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USAC Sprints - Terre Haute - 6/16/68
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1/26/13, 4:49 PM |
#1
USAC Sprints - Terre Haute - 6/16/68
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 4,356 |
+Back to the dirt for this weeks look back at racing. This one on a Sunday afternoon at the Action Track.
Time Trials - 41 Cars - Track Record 22.76 by Johnny Rutherford on 8/15/65 89 Don Thomas..................25.42 G & J Engr. 94 Rocky Fisher..................26.40 Weyant -8 Bruce Walkup.................26.23 Forberg 21 Carl Williams..................25.79 Williams 20 Tom Bigelow..................25.32 Ezra Brooks -1 Al Smith.........................25.54 Dunseth-Leffler 84 Jim Bob Luebbert............26.42 Midwest Mfg. -7 Chuck Booth...................26.27 Hart & Jones 24 Gary Bettenhausen..........24.71 Willie Davis 91 Charlie Masters...............26.62 Morse 80 Chuck Engel...................25.93 Wachholz (Ford) 67 Tom Campbell................27.09 Magnuson 32 Dee Jones......................25.94 LeFevre -9 Hal Minyard....................24.85 Rodeo Bar 92 Greg Weld......................25.02 STP Oil Treatment 95 John Tenney...................26.61 Holloway Bros. 74 Steve Krisiloff.................25.45 K & K Racing Enterprises 90 Bill Hunter......................31.56 Whitt 118 Don Brown....................24.89 Mechanical Rabbit 195 Karl Busson...................25.25 Cedoz -4 Larry Dickson...................25.26 Smith Speed Shop 42 Herman Wise....................DNQ R Z - Flipped 44 Wib Spalding...................25.68 Green Constr. 12 Mickey Shaw...................26.27 Lang's Service Center -2 A.J. Foyt.........................25.23 Watson (Ford) 69 Ray Lee Goodwin.............26.43 Lockard 11 Johnny Parsons, Jr...........26.52 W & W Mold 14 Johnny Capels.................26.95 Al Unser -3 Rollie Beale......................25.35 Lay's Transmission 111 Lee Robinson.................26.50 34 Arnie Knepper..................26.51 105 Bill Puterbaugh...............25.97 Verney Bros. 27 Steve Kennick..................25.89 Babe Stapp 54 Jerry "Scratch" Daniels......24.71 Tingelstad - Fast Time 83 Sammy Sessions...............25.76 GAPCO 99 Jay Woodside....................26.36 Besecker -6 Bob Pratt..........................28.15 22 George Snider...................24.77 Murrell 78 Denny Zimmerman............26.64 Don Colling (Ford) 15 Ralph Liguori.....................DNQ Competition Engr. 18 Aldo Andretti.....................DNQ Edmonds (Ford) First Heat - 8 Laps -3:28.83 24 Gary Bettenhausen...............3 54 Scratch Daniels....................2 22 George Snider......................1 -9 Hal Minyard..........................5 118 Don Brown.........................4 92 Greg Weld...........................6 Second Heat - 8 Laps - 3:26.22 118 Don Brown.........................3 92 Greg Weld............................1 -2 A.J. Foyt...............................2 195 Karl Busson........................4 -4 Larry Dickson........................5 20 Tom Bigelow.........................6 Third Heat - 8 Laps - 3:27.21 195 Karl Busson........................3 -4 Larry Dickson........................2 20 Tom Bigelow.........................4 -3 Rollie Beale...........................1 89 Don Thomas.........................6 74 Steve Krisiloff.......................5 Semi-Feature - 10 Laps - 4:27.89 20 Tom Bigelow.........................2 74 Steve Krisiloff.......................4 89 Don Thomas.........................8 -1 Al Smith...............................5 44 Wib Spalding........................3 83 Sammy Sessions...................1 21 Carl Williams.........................6 27 Steve Kennick.......................7 80 Chuck Engel..........................9 32 Dee Jones............................10 105 Bill Puterbaugh...................12 94 Rocky Fisher........................11 Note: - Previously established track records for 8 laps (3:09.52 by Chuck Hulse) and 10 laps (4:10.61 by Dee Jones) both set on 8/15/65 were not broken today. Feature - 50 Laps - No Time 22 George Snider......................17 54 Scratch Daniels......................2 24 Gary Bettenhausen........The Winner 92 Greg Weld...........................11 -2 A.J. Foyt..............................10 118 Don Brown........................16 -3 Rollie Beale...........................3 -4 Larry Dickson.......................12 195 Karl Busson.........................7 83 Sammy Sessions...................4 20 Tom Bigelow........................14 44 Wib Spalding.........................6 74 Steve Krisiloff........................8 21 Carl Williams.........................5 27 Steve Kennick......................15 89 Don Thomas........................13 80 Chuck Engel.........................9 -1 Chuck Booth.........................18 Driver Change +This was Gary Bettenhausen's first USAC Sprint win and it broke a run of six consecutive wins that had been run up by Larry Dickson. Larry would win 6 more by season's end and Gary would total 7 wins in that, his rookie year. The start of the "Larry & Gary Show"? +The time trial flip by Herman Wise about halfway in turns 1 and 2 was a nasty looking deal. Feared for his well being but he was O.K. +I loved those Sunday afternoon shows (I know......I'm in the minority) but back then for me it was Sat. nites at The 'Burg and Sun. afternoons at a USAC show somewhere. +There was an "In Memoriam" page in the program for Gary Congdon - 9/24/67, Jimmy Knight - 5/11/67, Jimmy Clark - 4/7/68, and Billy Foster - 1/20/67. +Got the fever...............is it April yet??? |
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1/26/13, 5:39 PM |
#2
Re: USAC Sprints - Terre Haute - 6/16/68
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Senior Member
Race Count Last Year: 48 Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 18,605 |
Not familiar with Jimmy Knight. Billy Foster was killed at Riverside, CA while on a qualifying run in Rudy Hoerr's Dodge. A brake drum exploded and Billy hit the wall in turn nine. Nice man; first Canadian to run at Indy. Got his autograph at DuQuoin in 1966.
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Ron Miller
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Last edited by ronmil; 1/27/13 at 5:08 PM. |
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1/26/13, 6:37 PM | #3 | ||
Senior Member
Race Count This Year: 6 Race Count Last Year: 4 Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 489 |
Herman Wise pretty much flipped right off the push truck. There is(was) a series of the flip somewhere on this board.
Posted via Mobile Device |
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1/26/13, 7:20 PM |
#4
Re: USAC Sprints - Terre Haute - 6/16/68
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1,399 |
I was definitely there for this one! They brought in Tommy Hinnershitz to prepare the track and they wound up with a wall of mud going down the middle of the back chute, splitting it into two lanes. Bettenhausen and "Scratch" put on a great show and until I saw this thread, I couldn't remember which one finally won the featch. I also believe this was the day that Herman Wise dumped the bronze colored Zeigler sprinter qualifying....oh, and AJ was walking around in the muddy pits in alligator skin shoes before the show got started.
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Last edited by cecil98; 1/26/13 at 7:21 PM. |
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1/26/13, 7:59 PM |
#5
Re: USAC Sprints - Terre Haute - 6/16/68
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 8,029 |
41 cars and the USAC deal was 6 cars per heat race, using the "progressive format" -- for a lot of car/driver combinations this led to hot lap, time trial, and then go home.
And, yes, I was there. |
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1/27/13, 11:22 AM |
#6
Re: USAC Sprints - Terre Haute - 6/16/68
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 99 |
Jimmy
Jimmy Knight was a great midgeteer. Very fast on pavement. I think he built his own midget but not sure. |
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1/27/13, 1:03 PM |
#7
Re: USAC Sprints - Terre Haute - 6/16/68
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 290 |
I count 14 drivers in that field who drove in the 500, and a couple more who tried but didn't qualify.
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1/27/13, 2:19 PM |
#8
Re: USAC Sprints - Terre Haute - 6/16/68
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Senior Member
Race Count Last Year: 59 Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 5,088 |
Thanks again Marv. I was still a few years away from moving to the Hoosier State so I really enjoy these trips down the sprint car path. Keep em coming.
I learned something new today. Didn't realize that they didn't take all of the cars from qualifying to either a qualifying or heat race. Some mighty fine drivers loaded up and headed home after qualifying. A real nice car count for sure.
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Mike
Be nice to people on the way up. You might need them on the way down. Jimmy Durante
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Last edited by Mud Packer; 1/27/13 at 2:21 PM. |
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1/27/13, 5:03 PM |
#9
Re: USAC Sprints - Terre Haute - 6/16/68
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1,340 |
That was a very stout group of drivers running that race!!!
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Terry James Jr.
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1/27/13, 5:48 PM |
#10
Re: USAC Sprints - Terre Haute - 6/16/68
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 4,356 |
Did a bit of research with GOOGLE and found that Jimmy Knight did indeed build midgets (3 or 4 according to a poster on one forum). He was killed at San Jose in '67.
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USAC Sprints - Terre Haute - 6/16/68
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