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MARCH 23

1887
George Buzane... Born ... AAA driver from the early 1900's.
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1894
Harry Butcher... Born ... AAA driver from the 1930's.
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1919
Roscoe Sarles drove his Duesenberg to victory in the 150 mile AAA Championship race at Ascot Speedway in Los Angeles, California. Sarles averaged 70.62 mph on the 1 mile dirt oval.
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1937
Craig Breedlove... Born ... A five-time world land speed record holder. He was the first to reach 400 mph (640 km/h), 500 mph (800 km/h), and 600 mph (970 km/h), using several turbojet-powered vehicles that were all named "Spirit of America".
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1952
Johnnie Parsons won the 50 lap Pacific Coast AAA Sprint Car race at the Los Angeles Fairgrounds, Pomona, CA.
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1958
Buck Baker won the 99 mile NASCAR Grand National race in his Chevy on the 9/10 mile dirt Orange Speedway in Hillsboro, North Carolina. Marvin Panch finished second in a Ford.
Gwyn Staley , winner of 3 NASCAR GN races and a top driver on the Convertible circuit, died in a crash during the NASCAR Convertible race on the 1/2 mile dirt Richmond track in Richmond, Virginia. He was the only fatality in Convertible series history (the Staley family operated North Wilkesboro Speedway for many years).
Elmer George won the 30 lap USAC Sprint Car race over Eddie Sachs at the Dayton Speedway, Dayton, OH.
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1963
Bobby Grim won the 100 lap USAC Midget race at the Chicago Ampitheater, Chicago, IL.
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1969
Bobby Allison drove the Mario Rossi Dodge to victory in the NASCAR GN 'Southeastern 500' at Bristol International Speedway. Polesitter Bobby Isaac was leading when a radiator hose came off the Krauskopf Dodge on lap 448, blowing the motor and giving the lead to David Pearson. Pearson's Holman-Moody Ford began trailing smoke with 15 laps to go. Pearson managed to stay in front, despite making a quick pit stop, until Allison got by with 7 laps to go. Pearson coasted to a stop with 5 laps to go and Allison cruised, taking the win 4 laps ahead of LeeRoy Yarbrough.
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1975
Richard Petty wins the Atlanta 500 over Buddy Baker at the Atlanta Motor Speedway , Atlanta, GA.
Larry Dickson won the 40 lap USAC Sprint Car race at the Reading Fairgrounds Speedway, Reading, PA.
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1980
Geoff Bodine won the NASCAR Modified Stock Car race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, NC. ( Click here for the race report. )
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1986
Nelson Piquet emerged from a duel with Ayrton Senna to win the F1 Brazilian Grand Prix, the opening event in the 1986 F1 season. During the race Piquet, Senna and Alain Prost swapped the lead 7 times on the 3.12 mile Jacarepagua circuit. Piquet, driving a Williams-Honda, took the checkered flag 34.8 seconds ahead of Senna's Lotus-Renault.
Don Garlits became the first NHRA Top Fuel driver to run 270 mph when he ran a 272.56 mph pass at Gainesville, Florida.
Kenny Brightbill won the Late Model race at the Hagerstown Speedway, Hagerstown, MD. ( Click here for the race report. )
Brett Bodine won the NASCAR Winston Modified Tour 200 race at the Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, VA. ( Click here for the race results. )
Elton Sawyer won the 100 lap NASCAR Late Model Stock Car race at the Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, VA.
Morgan Shepherd won the 200 lap NASCAR Busch Grand National Stock Car race at the Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, VA.
Dave Blaney won the Super Sprint Car race at the Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA. ( Click here for the race report. )
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1989
Doug Wolfgang won the opening round of the SuperTex Speedweeks NCRA-USA Challenge Sprint Car race at the Battleground Speedway, Houston, TX. ( Click here for the race report. )
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1997
Dale Jarrett wins the TranSouth Financial 400 over Ted Musgrave at the Darlington Raceway , Darlington, SC.
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2003
Kurt Busch wins the Food City 500 over Matt Kenseth at the Bristol Motor Speedway , Bristol, TN.
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2007
Robert Peterson ... Died ... An entrepreneur who single-handedly created the largest special-interest publishing company in America and was instrumental in the evolution of the hot-rodding culture. In January 1948 he launched Hot Rod Magazine, and hawked the magazine at local speedways for 25 cents a copy. Motor Trend, a more upscale publication for production car enthusiasts, and dozens of other titles aimed at specialty automotive segments soon followed.
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2009
Lloyd Ruby ... Died ... Ruby won seven times on the USAC Championship Car Series in his career and also had endurance racing victories in the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the United States Grand Prix. But he is best known for the race he didn't win. Ruby raced in 18 straight Indianapolis 500s from 1960-77, led in five of them and was out front for 126 laps. But he never won open wheel racing's most prestigious prize. Ruby's best finish at Indianapolis was third in 1964. His only top five finish at the 500 came in 1968. Five other times he placed in the top 10. In 1991, he was inducted into the Indianapolis 500 Hall of Fame.
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