Editor’s Note: In this monthly photo essay feature, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame photographer John Mahoney shares his memories and images from some of the most amazing and historic sprint car and midget races.
USAC Midgets, Dayton Speedway, Aug. 8, 1976
In July 1976, Jan Opperman posted a surprising second-place finish to Pancho Carter on New Bremen (Ohio) Speedway’s pavement.
Pavement? It was just the beginning of the surprises from the dirt-track legend.
On a sweltering Aug. 8, the USAC midget contingent arrived at the recently repaved Dayton (Ohio) Speedway. Dana Carter established a world’s half-mile midget track record of 17.652 seconds, breaking the mark set by his half-brother, Pancho Carter, earlier in the day.
Twenty-eight cars were on hand and Opperman clocked a solid fifth quickest aboard Bob Lithgow’s No. 28 entry. He then proceeded to win the first heat over Dana Carter. The three other heats were topped by Pancho Carter, Larry Patton and Rich Vogler.
Vogler also won the four-lap trophy dash and Greg Staab was first in the semi.
A first for me was watching the track crew water the paved racing surface. The new pavement was getting slick under the blistering sun, so several times during the day officials called timeout and utilized a fire department tanker to spray water on the track in an attempt to cool it.
In the feature, Opperman took command on lap eight and held the lead until passed by Vogler at the halfway point. A few laps later, Opperman regained the lead and held it to the finish.
Behind Opperman, a fierce battle for second waged among Patton, Pancho Carter and Vogler. The win was Opperman’s first USAC victory on pavement and his first midget triumph.
Completing the top 10 were Vogler, Patton, Dave Gable, Sleepy Tripp, Tom Brosius, Pancho Carter, Clark Templeman, Staab and Dana Carter.
The rest of August proved phenomenal for Opperman. He posted another pavement midget win at Indianapolis Raceway Park on the 18th, followed by a dirt midget victory at Little Springfield two days later.
Amazingly, he visited victory lane again at Dayton on the 22nd, driving the Longhorn Racing sprint car, and leading Pancho Carter to the checkered flag.
Opperman’s incredible run ended during the Sept. 11 Hoosier Hundred champ dirt car race when he suffered debilitating injuries in a crash.
This story appeared in the Oct 18, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
