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!
10 Years Ago (June 17, 2009): Bryan Clauson earned a pair of USAC Midget victories at at Kokomo Speedway and Lawrenceburg Speedway to lay claim to the USAC Indiana Midget crown. Clauson beat Brad Kuhn by eight makers to claim the Indiana Midget Week title. Kuhn picked up one win at Bloomington Speedway during Indiana Midget Week.
Other Happenings: Peugeot dethroned Audi by sweeping the top-two spots in the 24 Hours of Le Mans; Mark Martin used a fuel strategy gamble to win the LifeLock 400 at Michigan Int’l Speedway; Joey Saldana swept the two-night Boot hill Showdown at Dodge City (Kan.) Raceway Park; Cody Darrah, Brian Montieth and Chad Layton all earned their first All Star Circuit of Champions victories.
25 Years Ago (June 15, 1994): There was trouble at Team Penske as Paul Tracy punted teammate Al Unser Jr. out of the way to win the Detroit Grand Prix. On the 55th lap Unser was rammed from behind by Tracy, sending Unser into a tire barrier. Tracy went on to win the race by nearly 10 seconds over his other teammate, Emerson Fittipaldi.
Other Happenings: Rusty Wallace held off Dale Earnhardt to win at Pocono Int’l Raceway; Michael Schumacher led every lap of the Canadian Grand Prix to earn his fifth victory in six races; Andy Michner won the USAC National Midget event at Indianapolis Raceway Park, the 5,000th in USAC history; Mike Eddy triumphed in the ASA AC Delco Challenge Series stock car event at Louisville Motor Speedway.
50 Years Ago (June 18, 1969): Cale Yarborough survived a hair-raising crash with fellow Mercury driver LeeRoy Yarbrough on the final lap to win the Motor State 500 NASCAR event at Michigan Int’l Speedway. The two were fighting for the race lead when they came together, with Yarborough emerging with the victory. Yarbrough nursed his car back around the track after hitting the outside wall, but he fell 300 feet short of the finish line.
Other Happenings: Ford captured its fourth-straight victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Belgium’s Jackie Ickx besting Hans Herrmann’s Porsche for the win with only 120 yards separating the two; Roger McCluskey won the 100-lap USAC stock car race at Ohio’s Tri County Speedway; Lou Blaney was a winner in the Spring Championship at Jennerstown Speedway; Gary Bettenhausen won the USAC sprint event at the Reading Fairgrounds.