SPEED SPORT has been reporting on and covering motorsports happenings from all over the world for 85 years, so we thought it would be fun to take a look back in the archives to see what happened 10, 25 and 50 years ago each week.
So check out what SPEED SPORT was covering 10, 25 and 50 years ago this week in Looking Back!
Oct. 21, 2009 (10 Years Ago): Completing an utterly unexpected season, Jenson Button officially locked up his first Formula One championship with a fifth-place finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix at Autodrome Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Button won six of the first seven races for the upstart Brawn team thanks largely to a controversial diffuser design that gave the team a leg up over the rest of the field. Mark Webber won the race for the Red Bull squad.
Other Happenings: Kyle Busch took top honors in the 38th running of the Winchester 400; Jimmy Mars earned $50,000 for his triumph in the Dirt Track World Championship at Lawrenceburg Speedway; Jimmie Johnson inches closer to another NASCAR Cup Series title with a victory at Lowe’s Motor Speedway; the IHRA announced a major format overall, with an emphasis on entertainment.
Oct. 19, 1994 (25 Years Ago): Butch Miller claimed his third ASA AC-Delco Challenge Series championship with a fourth-place finish in the Pennsylvania 400 at Jennerstown Speedway. His main title rival, Mike Eddy, failed to finish the race after a broken rear end sidelined him on lap 227. Miller claimed roughly $20,000 in prize money for his season-long efforts. Meanwhile, Glenn Allen Jr. won the Pennsylvania 400 over Dave Sensiba.
Other Happenings: Kenny Irwin Jr. topped the USAC Silver Crown Championship finale at Mesa Marin Raceway while Jimmy Sills claimed the series title; the ASA finale planned for a temporary oval in Las Vegas was canceled because of a lack of insurance coverage; Ronnie Johnson won the Dirt Track World Championship at West Virginia’s Pennsboro Speedway; Paul Tracy signed a contract to contest the PPG IndyCar World Series with Newman-Haas; Steve Kinser won the U.S. Dirt Nationals at the Terre Haute Action Track.
Oct. 22, 1969 (50 Years Ago): The most successful team in racing in history at the time appeared to be breaking up. Mario Andretti and his co-chief mechanics, Clint Brawner and Jim McGee, were expected to go their separate ways for the 1970 racing season. Brawner and McGee were linked to Roger McCluskey and Goodyear, though Andretti had yet to speak to either man about the split at the time of publication.
Other Happenings: Roger Penske confirmed he was abandoning General Motors to field AMC Javelins in Trans-Am competition; Dan Gurney departed Ford to work for Plymouth’s racing program; Bobby Isaac charged to his 14th NASCAR Grand National win of the year at Savannah (Ga.) Speedway; Al Unser won his fourth USAC National Championship event of the season in the rain-soaked Dan Gurney 200 at Seattle Int’l Raceway, the first USAC road race to be run in the rain.