Jimmy Sills is congratulated after winning his first IMCA sprint car feature at the Missouri State Fairgrounds. IMCA's Woody Brinkman holds the checkered flag.
Sedalia, Mo. (August 21, 1976) – Most people at the age of 23 are going to school or getting married. Not 23-year-old Jimmy Sills of Sacramento, Calif., he’s racing sprint cars. Very successfully as a matter of fact.
Sills chalked up his first International Motor Contest Association win of the season at the Missouri State Fair on Saturday.
“I thought Gary Scott was going to get me,” said Sills after winning. Sills fought off a fierce charge by Scott, who finished second in the 30-lap feature on the half-mile dirt track in front of an estimated 7,000 fans.
Sills earned the pole position in the 20-car feature by virtue of time trials and a fourth-place finish in the second heat.
Sills time in sixth fastest with his clocking of 25.20 seconds, which earned him a spot on the pole in the feature that inverted the top six fastest qualifiers.
Sills had a good day at the pay window, winning $700 for the feature, $40 in the heat, $25 in time trials and $40 in the match race.
He’s been touring the Midwest for only a month but feels that the racing in this area is stronger than in his home area of the West Coast.
“The cars and drivers in this area are more competitive around here than they are on the West Coast,” Sills remarked after accepting his trophy.
“Today was a good example,” he added, “with drivers like Scott, Utz and Ferkel on your tail.”
Although Sills led the whole way, he really started getting pressure from Scott after Doug Wolfgang, this year’s Knoxville (Iowa) track champion, and Ferkel had to go to the rear of the field on lap 22.
Ferkel, running third at the time, spun coming out of turn two on the 22nd lap but kept his car going. But fourth-place runner Gene Gennetten and second-place runner Wolfgang got involved and came to a halt. That stop put Wolfgang to the back of the field.
Ferkel also had to go to the rear of the field when he pulled into the pit area with a flat rear tire. Ferkel’s crew put on new rubber quickly but officials ruled that he too had to join Wolfgang in the rear.
Gennetten, one of the favorites in the feature until the tangle on lap 22, was forced to retire to the pits.
Scott finished a close second to Sills while two-time and defending IMCA national champion Bill Utz took third. Fifth-generation driver Rick Weld was fourth and Tom Corbin of Carrollton was fifth.
Fast time was set by Chuck Amati of Freeman Spur, Ill., at 24.73 seconds. That time was more than two seconds slower than the IMCA track record of 22.72 seconds set back in 1972.
Results –
Time trials – Chuck Amati, Freeman Spur, Ill.
Heat #1 – Tom Corbin, Carrollton, Mo.
Heat #2 – Rick Ferkel, Tiffin, Ohio
Heat #3 – Cliff Lilly, Independence, Mo.
Trophy dash – Jimmy Sills, Sacramento, Calif.
Consolation – Gary Scott, Holts Summit, Mo.
Feature –
1. Jimmy Sills
2. Gary Scott
3. Bill Utz, Sedalia, Mo.
4. Rick Weld, Kansas City
5. Tom Corbin
6. Sonny Smyser, Glenwood, Mo.
7. Fred Linder, Fremont, Ohio
8. Gary Patterson, Sacramento, Calif.
9. Roy Comstock, Versailles, Mo.
10.Rick Ferkel
11.Doug Wolfgang, Des Moines, Iowa
12.Roger Wright, Blue Springs, Mo.
13.Gene Gennetten
14.Ralph Parkinson Sr., Kansas City
15.Cliff Powell, Hannibal, Mo.
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