Harry Hartz won a AAA 50 mile race in a Miller, averaging the fastest speed of the day, 135.2 mph on the 1.25 mile banked board Culver City Speedway in Culver City, California. A series of 25 mile "Sprints" were won by Leon Duray (Miller), Pete DePaolo (Duesenberg), Pietro Bordino (Fiat) and Bob McDonough (Miller).
____________________
1931
Frank Fox ... Died ... AAA driver from the early 1900's.
____________________
1942
Jack Roush... Born ... NASCAR and Trans-Am team owner. Never seen without his trademark Panama hat, Roush is affectionately known on the NASCAR circuit as "The Cat in the Hat".
____________________
1947
Bill Holland , driving the Malamud #29, won the 20 lap AAA Eastern Sprint Car race on the Richmond Speedway in Richmond, VA.
____________________
1953
Lee Petty drove his Dodge Red Ram to victory in a 100 mile NASCAR Grand National race on a very rough 1/2 mile dirt track at the Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds in Richmond, Virginia. How rough?, Buck Baker won the pole at 48.46 mph. Noting the track conditions, Tim & Fonty Flock decided to qualify later, hoping the track would improve. But officials closed time trials before the Flock brothers got on the track. When told to start at the back of the 27 car field, the Flocks loaded up their cars.
Tommy Hinnershitz , driving the Hinnershitz #1, won the 25-lap AAA Eastern Sprint Car race on the 1 mile dirt Trenton Speedway in Trenton, NJ.
Dick Linder... Died ... In the late 1940's and early 1950's, the Linder name was one of the biggest in racing in the entire country. Dick Linder's career was cut short in a USAC "big car" event at Trenton in 1959. He was Indy-bound and had the talent to become one of the real good ones.
Tony Bettenhausen won the Trenton 100 mile USAC Championship race over Rodger Ward, Jimmy Davies, Jim Rathmann, Chuck Arnold and Elmer George. Rain stopped the race after 87 of the 100 scheduled laps.
____________________
1962
Al Unser, Jr.... Born ... Nicknamed "Little Al" or "Al Junior" is an American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner. He is the son of Al Unser and the nephew of Bobby Unser, who both won the Indianapolis 500 themselves. Ran CART from 1982 to 1999 and the IRL from 2000 to 2007. Drove in 19 Indy 500's and won in 1992 and 1994.
____________________
1964
A.J. Foyt, driving his Sheraton Thompson Watson Offy, won the Trenton 100 mile USAC Championship race over Jim Hurtubise, Bobby Marshman, Chuck Hulse and Lloyd Ruby. ( Click here for the race report. )
Fred Lorenzen nursed his smoking Ford under the checkered just as the engine blew, winning the NASCAR GN Gwyn Staley Memorial 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Lorenzen's Holman-Moody Ford began smoking with 5 laps to go on the 5/8 mile paved oval. He managed to run the final laps before the engine blew in a big way as he took the flag. Ned Jarrett finished 200 yards behind, also in a Ford. Jarrett started last (30th) after engine woes kept him from qualifying. Fireball Roberts missed the race after destroying his Ford in a qualifying crash.
____________________
1968
Larry Dickson wins the USAC Sprint Car race at the Heidelberg Speedway in Pittsburgh, PA .
____________________
1970
Parnelli Jones drove his Bud Moore prepared Ford Mustang to victory in the SCCA Trans-Am race at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California.
Roger West wins the USAC Midget race at the Lawton Speedway, Lawton, OK.
____________________
1979
USAC board rejected the entries by CART teams for the Indianapolis 500.
ONE DAY
To report wrong information, click here to send E-Mail to webmaster@wheelsofspeed.com 
Back to the Wheels of Speed home page