Indianola, Ia. - Ralph Salyer, Hammond, Ind., plumbing contractor, had only a few seconds to spare in a rip-roaring finish of the 90-mile feature in the Central Division Sports Car Club of America racing championship Sunday at Greenwood Roadway.
Right after Salyer got the checkered flag in his Corvette-powered Cro-Sal, Don Skogno of Minneapolis and Mike Hall of Dearfield, Ill., came up the finish stretch hub to hub.
Skogno Winner
Skogno's Genie-Ford got the nod in the race for modifieds of all classes by the width of a bumper over Hall's Ford-powered Elva.
Hall, however, topped class F, a division he now heads on the basis of a third-overall finish here Sunday.
They set lap records for all classes but the modified in three other 60-mile races. An oil-streaked track held down the speed in the modified race.
One driver, Scott Beckett of St. Paul, Min., lost a vigorous protest with officials, claiming Salyer had spilled gas in front of him. Earlier Charles Cox, in a Cooper Ford, pulled off the course after officials were ready to black-flag him for dropping oil.
Salyer's triumph put him ahead of Bud Gates of Indianapolis, the previous divisional leader among C-modified drivers. Gates failed to finish Sunday. Only 11 of the 22 starters were still running at the finish of the modified race.
Tom Payne, a 41-year-old car importer from Ann Arbor, Mich., beat Dick Lang of Xenia, Ohio, in another top duel that featured the A, B, C-production race.
Payne in a Cobra Ford and Lang in a Stingray Chevy ran 1-2 in their class and were never more than several cars apart during the 60-mile race.
Costly Record
B class honors went to Dennis Henningson of Mason City in a Corvette. John Gardella of Detroit took the C-production event in his little Super 7.
Don Sessler, driving a Sunbeam Tiger owned by a Columbus, Ohio, syndicate, set a B-production lap record of 83.72 miles per hour in 2 minutes 9 seconds. The effort cost Sessler a blown engine.
Gardella clocked a 2:17.4 time for a 78.60 mile-an-hour speed and a C-production record.
Richard Hull, driving a Volvo P-1800, twice lowered the lap record for F-production cars as he won the opening 60-miler that included H-modifieds.
The Lansing, Mich., driver squeezed home 7 seconds ahead of F-production driver leader Dan Carmichael in a Sunbeam Alpine. Hull hit a record 76.05 M.P.H. on the sixth lap, then raised it to 77.69 with a 2:19 time.
Pete Winberg of Des Moines, who is third in the central division rankings of E-production drivers, put his Alfa Romeo Guila third in the overall finish to win the class E title. He lowered the E lap record to 2:24.
Results (car finish denoted in parentheses)
D and E-production cars - 60 miles
- James Spencer, Madison, Wis., TR-4 (D-1); 2. Dick Kantrud, Minneapolis, TR-4 (D-2); 3. Pete Winberg, Des Moines, Alfa-Romeo (E-1); 4. Jerry Mason, Indianapolis, Porsche Super (E-2); 5. Jim Branam, Detroit, MGB (D-3); 6. Ron McConkey, Cedar Falls, Jaguar (B-4); 7. Charles Fellmer, Waterloo, Elva Courier (E-3); 8. Len Janks, Pender, Neb., Austin Healey (E-4); 9. Fred Opert, Madison, Wis., Elva (E-5); 10. George Gunther, Omaha, Jaguar XK140, (D-5); 11. Jim Vogt, Cedar Rapids, TR-4 (D-6); 12. Gary Stevenson, Des Moines, Porsche Sportster (E-6); 13. Joe Ball, Marion, Daimler Special 250 (D-7); 14. Don McIntosh, Viroqua, Wis., Porsche Roadster (E-7)
F-production, H-modified - 60 miles
- Richard Hull, Lansing, Mich., Volvo P-1800 (F-1); 2. Dan Carmichael, Vexley, Ohio, Sunbeam Alpine (F-2); 3. Robert Petrick, Flint, Mich., MGA (F-3); 4. Qua Barber, Lakewood, Ohio, TR-3 (F-4); 5. David Briggs, Parksville, Mo., Lotus 23 Saab (HM-1); 6. Ray Schuler, Washington, Ill., Sunbeam Alpine (F-5); 7. Perry Matheny, Newton, Jarvox Roadster (HM-2); 8. Charles McGuire, Des Moines, TR-3 (F-6); 9. Paul Coffield, Durand, Mich., Centaur Roadster (HM-3); 10. Cecil Schoeneman, Sioux Falls, S.D., OSCA Bobsy (HM-4)
A, B, C-production - 60 miles
- Tom Payne, Ann Arbor, Mich., Cobra Ford (A-1); 2. Dick Lang, Xenia, Ohio, Stingray Coupe (A-2); 3. John Martin, Florissant, Mo., Corvette (A-3); 4. Dennis Henningson, Mason City, Corvette (B-1); 5. John Gardella, Detroit, Lotus Super 7 (C-1); 6. Ed French, Kansas City, Lotus Elan (C-2); 7. Ted Clark, DeKalb, Ill., Lotus Super 7 (C-3); 8. Robert Crane, Moline, Ill., Lotus Super 7 (C-4); 9. C.F. Rand, Glen Ellyn, Ill., Lotus Super 7 (C-5)
C, E, F and G-modified - 90 miles
- Ralph Salyer, Hammond, Ind., Cro-Sal Special (C-1); 2. Don Skogno, Minneapolis, Genie Ford (C-2); 3. Mike Hall, Dearfield, Ill., Elva Ford (F-1); 4. Jerry Hansen, Minneapolis, Chevette (C-3); 5. Scott Beckett, St. Paul, Min., Maserati Ford (C-4); 6. Robert Shaw, Rockford, Ill., Lotus 23 (F-2); 7. Horst Kwech, Waukegan, Ill., OSCA Mk II (F-3); 8. Peter Helferich, Palatine, Ill., Elva VI (G-1); 9. Ernie Harris, Pennsylvania, Ind., Elva VII (F-4); 10. Mike Rahal, Glen Ellyn, Ill., Elva Mk VI (G-2); 11. Tom Newcomer, Kansas City, Mo., Lotus Mk VI (G-3)