Herman Schurch... Born ... AAA driver from the 1920's and 30's.
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1941
Roger West... Born ... USAC driver from the 1960's
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1953
Jerry Hoyt won the AAA Midget race at the Taft Stadium, Oklahoma City, OK.
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1957
Billy Garrett won the 100 lap USAC Midget race at the South Mountain Speedway, Phoenix, AZ.
Van Johnson won the 30 lap USAC Sprint Car race at the Williams Grove Speedway, Williams Grove,PA.
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1958
Bob Welborn won the 150 lap Convertible Stock Car race over Possum Jones, Billy Myers and Lee Petty at the Bowman Gray Stadium, Winston-Salem, NC. ( Click here for the race report. )
Glenn Wood won the 50-lap Modified Sportsman Stock Car race over Johnny Roberts at the Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, VA. ( Click here for the race report. )
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1963
A.J. Foyt and Roger McCluskey each won the twin 50 lap USAC Sprint Car races at the Langhorne Speedway, Langhorne, PA
Roger Sowers won the Super Modified race at the Susquehanna Speedway, Newberrytown,PA. Gene Goodling was second followed by Donnie Eisenhour, Junior Ritchey and Moe Harden.
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1966
Bert Dingley... Died ... AAA driver from the early 1900's.
Walt Hansgen... Died ... A driver from the United States. He participated in 2 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on October 8, 1961. He scored a total of 2 championship points. Hansgen also raced in the 1964 and 1965 Indianapolis 500 races finishing 13th and 14th.
In addition to Formula One, Walt Hansgen was an active road racer from the early 1960's through his death. He participated in several runnings of the 24 hours of Daytona and Le Mans as well as the 12 hours of Sebring endurance races. He was notable for introducing Mark Donohue to professional road racing. He was killed when he crashed a 7-liter Ford Mk2 sports car at the Le Mans tests during the spring of 1966.
Loy Allen Jr. ... Born ... NASCAR stockcar driver.
David Pearson,s Cotton Owens Dodge edged Paul Goldsmith's Plymouth by a car length to win the 100 mile NASCAR Grand National race on the 1/2 mile dirt Columbia Speedway in Columbia, South Carolina. Protesting NASCAR's weight penalty for their new OHC engine, Ford ordered factory drivers Ned Jarrett, Curtis Turner and Bobby Isaac to sit out this race and two following short track races. The 3 drivers and owner Ralph Moody watched the race from the pits. Independent Tom Pistone drove his 2 year old Ford to a surprise pole, leading the first 53 laps before giving way to Pearson. Pistone wound up 3rd. Independent drivers swept the top 5 spots in qualifying.
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1968
Jim (or Jimmy) Clark... Died ... He was the dominant driver of his era, winning two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. At the time of his death, he had won more Grand Prix races (25) and more pole positions (33) than any driver up to that time. He also competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times, and won it once, in 1965. Jim Clark's life tragically ended in a crash. He was originally slated to drive in the BOAC 1000 km sportscar race at Brands Hatch but instead chose to drive in a minor Formula 2 race for Lotus at the Hockenheimring in Germany, mostly due to contractual obligations with Firestone. On the fifth lap, his Lotus 48 veered off the track and crashed into the trees, killing him instantly.
Bobby Unser drove his turbocharged Offy powered Eagle to victory in the USAC Championship 'Jimmy Bryan 150' on the 1 mile paved Phoenix International Raceway. It was Unser's 2nd straight Indy Car win. Unser, the pole winner, led lap 1 as A.J. Foyt blew his engine and George Follmer crashed in the oil. B. Unser led 21 more laps before Mario Andretti moved by and began pulling clear. Roger McCluskey was on the move though and took the lead on lap 47. At lap 77, McCluskey was 11 seconds ahead of Andretti with Lloyd Ruby, Al Unser and Bobby Unser trailing. As the leaders were on lap 80, Al Unser blew his engine and coated turn 3 with oil. After sliding sideways, Bobby made it through, but Johnny Rutherford hit the oil and spun into the guard rail. Moments later, leader McCluskey spun on the oil and hit Rutherford's car. Andretti, trying to pass 2 lapped cars high, hit the oil and plowed into Rutherford's car, causing the already burning car to erupt. A.J. Foyt ran to Rutherford's aid, pulling him out of the burning car. Rutherford suffered burns to his hands while McCluskey and Andretti were uninjured. Lloyd Ruby was now the leader over B. Unser. On lap 97, after just 4 laps under green, Unser went around for the lead as Ruby slowed with a right rear tire deflating due to debris from the crash. Ruby made a stop for a new tire, falling to 9th, one lap down. Undaunted, Ruby began a fierce charge that saw him back to 2nd in just 22 laps. Unser went on to take the checkered with Ruby 24 seconds behind.
Rollie Beale won the 30 lap USAC Sprint Car race at the Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, OH. Tom Bigelow finished second followed by Bill Puterbaugh, Greg Weld and Wib Spaulding.
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1973
Al Unser drove his Parnelli-Offy to victory in the Championship portion of the USAC 'Texas Twin 200s' on the 2 mile banked Texas World Speedway (Gordon Johncock won the Stock Car 200). The Indy Cars first visit to the 22 degree banked tri-oval saw Bobby Unser win the pole at 212.766 mph, shattering the current closed course speed record by more than 12 mph. Overall 9 cars topped the old record set in September 1972 at Ontario Motor Speedway. After electrical trouble delayed getting his Eagle-Offy to the grid, it only took B. Unser a few laps to build an 11 second lead. But on lap 31, B. Unser slowed in turn 4 and pitted with what proved to be a broken piston. Gary Bettenhausen led the next 2 laps before pitting, moving Johnny Rutherford into the lead. As Bettenhause came in, he pointed to the fuel tank to signal he was out, but the crew thought he was signalling for a new left front tire. As the crew jacked up the car, Bettenhausen violently shook his head. The car fell off the jack, which wedged in the suspension. By the time the jack was unstuck and Bettenhausen returned the Roger Penske McLaren to the track, he was more than a lap behind. Rutherford led until pitting and Mike Mosley and Billy Vukovich led before Al Unser took over on lap 68. On the 75th lap, 2nd running Vukovich hit the wall after cutting a tire going into turn 4. When the tow truck got stuck in deep mud, a second tow truck was sent to retrieve both vehicles as 11 laps ticked off under caution. The green flew briefly before A.J. Foyt tapped the wall, breaking his suspension and bringing out a yellow that would stay out until 2 laps were left. Nursing a sick engine, Al slowed the field off turn 2 before standing on the throttle. The move gained Al a huge advantage on the restart as Mosley couldn't gain speed and Bettenhausen and Rutherford, running 3-4, couldn't legally pass until the green flew. Al took the checkered 4 tenths of a second ahead of a rapidly closing Bettenhausen.
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1974
David Pearson, using a fuel conserving strategy, drove the Wood Brothers Mercury to victory in the NASCAR GN 'Rebel 450' at Darlington Raceway. The race distance was cut to comply with federal guidlines during the energy crisis. Pearson drafted leader Bobby Allison to save fuel, making the pass with 11 laps to go. Allison ran out of gas on the last lap to finish 13 seconds behind in second.
Bobby Unser drove his Eagle-Offy to victory in the 200 mile USAC Championship race on the 1.5 mile kidney shaped paved Trenton Speedway.
ONE DAY
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