AAA The American Automobile Association was founded in Cleveland, Ohio as a response to a lack of roads and highways suitable for autos. It soon became a sanctioning organization for automobile racing in the United States until 1956.
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1911
Carl Forberg... Born ... Midget driver, midget and sprint car owner, and Duane "Pancho" Carter's father-in- law
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1917
Earl Cooper won the AAA Championship race on the 1 mile dirt Ascot Speedway, Los Angeles, Calif., averaging 65.3 mph in his Stutz. It was the 13th win of Cooper's great career. Future Indy 500 winner Joe Boyer made his AAA Championship race debut.
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1919
Buck Baker... Born ... One of the greatest drivers in NASCAR's history. He was the first back-to-back winner of the Grand National Championship in 1956 and 1957. He was second twice (1955 and 1958) and finished in the top five on four other occasions. After his retirement in 1976, Baker opened up the Buck Baker Racing School, where Jeff Gordon drove his first stock car. His son, Buddy Baker is a 34-year Winston Cup veteran and now teaches at the school along with Buck's daughter, Susie Baker.
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1930
Alex "Al" Tasnady... Born ... A modified stock driver for more than 23 years, he had more than 600 victories at tracks along the East Coast. During his career he won point championships at the Reading Fair Grounds, the Nazareth and Hatfield speedways in Pennsylvania; the Flemington, Vineland, Pitman, Atco and Pleasantville speedways in New Jersey, and the speedway in Dover, Del. The first modified driver to have an organized fan club, Tasnady received the Outstanding Achievement Award for modified stock car driving from the Greater New York Auto Racing Fraternity, honoring him as the No.1 driver in the country in 1963. Tasnady was the first driver to win four feature races in one day in 1967 at the Reading Fair Grounds. The next year he was inducted into the Eastern Old Timers Hall of Fame, and in 1974, was the first inductee into the Eastern Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame and was voted by them as one of the the 3 greatest Modified Stock Car dirt track racers ever. After retiring from driving he was race director at the Flemington Fair Speedway, 1973-83.
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1936
Jim (or Jimmy) Clark... Born ... 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.
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1944
Greg Weld... Born ... Weld was known as both a driver and a racing entrepreneur. As a driver, Weld won the 1963 Knoxville Nationals, the premiere event in sprint car racing. Weld raced in the USAC Championship Car series in the 1965-1972 seasons, with 36 career starts, including the 1970 Indianapolis 500. He finished in the top ten 11 times, with his best finish in 4th position in 1970 at Sacramento. He was also the 1967 USAC Sprint Car Series champion. As a racing entrepreneur, he founded Weld Wheels in Kansas City. Weld's wheels were considered by many as the best that automobile racers could buy and ran the firm until its acquisition by American Racing Equipment in 2006. He also promoted local auto races, including the Jerry Weld Memorial, which attracted national-level drivers.
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1953
Herm Johnson... Born ... A former driver in the CART Championship Car series. He raced in 7 seasons (1979-1985), with 35 career starts, including the 1984 Indianapolis 500. He also raced at Indy in 1982, but the race was not part of CART that year. He finished in the top ten 8 times, with his best finish in 6th position in 1982 at Atlanta.
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1960
Gary Hieber... Born ... Modified stock car and USAC driver from Langhorne, Pa.
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1961
Wendell Scott started what would become the first African-American driver to run a full schedule on the NASCAR Grand National ( Winston Cup, Nextel, Sprint) circuit when he races at Piedmont International Speedway in Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA. He finished in 17th place. Cotton Owens drove his Pontiac to victory over Richard Petty, Dave Pearson, Jim Pardue and Doug Yates in the 100 mile NASCAR GN race.
ONE DAY
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