Gary Bettenhausen ... Born ... His father was Indianapolis 500 and sprint car legend Tony Bettenhausen, and his brother was former Champ Car team owner Tony Bettenhausen Jr. Another brother, Merle Bettenhausen, lost his arm in a fiery crash. Gary began as a midget car driver. He finished third in the midget car national points in 1967. He won the first leg of the Astro Grand Prix in 1969, which was held in the Astrodome. He won the 1967 and 1970 Turkey Night Grand Prix, the 1972 Astro Grand Prix, and the 1976 Hut Hundred. He has 27 career USAC midget wins. He won the 1969 and 1971 sprint car championships. He won the 1980 and 1983 USAC Dirt Track champions in Silver Crown car. He competed in Indy cars from the mid-'1960s until 1996.During this time he won six USAC Indy Car races. Gary made 21 starts in the Indy '500, contesting each event from 1968 until 1982 (with the exception of 1979 when he failed to qualify), and again from 1986 to 1993. His best finish came in 1980 when he finished third after starting 32nd in the 33-car field. He competed in eight career NASCAR Winston Cup events. He had four Top 10 finishes. His highest career finish was a fourth place finish at the 1974 Motor State 360 at the Michigan International Speedway in 1974. He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1993 and was a 1998 inductee in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame.
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1961
Bob McLean won the USAC Midget race at the Allen County Coliseum Expo, Fort Wayne,IN.
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1962
Bobby Marshman won the Bobby Ball Memorial USAC Championship Race on the 1 Mile Dirt Oval Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona. A.J. Foyt finished second followed by Lloyd Ruby, Parnelli Jones and Jim Hurtubise.
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1967
Gary Bettenhausen won the USAC Midget race over Bob Tattersall, Mike McGreevy and Bruce Walkup at the Manzanita Speedway, Phoenix,AZ.
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1972
Rollie Beale won the USAC Sprint Car race over Dick Zimmerman, Lee Kunzman, Ron Rea and Tony Simon at the Ascot Park Speedway, Gardena,CA.
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1973
Chuck Gurney won the USAC Midget race over Tommy Astone, Ken Nichols, Pancho Carter and Floyd Alvis at the All American Speedway, Roseville,CA.
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1978
Buster Venard won the Don Peabody Classic CRA Sprint Car race over Mike Shaw, Jimmy Oskie, Rick Goudy and Walt Kennedy at the Ascot Park Speedway (1/2d) , Gardena,CA.
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1979
Benny Parsons won the NASCAR Winston Cup L.A. Times 500 over Bobby Allison at the Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, California.
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1984
Geoffrey Bodine won the NASCAR Winston Cup Winston West. 500 over Tim Richmond at the Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California.
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1988
Rich Vogler won the USAC Midget race over Stan Fox, Kevin Olson, John Heydenreich and Robby Flock at the Kings Speedway, Hanford,CA.
Mickey Gibbs won the Atlanta Journal 500K ARCA race over Tommy Ellis, Tracy Leslie, Bob Keselowski, Ralph Jones, Dave Weltmeyer, Jimmy Horton, Bill Ingram, Peter Sospenzo and J.D. McDuffie at the Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton,GA.
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1989
Ron Shuman won the Don Peabody Classic CRA Sprint Car race over Rip Williams, Lealand McSpadden, Jimmy Oskie and Jerry Meyer at the Ascot Park Speedway (1/2d) , Gardena,CA.
Sleepy Tripp won the USAC Midget race over Mario Bringetto, Jimmy Sills, Terry Farar and Kevin Olson at the Bakersfield Speedway, Bakersfield, CA. ( Click here for the race report. )
Bobby Allen won the All Star Sprint Car race at the Dixie Speedway , Woodstock,GA. Jac Haudenschild was second followed by Steve Kinser, Danny Lasoski and Joe Gaerte.
Ernie Irvan won the ARCA 500K race at the Atlanta International Speedway, Hampton, GA.
Sam Rodriguez won the Sprint Car race and David Reutimann won the Modified Stock Car race at the East Bay Raceway, Gibsonton, FL.
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1990
Morgan Shepherd won the NASCAR Winston Cup Atlanta Journal 500 over Geoffrey Bodine at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, GA.
Steve Kinser won the All Star Sprint Car race at the Rome Speedway,Rome, GA.
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1995
Billy Boat won the USAC Midget race over Tony Stewart, Jim Keene, Tracy Hines and Jordan Hermansader at the Ventura Raceway, Ventura,CA.
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2001
Bobby Labonte won the NASCAR Winston Cup NAPA 500 over Sterling Marlin at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, GA.
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2007
Matt Kenseth won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Ford 400 over Kurt Busch at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, FL.
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2008
Chuck Amati ... Died ... Chuck Amati was an 'Outlaw' long before the inaugural 1978 World of Outlaws season. For over 40 years he raced from coast-to-coast chasing wins, and when he took his helmet off for the final time in 2002, he had accumulated hundreds of them in his career in a number of different types of race cars. Amati will always be remember as "The One Armed Bandit," a nickname he earned on a night, when he sustained an injury to his right arm and devised a harness to hold the arm in place in his lap, driving using his left arm. The arm would eventually heal, though the nickname stuck with him for the rest of his career and contributed to him being one of the most colorful drivers to ever climb into a sprint car. He won a in a variety of machines during his legendary career including: winged sprint cars, non-winged sprint cars, supermodifieds and even midgets. From 1969-1986, he won at least one sprint car race every year during that span.
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2010
Donny Schatz won the 25-lap Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National feature during the 43rd annual Kronik Energy Drink Western World Championship at the USA Raceway in Tucon, AZ. Jack Dover was second followed by Sammy Swindell, Cody Darrah, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Gary Wright, Brady Bacon, Tony Bruce Jr, Michael Dupuy and Channin Tankersley.
R.J. Johnson won the 25-lap opening night feature of the ASCS Canyon Region wingless 43rd annual Kronik Energy Drink Western World Championship at the USA Speedway in Tucson, AZ. Johnny Herrera was second followed by Charles Davis Jr., Colby Copeland, Shane Cottle, Kyle Larson, Chris Morgan, Gary Taylor, Dustin Morgan and Rick Ziehl.
ONE DAY
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