• In Memory • - Legacy Tobacco Documents Library

The big winners in Kentuckiona this year have been
Columbus, Ind .'s Russ Petro, Bedford, Ind .'s John Gill
and Rain ,
After II straight rainouts, Clarksville Speedway
finally got their first full show in Saturday night, June
4 with no rain . Tony Albright won both late model
features with Evansville, Ind .'s Mark Cole setting fast
time, and finishing second .
Russ Petro led the first 20 laps at 1-65 Speedway on
May 6, before busting a quick change gear, and handing
the victory to NASCAR'S charging Charlie Glotz .
bach . Followed by Gerald Dixon, Steve Boley, Ohio's
Larry Detmors, and Bob Gullivan .
On May 13, Gerald Dixon lost a tire . Charlie Glotzbach
and Roy Godsey lost engines, and John Gill won
the 1-65 late feature on his very first visit . Gerald
Dixon's very efficient Speed Shop pit crew changed his
tire in time to finish second ahead of Steve Boley . Don
Fleetwood, & Jim Reddick .
On May 20, John Gill fought tooth and nail with Jim
Curry the entire 25 laps, but had to settle for second,
followed by Gerald Dixon, Russ Petro . and Steve
Raley .
On May 27, John Gill came back to win again at I-
65. 2 wins and a second in 3 appearances .
On May 15, Russ Petro won Lincoln Parks late model
feature . May 22 it was Ray Godsey, and on May 29
Bedford, Ind .'s John Gill .
May 29 found Russ Petro winning the special
Memorial Day Race at Ponderosa Speedway in Junction
City, Ky .
On May 14, Russ Petro bested 47 other late models
before a huge throng at Barren County Speedway in
Glasgow, Ky . Jeff Napper, Wayne Coakley, Kenny
Watson, and Mickey Williams completed the top S .
The top 3 drivers timed with .04 second for a very
competitive field .
After 2 straight weeks of rain, Jeff Napper bettered
his May 14 runner-up finish with a win on June 4
before a SRO crowd . 41 late models in the pits, 5
feature events, and the last checker still fell before 11
p .m . Sumner, Ill .'s Terry Messenger was second,
followed by Fats Coffey, Harry Underwood, and
Evansville's Rick Corneal .
Tom Helfrich won the Tri-State Speedway opener in
Haubstadt, Ind ., on May 22 over Illini Doug McComman,
Jeff Cone, Wayne Harris, and Kevin Claycomb .
USAC star, Ken Schrader swept the late model and
the sprint feature on May 29 for the first dual show
sweep in Tri-State Speedways 26 year history . Doug
McCammon again garnered second ahead of Jim
Elliott, Kevin Claycomb, and Robert Baker . In the
ASCOC All Star sprint feature Ken Jacobs, Jack
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ecb81b00/pdf
Hewitt, Kelley Kinser, and Andy Hillenburg followed
Schrader to the checker .
In the hardest fought, closest race I've seen this
year. Roger Long 8 Bob Pearce battled for 65 laps of
Macon, Ill., Speedway on May 26 before Pearce rolled
a tire and had to pit . Jim Harter . Dick Taylor, Rick
Stonridge and Ed Dixon challenged the flying former
from Oakwood, Ill ., the rest of the way to the checker
in a thrilling finish at Wayne Webb's fine Macon, Ill .,
Speedway .
Russ Petro has annihilated the field at Brownstown
Speedway this year, winning both features on May 30 .
Lopping all but 3 cars at least once in each feature .
Petro came back June 4 for an encore win . 4 wins in 4
races at Brownstown in 1983 . 10 wins at 5 different
tracks in only 13 appearances in 1983 for Russ Petro in
the powerful Fred King, Rayburn destroyer .
Terry Messenger was leading the June 5 feature at
Tri-State Speedway, when his steering broke, sending
him into the 3rd turn barrier, and out for the night .
Kevin Claycomb than went on to record the victory
over Rick Corneal .
On the July 4th weekend, Tri-State Speedway will
present The ASCOC Coca-Cola Sprint nationals on
Sunday and Monday. July 3 & 4 for a $25,000 purse .
Sunday evening will also feature the late models in a
50 lap feature .
Friday night June 17, 1-65 Speedway in Scottsburg,
Ind . will feature a big 40 lap $1,000 to win late model
race .
Saturday night, June 18 Barren County Speedway in
Glasgow, Ky. will present The Campbell Chevrolet
Twin 25's for late models for a huge $7,500 purse . 4
drivers can each win over $900. $50 guaranteed each
starter in both features. Barren County will have
another huge purse on Saturday night, July 2 . with
$2,000 to the winner of the 35 lapper . Because of the
fabulous support shown by the fans so for this year,
Barren County Speedway is going to share it with the
drivers by increasing the purse to the top 5 drivers by
$100 to each positi6n . Each of the 20 starters in the A
feature will continue to receive $50 to start each
Saturday night .
Wayne Webb has 2 big $10,000 100 lappers of
Macon, Ill . Speedway in June . The first on June 15 and
again on June 30 .
Paducah International Speedway is temporarily
closed due to a collapsed front retaining wall . Promoters
Charles 8 Becky Harrison are presently
building a new retaining wall S' further out and pack .
ing the interim with dirt . They expect to reopen Saturday
night, July 2, with the big Skoal Midget Race on
July 9 .