Editor’s Note: In a nod to our 90 years of history, each week SPEED SPORT will look back at the top stories from 15, 30 and 60 years ago as told in the pages of National Speed Sport News.
15 Years Ago — 2010
News: On Friday at Dover Int’l Speedway, Richard Childress and Clint Bowyer emphatically defended the No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet team penalized after failing a post-race inspection after the Sept. 19 Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The team will appear before the NASCAR appeals committee Sept. 29.
While Bowyer’s car passed initial post-race inspection at NHMS, it was transported to the NASCAR R&D center in Concord, N.C., and failed follow-up inspection per sections 12·1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); J.2.4.J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-3 (car body location specifications in reference to the certified chassis did not meet NASCAR-approved specifications) of the 2010 NASCAR Rule Book.
Bowyer was docked 150 driver’s points and Childress lost 150 owner’s points. Crew Chief
Shane Wilson and Car Chief Chad Haney also were each suspended six races and placed on probation through Dec. 31. Wilson was fined $150,000.
Both Childress and Bowyer cited a push to victory lane from a tow truck as the reason the rear of the car was beyond the tolerance allowed.
“I’m angry about the whole thing,” Bowyer said. “This tarnished my win. It’s something you’re very proud of. I’m very angry about it. I’m angry for my fans, for our sponsors.”
Childress cited the history at his Richard Childress Racing team to stay within the rules.
“I hope the integrity that RCR and Richard Childress has built up over the 4&-plus years in this sport … We wouldn’t be … and I will use the words dumb enough, stupid enough to bring a car to the race track that we know is out of the tolerances.”
Winners: Donny Schatz scored his fifth victory of the year in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Commonwealth Clash Saturday night at Lernerville Speedway.
Schatz claimed the overall title in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup back in July and has won four times at Lernerville in his career.
The S1O,OOO triumph was the 105th of his career with the World of Outlaws, putting him just two behind Hall of Famer Doug Wolfgang for fourth on the series all-time win list.
“We had an awesome car.” Said Schatz. “It was fun to race Paulie (McMahan) like that and be in traffic. We’ve been working hard and these guys deserve to win every night with how hard they work. We haven’t been able to do that. So we have to pick up the pace a little bit. It’s fun to be able to know you still can do it after you lose all of that advantage.”
Schatz started second aboard the Armor All/STP J&J and was all over McMahan in the early going, nearly taking the lead several times. The North Dakota native used a strong restart on the 11th lap to pass McMahan. He led the rest of the way.
Schatz had a huge lead on the 28th lap when the final caution flag of the night waved, setting up a double-file restart. Schatz chose the low line on the restart and quickly shot to a lead.
“I could have started from either place, but I knew that Paul was better on the bottom than he would have been on the outside, so I just took the line he wanted,” admitted the winner. “It wouldn’t have mattered. because with the double-me restarts the leader gets to start the race. I could have taken off anywhere I wanted in turns three and four, so it’s your bonus to be leading at that point. The double-me restarts for the most part have been good this year and they were fun tonight.”
30 Years Ago — 1995
News: The United States Auto Club Board of Directors has banned the use of V -6 engines in its True Value Silver Crown open-wheel series for 1996, mandating a minimum V-8 displacement of 350 cubic inches.
The Silver Crown cars must also weigh at least 1,500 pounds.
In other action, starters and clutches in the 1996 USAC National Midget Series will continue to be recommended, but will not be mandatory.
After extensive discussion, the board endorsed the midget competition commission’s proposal regarding the use of clutches and starters. The board will seek incentives to support their development and use under the 900-pound minimum car weight limit.
No penalties will be imposed on cars which fail to start due to malfunctioning starter and clutch units.
The board also endorsed a car-numbering policy that gives entrants first refusal on current car numbers 2 through 99. Owners have until Jan. 15, 1996 to claim car numbers. As usual, No. 1 will be reserved for the division driving champion.
The board also ratified the commission’s recommendation to make roll cage padding mandatory in sprint cars for the 1996 season.
Winners: Bill Frye drove perhaps the race of his life to edge Scott Bloomquist in the sixth annual Hav-A-Tampa Shootout Saturday night at Dixie Speedway.
He also collected the paycheck of his life, earning at least $25,000 from the record $140,000 purse.
Starting 20th in a 26-car field, Frye worked his way up through the field to challenge Shootout polesitter Bloomquist, who had led from the wave of the green flag.
Frye, using a high line made available by Dixie Speedway promoter Mlckey Swims’s track maintainance crews, was fifth by lap 20 and third 10 laps later.
Frye kept Bloomquist in sight, with the help of several caution flags, and swept around the Tennessee star on lap 62.
Frye sailed toward the finish line and a large payoff, but got caught in lapped traffic with just a few laps remaining.
Bloomquist caught the leader and pushed hard, actually sticking the nose of his mount under Frye coming off the final turn, but Frye kept his foot in it and crossed the line inches to the good.
Frye’s effort was remarkable on at least two counts. First, the Rinehart Trucking
GRT-Baker No. 66 driver nearly missed the show, making the field by annexing the second last-chance race. Second, his run disproved the theory that mid-field starters and backmarkers have little chance to advance on Dixie’s clay three-eighths-mile oval.
60 Years Ago— 1965
News: The United States Auto Club may have adopted the 3-liter engine formula beginning in 1968-but It may have a bit of trouble filling the race fields.
Bob Wilke, president of the Championship Car Owners Association said Friday that his group,
representing 95 percent of all American car owners, is “firmly against any such rule change and wants no part of reducing the engine size.
“We petitioned a year ago against any change in engine size,” said Wilke, owner of the Leader Card racing team. “At the May meeting or USAC’s board, the proposal to go with the 3·liter engine was tabled and we were assured it wouldn’t be discussed again until May of 1966.
“So what happens? In September, with our car owner board representative (J. C. Agajanlan) in the hospital, they ran it through. I don’t think it was a legal move by USAC and we’re definitely going to petition at the next meetIng (in January) that the change be rescinded and no 3-liter formula be enacted.”
Henry Banks, director of competition for USAC, said a study of the minutes of the May board meeting show no disclusion whatsoever of the 3-liter change.
”In June, the rules committee recommended the change-if there be evidence of availability of 3· liter engines as of Jan. 1, 1966. This was the same proposal the rules group made in the January, 1965 meeting.
“The day before our September board meeting, the rules committee recommended the availability stipulation be removed and the board accepted the recommendation and acted accordingly.”
Wilke says the car owners are against any such change because of the prohibitive cost.
“This would mean we’d have to put out from $12,000 to $14,000 for a brand new engine of that size, plus spending another $12,000 to $18,000 to build a car to fit the engine.
“And what are we supposed to do with the Ford engines in which we have $15,000 per engine invested, or the $11 ,000 for an Offenhauser engine we’re now using?”
Winners: Junior Johnson, the jolly giant from Ingle Hollow, N.C., pleased a partisan hometown crowd estimated at 15,000 by winning the annual Wilkes 250 stock car race Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
The 230-pound Johnson had his Holly Farms 1965 Ford two laps ahead of Cale Yarborough of Timmonsville, S. C., at the finish of the grueling race that saw three of his toughest challengers eliminated in the early stages to a spectacular smashup. Yarborough also drove a 1965 Ford.
Knocked out when their cars hit an oil slick on the 13th lap were Richard Petty in a 1965 Plymouth, Bobby Isaac in a 1965 Dodge and Dick Hutcherson in a 1965 Ford.
Finishing third behind Johnson and Yarborough was Ned Jarrett in a 1965 Ford. David Pearson, whose Dodge was the only Chrysler threat remaining after the Petty-Isaac exit, finished fourth and Curtis Turner, in a Glenn Wood Ford, was fifth.
Rounding out the top 10 In order were Martin Panch In a 1985 Ford, Junior-Spencer in a 1964 Ford, Tom Pistone, ’84 Ford, G. C. Spencer, ’84 Ford, and Buddy Baker ’64 Dodge.
Johnson won $4,475 for his afternoon’s work. It was his 13th victory of the season; second straight on this track and second in eight days. He also won the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville, Va., last Sunday.
Junior started his racing career on this track more than a dozen years ago. It made him the winningest driver on the NASCAR circuit. Before Sunday Johnson and Ned Jarrett were deadlocked for most wins with 12 each.
Johnson averaged 88.801 mph, well under his record 95.047 mph set when he won the Spring race here.
The caution flag went out five times for 41 laps.
