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 (Aug. 19, 2009): Donny Schatz marched to his fourth-straight victory in the annual Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway. Schatz chased down Joey Saldana and passed him on the 35th circuit, leading the final five laps to earn another $150,000/ The race was held Sunday night after rain washed out Saturday’s program with B and A mains remaining.
Other Happenings: Brian Vickers used a fuel mileage gamble to win the NASCAR Cup Series Carfax 400 at Michigan Int’l Speedway, Red Bull Racing’s first victory at NASCAR’s top level; Jesse Hockett nipped Dave Darland to win the Casey’s Ultimate Challenge for the USAC National Sprint Cars; Sammy Swindell won the Front Row Challenge at Southern Iowa Speedway; Jimmy Owens took top honors in the Topless 100.
25 Years Ago (Aug. 17, 1994): Despite watching his trio of Indy car drivers – Al Unser Jr., Paul Tracy and Emerson Fittpaldi – sweeping the podium at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Roger Penske was not happy. The newly created Indy Racing League, jointly with sanctioning body USAC, announced it would be lowering the turbo boost on Penske’s custom made Mercedes-Benz engine his team used to win the 1994 Indy 500. The decision left Penske irate, saying USAC was “incapable of running the Indianapolis 500, let alone the Indy Racing League.”
Other Happenings: Kenny Jacobs pocketed $100,000 for winning the second Historical Big One at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway; Mark Martin won the Bud at the Glen at Watkins Glen Int’l for the second-straight year; Ron Fellows won the Trans-Am race at Watkins Glen; Michael Schumacher won his seventh race of the year during the Hungarian Grand Prix; the proposed Congressional Subcommittee hearing on tobacco involvement in sports sponsorship was postponed.
50 Years Ago (Aug. 20, 1969): David Pearson won Yankee 600 in a race that saw everything from rain to a broken helicopter falling on the track at Michigan Int’l Speedway. The race was topped twice for rain and was eventually declared official because of darkness. During one of the rain delays a helicopter that was being used to dry the track suddenly lost power and fell onto the track. No one was injured, but a wrecker was required to haul the helicopter away.
Other Happenings: Al Unser was in his own league during the Milwaukee 200 USAC Indy car event at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds; Kenny Gritz fought off the pains of first degree burns to win the Super Modified National Championship at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa; Roger McCluskey and Butch Hartman earned USAC stock car victories; Mario Andretti won a 100-mile USAC event at the Illinois State Fairgrounds a day after his twin brother, Aldo, was hurt in a crash in Des Moines, Iowa.