RACING HISTORY EVENTS
FOR
JANUARY 21st



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ONE DAY

JANUARY 21

1923
Jud Larson... Born ... Drove in the USAC Sprint and Championship Car series he was a hard-drinking, hard-driving racer, a colorful character from the days when few drivers survived to retire, and roll cages were for sissies.
1942
Ernie Saxton... Born ... Columnist, Motorsports Marketing and President of the Eastern Motorsports Press Association
1967
Bobby Hamilton wins the Three Quarter Midget feature at the indoor Atlantic City Convention Hall.
1968
Dan Gurney, overcoming a blown tire and a resultant long pit stop, won the NASCAR Grand National Motor Trend 500 at Riverside International Raceway for the fifth time. Gurney took the lead for good on the 160th lap, going on to take the Wood Brothers Ford under the checkered flag 36 seconds ahead of David Pearson. Parnelli Jones, Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough rounded out a Ford top five sweep. Gurney led Jones by 52 seconds when a rear tire blew on lap 145. The pit stop took 1 minute, 25 seconds when chunks of rubber had to be removed from around the rear axle. Gurney re-entered the race in third, but it only took him 15 laps to regain the lead. A new safety device made it's first appearance as a number of cars carried a screen over the driver's side window. Gurney drove #121, marking the last time that a car with a three digit number won a NASCAR GN race. He also earned victories there in 1963, '64, '65 and '66.
1973
Mark Donohue drove Roger Penske's AMC Matador to victory in the NASCAR Grand National Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway. The Matador was equipped with disc brakes on all four wheels. Donohue, who led 138 of the 191 total laps, took the lead to stay on lap 117 and won by more than a lap. Bobby Allison's Chevy was 2nd with GN West champ Ray Elder, Bobby Unser and GN West driver Jim Insolo rounding out the top five. The win was the first and only NASCAR GN win for Donohue, and came in only his fifth NASCAR start.

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