the United States Auto Club’s 100-mile late model stock car race at the Du Quoin State Fair on Saturday afternoon.

Driving a 1957 Ford, Unser toured the one-mile dirt oval in 1 hour, 18 minutes, and 34.17 seconds.

Unser took the lead from Sonny Gross of Quincy, Ill., on the 45th lap when a timing mechanism gave way in Gross’s 1957 Pontiac. He beat Nelson Stacy of Cincinnati, piloting a 1957 Chevrolet convertible, by less than an eighth of a mile at the checkers.

Jimmy Bryan of Phoenix, Ariz., the USAC national big car point champion last year, was running in fourth position until he dropped out on the 64th mile with an overheated motor.

There were numerous pit stops in the 90-degree heat but no accidents. Seventeen of the 22 starters finished the race.


Results –


1. Jerry Unser, Long Beach, Calif.
2. Nelson Stacy, Cincinnati, Ohio
3. Bill Granger, Clinton, Ind.
4. Bob Pronger, Blue Island
5. Fred Lorenzen, Chicago
6. Gordon Gorman, Libertyville
7. Bill Holt, Toledo, Ohio
8. Bill Cheesbourg, Tucson, Ariz.
9. Les Snow, Bloomington
10.Lou Fegers, Los Angeles

No comments:

Post a Comment