THIS DATE IN USAC HISTORY: MAY 6
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
A perfect 10. Ten USAC National Sprint Car and Midget races have been held on the date of May 6 over the past 65 years of the club’s history and 10 different drivers have emerged as winners on the date.
Jim Hurtubise became the first two-time winner of the 1962 USAC National Sprint Car season with his win at Ohio’s New Bremen Speedway while, on the same day, Arnie Knepper was 616 miles away, scoring his second career USAC National Midget victory at Olympic Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
George Snider, who had just completed a USAC Silver Crown championship in the inaugural year of that division the year prior, took the USAC Sprint win at Ohio’s Tri-County Speedway in 1972.
Meanwhile, in 1978, Pennsylvania racing legend Dick Tobias pulled off the victory in ABC Wide World of Sports televised Tony Hulman Classic at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track. Bubby Jones matched the same feat at the same place one year later, the first of his four triumphs in a USAC Sprint Car at the Action Track in 1979.
USAC’s all-time winningest driver, Rich Vogler, captured a Midget victory at Santa Fe Speedway in Hinsdale, Ill., one of his 16 USAC National Midget victories that season, which is the second most prolific season in terms of wins in series history behind Mel Kenyon’s in 1967.
In 1995, Brian Gerster returned to victory lane for the first time in almost exactly a year, at the same place as his first, Indianapolis Raceway Park in Clermont, Ind.
Jay Drake earned the second of his 10 USAC Sprint wins during an incredible 2000 season, which saw him win a total of 19 USAC feature events (17 National) which still ranks as the fifth-best season by a driver in the history of the club.
Justin Marvel, a decade of USAC Sprint Car racing for a decade at the time, notched his first and only career victory in the first and only, thus far, series event held at New York’s Canandaigua Speedway.
Bryan Clauson’s final season in 2016 included a USAC Sprint Car victory at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, the 37th of his career at the time. He’d go on to attain four more that year to reach 41 wins, seventh all-time.
MAY 6 USAC NATIONAL WINS:
(1) Bryan Clauson, Jay Drake, Brian Gerster, Jim Hurtubise, Bubby Jones, Arnie Knepper, Justin Marvel, George Snider, Dick Tobias & Rich Vogler
MAY 6 USAC NATIONAL WINNERS:
1962: Jim Hurtubise, USAC Sprint at New Bremen Speedway – New Bremen, Ohio
1962: Arnie Knepper, USAC Midget at Olympic Stadium – Kansas City, Mo.
1972: George Snider, USAC Sprint at Tri-County Speedway – Cincinnati, Ohio
1978: Dick Tobias, USAC Sprint at the Terre Haute Action Track – Terre Haute, Ind.
1979: Bubby Jones, USAC Sprint at the Terre Haute Action Track – Terre Haute, Ind.
1988: Rich Vogler, USAC Midget at Santa Fe Speedway – Hinsdale, Ill.
1995: Brian Gerster, USAC Midget at Indianapolis Raceway Park – Clermont, Ind.
2000: Jay Drake, USAC Sprint at Tri-City Speedway – Granite City, Ill.
2006: Justin Marvel, USAC Sprint at Canandaigua Speedway – Canandaigua, N.Y.
2016: Bryan Clauson, USAC Sprint at Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio