June 30 - This day in Schaefer racing history

1974 Schaefer 500
USAC Indy car race
Pocono International Raceway
Pocono, Pennsylvania
Winning driver: "JR" Johnny Rutherford
Full results: Racing-Reference.info

TV commercial for the race.

Indianapolis 500 multi-time winner Bobby Unser captured the pole position. A trio of STP-sponsored drivers qualified second, third and fourth: Steve Krisiloff, Wally Dallenbach Sr. and Gordon Johncock. Race winner Rutherford lined up fifth.

Source: Lawrence Journal World via Google News Archive

Source: Reading Eagle via Google News Archive

Pre-race scoring pylon showing the top five starters of Unser (48), Krisiloff (60), Johncock (40), Dallenbach (20) and Rutherford (3).

Credit: Frank Hadl at Picassa
Thanks for the pics Frank and especially for your service in Vietnam!

Unser, Dallenbach, and Mario Andretti hogged most of the laps. The three of them combined to lead 171 of the race's 200 laps. Rutherford led 18 laps himself, however, including the final 13.

Rutherford's opportunity to take the lead came at the expense of others. Dallenbach had engine problems while leading with a baker's dozen laps to go, and Johncock ran out of gas while leading - though he did eke out a third place finish one lap down to Rutherford.

But as has been the case many times throughout the history of racing, it's often better to be lucky than good.

Source: The Hour via Google News Archive

Credit: Frank Hadl at Picassa

Source: Reading Eagle via Google News Archive

Some notables from June 30, 1974:

• Al Loquasto, who later drove a Schaefer-sponsored Buick in the 1981 Mountain Dew 500 NASCAR Cup race at Pocono, finished 11th.
• Sam Sessions finished 30th driving for legendary NASCAR innovator and trickster Smokey Yunick.
• Rookie Tom Bigelow finished 19th. No special trivia here. I just enjoy the thought of introducing myself as "Tom. Tom Bigelow. Yes, I'm just a Bigelow".
• Though the Pocono 500-mile race was only three years old, JR became the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 and Schaefer 500 in the same season.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

TMC
Edited June 28, 2014

June 29 - This day in Schaefer racing history

1975 Schaefer 500
USAC Indy car race
Pocono International Raceway
Pocono, Pennsylvania
Winning driver: "Super Tex" A.J. Foyt
Shortened by rain after 170 laps and 425 miles
Full results: Racing-Reference.info

Gordon Johncock won the pole in his #20 Pat Patrick-owned Wildcat. Foyt took the outside of the front row. Jerry Grant, Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford rounded out the top 5 starters. The start of the race was delayed two hours as rains pelted the track - a common occurrence for Pocono races.

Credit: Frank Hadl at Picassa
Thanks for use of the pic Frank and especially for your service in Vietnam!

The race was a competitive one with multiple drivers taking their turn at the front for a limited number of laps. Lap leaders included Johncock, Rutherford, Pancho Carter, and Mario Andretti. Each time a driver took the lead, however, it wasn't long before Super Tex passed them back for an extended stint.

Source: Reading Eagle archives June 30, 1975

When the day was done, A.J. tallied 115 laps as the leader. Johncock led the second most laps with 29 and was perhaps the only other car capable of hanging with Foyt for the win. But while running second and trying to overtake another car, Gordo simply lost it and backed it into the wall ending his day at lap 140.

The end of the race was affected the same way as the start of it - with rain. With 32 laps to go, showers returned to bring out the caution. Two laps later as it intensified, the race was called and Foyt was shown the checkered flag.

Credit: Frank Hadl at Picassa

Some notables from the race:

• Johncock's teammate, Wally Dallenbach finished 2nd. He is the father of Wally Dallenbach, Jr. who once raced in NASCAR (including for Petty Enterprises) and now works as a color announcer for TNT.
• Al Loquasto, who later drove a Schaefer Buick in the 1981 Mountain Dew 500 NASCAR Cup race at Pocono, finished 12th driving for himself.

Credit: jkracing50 at Flickr

• NASCAR's Bobby Allison, driving for Roger Penske, jumped the fire line to USAC Indy cars and finished 27th.
• Tom Bigelow finished 21st. No special trivia here - I just like saying "Bigelow".

Foyt arrives to a soggy victory lane with gloomy clouds still lingering above the track.

Source: Palm Beach Post via Google News Archive

Race highlights


TMC
Edited June 28, 2014

June 27 - This day in Schaefer racing history

1976 Schaefer 500
USAC Indy car race
Pocono International Raceway
Pocono, Pennsylvania
Winning driver: Al Unser, Sr.
Full results: UltimateRacingHistory.com

Some notables from the race:

• Unser's victory was his first win since 1974. I'm guessing Big Al thought nothing quenched a two-year drought better than a cold Schaefer.
• Wally Dallenbach finished 3rd. He is the father of Wally Dallenbach, Jr. who once raced in NASCAR (including for Petty Enterprises) and now works as a color announcer for TNT.
• Al Loquasto, who later drove a Schaefer Buick in the 1981 Mountain Dew 500 NASCAR Cup race at Pocono, finished 15th driving for himself.
• Johnny Parsons won the pole but finished 22nd in the race.  Ten years later, Parsons became part of the small Schaefer fraternity when he got a shot in a Schaefer / Machinists Union Indy car.

Photo courtesy of Russ Thompson

In scouring the web for information about the race, I ran across the blog Life of a Small Town Photographer. As fate would have it, he blogged about some of his experiences at the Pocono Indy races back in the 1970s. He was kind enough to give me permission to share his pictures for these next two trivia nuggets.

• A.J. Foyt, "Super Tex", had a Sucky Day and finished 31st out of 33 starters. I'm guessing this photo was made before the race vs. afterwards.

• Janet Guthrie, a racing pioneer as the first woman to drive in both the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500, finished 24th. On race day 1976, however, she had the unfortunate timing of being photographed next to the iconic Miss Hurst Shifter, Linda Vaughn.

The engine cowling cover for Unser's Cosworth engine...

Credit: brooklandsspeedway on Flickr

...and the nose of his American Racing Wheels sponsored Parnelli Jones chassis.

Credit: jkracing50 on Flickr

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

Race report from The Beaver County Times - including some candid language from Parnelli Jones about his former driver, Mario Andretti. Yowza.

I like this headline from the Spartanburg Herald better. The wording is more emblematic of some race day memories of the Schaefer Hall of Fame after a late Saturday night.

TMC
Edited June 26, 2014

June 26 - This day in Schaefer racing history

1977 Schaefer 500
USAC Indy car race
Pocono International Raceway
Pocono, Pennsylvania
Winning driver: Tom Sneva
Winning car owner: "The Captain" Roger Penske
Full results: UltimateRacingHistory.com

Super Tex A.J. Foyt knocked off fellow Texan Johnny Rutherford to capture the pole. After a week of sparring with track management, Foyt was boo'd - BOO'D - after laying down the quickest lap. The very popular Foyt had captured his fourth Indy 500 just a month or so earlier. So to hear boo-birds was quite the unexpected reception, but at least Super Tex recognized the jeers were from adults and not kids.

Source: The Evening News via Google News Archive

Flickr user jkracing50 has some great photos of Sneva from race weekend - including one of a shirtless, flip-flop wearing, jorts sportin', mullet head getting the chance to watch Tom pull into victory lane.

Credit jkracing50

Credit jkracing50

Credit jkracing50

Source: Spokane Daily Chronicle, July 27, 1977

Source for above two: Reading Eagle, July 27, 1977

Some notables from June 26, 1977:

• Joe Saldana finished 10th. Saldana is the father of Joey Saldana, current World of Outlaws driver.
• Al Loquasto, who later drove a Schaefer Buick in the 1981 Mountain Dew 500 NASCAR Cup race at Pocono, finished 28th driving for himself.
• George Snider completed a lousy one lap and finished 33rd - dead last - driving for Bobby Hillin. Yes, Hillin. As in Bobby Hillin, Sr. - father of future NASCAR rolling chicane driver, Bobby Hillin, Jr.

Source: Wilmington NC Star-News via Google News Archive

Sports Illustrated ran a feature article about Sneva's win ... and Foyt's antics ... in their July 4, 1977, issue. Unfortunately, the race's title sponsor received zero mentions. The 'sports magazine' erroneously referred to the race as the Pocono 500.

TMC
Edited June 26, 2014

June 25 - This day in Schaefer racing history

1978 Schaefer 500
USAC Indy car race
Pocono International Raceway
Pocono, Pennsylvania
Winner: Al Unser, Sr.
Full results: UltimateRacingHistory.com

Source: The Henry Ford Museum

Some notables from June 25, 1978:

• Al Loquasto, who later drove a Schaefer Buick in the 1981 Mountain Dew 500 NASCAR Cup race at Pocono, finished 9th.
• Joe Saldana finished 21st. Saldana is the father of Joey Saldana, current World of Outlaws driver.
• Bubby Jones finished 27th driving for Bobby Hillin. Yes, Hillin. As in Bobby Hillin, Sr. - father of future NASCAR rolling chicane driver, Bobby Hillin, Jr.

Source: Reading Eagle via Google News Archive

TMC
Edited June 24, 2014

NASCAR and Long Island...Beer?

A tweet this week from our friends at Schaefer Story led me to a site named Roadside Galore. The author of the site, Fuzzy, blogs all sorts of Americana pictures from her travels across the country.

One recent photo shared on her blog recently was right up my alley - a fading Schaefer advertisement painted on the side of a building in East Islip, NY. The ad includes a tagline slogan I've not heard previously for Schaefer: Our hand has never lost its skill.

As has been documented, Schaefer and NASCAR are linked together - both then and now. What you may not know is Islip, NY and NASCAR also have a history meaning only one degree of separation exists between NASCAR, Schaefer beer, and Islip, NY.

At 2/10ths of a mile, Islip Speedway is the shortest track ever to host a NASCAR Grand National / Winston Cup race. Larry Mendelsohn, the track's owner/promoter, is also credited with hosting the first demolition derby in the late 1950s - which then became a staple of just about every short-track in the U.S. over the next two decades. As best I can tell, the track finally met its demise in 1984.

Source: East Islip Historical Society

The Grand National drivers ran six races at Islip between 1964 and 1971. Bobby Allison won two of them. Richard Petty also won two - including the final one run at Islip in 1971.

Here a few photos from back in the day at Islip:

Richard Petty in the early 1960s. I wonder if the dude in the cap is saying "No King, your throne is over there."

A promotional flyer and ticket order form for the 1968 Islip 300 - a race won by Bobby Allison.

The late Friday Hassler of Chattanooga, TN earned his career best finish in the 1971 Islip 250 by finishing second to Petty. Hassler often drove #39 Chevrolets sponsored by Chattanooga's Rock City tourist attraction. (Surely many of you have seen the See Rock City barns scattered throughout the southern U.S.)

Here is Petty in his famous 43 racing Neil Castles in the white #6 Dodge. After marveling at this recently found photo, I realized a couple of things (hold on, bad puns on their way!):

• The photo includes a King and Castles.
• It shows a young man in a beat-up Plymouth making a night time run for White Castles.

Finally, here is the King in victory lane on July 15, 1971, after winning the Islip 250. This was the first season R.J. Reynolds began its NASCAR sponsorship when the series became known as the Winston Cup Grand National Series. (Note the early design decal on the top right of the door panel.)

Using Greg Fielden's Forty Years of Stock Car History books as reference material, I learned a bit more about NASCAR's time at Islip:

• Marvin Panch won the race in 1965 after his most serious challenger, Junior Johnson, had a bad wreck. Johnson's throttle hung, he drove through a guard rail, drilled a telephone pole, and burst into flames. After seeing Fireball Roberts' burn in 1964 and ending up in flames himself in 1965, its no real surprise Junior soon retired as a driver to become a car owner.
• Bobby Allison won the race in 1966 after James Hylton ran out of gas with 7 laps to go. Allison wasn't even expected to run the race after wrecking his car two nights earlier in Fonda, NY. But he worked on feverishly and was able to make the race. One of the people who helped him? James Hylton. Can you imagine that scenario happening today?
• Allison won again in 1968. Richard Petty was leading the race and tried to lap Allison. In doing so, the cars tangled. The fender was bent on the 43, and Petty faded to a 4th place finish. After the race, Richard's brother/engine builder, Maurice, and cousin/crew chief, Dale Inman, attacked Allison. Both were fined.
• In the 1971 race mentioned above, an embarrassing NASCAR scoring snafu shortened the Islip 250 by TWENTY laps. Petty won it, but I've not been able to find a satisfactory explanation for the scoring problem.

Connecting Islip to more contemporary times, Buzzie Reutimann, father of Michael Waltrip Racing's driver David Reutimann, raced at Islip:

Source: Reutimann Racing

Tommy Baldwin Sr., father of current Sprint Cup start-and-park car owner Tommy Baldwin, Jr., raced a lot at Islip. And former Cup driver, Steve Park, is from Long Island.

So with the hoist of a Schaefer, we schelebrate you Fuzzy at Roadside Galore and Islip Speedway.

Now if I can just find a way to get myself to Long Island to have a picture of my drinking a Schaefer next to that wall...

TMC

Newest SHOFer Bringing It Strong

As previously blogged, Cuba is the most recent inductee into the Schaefer Racing Hall of Fame. Rather than rest on his laurels, he went right to work as a Schaefer ambassador.

I received an e-mail from him Friday saying "Wow, only two cases left!! Must be top selling beer!!" along with the following photo.

With recent experiences of seeing Schaefer sellers dwindle and having never seen a 30-box of Schaef, I responded immediately GET 'EM!

He sent another e-mail a few moments later stating simply "Mission Accomplished".

He purchased them in Baltimore, MD. So all you blue-crab eating, Orioles-sympathizing, Ray Lewis-supporting, beer-drinking folks -here's your chance to make a difference. Let me know specific names and addresses of retailers in your area where Schaefer is sold, and I'll add them to the Schaefer Sellers map linked on this blog.

I'll be in Baltimore myself in September, and I plan to be on the lookout for some of my own.

The Schaefer Hall of Fame Schae-loots you Cuba for your outstanding efforts!

TMC