I've spent since 1993 trying to compile my late father's biography & racing stats.. plus the locations of all the races.
Warren "Dutch" Munsinger (1921-1960) was a Iowa cattle & corn farm boy, a WWII USAF vet, and a commercial mail plane & light plane pilot after the war. Hebegan racing for George Petit, a race car owner, pilot and small airport/flight school owner, out of Cook Co IL in 1954.Apparently he flew in one day and George liked him. He displaced Johnny Schipper, who said one day George walked up and said "this long drink of water is my new driver".
Dutch raced a fewcars beginning in the '54 season for George in the SAFE Circuit. He was known for his #76 1955 Buick Century convertible. it was white over red. He also raced it briefly in the NASCAR Convertibles Division when it merged with SAFEbut he also moved from IL to OK at that time and his racingsupport circle was severely disrupted.
He was racing thru out the Midwest, East and South right up until Dec 1959, when on 30 January 1960, he had a new racingsedan he was trailer-towing to Daytona 500, and was killed in a crash on a rural IL highway.
Pam, You may have seen this but I ran across it and thought I would share it. It caught my eye because the one mile dirt track at Syracuse has been a topic on Racers Reunion Racing Thru History lately and I thought I remembered seeing the name Dutch Munsinger. As best as I can tell it is the text from a story that appeared in the September 8, 1955 Post - Standard. THE POST-STANDARD, Syracuse, N. Y., Thursday, September 8, 1955 27 late Model cars are expected at State Fair ; By ED KEDDie A 100-mile race for late model stock cars will feature today's sports program, at the New York State Fair. The. drivers in the race will be making their initial appearance on the state fair track in this event which is sponsored by the Midwest Association of Racing Cars. Time trials are scheduled at 1 p.m. and pole positions for the 27 cars entered will be determined by the speed attained in these tests. The main race is slated for 2:30 p.m. Iggy Katona, of Milan, Mich., is one of the favorites, being the top point man in the MARC standings. Other high point men are Mike Klapak, Dutch Munsinger, Jim Romine, Lloyd Moore and Herschel White. Track records may be broken. The one-mile record in qualifying was set last year by Marshall Teague who sped around the oval in 44.78 seconds, an average of 80.35 m.p.h; . The 100-mile record was set by Sam Hanks in 1953 with a figure of one hour , 26 minutes, 11.55 seconds. The 50-mile mark, set last year by Don O'DeII, is 38 minutes, 45 seconds, a rate of 78.13 miles an hour. For the last two years, the late model stock car races were sanctioned by the AAA ,but this organization is relinquishing its control of many types of auto races though the AAA will sanction the big car 100-mile race here Saturday. Under MARC sanction today, the late model event may be much more entertaining and faster than were similar races at the fair in the last two years when fields were rather small. Officials for today's races will be much the same as they were for 'Monday's stock cars with Willis Hackett, of Fulton, as race director. Todays Stock Car Entries are: Car No. Name Make of Car 30 Iggy Katona 1955 Ford 17 Jim Romlne 1955 Buick 24 Ray Duhigg 1955 Oldsmobile 38 Bob Coutcher 1955 Ford 76 Dutch Munsinger 1955 Buick 47 Herechel White 1955 Oldsmobile 35 Mike Klapak 1955 Ford Thunderbird 23 Ed Mitchell 1955 Cadillac 88 Jack Farris 1955 Oldsmobile 03 Bobby Hunter 1955 Oldsmobile 117 Don Eggett 1955 Mercury 11 Larry Frank 1955 Pontiac 1 Ernie Derr 1955 Oldsmobile 66 John Reynolds 1955 Pontiac 777 Bill Rexford 1955 Buick 4-100 Tony Slama 1955 Chevrolet 71 Ray Oyer 1955 Chevrolet 120 John McGinley 1955 Packard 47 Jack Shanklin 1955 Oldsmobile 180 Herb Scott 1955 Plymouth 9 Russ Hepler 1954 Hudson 100 Paul Wensink 1954 Oldsmobile 3 Bob DueII 1954 Ford 6 John Ditch 1954 Ford 91 Dick Walters 1954 Oldsmobile 32 June Osborne 1954 Hudson 59 Lloyd Moore 1955 Ford A big entry is assured for Saturday's "big car classic, according to Vail, who lists 32 cars and 28 drivers thus far. Bob Sweikert, Indianapolis winner, who won here last year, heads the lineup. He holds the track record for the 100-miler with, a rate slightly, over 90 miles an hour run. Not all of the entries listed; such as Dutch Munsinger, Herechel White and Mike Klapak;appear in the results for this race but favorite Iggy Katona did finish second behind Joe Sykes in a !955 Ford who was not listed as an entry in the paper. I also found this picture of Dutch.
Yes, thank you VERY MUCH. I appreciate finding ANY racing or other newspaper mentions. I posted that Spring 1955 picture of Dutch several years ago, that was when he picked up his new (1955 Buick century) stock car before the season started. he's displaying trophies from 1954 on it. He had a set of 3 matching cars, he also had a Buick Century Estate Wagon. [I have interviews & photos he trailered the racing convertible in back of the station wagon, when he didn't ship it via the RR to distant races if possible. ] I also have the sales receipt for 2 of the cars.I also want to re-thank historian Bob of Indy IN and the anonymous donor for this set of photos, the man came up to Bob at a racing dinner and said to send them to me -- they were in his late father's racing memorabilia. I am honored.
I am the one who first posted Dutch's racing convertible photo to the internet after it surfaced in an estate box;I rec'd it from a racing historian in Indy IN about 2005. he rec'd it and 3 other photos for me from a man's son; the dad had owned a Buick* car dealership in the 1950s.you will see he was standing in back of a matching hardtop. and he ALSO had an Estate Wagon.. the cars matched.the Estate Wagon was totaled in VA on his way to a race after winning at Cincy, when a car came around a mountain curve in Dutch's lane and took Dutch's left side out (and I mean it broke his left arm and left leg too) in June 1955. He was racing 3 weeks later.-- May I ask where is this color photo of #76 taken and when?
ps thank ye kindly for posting this color photo, for I have never heard of Dutch racing a hardtop Buick Century in 1955. I knew he had his '55 convertible thru 1956.
As soon as I get my Christmas Tree up (done by Sunday) It's time I begin to post all the 1950s Racing info I have collected.I also have the full SAFE CoC All Stars 1955 season that you see (I posted) the cover of.I hope it'll help someone else too.