In the mid to late 1970s, the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse - the Moody Mile - hosted several prominent dirt modified races titled Schaefer 100 and later Schaefer 200. In 1970, the Schaefer 100 was held as a USAC stock car division race.
From: Motor Racing Programme Covers
The race was slated as a 100-lap affair around Syracuse's one-mile dirt surface.
The superstar if you will of USAC's stock car series - Don White - won the pole in Ray Nichels' Dodge. Butch Hartman qualified alongside White in second. Paul Feldner and Tom Kippel made up the second row. Dave Whitcomb rounded out the top 5 starters for the 22-car field.
Roger McCluskey was scheduled to race in the event as part of a three-day, three-race schedule. After practicing Saturday in Langhorne for an Indy Car race on Sunday, the Syracuse flew McCluskey on a chartered flight to make his afternoon race. The flight was delayed a little bit which pushed back the start of the race.
McCluskey's car owner, Norm Nelson, qualified the car for McCluskey. But because he was late in arriving and didn't qualify his Plymouth, he was forced to start shotgun on the field in 22nd.
Despite starting last, McCluskey did the promoter right and gave the fans a show. He worked his way up through the field and into the top 5. The race admittedly wasn't full of name drivers, but to see someone work traffic and the dirt had to be a great sight.
Then as the race entered its final third, perhaps the most "only in USAC" thing happened after McCluskey passed Hartman for the lead. Dale Koehler, who had started 15th, spun on the backstretch as the leaders were right on his tail.
Koehler raised a cloud of dust, and neither McCluskey nor Hartman could see. McCluskey drilled Koehler injuring both of them. Hartman wrecked as well, but he wasn't injured. The Big One then expanded when four more cars piled into the fray.
With two drivers hurt, the two leaders wrecked, and a third of the starters involved in a single accident, USAC made the call to end the race after 67 completed laps. Even though McCluskey had passed Hartman on the 68th lap, the finish was determined by reverting to the leader of the last completed lap.
As a result, Hartman was awarded the win. McCluskey was taken to the hospital with a broken nose, other facial injuries and a P2 finish. McCluskey was injured badly enough that he missed the Sunday Langhorne race. The scheduled race at Lancaster was cancelled due to an expected low car count - including the scratch of McCluskey.
Koehler is the driver who really got the worst of things. He suffered a neck fracture and other head injuries plus went into cardiac arrest following the wreck.
Three weeks after the Syracuse wreck, McCluskey was amazingly back and ready to roll. He qualified third in his Norm Nelson-owned Superbird looking pretty good. He was competitive and finished third behind winner A.J. Foyt and second place Don White.
Koehler recovered as well. Though I can't find anything to indicate he raced again in 1970, I did find that he submitted an entry blank to race in the 1971 and 1972 Pennsylvania 500 USAC stock car races at Pocono. His name isn't listed in the finishing order for either race, so I'm unsure if he didn't show or DNQ.
The trail is cold for 1973 and 1974, but I did find that he raced in a USAC stock car race at the Milwaukee Mile in 1975.
See his Hemming's article for a bit more about the race and a handful of photos from it:
http://www.hemmings.com/magazine/mus/2010/03/One-of-those-Days/2934291.html
| Fin | Driver |
| 1 | ButchHartman |
| 2 | RogerMcCluskey |
| 3 | VerlinEaker |
| 4 | DaveWhitcomb |
| 5 | TomKlippel |
| 6 | LesHeikkila |
| 7 | PaulFeldner |
| 8 | DaleKoehler |
| 9 | BillyRies |
| 10 | JimShampine |
| 11 | RossSmith |
| 12 | DonWhite |
| 13 | GeorgeRondelli |
| 14 | BillBehling |
| 15 | WoodyWalcher |
| Others 16-22(?) based on qualifying | |
| Tom Helkkila | |
| Bill Nelson | |
| Tom Bohlander | |
| Carl Jackson | |
| Bill Berwanger | |
| Terry Nichels | |
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM