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Hard to believe I took this shot on 6/2/79...almost 30 years ago!

Ralph Blackett backing it in driving the Scotch Grove Racing 49


Lee Johnson [email protected]

Great photo. I really enjoy you guys who post these various photos from the good old days. Takes me back to when I was a small lad of 15 and my step-brother would take me to Terre Haute and these other tracks in the MidWest and introduce me to all these old USAC drivers as his kid brother.

My wife told me if I went to one more Sprint Car race 
she would leave me.................I'm sure gonna miss 
that ol' gal. 

...and from my archives, the results. Ralph was second to Smith that night...

6/2/79

Knoxville Dollars To Smith!!!

by Ken Sargent

Knoxville, IA – Point leader, Randy Smith, posted his second feature win of the season by taking the main event Saturday night, June 2. Smith and Ralph Blackett battled wheel to wheel for most of the race before Smith opened up a slight advantage near the end of the twenty-lap main event.

Blackett started on the pole of the feature and jumped into the lead when the green flag dropped. John Stevenson put on the early challenge using a low groove, while Blackett ran against the cushion and the two went side by side through the turns for the first few laps. Smith, meanwhile, was working his way up from his fourth row starting point and moved past Blackett on the eighth lap to take over the lead. Two laps later, Blackett moved back in front for one lap before Smith took over first for good. Blackett wound up second with Stevenson hanging on for third. Mackie Heimbaugh and Roger Larson completed the top five. Lloyd Beckman, who was trying for a sweep after his trophy dash and heat race win, headed up the second five. Jerry Potter was seventh, Lenard McCarl, up from 14^th, was 8^th, with Mike Thomas and Chris Maurer completing the top ten.

Heat race wins went to Smith, Larson, Jerry Potter and Beckman. Victor Chudy of Plattsmouth, Nebraska, hit the first turn fence on the fourth lap of the third heat sending his mount into a series of rolls. Despite losing his helmet during the series of flips, Chudy was lucky to escape with two broken ribs and some other lacerations. He was taken to Memorial Hospital to be held overnight for observation.

Following Beckman in the trophy dash, were Mackie Heimbaugh and fast timer Tim Green. Green clocked in at 20.348 to set the pace for the 34 cars on hand. John McCoy took the 12-lap B main with Dean Erfurth second.

Results

Time Trials (Qualifying Order): 1. 55, Tim Green, Carmichael, CA (31) 20.348; 2. 10, Jerry Potter, Kansas City, MO (1) 20.354; 3. 43, Randy Smith, Norwalk, IA (15) 20.439; 4. 12, Mike Brooks, Knoxville, IA (13) 20.553; 5. 47, Lloyd Beckman, Lincoln, NE (5) 20.649; 6. 15, Mackie Heimbaugh, Des Moines, IA (20) 20.681; 7. 31, John Stevenson, St. Paul, MN (26) 20.711; 8. 18, Roger Larson, Madison, SD (25) 20.728; 9. 49, Ralph Blackett, Des Moines, IA (16) 20.758; 10. 711, Victor Chudy, Plattsmouth, NE (27) 20.800; 11. 33, Jerry Blundy, Dehinda, IL (2) 20.958; 12. 37, Mike Thomas, Des Moines, IA (28) 21.133; 13. 1, Bobby Brutto, San Jose, CA (32) 21.162; 14. 21, Steve Hainline, Bonaparte, IA (6) 21.205; 15. 81, Cliff Woodward, Kearney, MO (4) 21.371; 16. 2, Galen Martin, Fairfield, IA (7) 21.388; 17. 7x, Lenard McCarl, Des Moines, IA (10) 21.488; 18. 61, Stacy Redmond, Mason City, IA (24) 21.581; 19. 9, John McCoy, Knoxville, IA (3) 21.631; 20. 20x, Dick Stoneking, Oquawka, IL (14) 21.656; 21. 76, Ken Potter, Grandview, MO (18) 21.672; 22. 25x, Darryl Dawley, Sioux Falls, SD (17) 21.731; 23. 34, Mark David, Cedar Falls, IA (19) 21.955; 24. 181, Chris Maurer, Colfax, IA (22) 21.964; 25. 27, Ed Grant, Canton, IL (30) 22.064; 26. 27x, Mark Shaffer, Newton, IA (21) 22.108; 27. 81x, Dean Erfurth, Madison, WI (11) 22.975; 28. 15x, Bill Slater, Monmouth, IL (23) 23.168; 29. 4A, Mike Shafer, Grand Island, NE (9) 23.489; 30. 10x, Dean Smith, Fort Dodge, IA (29) 23.724; 31. 35x, Ed Pitko, Kansas City, KS (12) 24.232; 32. 5, Mike O'Leary, Peoria, IL (8) 26.554; 33. 17, Bill Randleman, Jefferson, IA (33) 29.101; 34. *.

Trophy Dash (started), 5 laps, *: 1. Lloyd Beckman (2) 2. Mackie Heimbaugh (1) 3. Tim Green (6) 4. Randy Smith (4) 5. Jerry Potter (5) 6. Mike Brooks (3)

Heat one (started), 8 laps, *: 1. Roger Larson (6) 2. Mike Brooks (7) 3. Mike Thomas (5) 4. Chris Maurer (2) / 5. Dick Stoneking (3) … also: Bill Slater (1), Galen Martin (4), Mike O'Leary (6), Bill Randleman (9)

Heat two (started), 8 laps, : 1. Randy Smith (6) 2. John Stevenson (7) 3. Jerry Blundy (4) 4. Cliff Woodward (5) / 5. John McCoy (2) … also: Ed Pitko (1), Mark David (3), Dean Erfurth (8) DNS - *

Heat three (started), 8 laps, : 1. Jerry Potter (8) 2. Mackie Heimbaugh (7) 3. Stacy Redmond (4) 4. Steve Hainline (5) / 5. Darryl Dawley (3) … also: Dean Smith (1), Mark Shaffer (2), Victor Chudy (6)

Heat four (started), 8 laps, : 1. Lloyd Beckman (6) 2. Bobby Brutto (4) 3. Lenard McCarl (3) 4. Ralph Blackett (5) / 5. Ken Potter (2) … also: Ed Grant (1), Tim Green (7), Mike Shafer (8)

B main (started), 12 laps, : 1. John McCoy (4) 2. Dean Erfurth (8) 3. Galen Martin (5) 4. Ed Grant (1) / 5. Bill Slater (9) … also: Darryl Dawley (2), Ken Potter (3), Tim Green (6), Dean Smith (7), Ed Pitko (10), Mike O'Leary (11), Mike Shafer (12) DNS – Victor Chudy, Mark David, Mark Shaffer, Dick Stoneking, Bill Randleman, *

A main (started), 20 laps, : 1. Randy Smith (7) 2. Ralph Blackett (1) 3. John Stevenson (3) 4. Mackie Heimbaugh (4) 5. Roger Larson (2) 6. Lloyd Beckman (5) 7. Jerry Potter (8) 8. Lenard McCarl (14) 9. Mike Thomas (10) 10. Chris Maurer (16) 11. John McCoy (17) 12. Ed Grant (20) 13. Galen Martin (19) 14. Jerry Blundy (9) 15. Cliff Woodward (13) 16. Dean Erfurth (18) 17. Mike Brooks (6) 18. Bobby Brutto (11) 19. Steve Hainline (12) 20. Stacy Redmond (15). Lap Leaders: Blackett 1-7, R. Smith 8-9, Blackett 10, R. Smith 11-20.

If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me! 
@BillWMedia
www.OpenWheel101.com

how many times did Dean Erfurth run a sprinter at Knoxville? never knew he raced there?

Thanks for posting this photo of my dad. I have seen a lot of pics of him racing, and this is one of the best.

For the many people that dont know, Ralph died on May 12, 2007 at the VA Hospital in Knoxville, Iowa.

It is good to see that he is still thought of.

I am sad to say that many of the drivers that I photographed back in early 80s are no longer with us. But one great things about race fans....they never forget.

A simple photo can bring back a memory that is so vivid that you feel like you are back in the stands watching them.

Ralph was a very unique person, I remember at an NSCA show many of the drivers decided to make up the names of their hometowns....Van Patten announced Blackett's as " Coffee Cup, Kansas".

Lee Johnson www.ovaltrackphotos.com

According to Eckert's www.openwheeltimes.com archive....twice. That night in 1979 and a prelim night (but not Sat night) during the 1980 Nationals.

I just wanted to take a second and thank Bill also for all of the reposting of the old articles,,, There are names there that really jog my memory!! The Chris Maurer no# 181, was the very first sprint car that my brother and I ever bought,,, turns out that she was a pretty good ol gal as it was originally the Trostle house car in 1976,,, seems some guy named Wolfgang started out in it for Bob,,, LOL only to be followed by guys like Shane Carson, Mackie Heimbaugh and Saldana... Again, Thanks guys for the trips back down memory lane and PLEASE,,, keep them coming!!

Thanks,

Brian

Bring back a lot of good memory back when sprint car racing was good

Some of the newer fans might actually think Ralph was out of control in this photo, considering the lack of broadsliding we see in many (not all) winged races. Oh well, they do have drifting.

I still have his last helmet, on the back is says "Broken Ass, N.D."

Hard to beleive it has been 30 years since we lost Darryl Dawley and Roger Larson at Knoxville. I think it was the first part of July. Darryl had won the feature at Knoxville the week before he was killed.

Great guy, great pic, great era, and great memories. Thanks to all!!!

Nice picture of Ralph backing it in at Knoxville in 1979. Great and exciting racer to watch. 1979 was a very tragic and sad year. As the above post mentioned that we lost Darryl Dawley and Roger Larson and also a friend of mine, Dick Stoneking. Darryl and Roger were both 38 years old and from South Dakota and Dick was 26 and he was from Oquawka, IL. All great people and surely missed.

I believe Erfurth was there a few more times. It will take some digging, but check out the historical results on our website at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com. I spent a lot of enjoyable hours putting those together...

If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me! 
@BillWMedia
www.OpenWheel101.com

You are correct, I found at least one more show that he ran in Knoxville, the WoO show on 4-21-79. I am sure there are more but I didn't poke any deeper.

I only did a quick search of the www.openwheeltimes.com website, so I dont' know if I made a mistake or there is a glitch with the Sleaze's search engine.