Joe Nikrent drove a Buick to victory in the Los Angeles-to-Phoenix race. Nikrent covered the 480 miles in 19 hours and 13 minutes for an average speed of 24.98 mph.
____________________
1949
Rex Mays... Died ... AAA driver from the 1930's and 40's. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1995 and was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in the first class in 1990. He ran in 12 Indy 500's with a best finish of 2nd in both 1940 & 1941. He was killed in a crash during the only Champ Car race held at Del Mar Speedway in Del Mar, California in 1949.
Jimmy Davies won the AAA sanctioned Del Mar 100 on the 1 Mile Dirt Oval Del Mar Speedway in Del Mar, California. Lee Wallard finished second followed by Myron Fohr, Mack Hellings and Paul Russo.
____________________
1955
Jack McGrath... Died ... AAA driver from the 1940's & 50's, ran 8 Indy 500's. He was killed in the final race of the 1955 season in Phoenix, Arizona.
Jimmy Bryan won the Bobby Ball Memorial AAA Championship Race on the 1 Mile Dirt Oval Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona. Johnny Thomson finished second followed by George Amick, Andy Linden and Pat O'Connor.
____________________
1965
Mario Andretti won the USAC Sprint Car race at the Ascot Park Speedway, Gardena,CA. Ned Spath was second followed by Johnny Rutherford, Bobby Hogle and Roger McCluskey.
____________________
1971
Jan Opperman won the Sprint Car race at the Manzanita Speedway, Phoenix,AZ.
Billy Wilkerson and Dick Zimmerman each won the features in the Twin 50s CRA Sprint Car races at the Ascot Park Speedway (1/2d) , Gardena,CA.
____________________
1976
Jimmy Oskie won the CRA Sprint Car race over Clark Templeman, Tommy Hunt, Tom Roa and Tony Simon at the Ascot Park Speedway, Gardena,CA.
____________________
1977
Darrell Waltrip won the NASCAR Winston Cup Dixie 500 over David Pearson at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, GA.
Steve Smith won the Super Sprint Car race at the Reading Fairgrounds, Reading,PA. Smokey Snellbaker was second followed by Bobby Weaver, Bobby Allen and Paul Pitzer.
Sammy Swindell won the Sprint Car race at the Riverside Speedway, West Memphis,AR. Dub May was second followed by Tom Corbin, Rickey Hood and Benny Howard.
____________________
1981
Jeff Swindell and his brother Sammy Swindell each won the feature Sprint Car races at the Devil's Bowl Speedway, Dallas,TX.
____________________
1982
Tom Sneva won the CART sanctioned Miller High Life 150 on the 1 Mile Paved Oval Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, AZ. Rick Mears was second followed by Mario Andretti, Kevin Cogan and Bobby Rahal.
Dean Thompson won the CRA Sprint Car race over Gary Howard, Bubby Jones, Stan Atherton and Bob East at the Ascot Park Speedway, Gardena,CA.
Steve Kinser won the Sprint Car race over Ron Shuman, Rickey Hood, Brad Doty and Keith Kauffman at the Devil's Bowl Speedway, Dallas,TX.
____________________
1983
Neil Bonnett won the NASCAR Winston Cup Atlanta Journal 500 over Buddy Baker at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, GA.
George Ferguson, Jr. and Frankie Kerr each won the feature Super Sprint Car races at the Bridgeport Speedway, Bridgeport,NJ.
Midge Miller won the Midget race over Ed Wylie, John Heydenreich, Drew Fornoro and Dave Kelly at the Bridgeport Speedway, Bridgeport,NJ.
____________________
1988
Alan Kulwicki won the NASCAR Winston Cup Checker 500 over Terry Labonte at the Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, AZ.
____________________
1995
Bill Cheesbourg ... Died ... Cheesbourg started racing jalopies in Tucson and successfully moved into midgets racing all over Arizona after World War II. He drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1956-1962 and 1964-1966 seasons with 31 starts, including the Indianapolis 500 races in 1957-1959, 1961, 1964, and 1965. He finished in the top ten 8 times, with his best finish in 7th position in 1959 at Daytona and in 1966 at Fuji. Cheesbourg returned to the local dirt short track racing scene after his Indy Car career was finished.
Larry "Boom Boom" Cannon... Died ... USAC Sprint and USAC / CART Championship car driver from the mid 1960's to 1984.
____________________
2005
Don Brown... Died ... USAC Sprint and INDY Car driver from the 1960's and 70's. He was also one of the best car fabricators.
Carl Edwards won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Dickies 500 over Mark Martin at the Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, TX.
ONE DAY
To report wrong information, click here to send E-Mail to webmaster@wheelsofspeed.com 
Back to the Wheels of Speed home page