Alton Soules... Born ... AAA Board track driver 1920 & 1921. On October 1, 1921 at the 1 Mile Board Oval Fresno Speedway Fresno, California, Alton Soules and his mechanic Harry Earner went over the top rail on the southwest turn and dropped over 50 feet to their death.
____________________
1910
Ray Harroun drove a Marmon to victory in a 100 mile race on the 1 mile circular banked board Playa del Rey Motordrome in Playa del Rey, California. Harroun averaged 78 mph. Ralph DePalma won a 50 mile race in a Fiat.
____________________
1931
Dan Gurney... Born ... American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner. He raced in Formula One, USAC Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, and Trans-Am Series. In 1978, Gurney wrote an open memo to other race car owners with what is now known as the "White Letter" in which Gurney called for a series controlled more by the owners or "actual participants" than under the USAC banner. After much debate, CART was formed with Gurney and other owners like Roger Penske, Pat Patrick, and Bob Fletcher. CART began its first full season of competition in March, 1979 and thus the first split in open wheel racing began. In 1990, Gurney was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, the Sebring International Raceway Hall of Fame, and the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame.
____________________
1937
Larry "Boom Boom" Cannon... Born ... USAC Sprint and USAC / CART Championship car driver from the mid 1960's to 1984.
____________________
1947
Bill Holland , driving the Malamud #29, won the 20 lap AAA Eastern Sprint Car race on the 1 mile dirt Trenton Speedway in Trenton, NJ.
____________________
1957
Billy Garrett wins the USAC Midget Car race at the Ascot Speedway in Gardena, California
____________________
1958
Dan Gurney drove a Ferrari to victory in a Sports Car race held on the 2.9 mile Palm Springs Airport course in Palm Springs, California. Gurney averaged 76.6 mph.
Johnny Thomson wins the USAC Eastern Sprint Car race at the Williams Grove Speedway 1/2 mile dirt track.
____________________
1962
Ned Jarrett won the 100 mile Late Model Stock Car race at the half-mile dirt Columbia Speedway in Columbia, SC. Joe Weatherly was second followed by Jack Smith, Jim Paschal, G.C Spencer, Rex White, Richard Petty, Buck Baker, Ralph Earnhardt and Tom Cox.
____________________
1969
Mario Andretti won the USAC Championship 'California 200' at Hanford Motor Speedway in Hanford, California. Andretti won the pole at 160.115 mph and led every lap in Andy Granatelli's turbocharged Ford powered Hawk. Lloyd Ruby finished 2nd, a lap behind. It was the first win for car owner Granatelli and it was the last racing event held at the first "superspeedway" West of the Mississippi. After tire tests a year later, the banked 1.5 mile tri-oval sat idle, passing through several owners and the occasional announcement of plans to renovate and re-open. In 1984, the track was torn down and returned to a cotton field.
Larry Dickson won the USAC Sprint Car race at the Dayton Speedway .
Gary Balough won the Late Model Modified race at the Palm Beach Fairgrounds Speedway, West Palm Beach, FL.
( Click here for the race report. )
____________________
1975
Bobby Allison emerged the winner of a wild NASCAR GN 'Rebel 500' at Darlington Raceway. Allison's Penske AMC Matador was seemingly out of contention, running 2 laps down in 7th with only 40 laps to go. But with 17 laps to go, lead battlers Benny Parsons & David Pearson collided and crashed into the wall. Darrell Waltrip led under the yellow, but running without a top gear, Allison roared by on the restart and went on to take the checkered a car length ahead of Waltrip's Chevy.
Tom Bigelow wins the USAC Sprint Car race at the Eldora Speedway .
____________________
1980
Joe Ruttman wins the American 250 USAC Stock Car race from Trenton International Speedway, Trenton, NJ., second was Bay Darnell and third was Rusty Wallace.
David Pearson took the 105th win of his NASCAR GN career, winning a shortened 'Rebel 500' at Darlington Raceway. The race was flagged after 189 laps due to darkness after a nearly 3 hour delay for a hail storm. It was Pearson's first start in Hoss Ellington's Chevy and was his 11th win on the tricky Darlington layout.
Johnny Rutherford drove his Chapparal-Cosworth to victory in the 200 mile CART Indy Car race on the 2.5 mile Ontario Motor Speedway.
____________________
1986
Michael Andretti drove to his first career Indy Car victory, taking the CART Long Beach Grand Prix (Calif.). Andretti took the lead for good when he passed Tom Sneva on the 72nd of the 95 laps around the 1.67 mile street circuit. Andretti went on to take his March-Cosworth across the line ahead of the Lolas of Al Unser Jr. and Geoff Brabham. Sneva ran out of fuel on the last lap, but still finished 4th. Michael's dad, Mario Andretti fought off clutch and transmission problems to finish 5th, a lap down. Unser Jr., Danny Sullivan, Sneva and Michael swapped the lead 6 times in the hard fought race.
Dale Earnhardt wins the TranSouth 500 over Darrell Waltrip at the Darlington Raceway , Darlington, SC.
Eric Gordon wins the USAC Sprint Car race at the Odessa Speedway .
____________________
1997
Jeff Gordon wins the Food City 500 over Rusty Wallace at the Bristol Motor Speedway , Bristol, TN.
____________________
2003
Jeff Gordon wins the Virginia 500 over Bobby Labonte at the Martinsville Speedway , Martinsville, VA.
____________________
2007
Joie Ray ... Died ... He was one of the nation's pioneer open wheel and Stock car race drivers. His racing career spanned 17 seasons (1947-1963) as a Sprint, Midget, and Stock car driver. Ray was the first African American AAA license holder and ran in the Central States Racing Association (CRSA), The International Motor Contest Association (IMCA), United States Auto Club (USAC) and the Midwest Dirt Track Racing Association.
ONE DAY
To report wrong information, click here to send E-Mail to webmaster@wheelsofspeed.com 
Back to the Wheels of Speed home page