Junior Hanley
West Salem, Wis. (October 4, 1981) – Canadian driver Junior Hanley says he has curtailed his racing schedule in recent years to concentrate more on building and selling stock car chassis.
But when he finds time to get behind the wheel of a race car, the results are generally successful. Such was the case on Sunday afternoon at Interstate Speedway, where Hanley drove away from the rest of the field in both 100-lap feature events of the 12th annual Oktoberfest 200.“I used to race a lot,” Hanley said, after winning his second race which gave him the overall Oktoberfest late model championship. “Lately, I haven’t been able to do as much because I’m spending a lot more time in the shop. We build them and sell them.”
“I was down in the Midwest last week for another race,” remarked, Hanley, who lives in Oakville, Ontario. “I went back to work but left the car here.”
Last week’s race, though, was not successful for the driver who has been nicknamed “Mr. Excitement” on the ARTGO racing circuit. In the Tony Bettenhausen Memorial race at Illiana Motor Speedway in Schererville, Ind., he ran out of gas and finished in 15th place.
It would have taken a similar mishap on Sunday in order for anyone to challenge Hanley’s domination of the event.
Starting on the 12th row of the 30-car field, it took just 12 circuits for Hanley to work his way into the lead. Jim Back of Vesper, who races at Interstate regularly, put pressure on the leader for several laps early in the race, but Hanley held him off in the third and fourth turns several times and was never threatened again.
Hanley, Back, Joe shear of South Beloit, Ill., and track champion Marv Marzofka of Nekoosa ran in the first through fourth positions for the last 53 laps, providing little excitement for the fans.
“I think it would have been better in the second race, but I blew the motor,” said Back, who would pull off on the fifth lap of the second 100-lapper.
It took Hanley 30 laps to get the lead in the second race, but once again, he had little trouble holding thee front position once he got there. Marzofka would challenge him briefly after a yellow flag waved on lap 38 but by the end of the race, Hanley enjoyed a half-lap lead over runner-up Shear and third place Marzofka. There were no challenges on the top three for the final 54 laps.
Shear was overall runner-up and Marzofka was third. The overall standings were determined by the driver’s average finish in both races.
But, both Shear and Marzofka were upset afterwards when they learned that Hanley’s right-side weight had been less than the minimum weight required by the Central Wisconsin Racing Association rules for the event.
“Rules are rules,” commented Marzofka. “I definitely think he was illegal.”
“He seems to get away with it wherever he goes,” Shear said.
Pit steward Clem Droste confirmed that Hanley’s right side was seven pounds under the limit, but his total weight was well over the minimum.
“I’m not going take his money away for seven pounds,” Interstate Speedway owner Larry Wehrs said.
Mark Lamoreaux of Bloomington, Minn., won the 40-lap semi-feature for late models.
Speedway manager Dick Johnson said that 71 late models were timed for the event.
Joe Berthiaume of Osseo, Minn., won the 20-lap hobby stock feature.
Results –
Feature #1 –
1. Junior Hanley, Oakville, Ont.
2. Jim Back, Vesper
3. Joe shear, South Beloit, Ill.
4. Marv Marzofka, Nekoosa
5. Mike Miller, Wisconsin Rapids
6. Steve Moll, Wisconsin Rapids
7. Kevin Stepan, Mosinee
8. Al Schill, Franklin
9. Steve Murgic, Rosemount, Minn.
10.Mel Whalen, Shakopee, Minn.
Feature #2 –
1. Junior Hanley
2. Joe Shear
3. Marv Marzofka
4. Tom Jones, Northbrook, Ill.
5. Tom Reffner, Rudolph
6. Al Schill
7. John Ziegler, Madison
8. Steve Murgic
9. Kevin Stepan
10.Jerry Eckhardt, Watertown
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