Editor’s Note: In a nod to our 92 years of history, each week SPEED SPORT will look back at the top stories from 20, 40 and 60 years ago as told in the pages of National Speed Sport News.
20 Years Ago — 2006
News: While Indy Racing League teams will test at Daytona Int’l Speedway road course Sept. 26-27, IRL President Brian Barnhart is not ruling out the chance the series could race there as soon as the 2008 season.
“We’ve got to take steps first,” Barnhart said. “But the goal should be to race down there sometime in the future.”
The only Indy car race ever held at Daytona was during the track’s inaugural season in 1959 when Marshall Teague and George Amick were killed at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Teague did during a crash while testing and Amick was killed during the 100-mile race.
Winners: With a victory in the USAC National Sprint Car Series 30-lapper during Saturday’s rain-plagued 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway, Tracy Hines doubled up, earning his second $25,000 paycheck.
Enduring a lengthy early morning rain delay, Hines led every lap in the Offman Mopar-powered F-5. Josh Wise ran second, followed by Brady Bacon, Dave Darland and Mat Neely.
Hines had won the USAC midget headliner earlier in the program and would have a shot at a $100,000 bonus if he could also win the USAC Silver Crown Series main event.
However, Hines wound up 10th in the finally as Mat Neely claimed the victory. Jerry Bowersock won the UMP modified feature.
40 Years Ago — 1986
News: If time heals all wounds, it apparently can solve most problems, at least when it comes to the motivating forces for Formula One.
As late as several weeks ago, rumors, potential deals, and worried team managers were the order of the occasion when it came to pondering what powerplants would propel the high-technology single seaters for the coming season in FISA’s World Championship Grand Prix tour.
Renault would power the McLarens, Brabham would be left without an engine following a BMW pullout, Honda would leave Williams high and dry and, in turn, ‘supply Lotus with its own latest version of its title-bound V-6. But that was in the past. Now, even though the rules are still murky, who is going to be bolted up to whose firewall is not. ·
Confirmation of that came Monday in a negative way when, at 4 p.m. Paris time, Renault announced it was withdrawing from Formula One, which will leave Teams Tyrrell and Ligier with empty engine bays.
Winners: The third Gold Cup Race of Champions title in the last four years won by Steve Kinser was won as much in the pits Friday as on the track Sunday night.
But the six-time WoO kingpin ran a perfect race to lead wire-to-wire in the 40-lap World of Outlaws Copenhagen-Skoal Shootout sprint car feature Sunday night at Silver Dollar Speedway.
The pole position earned by winning Friday night’s preliminary feature, after severe car damage caused in a flip was repaired, played as large a role in Kinser’s triumph as the race itself. Kinser put the Coors Light/Gambler Competition No. 11 out front at the start of the 10-mile dash around the quarter-mile clay oval and was never headed.
Kinser collected $12,825 for his 15th win of the WoO season and the 165th of his career.
Brad Doty gave the Coors Light-sponsored cars a one-two finish as be made a second turn pass of Jimmy Sills late in the race. Outside front row starter Doty fell a straight short of the winner and earned $7,550 for home state owners Fred Marks and Les Kepler.
60 Years Ago— 1966
News: Stock car builder Smokey Yunick declared “101 percent of the factory cars” running in the NASCAR Grand National circuit “are illegal according to the books.”
At the same time Yunick contended NASCAR is catering to the heavy influence of factory operations and “enforcement of the specifications in the rule book are vague, at best.”
Meanwhile, the Automobile Competition Committee — U.S. FIA has inaugurated an “informal investigation” of specification standards governing NASCAR and USAC late model cars after Yunick bitterly complained he was being discriminated against by NASCAR officials.
That probe was touched off when Yunick, contending ACCUS standards in both USAC and NASCAR are alike, complained his newly-built Chevelle was judged to be illegal by NASCAR technical officials but to be legal by officials in USAC.
ACCUS Executive Director William Flemming said it would take “a week to 10 days” to complete its investigation. “First we want to find out where we stand and then find out where the discrepancy, if any, might lay,” Flemming said.
Winners: “This has to be the happiest day of my life.”
With these words word defending USAC national champion Mario Andretti accepted the victory trophy from promoter Sam Nunis after gunning his Dean Van Lines Hawk rear-engine Ford to a frantic finish in the 200-mile national championship race at Trenton Speedway.
It was a banner day for the pint-sized Italiano from nearby Nazareth, Pa., as he set fast time during qualifications, led the race from start to finish at a record clip, won his seventh title race of the year and advanced to 41 points of clinching his second straight national driving crown.
Mario completed 200 miles in 1 hour, 54 minutes and 8.84 seconds at a sizzling 105.127 miles per hour, topping Don Branson’s 102.529 mph record run of 1962.
Andretti’s spectacular dash to starter Nick Fomoro’s checkered bunting almost turned into one of horror for the 26-year-old speedster when his gleaming white racer ran dry with just five taps remaining. Much to the surprise of the near record crowd his closet competitors also ran out of fuel including Jim McElreath, who ran second most of the afternoon only to find himself stalled on the back straightaway with four laps to go.
AI Unser, who also ran dry in the closing laps and had to stop for fuel, finished second in the American Red Ball rear-engine Ford, two miles behind Andretti.
