The Best Day Ever...

[calinoff]

I was doing the PR for the Hatfiled Hi Speedway when Mario Andretti completed ar great day of racing, by winning both ARDC sanctioned midget features. What made the event extra special was the fact that it was Mario's third win of the day, having also won the ARDC midget feature at the Flemingon NJ half-miler (don't believe that story that Flemington was a 5/8 and that Wolfgang turned almost 149 MPH..that speed was turned at a track that was 1/2 miles around 30 feet from the inside guard rail) That was quite a feat by Mario. Then as mentioned in another thread Clark "Shorty" Templeman won 3 midget races in one night back in 1956 at 16th street in Indy. That like Mario was sensational. How about legendary Wayne Anderson who came from Long Island and drove in the NASCAR modified ranks. Wayne won a mod feature at New Egypt, NJ on a Friday night came to Long Island at the Islip Speedway and won 2 mains ! All three of his wins wre in a period of less that 24 hours, so you might say that he "almost" won three races in a day !..Once agai a great feat.

But I must say that the best ever was turned in by.....JACK HEWITT...in 1998 "Dew It" won at Eldora, OH in the Four Crown Nationals...he won all four races...the Silver Crown...Midget...Sprint and modified event.... I doubt if anyone will even ever come close to that one.

I am sure there are other incidents that stick out in your mind about great single day feats in racing..they may be only a single race or two in the same day. Let's hear your selections...you didn't have to be there...

Thanks...

[Eagle104]

Re: The Best Day Ever...

Thanks, Len.

Hard to top any of those...especially HEWITT!

Originally posted by calinoff
But I must say that the best ever was turned in by.....JACK HEWITT...in 1998 "Dew It" won at Eldora, OH in the Four Crown Nationals...he won all four races...the Silver Crown...Midget...Sprint and modified event.... I doubt if anyone will even ever come close to that one.

I agree. Just amazing!

[KevMcNJ]

Flemington used to run triple 20 lap features for modifieds once or twice a year. I think Billy Pauch won all 3 one night.

Also I think Kenny Brightbill won 3 of 4 when Reading ran 4 25 lappers on the same night.

Betcha some one here can confirm or deny these.

[Belanger99]

Any day at the track is tbe best day.

I'd like to vote for a weekend performance.

In 1972, Al Unser took the Vel's Parnelli Jones Viceroy Ford out on the Illinois State Fair Mile on a warm sunny day. His rival in a classic battle of the dirt cars was none other than A.J. Foyt, in HIS FIRST race back from that nasty May spill at DuQuoin. Foyt passed AL for the lead, and AL played his usual smart waiting game and repassed Foyt, knowing that perhaps SuperTex wasn't at 100% that day.

What was unusual about Al's weekender? Nothing, other than the fact that Big Al tood Rudy Hoerr's Ford torino out on the same track, and bested a stellar field of USAC Stock Cars (Don White, Jack Bowsher, Butch Hartman, etc.) to take the 100-mile stock car race as well.

It's the only time it's ever been done one one of the dirt miles, and clearly shows why the drivers who were the heroes of the sixties were clearly the best and most versatile drivers in the world.

[calinoff]

kevnj..You are right..Billy did win three at Flemington...would have won 4 but they only ran 3 Could never figure out why Pauch did not go higher on the auto racing ladder...He still is a factor in any car today.

[KevMcNJ]

Of course Pauch is too old for it now, but maybe it wasnt worth moving back around say 1983 when he still young enough. THere was far less money in the big leagues then, so he was able to make a comparable living and sleep in his own bed every night. Instead of moving to Charlotte and live in a camper for a year hoping to get noticed.

IRL? didnt exist yet.

CART? no shot for a dirt mod driver who won twice a week.

Back then he was running at East Windsor on Friday (30 minutes from his home) and Flemington on Saturday (15 minutes from home)

Throw in a mid-week or sunday show in PA and he did alright,
why move?


Richie Evans all over again

[stockblock]

One that has been mentioned many times before..

Mike Mosley smoking the field in his stockblock chevy at the Milwaukee Mile from the last row. Best Indy car drive i saw in person

[calinoff]

It did not happen in one day but.................in 1967 ARDC midget legend Ed "DUTCH" Schaefer won five races in a row ! Sept 2nd, Wall Stadium NJ, 100 laps...Sept. 3rd Owego (not Oswego) NY, Dutch won two 25 lappers, and the next day at Hershey, PA. Dutch won two more races as he won both of the 50 lappers !!! In other words Dutch won five sanctioned races in a row..and it was accomplished between 10:30 PM Friday and 5:00 PM on Sunday..I was there That was a great season for Schaefer. He had nine main event wins four second place finishes and six third place finishes in 38 races...and he still finished second to Len Duncan in the point standings. !!! For a period of 12 straight years the ARDC midget club had only TWO champions..Len Duncan with 8 crowns and Dutch Schaefer with four titles. !!

[calinoff]

A littel know fact about Jack Hewitt's great evening is that after the races he sat in a folding chair at the starting line and signed autographs for over two hours. Just a personal opinion, when they talk about great race drivers to me, I stop conversing after we talk about Jack...He was born 30 years too soon..

[richie]

Jack Hewitt at the 4-Crown! Hands down, the most incredible driving display I have ever seen.

The funniest thing about it was that we were talking with another group of people the day before and we were all saying that Hewitt doesn't have it anymore.

His son Cody and his wife were sitting in the seats right behind me! The whole place usually goes wild for Jack. But, on that night, it just went nuts.

I actually have the copy of a painting by Ron Burton of all 4 cars that Jack Hewitt drove that night autographed and framed on my wall!

[NoviVespa]

The one race I remember, please excuse me but I'm fuzzy on this. It was at the Milwaukee Mile. In my early days going to that track, late fifties. They qualified the Indy cars and set the field. Non-qualifiers got to run a 20-miler, first two finishers started the main.

The field was small, as always for this event, 6 maybe 7 cars. Anyway, a driver named either Jack or John Connelly started in the front. Race started, going into the 3rd turn Connelly loops the car. But he kept it going. He is a sad last. Well, in those 19 remaining laps Mr. Connelly passes all the cars and wins the thing. One of the few times I saw people standing and yelling for such a minor race.

[Littleman]

NoviVespa, maybe it was the race held on August 20, 1962? Notice in the box score, below, where Jack Conely started (22nd) and how many non qualifiers (7) there were that day. What is really sad is seeing how many, in that race, are no longer with us, and that was 41 years ago.

1962 Milwaukee


Fin St Driver Chassis-engine Reason Pts Purse
1 3 Rodger Ward Watson-Offy 1:59:58.885 (100.017 mph) 400 $9860
2 7 A.J. Foyt Epperly-Offy Finished 320 $5034
3 1 Bobby Marshman Trevis-Offy Flagged 280 $3705
4 12 Eddie Sachs Ewing-Offy Flagged 240 $2097
5 15 Jim McElreath Watson-Offy Flagged 200 $1678
6 10 Roger McCluskey Philipp-Offy Flagged 160 $1510
7 8 Bud Tinglestad Epperly-Offy Flagged 120 $1342
8 6 Ronnie Duman Elder-Offy Flagged 100 $1258
9 4 Parnelli Jones Watson-Offy Oil leak 80 $1685
10 18 Allen Crowe Kuzma D-Offy Flagged 60 $1090
11 14 Chuck Rodee Kuzma-Offy Flagged 40 $1007
12 24 Bill Cheesbourg Kurtis-Offy Flagged 20 $923
13 25 Troy Ruttman Kuzma-Offy Flagged 0 $839
14 23 Jack Conely Dunn-Offy Flagged 0 $755
15 19 Bobby Marvin Meskowski-Chev Flagged 0 $671
16 2 Dick Rathmann Watson-Offy Spun out 0 $587
17 21 Elmer George Lesovsky-Offy Spun out 0 $503
18 22 Shorty Templeman Kurtis-Offy Magneto 0 $420
19 5 Jack Turner Porter-Offy Magneto 0 $336
20 11 Len Sutton Watson-Offy Wrecked 0 $252
21 9 Jim Hurtubise Watson-Offy Spun out 0 $168
22 13 Lloyd Ruby Turner D-Chev Wrecked 0 $168
23 20 Bob Veith Epperly-Offy Wrecked 0 $168
24 17 Cotton Farmer Lesovsky-Offy Wrecked 0 $168
25 16 Don Branson Watson-Offy Wrecked 0 $168
26 26 Chuck Hulse Watson D-Chev Wrecked 0 $168
DNS Lloyd Ruby Porter-Offy Rel Turner 0 $0
DNS Herb Hill Kurtis-Chev DNS, too slow 0 $0
DNS Leroy Neumayer Kurtis-Offy DNS, too slow 0 $0
DNS Bob Mathouser Kurtis-Offy DNS, too slow 0 $0
DNS Jiggs Peters Kurtis-Offy DNS, too slow 0 $0
DNS Ed Kostenuk Watson-Offy DNS, too slow 0 $0
DNS Ernie Koch Vollstedt D-Offy DNS, too slow 0 $0

[PHJIndy]

1974, AJ Foyt had not driven USAC Sprints for several years, and he shows up one night to test the young studs, and some other hotshoes of the day. USAC was in it's glory days and it was tough just to make a feature. Well, old AJ didn't just show up he dusted off the field in not one, but two features at the Indy Fairgrounds mile that night.

My wife became a Foyt fan instantly after seeing that performance.