September 26-27, 1964 - SCCA Divisional
Tom Payne in Shelby Cobra CSX2430 celebrates his A-B-C Production race win. Photo courtesy Mick Enabnit.
- From the September 26, 1964 Des Moines Register
Greenwood Races Draw Field Of 200
One national champion and leaders in all but one of 17 classes are among more than 200 entrants scheduled to commence divisional sports car competition at Greenwood Roadway this morning.
The two-day session is a scramble among some of the lesser leaders of various classes to grab enough points to assure an invitation to the Sports Car Club of America's inter-division championships at Riverside, Cal., Nov. 12-15.
Top 3 in Each
Only the top three leaders in each class of the six S.C.C.A. divisions get to compete. Iowa is in the Central Division which embraces the Midwestern area.
The national F-production titleholder, Don Sesslar of Lancaster, Ohio, will appear here in B-production competition with a new Sunbeam Tiger, powered by a 260-cubic-inch Ford engine.
He won his title in a Sunbeam Alpine with triumphs in the Road America 500 at Elkhart Lake last June, Garnett, Kan., Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen, N.Y. meetings.
One of the hottest outfits will be Charles Cox's Congress Motel Special, a Ford Fairlane powered outfit which was third in C-modified and fifth overall in the U.S. Road Race Championships at the three-mile track, located eight miles southeast of Indianola on Highway 65.
Cox, not among the C-modified leaders, set an official lap record of 92 miles an hour during last July's race. The divisional leader is Bud Gates, who drives a Genie-Chevrolet out of Indianapolis.
A-production outfits, which will run with the best of the modifieds, include those of Tom Payne of Detroit (Cobra); George Montgomery of Minneapolis (Cobra); Dick Lang of Xenia, Ohio, (Sting Ray).
Parsons Student
Owen Rutherford, Parsons College student, is the only D-modified leader present, although entries are being accepted until today. Rutherford currently is No. 2 in his Cooper-Maser. Frank Poalka of Chicago heads the E-modified leaders.
Other class leaders in the modified division entered include Mike Hall of Chicago, third in F with his Elva Ford and Paul Cotfield of Durand, Mich., third in H with his Centaur.
Other B-production entries include Paul Canary of Milwaukee, third-ranking driver in that class in his Corvette. John Cardell of Detroit, C-production leader, heads entries from that class. Walter Hotchkiss of Des Moines in a TR-4 is the fifth entry in D-production.
Pete Winberg of Des Moines, No. 3 in E-production in his Alfa Guila, leads entries in that class. F-production cars have attracted all leaders through sixth. They include Des Moines' Dave Ostrem, No. 5 in his TR-3.
Qualifying trials are scheduled this morning to grid the slower production outfits for their series of races this afternoon. They start at 9:30am. Faster outfits move into the picture Sunday.
As of late Friday, no leaders among the Formula junior class had entered, although there will be competition in that class, according to race officials.
- From the September 27, 1964 Des Moines Register
90-Mile Duel Slated Today
Indianola, Ia. - David Kiser, Overland Park, Kan., doctor, took a weekend off from delivering babies to grab overall honors in the G and H-production feature before an announced crowd of 1, 211 at Greenwood Roadway Saturday.
The 60-miler opened the Sports Car Club of America's Central Division championships, in which drivers are competing for points to land a place in the inter-divisional runoff at Riverside, Cal., in November.
Today's concluding program will see some of the hottest drivers in the division run in a 90-mile duel for modified outfits. This is the final race.
F-production and H-modified start the afternoon's racing at 1 o'clock. D and E-production contenders and A, B and C-production follow. All are 60-mile affairs.
Kiser, the Midwest Division G-production champion, gained an early lead in Saturday's opening 20-lapper on the three-mile course strewn with stalls and wrecked cars.
Art Moratz of Beloit, Wis., and Jack Godwin of Des Moines both flipped on corners but escaped injury. Moratz washed out his car on the No. 6 corner and Godwin hit an oil slick on the s-curve stretch and rolled.
Major Casualties
Other major casualties in the race included Bob Kerns of Waterloo (broken wheel); Fred Baker of Minneapolis (blown tire); and Bob Anderson of Chicago, the central division H-production leader (overheated engine).
Kiser's best lap was 71.15 miles per hour. Since he wasn't eligible, his first place points (9) in G-production went to Jerry Ellick of Highland Park, Ind., previously fifth in the driver rankings.
Ellick was second in the overall race in his Sprite. R.W. Drexler of Madison, Wis., fourth in the previous rankings, finished third.
Walt Biddle of Fond du Lac, Wis., driving an Austin Healey Sprite, was fourth in the overall finish to lead H-production cars. His nine points moved him up to third in the driving rankings of his class.
Two speed marks were set by the Formula cars, headed by C. L. Phillips of Palos Park, Ill., in his Lotus 27. Phillips raced his way through one lap for a record 81.45 M.P.H. for Formula Juniors.
John Mahler, Davenport home builder who drives a Form Car in Formula Vee for Iowa City's Gene Greb, toured one lap at 75.31 M.P.H. for a record.
Results
G and H Production and Sedan (class finishers in parentheses)
- Dr. David Kiser, Overland Park, Kan., TR Spitfire (G-1); 2. Jerry Ellick, Highland Park, Ind., Sprite (G-2); 3. R.W. Drexler, Madison, Wis., Sprite (G-3); 4. Walt Biddle, Fond du Lac, Wis., Sprite (H-1); 5. Phil Shockley, Minneapolis, Min., Saab (S-1); 6. Ronald Kuhn, Rochester, Min., MG Midget (G-4); 7. Howie Fairbanks, Whitebear, Min., Sprite (H-2); 8. Ronald Sharp, Des Moines, MG Midget (G-5); 9. A. J. Campbell, Anderson, Ind., Sprite (H-3); 10. Don Schlueter, Moline, Ill., Sprite HK1 (H-4); 11. Gene Hagger, Sioux Falls, S,D., Sprite (H-5); 12. John Fellmer, Waterloo, Sprite (G-6); 13. John Whitaker, Davenport, Sprite (H-6); 14. Robert Hagg, Kansas City, Kan., Mini Cooper (S-2); 15. Fred Salo, Detroit, Mich., Sprite (H-7)
All Formula Cars
1. C.L. Phillips, Park, Ill., Lotus 27 (Junior-1); 2. John Marshall, Dayton, Ohio, MK II (J-2); 3. Bill Kirtley, Minneapolis, Min., BMC (J-3); 4. John Mahler, Davenport, Form Car (Vee-1); 5. Richard Kohler, Canton, Ohio, Form Car (Vee-2); 6. Les Behn, Appleton, Wis., Form Car (Vee-3); 7. Richard Aprey, Minneapolis, Min., Form Car (Vee-4); 8. Quin Calhoon, Chicago, Form Car, (Vee-5); 9. Geoff Houghten, Chicago, Form Car (Vee-6); 10. Albert Ackerly, Overland Park, Kan., Pamaschi (J-4); 11. Dr. Wes Olson, Lennox, S.D., Form Car (Vee-7); 12. Frances Queen, Chicago, Form Car (Vee-8)