September 17, 1967 - Foyt triumphs in Milwaukee

As the southern NASCAR crowd raced in Hillsboro, NC on September 17, 1967, the midwestern USAC stock car bunch raced at Wisconsin State Fair Park near Milwaukee, WI in the Governor's Cup 250. - Motor Racing Programme Covers

While many of the names that race were familiar to the fans - and still are to this day, the CARS some of them were to race that day were confusing.

• Jack Bowsher was leading the points, and he brought two cars to enter.
• A.J. Foyt tested a car at Milwaukee, but he chose not to enter it because testing at the track hadn't gone well. Instead, he planned to race Bowsher's second car.
• Holman Moody fielded two cars for Mario Andretti and Parnelli Jones
• Andretti he couldn't make it to West Allis, WI because he was racing in a Can-Am event in Bridgehampton NY.
• Foyt ended up racing the Ford entered for Andretti.
• Bosco Lowe was brought up from NC to race Bowsher's second car.

Lowe was allowed to race only he got a waiver from NASCAR and USAC for him to do so - and pay a $6 waiver fee, penalty, tax, or whatever you want to call it. I realize the intense rivalry between the leadership of USAC and NASCAR was real, but it really seems so petty (not Petty). I'm curious whether fans of that day also agreed and would have preferred drivers to simply suit up and drive whenever and wherever they wanted.

Bowsher won the pole but didn't get much of a chance to leverage it to his advantage. Third place starter Parnelli loosened him on lap 1, and Jones then set sail to lead almost the first quarter of the race's 200 laps.

Bowsher finally got back under Jones to take the lead on the 45th lap. He stayed in front several laps until he needed to make a routine pit stop. In doing so, he turned the lead over to Foyt. But as Kevin Harvick has experienced in 2014, issues on pit road cost Bowsher valuable time and ultimately the race. He ran over an air hose, and it wrapped around the flywheel. Within 2 laps, he was done for the day.

Yet with about 70 laps to go, he had his crew flag Bosco Lowe to the pits. Lowe had been running solidly in the top 10. Yet Bowsher had Lowe get out of his Ford so he could jump in his 2nd team car. In fairness to Bowsher, he hustled the car not only back to where Boscoe had it - but all the way up to a third place finish.

Foyt started 2nd in the #11 Holman Moody Ford. He took advantage of Bowsher's pit woes and DNF and his crew sent him back to the track quicker than Parnelli's crew. With those 2 chips in his stack, Super Tex was able to build a comfortable lead for almost the entirety of the second half of the race.

As the checkers fell, Foyt finished well ahead of Parnelli. Bowsher's third place finish was 4 laps down to the first two. Even after reading newspaper accounts, I'm still unsure how USAC scored the finish. Lowe started the race, and I would presume he would be credited with the finish. Yet Bowsher's name shows up in most accounts and results I've found leading me to wonder if they each were credited with the P3.

Interesting recap. I had never heard the story of Bosco Lowe going up to run USAC.

As is so often the case, Russ Thompson has come through again. He shared this article about the race from the November 1967 issue of Stock Car Racing magazine.

The SCR photos also show that Pure Oil had dispatched "Miss Firebird" - Winkie Louise - to the Milwaukee USAC stock car event rather than the NASCAR Hillsboro race on the same date.

Winkie would later marry Green Bay Packers guard Jerry Kramer who was busy that fall leading the Packers toward their second consecutive Super Bowl title.

Two of Miss Firebird's husband's books - "Instant Replay" - recapping the Packers season leading to their triumph in Super Bowl I - and "Distant Replay" - a look at the first Super Bowl winning team (Packers ) at its reunion ten years later - are prized in my book collection here at the house. Maybe "cheesehead" Jerry was over at the Milwaukee race hooking up with Wink.

Just checked... Miss Firebird's future hubby, Jerry Kramer was up the road at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin on September 17, 1967, playing the Detroit Lions to a 17-17 standoff tie in the days before sudden death overtime during the regular season.

Alex Karas of that Lions team would later become a huge Dale Earnhardt fan hanging out in our Wrangler pits and staying at our hotels back in the 80s.

Learned from Russ this article is from the May 1968 issue of Stock Car Racing mag. I saw "Milwaukee 250" on the cover of the earlier one and that was it. Apparently the November 1967 issue included an article about an earlier 250 mile race at Milwaukee.

JACK BOWSHER ALSO RECEIVED THE TONY BETTENHAUSEN MILLER HIGH LIGHT TROPHY.
WHAT IS THE TONY BETTENHAUSEN MILLER HIGH LIGHT TROPHY?
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

Thanks for any information or photos posted.
Dennis Garrett
Richmond,Va.USA

The Tony Bettenhausen trophy was sponsored by local Milwaukee brewer Miller's High Life brand and awarded to drivers for their outstanding seasons at various divisions at Mikwaukee's State Fair Park Speedway and Hale's Corner Speedway.

Rusty Wallace's web site bio lists him as winning the trophy in 1980 for the USAC stock car division:

Haven't seen a photo.

Milwaukee wasn't the only locality to have a Tony Bettenhausen trophy. The Illinois Farmers' Review carried this story on May 24, 1961: