Racing History Minute - May 15, 1977

TMC Chase
@tmc-chase
8 years ago
4,073 posts

NASCAR's Winston West Series raced at the short-lived but ahead-of-its-time Ontario Motor Speedway May 15, 1977. The second annual West Coast 250 was the first stand-alone Winston West race at OMS that wasn't combined with a Winston Cup Series race.

From Motor Racing Programme Covers

NASCAR's fragmented Late Model Sportsman series raced with the Winston West drivers in the inaugural West Coast 250 at Ontario in 1976. L.D. Ottinger traveled from tiny Newport, TN to the west coast to show 'em how it's done. He was quickest in practice, won the pole, and was nipped by about two feet by winner Jimmy Insolo.

With the 1977 race scheduled as part of the Cup-Light Winston West schedule, L.D. stayed with the LMS series and didn't return for another shot at a trophy. And as race day drew near, Insolo's ride was sold out from under him. He had to be doubly-disappointed after having just won the USAC stock car portion of the Datsun Twin 200s at Ontario two months earlier ( link to my RHM ).

From Long Beach Independent

Chuck Bown won the pole by topping Ottinger's record lap from a year earlier. Jim Thirkettle qualified on the front row with him. Gary Johnson and Chuck Wahl made up the second row. From Pomona Progress Bulletin

Arlene Hiss wrecked in practice was unable to repair the car in time for qualifying. Hiss started a couple of races in USAC's open wheel and stock car races in 1976 before Janet Guthrie got going. Guthrie's name has obviously stood the test of time as a groundbreaker for her era whereas Hiss has been largely forgotten. But practice wrecks and run-ins with drivers such as Bobby Unser certainly didn't help her cause to stay relevant. From Van Nuys Valley News

Before the race could even going well, 7-8 cars piled into one another on lap 1. Drivers involved in the wreck that couldn't continue included John Borneman, John Dineen, Glenn Francis, Summer McKnight, Rocky Moran, and Bob Switzer. Vince Giamformaggio in #39 of photo below slipped by and likely exhaled. But his good fortune didn't last. He overheated, cooked his engine, and went home with a P29 DNF - only slightly better than the batch of wrecked cars.

After the restart, Bown launched from his top starting spot to lead the first 35 laps of the 100-lap race. Thirkettle, Third-place starter Johnson and west coast racing vet Bill Schmitt combined to lead the middle third of the race. Johnson then re-took the lead from Schmitt, and he led the remaining 35 laps for the win.

As noted at the beginning of the post, the race was first of stand-alone Winston West race at Ontario. As it turns out, the track hosted only one more stand-alone event for the series. Roy Roy Smith won it in April 1980. From Pomona Progress Bulletin

Fin Driver Car
1 Gary Johnson Chevrolet
2 Bill Schmitt Chevrolet
3 Gary Matthews Plymouth
4 Hershel McGriff Chevrolet
5 Chuck Wahl Chevrolet
6 Bryce Mann Chevrolet
7 Don Noel Chevrolet
8 Glen Steurer Chevrolet
9 Richard White Chevrolet
10 Pat Mintey Chevrolet
11 Terry Wood Chevrolet
12 Ernie Stierly Chevrolet
13 Don Puskarich Chevrolet
14 George Spink Pontiac
15 Chuck Bown Chevrolet
16 Jim Haney, Jr. Chevrolet
17 John Hamson Chevrolet
18 Bill Osborne Ford
19 Rick McCray Chevrolet
20 Ron Esau Chevrolet
21 Pete Torres Ford
22 Steve Pfeifer Chevrolet
23 Jim Thirkettle Chevrolet
24 Harry Goularte Chevrolet
25 Marc Vogel Chevrolet
26 Bob Forester Chevrolet
27 Bill Baker Chevrolet
28 Don Reynolds Chevrolet
29 Vince Giamformaggio Chevrolet
30 Don Graham Chevrolet
31 Tom Blair Chevrolet
32 Bob Switzer Chevrolet
33 Rocky Moran Chevrolet
34 Sumner McKnight Chevrolet
35 Glenn Francis Chevrolet
36 John Dineen Ford
37 John Borneman Chevrolet



--
Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.

updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
TMC Chase
@tmc-chase
8 years ago
4,073 posts

RacersReunion member Owen Kearns wrote this race report for the Bakersfield Californian. I hope he and/or Scott Baker will have more to add to this post.

Click to open larger version in new tab.




--
Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
Dave Fulton
@dave-fulton
8 years ago
9,137 posts

That winning Gary Johnson car looked like it was doing the familiar soft springs "Petty Roll" coming out of the corner.




--
"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
Dave Fulton
@dave-fulton
8 years ago
9,137 posts

How often have you seen the Editorial Page Editor filing race reports? Owen is one talented individual. Associated Press even let Owen file West and Truck stories directly, including agate. No wonder Bob Barkheimer, Ken Clapp and NASCAR were anxious to hire him to head up NASCAR West coast publicity. On top of that, Owen and his wife were simply great people with a passion for stock car racing. His retirement was our loss.




--
"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
Scott Baker
@scott-baker
8 years ago
69 posts

Posted this to theNASCARSWTandPacificCoastRegionMemories page on FB

Trent Francis (son of Glenn Francis) notes that his Dad broke his neck and a knee in the lap 1crash