Mel Hansen ... Born ... AAA driver . In 21 starts between 1939 and 1949, he won twice (1948 Atlanta in Ray Carter's '39 Wetteroth/Offenhauser, the 1941 Speedway winner, and 1949 Springfield in the '49 Bowes Lesovsky/Offenhauser), was second once (1949 Trenton) and fourth once (1947 Milwaukee). His best championship position was 9th in 1940. He was also a noted midget driver, and won the important Turkey Night Grand Prix in 1939 and the URA (blue circuit) Midget Championship in 1945. His career ended in 1949 after a bad midget crash in Detroit.
Peter DePaolo drove his Duesenberg to victory in the AAA 250 Mile Laurel Race on the 1.125 Mile Board Oval Baltimore-Washington Speedway in Laurel, Maryland. It was the first race held at the Speedway.
Johnny Thomson won the 100 lap AAA Midget race at the Williams Grove Speedway, Williams Grove,PA. Joe Barzda was second followed by Jiggs Peters, Johnny Bernardt and Tony Bonadies.
Pat OConnor won the AAA Sprint Car race over Eddie Sachs, Don Freeland, Mike Nazaruk and Larry Crockett at the Fort Wayne Speedway, Fort Wayne, IN.
Bob Tattersall won the USAC Midget race at the Macon Speedway, Macon,IL.
Darl Harrison won the Sprint Car race over Don Hewitt, Jerry Poland and Audie Swartz at the Eldora Speedway, Rossburg,OH.
Baldy Baker won the Super Modified race at the Sandusky Speedway, Sandusky,OH.
Hank Jacoby won the Sprint Car race over Ralph Quarterson and Bill Banick at the Sharon Speedway, Hartford, OH.
Johnny Rutherford, in the Wally Meskowski # 9, won the USAC Sprint Car race at the Winchester Speedway, Winchester,IN.
Gordon Johncock was second followed by Bobby Unser, Jud Larson and Roger McCluskey.
Bobby Allison drove the J.D. Bracken Chevrolet to victory in the NASCAR Grand National 'Maine 300' on the 1/3 mile paved Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine, as the annual GN Northern Tour continued. Allison's 4th win of the season would prove costly as it would lead to him losing his ride in Cotton Owens factory backed Dodge. Wanting to run the Northern tour events that Owens was skipping, Allison returned to the seat of the Bracken Chevy, a car he'd driven to two early season wins before accepting the Owens ride. Allison said Owens gave his approval, but apparently when word of his victory in a Chevy got to Dodge officials, they did not approve. In the race, Allison finished a lap ahead of Richard Petty's Plymouth with Jim Paschal 3rd, 3 laps back in the Friedkin Enterprises Plymouth. Pole winner James Hylton finished 4th in the Bud Hartje Dodge, also 3 laps back. 10,000 fans were on hand in threatening weather. .
Mel Kenyon won the USAC Midget race over Billy Engelhart, Bob Hauck, Larry Rice and Bob Tattersall at the Hales Corners Speedway, Milwaukee,WI.
Paul Kekich won the Sprint Car race at the Lernerville Speedway, Sarver,PA. Billy Cassella was second followed by Jim Magill, Ralph quarterson and Bill Banick.
Bobby Allen won the Super Sprint Car race over Bob Shaw, Ray Tilley, Mike Lloyd and Joe Lingle at the Williams Grove Speedway, Williams Grove,PA.
Chuck Amati won the Sprint Car race over Cliff Cockrum at the Benton Raceway, Benton,IL.
Paul Kekich won the Super Sprint Car race over Milt Miller, Jerry Matus, Ralph Quarterson and Ted Wise at the Jennerstown Speedway, Jennerstown,PA.
Steve Ungar won the Sprint Car race at the K-C Raceway, Chillicothe, OH.
Dick Sutcliffe won the Sprint Car race over Joe Saldana, Jerry Blundy, Stacy Redmond and Dick Forbrook at the Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville,IA.
Bobby Hogle won the CRA Sprint Car race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1/3p), Las Vegas,NV. Bill Gadda was second followed by Barney White, Ron Rea and Steve Chassey.
Dick Tobias, in the # 17 Ruppert Chevy, won the USAC Sprint Car race at the Williams Grove Speedway, Williams Grove,PA.
Greg Weld was second followed by Gary Bettenhausen, Rollie Beale and Carl Williams.
Bill Schroth and Dick Mealy won the URC Sprint Car feature races at the Lebanon Valley Speedway, West Lebanon,NY.
Johnny Grum won the Super Sprint Car race over Gene Kohr, Mitch Smith, Billy Cassella and Tom Spriggle at the Selinsgrove Speedway, Selinsgrove,PA.
Kenny Weld won the Super Sprint Car race over Ed Zirkle, Buddy Cochran, Gus Linder and Ken Slaybaugh at the Lincoln Speedway, Hanover, PA.
Pedro Rodriguez died when his Ferrari 512M crashed while leading the Interseries race at the Norisring in West Germany.
He became the two-time world champion driver in the fearsome Porsche 917. He developed into one of the sport's greatest all-rounders, racing F1, CanAm, NASCAR, rallies and even becoming North American Ice Racing champion in 1970. In his NASCAR career, Rodriguez earned two top tens, including a 5th in the 1965 World 600.
RayLee Goodwin won the Sprint Car race over Lloyd Beckman and Lonnie Jensen at the Eagle Raceway, Eagle,NE.
Gary Bettenhausen won the USAC Sprint Car race over Larry Dickson and Rollie Beale at the Salem Speedway, Salem,IN.
Bubby Jones won the Sprint Car race over Dean Shirley at the Springfield Speedway, Springfield,IL.
Hershel McGriff won the 100 lap NASCAR Grand National West race on the 3/8 mile dirt Redwood Acres Raceway in Eureka, California. Trailing McGriff's Plymouth at the finish was Dick Bown, also in a Plymouth.
Bobby Isaac , 1970 NASCAR Grand National champ, drove his Dodge to victory in a 90.5 mile NASCAR Grand National East race on the 1/3 mile paved Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, New York. Neil "Soapy" Castles finished 2nd, also in a Dodge. The NASCAR Grand National East division was created for short tracks dropped from the GN schedule after the 1971 "shakeout". It lasted for two seasons.
Bobby Allen, in the # 1a Emrich Chevy, won the All Star Sprint Car race over Lynn Paxton, Jan Opperman, Jim Linder and Lou Blaney at the Fremont Speedway, Fremont,OH.
Jan Opperman, driving the Smith # 4x, won the Sprint Car race over Don Maxwell, Butch Bahr, Dick Morris and Jerry Miller at the Midwest Speedway, Lincoln,NE.
Bruce Jones won the ARDC Midget race over Johnny Coy, Jim Kirk, Lew Blair and George Ferguson Jr at the Grandview Speedway, Bechtelsville,PA.
Paul Pitzer won the Super Sprint Car race over Jim Edwards, Jay Myers, Steve Smith and Bobby Allen at the Reading Fairgrounds, Reading, PA.
Pancho Carter, in the Steve Stapp Chevy, won the USAC Sprint Car race at the New Bremen Speedway (1/2p), New Bremen,OH. Jan Opperman was second followed by Billy Cassella, Chuck Gurney and Gary Bettenhausen.
Mel Kenyon won the USAC Midget race over Rich Vogler, Sleepy Tripp, Jerry Weeks and Joe Saldana at the Kokomo Speedway,Kokomo,IN.
Steve Kinser won the World of Outlaws Sprint Car race at the Tri-City Speedway,Granite City,IL. Bobby Allen was second followed by Steve Long, Dub May and Bob Kinser.
Rusty Wallace won the NASCAR Winston Cup Slick 50 300 over Mark Martin . Davey Allison drove to third place at the first Winston Cup Loudon New Hampshire race, coming close to winning in his last ever Nascar Winston Cup event. The next day, he sustained fatal head injuries while landing his helicopter at the Talladega Motor Speedway in Alabama, from which he died on July 13. Joe Nemechek and Jeff Burton make their Cup debut , Nemechek finishes 36th and Burton 37th.
Kurt Busch outdueled his younger brother Kyle Busch in the pair's fourth career 1-2 finish and take his 33rd career victory in the Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, GA. Kyle Busch finished second followed by Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney.
ONE DAY
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