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 Sprint Cars, New York State Fairgrounds, Oct. 26, 1969
Gary Bettenhausen and Larry Dickson took their sprint car title fight to the last race of the 1969 USAC campaign on the one-mile dirt track at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse.
The twin 50-lap features marked the first time the sprints had raced on a mile track since 1964.
Forty-one cars made the eastern tow and were greeted by cloudy skies and cold temperatures. On the other hand, the track was heavy and hot laps were spectacular. Bill Puterbaugh was fastest in trials, followed by Dickson and Sammy Sessions. The top 18 qualifiers went directly into the feature lineup and a 15-lap semi added six more with Don Nordhorn taking the checkered flag.
The fastest 12 qualifiers were inverted for the first 50-lapper, putting Larry Cannon and Johnny Rutherford on the front row. Rutherford got the jump at starter Nick Fornoro’s green flag, but Cannon prevailed on the first lap. A lap-three melee that blocked turn two put Todd Gibson, Nordhorn, Lee Kunzman and Al Smith on the trailer.
At the restart, Cannon remained in front, chased by George Snider and Bettenhausen, whose Willie Davis-owned No. 2 sprint car was powered by a 255 Offy. Bettenhausen passed Snider on lap 20 and drove around Cannon on lap 25.
Bettenhausen led the rest of the way to record his eighth win of the season and clinch the championship. Puterbaugh, Cannon, Rutherford and Dickson rounded out the top-five finishers.
With darkness beginning to fall, the second 50-lapper lined up with Ronnie Burke on the pole after the top 12 finishers in the first feature were inverted.
Burke led the opening four laps before being passed by Bettenhausen. Puterbaugh was on the move and caught Bettenhausen on lap 22. The two raced side-by-side on lap 32, but the crowd-pleasing duel ended when Chuck Booth lost his steering and flipped into the darkness, escaping injury.
The race was red flagged and Puterbaugh recorded his first USAC victory, followed by Bettenhausen, Dickson, Ralph Liguori, who started 24th, and Bruce Walkup.
This story appeared in the Dec 13, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
