Emory Fretheim
Mason City, Iowa (August 27, 1975) – When they finally got around to it, Em Fretheim and Dave Bjorge put on a terrific two-man show in the late model season championship on Wednesday.
They circled the North Iowa Speedway in cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek fashion for most of the 30 laps, with Fretheim, the race’s only leader, winning his third feature of the season.
But getting to the main event was the hard part. Perhaps a beleaguered track official said it best, “If you haven’t seen it before, you saw it tonight.”
Indeed…
Bumpers dropping off, hoods flying up, axles broken, light poles being uprooted, and much more. But, perhaps worst of all, especially for the racing fan on a weeknight, the program was long, ending at 11:20.
Things got off to a bad start as drivers had to contend with a track so muddy that it was still soft after the program. Blame it on nature if you will.
Speedway promoter Floyd Lenoch said, “All we did was hit it once (one lap with the watering truck), and whoosh – the water came up from somewhere.” So, that meant the cars had to pack the track and extra half-hour or so before the heat races could begin.
The incidents climaxed in the late model feature when Cresco driver Greg Robinson went high in the backstretch, dropped over the edge, and struck a pole, knocking down the signal lights strung across the track.
Robinson’s car was demolished, and he received a cut on his lap.
At that time, it was 10:45 and Fretheim and Bjorge had been conducting their two-man show for a couple of laps. The race started as a three-man show as, with 21 late models on hand competing, Fretheim used his outside front row starting position to take the lead.
At the onset, point leader Ken Farrell was in second and Bjorge in third. But after two restarts, it took Bjorge just one lap to gain the second spot, with Farrell eventually finishing eighth.
Fretheim and Bjorge stayed a close-knit one-two throughout 29 and a half laps and then the inevitable happened. The two frontrunners caught up with slower traffic and Fretheim was better able to maneuver through it to take the checkered flag well ahead of Bjorge. His victory was worth $400 as about 2,000 race fans were on hand.
What was it like to be trailed that closely for that long?
“I knew he was back there,” grinned Fretheim. “I just drove the hell out of it.”
Heat winners were Darrell Sells, John Allinson, and Jerry Holtkamp.
Bob Soma of Winnebago, Minn., was the hobby stock feature winner.
Results –
Heat #1 – Darrell Sells
Heat #2 – John Allinson
Heat #3 – Jerry Holtkamp
Feature –
1. Em Fretheim
2. Dave Bjorge
3. John Allinson
4. Jerry Holtkamp
5. Jack Mitchell
6. Steve Wiese
7. Larry Schmidt
8. Ken Farrell
9. Vance Hakes
10.Floyd Matter
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