Editor’s Note: In a nod to our 90 years of history, each week SPEED SPORT will look back at the top stories from 15, 30 and 60 years ago as told in the pages of National Speed Sport News.
15 Years Ago — 2010
News: Racers using Impact Racing safety equipment may need to make significant changes within the next month.
The SFI Foundation, Inc., which certifies safety equipment for auto racing and other applications, has issued a “Notice of Decertification” and an order of Cease and Desist, which terminates all contracts of participation to Impact Racing.
The order goes into effect April 27 and pertains to all products manufactured and/or distributed by Impact Racing in relation to SF! Specification Programs 3.2A (racing frresuits), 3.3 (driver accessories), 16.1 (driver restraint assemblies) and 16.5 (stock-car driver restraint assemblies).
According to a statement by the SF! Foundation on its Website, SF! has evidence that over a period of years Impact Racing has engaged it} production and use of counterfeit SFI conformance labels and patches and affixed them to Impact products that bad not been properly certified by SFI.
According to the statement, “Impact Racing never advised its customers that its products contained phony SF! labels and patches.”
As well, SFI has “directed Impact to immediately notify all affected customers to remove the counterfeit labeling and to offer the affected customers a full refund of the purchase price. SFI is requesting that all counterfeit conformance labels removed from Impact products be sent to SFI.”
SFI will terminate all contracts of participation with Impact Racing after 90 days from March 24. As a result, Impact will not be able to participate in any SFI Programs after 90 days. No helmets are among the products involved.
Winners: John Force continued his resurgence and made history Monday by racing to victory at the rain-delayed inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
It was the second triumph of the season for the 60-year-old Funny Car icon, who increased his series point lead to 89 over his rivals.
Force, a 14-time world champion who suffered career-threatening injuries in a spectacular crash in September 2007 in Ennis, Texas, and endured one of the worst competitive seasons of his storied career in 2000, has returned to his familiar position as a championship challenger this season.
In the four-wide final, Force powered his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang to a 4.036-second run at 316.23 miles per hour to finish ahead of his daughter, Ashley Force Hood, longtime rival Ron Capps and second-year driver Matt Hagan. It was Force’s 128th career victory and first at zMAX Dragway.
Runner-up Force Hood set a national speed record at 316.38 mph in her Castrol GTX Mustang. As well, her father’s speed was the second best on record since NHRA began racing to 1,000 feet in 2008.
“This is a little taste of history,” Force said. “This was special, like beating the dragsters at Bristol (2000 Winston Showdown). Thanks to (zMAX Dragway owners) Bruton and Marcus Smith. They took the money and spent it to make this happen. The hardest part was racing Ron Capps. He is always tough and (Matt) Hagan, now that he has (co-crew chief) John Medlen there, will put the fear into you. My own daughter also leaves nothing on the table. I’m proud of Ashley. She’s learned the game. This track is so good that we took wing off of it. I don’t usually run big speed, but it did this weekend.”
Cory McClenathan (Top Fuel), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners.
30 Years Ago — 1995
News: The Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group Monday announced cancellation of the remainder of the 1995 Mickey Thompson Stadium Off-Road Racing Series.
President Danny Thompson cited a dwindling competitor base, lack of sponsorship and environmental hardships which have had a direct effect on the series’ financial situation.
“Our events have endured a major earthquake in ’94, record rainstorms in ’93 and ’95, and the L.A. riots in ’92-all of which took their toll on the series,” stated Thompson.
Thompson also acknowledges the level of competition at the shows has decreased due in large part to the departure of the Grand National Sport Trucks, the series’ marquee class.
“We must step back and re-evaluate every aspect of the series,” said Thompson, son of the late series founder Mickey Thompson. “There is a major deficit in entries and sponsorship sales. We need to revamp the system and inject some excitement back into the program.”
MTEG will continue to produce its U.S. Supercross events and pursue its Spec Truck program. No timetable has been set for the return of stadium off-road racing.
Winners: Robby Gordon, considered the next great American driver, used a heavy accelerator foot, a cool head, and a little bit of luck to score his first career Indy car victory by taking the checkered flag in Sunday’s Slick 50 200 at Phoenix Int’l Raceway.
Gordon took the lead when race leader Emerson Fittipaldi had to pit for fuel on the !95th lap. That allowed Gordon to assume the lead after he passed Michael Andretti.
Five laps later, Gordon took his first career victory by finishing 0.788 seconds ahead of Michael Andretti. Fittipaldi was able to get back on the lead lap and finished third followed by Canadians Paul Tracy and Jacques Villeneuve.
Gordon proved that he can learn from a mistake. That experience has paid off in his first career victory in the PPG Indy Car World Series.
Gordon used a fuel strategy that helped him stay on the race track while Fittipaldi, the leader of the race with six laps remaining, was forced to make a fuel stop. Almost simultaneously, Gordon passed Andretti, which gave him the lead. Six laps later, Gordon drove to his first IndyCar victory.
He and his Valvoline/Cummins-backed Derrick Walker Racing Team accomplished all that without benefit of radios, which conked out at the start of the 200-miler.
In last year’s race, Gordon was in first place when he gambled on fuel strategy and lost He ran out of fuel while leading, 46 laps from the finish.
Fittipaldi went on to win.
Ironically, it was Fittipaldi who was knocked back to second because of the ill-timed pit stop.
“Last year, we were in the same situation,” Gordon said. “Emmo (Fittipaldl), AI (Unser, Jr.) and I were on the lead lap. We gambled to catch a caution and ran out of fuel. This year, we leaned the fuel way back to save If for the last lap. We were running our fuel at 92 percent, and fell way back behind the leader, but it was enough to stay on the track when Emmo had to pit.”
60 Years Ago— 1965
News: Junior Johnson, 34-year-old veteran stock car racing driver, announced last week he may quit racing after the 1965 season.
The Ronda, N. C., driver, a veteran of 15 years of racing, told of his tentative decision as rain drizzled down on qualifying runs at the Atlanta International Raceway here. Johnson qualified his 1965 Ford for ninth starting in the race which was rained out Sunday and postponed one week.
“I’ve been in auto racing so long that I’ve about lost interest in the driving part of it,” Johnson said. “I’d like to quit … and this may be my last year.”
Johnson said he is getting too old to take the chances he used to take. “l don’t feel that I can go as hard today as I could a year ago, or a year before that,” he said. “I don’t want to get completely out of racing.
“Racing’s been my life. I just want to be around race cars, Maybe be a pit chief for another car, I just want to get out of the racing end of it,” he opined. “I hope to be in a position to do what I want to do by the end of the year,” he concluded.
Johnson, who is a chicken former and raises prize bulls when he isn’t racing, began his track career in 1950 and has won major races including the Daytona 500. Last month he was featured as “The Last American Hero,” in an Esquire magazine article.
Winners: Ernie Derr, five-time IMCA late model stock car champion, took the lead on the 96th lap at the Louisiana State Fairgrounds speedway and won the 200-lap IMCA Pelican 200 stock car classic driving a 1965 Dodge, powered by the controversial Heml engine.
Lenny Funk, a Kansas wheat farmer, finished second, three laps behind Derr. He drove a ’64 Ford. Ramo Stott, driving a 1965 Plymouth, set the 8,655 fans buzzing when he got the annual race to a flying start. He seized the lead from Funk on the 13th circuit and set a blistering pace on the half-mile dirt ovaL He set new IMCA world records at the 25 and 50-lap marks, but didn’t stay around long as Funk and Derr kept the pressure on.
On Stott’s 96th lap, he took to the infield with a burned out rear end. His pit crew went to work, and had him back in action 33 laps later. Five laps later he lost a right-front wheel and finally placed 14th.
When Stott faltered, Derr and Don White, driving a ’65 Ford, set the pace.
Funk, who had survived a brush with the wall which tore his right-rear tire, moved back into third after a quick pit stop. That dropped him out of the top five.
At 125 laps, Derr’s Dodge was three laps ahead of White’s Ford, with Funk two laps behind White. On the 145th lap, White’s 1965 Ford lost a left-front tire, and he was forced to pit, moving Funk into second. Ron Hutcherson, Blaine Morrow and Bill Gibson trailed Funk in that order.
Derr took starter Bernie Carlson’s checkered flag better than three laps ahead of second-place Funk and earned $600 for his effort.
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