21 replies to this topic

[Bob Riebe]

It is actually dead now isn't it.?

Google or Bing brings up too much trash to sort through.

What years did it actually run.

Do they run the minimum rules modifieds they had there any where now?

[Michael Ferner]

Last run Nov 12, 2009, as an opener for a NASCAR weekend at PIR. There was talk about reviving the event as a stand-alone in January 2011, returning it to a more traditional date, but nothing came of it as far as I know. Ran every year from 1976 to 2009, I believe. When I get home, I can provide a bit more info.

[Michael Ferner]

What the heck, it's a slow day at the office, and I need to research the 21st century stuff first anyway, so here's a few statistics, going back in time:
 
34th running, 2009 Nov 12n (Thu), USAC Silver Crown, 100m, Cole Whitt, no time, USAC National/Western Midgets, 25m, Bobby Santos III, n/a
33th running, 2008 Nov 6n (Thu), USAC Silver Crown, 100m, Bobby East, no time, USAC Midgets, 25m, Bobby East, no time
32nd running, 2007 Nov 8n (Thu), USAC Silver Crown, 100m, Cameron Dodson, 1:02'01.563", USAC National/Western Midgets, 25m, Dave Steele, no time
 
Interestingly, with the change from a January day show to a November night Feature (announced July 2006), the numbering changed from 30th to 32nd! Will have to look into this later...
 
29th running, 2006 Jan 22d (Sun), USAC Silver Crown, 50m, Dave Steele, 26'28.11", USAC National/Western Midgets, 25m, Dave Steele (?/Toyota), no time
28th running, 2005 Jan 30d (Sun), USAC Silver Crown, 100m, Dave Steele, 1:06'07.75", USAC National/Western Midgets, 25m, J. J. Yeley, 12'32.06"
27th running, 2004 Mar 21d (Sun), USAC Silver Crown, 100m, Dave Steele, n/a, USAC National/Western Midgets (Sat), 25m, J. J. Yeley, no time
26th running, 2003 Mar 23d (Sun), USAC Silver Crown, 100m, Dave Steele, n/a, USAC National/Western Midgets (Sat), 25m, Aaron Pollock, no time
25th running, 2002 Mar 17d (Sun), USAC Silver Crown, 100m, Dave Steele (Beast/?), n/a, USAC National Midgets (Sat), 25m, Dave Steele, no time, SRL Super Modifieds (Sat), 25m, Lonnie Adamson, n/a
24th running, 2001 Mar 18d (Sun), USAC Silver Crown, 100m, Paul White, 1:06'03.993", USAC National/Western Midgets (Sat), 25m, Michael Lewis, no time, SRL Super Modifieds (Sat), 25m, Davey Hamilton, n/a
23rd running, 2000 Feb 6d (Sun), USAC Silver Crown, 50m, Jason Leffler (Beast/?), no time, USAC National? Midgets, 25m, Tony Stewart (Beast/Pink-Ford), n/a, SRL Super Modifieds, 25m, Troy Regier (Hyder-Hawk/Andrews), n/a
22nd running, 1999 Feb 7d (Sun), USAC Silver Crown, 50m, Brian Tyler, 26'12.95", USAC National? Midgets, 25m, Jason Leffler, n/a, Super Modifieds, 25m, Troy Regier (Hyder-Hawk/Rodeck), n/a

Edited by Michael Ferner, 26 January 2018 - 11:18.

[Michael Ferner]

Ah, okay. Having had a chance to check my records, I think I know now where the numbering discrepancy comes from: in 1975 and '76, the event started as the "Copper State Classic" when the track was still called FasTrack International. The promoters were listed as Bill Culp, Ron Goeringer and Bill Korbacher, all of them Sprint car owners, I think. Rules were simple, engines at front and a wheel base between 84 and 90 inches, that was all. 42 cars qualified on Feb 1 (Sat), and 33 took the start of the main event on Sunday, including Chuck Gurney who'd failed to qualify, but won one of the two heat races over 12 miles. Gurney came through from last place to win after 50 miles, with Billy Shuman second and Mike Schiesel third. Schiesel (from Wisconsin) and Buzz Gregory (from Indiana) were the only non-area drivers in the field, as far as I can make out; most of the field was from Arizona or California, with a few from New Mexico, Colorado etc. Overall purse was $7500, increased to $10,000 in 1976 when Jerry Miller won on Feb 15, with Schiesel second this time and Rick Ferkel from Ohio third.

In September of that year, the track was sold to a consortium led by Bob Fletcher of Cobre Tire, with former driver and sportswriter Dennis Wood taking over as general manager. It was renamed Phoenix International Raceway, and the event became the Copper World Classic, following the lead of the Western United States Sprint Car Championships at the neighboring Manzanita Speedway which had been renamed the Western World Championships in October. Chuck Gurney won again (Jan 30), this time from pole position, while Bubby Jones from Illinois came from last place to second, with Californian Ron Rea third. First-place money was $2,000, which should have qualified the race as a round for the inaugural World of Outlaws championships the following year, but alas, no pavement races for Ted Johnson! Chuck Gurney took his third win in four tries (Jan 29) from local Lealand McSpadden and Tim Richmond of Ohio.

The 1979 event was billed as the 3rd annual Copper World Classic, but postponed twice and finally cancelled because of floods (in the desert!). So, it's obvious that Wood counted only the races he himself promoted, and that was obviously continued until he retired from business by selling Manzanita Speedway in August of 2007 - it was the 30th running of the event that was reported to have moved away from its January date in 2007, and it was the 32nd when it was finally run in November!!

Back to the history of the races, in 1980 (Jan 27) Ken Hamilton of Idaho won over Californians George Snider and Johnny Logan, with Snider recording quick time at 26.435" - that would have put him just outside of the top ten in both the preceding as well as the following CART race at Phoenix! However, the time was considered bogus by officials and competitiors alike, and not registered as a track record. 1981 (Feb 1) saw Bob Frey of Ohio win from Gary Bettenhausen of Illinois and Gurney, and Frey repeated the following year (Jan 31) over former New Mexican Steve Ball (now residing in Indiana) and Anthony Simone from Northern California, then Bettenhausen won in '83 (Jan 23) over Simone and Mike Nish of Utah, and Hamilton again in '84 (Feb 5) over Frey and Harold Evans of Colorado. By now, the win was paying $4,000, having doubled in just seven years, and the variety of cars competing was quite staggering: Hamilton was driving a Grant King creation with a Big Block Chevy, Frey a Glen Niebel Chevy V6, and Evans a roadster with a Small Block Chevy.

1985 (Feb 24) saw Frey win again, this time over McSpadden and Evans, and in '86 (Feb 2) Mike Bliss from Oregon defeated Joe McCarthy from Texas (now living in Colorado) and Jeff Nish, another member of the Utah family, while USAC star Rich Vogler of Illinois set a new official track record at 27.17". Frey returned in '87 (Feb 8) to win a record fourth Copper World Classic over Hamilton and Ron Shuman, Billy's younger brother and a huge WoO star at the time - the event was certainly attracting big names! 1988 (Feb 7) saw the last unsanctioned event, and the first bonafide home winner (Jerry Miller was living in Arizona when he won, but was originally from New Mexico) in McSpadden, with Billy Boat third to compound the Arizona happiness, while Frey had to be satisfied with second this time.

In 1989 (Feb 5), USAC inaugurated its Silver Crown season at the Copper World, and would continue to do so through 1997. USAC wasn't new to the event, as the club had already sanctioned the Copper World Midget race in the two previous years (winners Robby Flock of California in '87 and Vogler in '88). I'm not exactly sure when the Midgets started to run, but they were part of the cancelled '79 edition and also the following year, when Stan Fox of Wisconsin won, and I have them every year from 1985 (Ken Nichols of California) onwards (Johnny Parsons of California in '86). Vogler repeated his Midget success in '89, and took second in the Silver Crown event behind Ken Schrader (Missouri), with California's Steve Chassey third. Schrader also won in 1990 (Feb 4), over Frey and Bob Cicconi of Pennsylvania, while Fox took his second Midget win, then (1991 Feb 3) Californian-turned-Hoosier Jeff Gordon beat unrelated Eric Gordon of Indiana and California's Wally Pankratz in the Silver Crown cars, but was beaten into second by Hoosier Stevie Reeves in the Midgets.

Edited by Michael Ferner, 26 January 2018 - 16:00.

[Bob Riebe]

Those names are all so familiar to me, where as todays drivers, I know very few.

I know the sprints had a turbine car at least one year.

 

Edited by Bob Riebe, 26 January 2018 - 16:33.

[E1pix]

That rang a bell, Bob, so here's a cool Hot Rod article on the turbine Sprint car:
http://www.hotrod.co...-were-the-days/

[Jim Thurman]

Michael beat me on 2009 being the last event, but there were sprint/super races that preceeded the Copper World appellation at the track, dating back to 1970. That first event, run as twin 50-lap races, had at least 9 Midwesterners in the starting field. I only mention that because Michael seems to feel it isn't much of a race with only Western U.S. drivers in the field    Apparently, he's spent too much time at certain message boards, and their hyper-regionalism has rubbed off on him    Among several notables in the field of that first sprint/super event, Jan Opperman and a young Tom Sneva.

 

"Minimum rules" supers pretty much died out. ERA in Colorado is (was?) the last running them and they lost their "home" track in 2016 (the track is still there, but dropped the supers from their schedule). The supers in Central California are now a 360 class. 

Edited by Jim Thurman, 26 January 2018 - 18:30.

[Bob Riebe]

A bit unrelated but Bill Cheesebourg, according to the Ultimate Racing History site, which is FAR, FAR. FAR from ultimate, ran his last stock car race there in 1980, and won his last at Manzanita in 1975.

 

The mile track in Arizona and the track at Milwaukee probably had the most varied races and racers in the country. Exceeded only in racer diversity by Indianapolis.

I used to eagerly wait to watch the Super Modified race on TV every year when there used to be a lot of odd ball racing on TV on the weekends.

[Jim Thurman]

A bit unrelated but Bill Cheesebourg, according to the Ultimate Racing History site, which is FAR, FAR. FAR from ultimate, ran his last stock car race there in 1980, and won his last at Manzanita in 1975.

 

Bill Cheesbourg continued racing his dirt late model well into the 1980s. He even made the cross-country haul to a Florida Speedweek series of dirt races in, IIRC, 1986 (?). I saw him completely stomp a field in an open competition super stock race at South Bay Speedway in San Diego in November 1975. He won by a half-lap, and that was after he'd backed off considerably over the final laps. He was closing in on lapping the 3rd place car before he backed off. At the checkered flag, he was only a couple of car lengths behind the 3rd place car. The field he beat weren't slouches.

Edited by Jim Thurman, 03 February 2018 - 18:00.

[Michael Ferner]

STOP PRESS!!

Doing a little further research, I not only found several more Midget results and other assorted info, but also conclusive proof that there were two Jerry Millers after all! Several years ago, I concluded that this was just one guy, moving around quite a bit according to where he raced at the time, but now I have to disentangle my data base again to find out who's who Not unlike the two Andy Hillenburgs, Mike Johnsons, or the three Bill Browns. Ah well, that'll keep me busy for an hour or two... tomorrow.

And Jim, I was aware of earlier races at PIR, but those were ARA sanctioned races (iinm), while the "Copper" series were unsanctioned, open comp events that sets them apart, reflected in the numbering of the event. I'll look into that again, too, tomorrow. Also, I'm not trying to "downsize" the California guys (again ), but was merely trying to showcase the development from local competition to national appeal of the races. It's the same for me as with races in Pennsylvania, or Indiana - the number of travelling cherry pickers is always interesting in a bigger context. And I guess it makes the wins for the locals all the more satisfying, too!

About Cheesbourg, I seem to recall he was a regular winner at Manzy well into the eighties. I don't normally collect stock car info, but when researching weekly tracks I usually read the whole articles, and notice things like that. Having said that, it's sometimes not that easy to remember the correct year, though!

[E1pix]

ERA in Colorado is (was?) the last running them and they lost their "home" track in 2016 (the track is still there, but dropped the supers from their schedule).

Colorado National Speedway in Erie?

[Jim Thurman]

Colorado National Speedway in Erie?

 

Yes. They ran some races later at I-25 Speedway in Pueblo.

[Jim Thurman]

And Jim, I was aware of earlier races at PIR, but those were ARA sanctioned races (iinm), while the "Copper" series were unsanctioned, open comp events that sets them apart, reflected in the numbering of the event. I'll look into that again, too, tomorrow. Also, I'm not trying to "downsize" the California guys (again ), but was merely trying to showcase the development from local competition to national appeal of the races. It's the same for me as with races in Pennsylvania, or Indiana - the number of travelling cherry pickers is always interesting in a bigger context. And I guess it makes the wins for the locals all the more satisfying, too!

 

Geez, Michael. You didn't know that there were two drivers named Jerry Miller?    Then I don't know how you'll react to there being at least three then   Names like Bill Brown, John Anderson, etc. are quite common (and the two Dick Fries shows how bizarre it can get!). Then there the situations like the same Jim Edwards beng based in So Cal, Pennsylvania and then Arizona    

 

If those earlier races were ARA sanctioned, they were still open comp, because otherwise I don't think Mr. Sneva would have been in an Eagle or Norm Ellefson in a Tipke roadster-style super modifed  , to name just two.

 

Concur with you on the race evolving to a larger, more national scale event (though at least 9 Midwesterners in the first is pretty impressive, especially who they were). I was jk you 

[DCapps]

Bob, thanks for bringing this up. I, too, was wondering recently about whatever happened to the event. Now I realize that it disappeared while I was still overseas and I somehow just missed it. Thanks to Michael and Jim for the info.

[Michael Ferner]

Geez, Michael. You didn't know that there were two drivers named Jerry Miller? 

Then, why don't you help me disentangle them?

Yes, three Jerry Millers, if you include the one from Sacramento (Rancho Cordova), which I hadn't because he's basically from a later era (although I can now see I have his first entry in my data base a bit later that same year, September 1976!); four if you include Jerry Miller junior, the son of the Copper World winner, and during research now I came upon a Pennsylvania NASCAR modified/stock car driver, too, plus there was an Indianapolis journalist by that name, etc. etc.

The queer thing is, a few years back I already had the other two seperated in my data, but then decided that it was one and the same after all, mainly because the Copper World winner was listed under both Albuquerque and Indianapolis in some USAC material I've seen, and since (back then) none of the Arizona appearances "collided" with his USAC dates, and indeed a few early ones in Arizona were listed under Albuquerque or Indianapolis, I concluded that perhaps it was one person, racing out of different locations according to his needs! By now, my data base has grown considerably, and I show several dates with conflicting race entries, plus there was a Phoenix newspaper article previewing the 1976 Copperstate Classic and clearly stating "not the Phoenix driver of the same name" - boy, did I screw up!

A few notes from my research today: I had a firm entry of "born 1942 in New Mexico" for the USAC man, but now I wonder where that came from - to me it looks like it came from the Richie Jenkins WATN data, but looking now he has Oct 12, 1942 and Salem/Indiana (and all the copycats from ChampCarStats to Wikipedia, too)! Luckily, I found a solution for the conundrum, namely in an obit for his father, Wayne Miller who, to my surprise, was born in Indiana, only moving to Albuquerque in 1943, the year after Jerry was born (phew!), thus making for quite an interesting evolution over three generations: the father growing up and starting racing in Indiana, the son in New Mexico, and the grandson in Indiana, again!

Though online sources are of no help whatsoever (SprintSource and all the other data bases built upon the defunct Kevin Eckert data generally don't differentiate between different drivers with the same name), the Jerry Miller from New Mexico/Indianapolis and the one from Phoenix (Glendale) are not that difficult to seperate in results, but for the late sixties, when the former appears to have raced with the ARA on occasions, the same organisation which voted the latter its most improved driver of 1969! I guess I'll have to re-read a few newspaper articles, then... Another thing: checking with ReWind's fabulous birthday thread, I found he has three Jerry Millers listed, 1942 Oct 12 ("our man"), 1958 Feb 16 (apparently the NASCAR man from Pennsylvania) and 1964 Oct 3 - could this be Jerry Miller junior, I wonder?

To return to the thread subject, the Copper World Classic, I also learned that the wheel base restrictions mentioned in post 4 were, apparently, already ditched for the second edition, because that same 1976 race preview explicitly mentioned several cars with 100-inch wheel bases entered, including the eventual winner, which was the same S & M Electric Special campaigned on the 1975 USAC National Dirt Track Championship trail by Jerry Miller!

Edited by Michael Ferner, 27 January 2018 - 16:31.

[E1pix]

Then there's a Jerry Miller I knew who ran NHRA Pro Stock...

[Michael Ferner]

That rang a bell, Bob, so here's a cool Hot Rod article on the turbine Sprint car:
http://www.hotrod.co...-were-the-days/

Interesting article, thanks for posting the link. A few notes: it says here that the car was on track "about half a dozen times", so there's a chance the seven appearances I have are its full CV! Also, a 1983 article in a Phoenix newspaper mentioned that Bolan "has raced just three times in the last year", and I have three appearances in '82, and one each in the following four years - so far, so good.

Another quote from the linked article, "he attempted to enter the car in a World of Outlaws race in Springfield, Illinois, but the sanction’s president at the time, Ted Johnson, wouldn’t allow it", however, is off the mark. Bolan did enter the 1982 May 1/2 event at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and was allowed to compete, but failed to qualify by a wide margin: his time trial was 39th fastest out of 40 timed runs, more than seven-and-a-half seconds off pole, and in fact almost three seconds slower than 38th! This was, according to what I have, the only time he attempted to run the car on dirt, which may have accounted for the poor performance. That said, those with a long memory may recall that ten years earlier, Jigger Sirois had driven a turbine Champ Car to a fine third place finish (from a front row start!) at Du Quoin, and it's interesting to note that Bolan couldn't even match the time set by Sirois on the very same track in '73, which back then was just over two seconds off the track record!

"Bolan’s next run on the asphalt was on the quarter-mile track of the Little 500, located at the Anderson (IN) Speedway. It qualified at eighth, and ran mid-pack until the race was called for rain." That is pretty much correct, although he actually qualified 9th, and the race, though stopped twice for rain, eventually ran to its finish. Bolan retired after 102 of the 500 laps, and the reason given was simply "brakes" - not really surprising, that! Running a car with virtually no throttle response at speed on a crowded (33 starters!) quarter-mile track must've been quite an experience!! The race was first stopped after only 38 laps, which was probably a lifeline for the tortured brakes, and the car was out before the race was called a second time, and resumed the next day without Bolan and his turbine. Nice try, though!

"The Sprinter ended its career at the Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Speedway, where it raced several times. Bolan’s best lap around the 1-mile track was 123.035. In 1983, Bolan ran out of fuel on a yellow at the Copper World Classic, which took him way down from his second place position." Bolan's best lap at PIR was actually way over 126 mph, on his first appearance, and in '84 he did 125 mph before he recorded the 123 mph lap in '85. He never featured in the '83 race, but ran the first five laps of the '84 event in second place after starting from fourth (only 0.14" off pole!). He had dropped back to fifth by the time of the late-race caution, which by the way was of his own doing, forcing Jeff Nish of Utah into a fiery accident! I wonder, though, if running out of fuel was his only problem, because he apparently failed to start the following Roadster and Super-Modified race, for which he had qualified 10th, just 0.01" behind Bettenhausen in 9th.

Here's the short list of the turbine's appearances, and its performance records:

1982-01-31, Phoenix/AZ, 40*1m PO, QP 5, 28.42" (pole Gary Bettenhausen 27.89"), FP 8, 36 laps/flagged (winner Bob Frey)
1982-05-02, Springfield/IL, 40*1m DO, QP 39 35.541" (pole Rick Ferkel 27.970"), DNS/too slow (winner Danny Smith)
1982-05-30, Anderson/IN, 500*1/4m PO, QP 9, 49.747" (pole Marvin Carman 48.321"), FP 26, 102 laps/brakes (winner Marvin Carman)
1983-01-23, Phoenix/AZ, 40*1m PO, QP 22, 31.12" (pole Chuck Gurney 28.46"), FP >15, unknown (winner Gary Bettenhausen)
1984-02-05, Phoenix/AZ, 40*1m PO, QP 4, 28.78" (pole Gary Bettenhausen 28.64"), FP 13, out of fuel? (winner Ken Hamilton)
(same - Roadster race), 20(30)*1m PO, QP 10, 28.42" (pole Chet Fillip 27.09"), DNS (winner Doug Saunier)
1985-02-24, Phoenix/AZ, 35*1m PO, QP 6, 29.26" (pole Ken Hamilton 28.84"), FP 24, retired (winner Bob Frey)
1986-02-02, Phoenix/AZ, 25*1m PO, QP 16, 29.83" (pole Rich Vogler 27.17"), FP 12, 17 laps/retired (winner Mike Bliss)

A few interesting notes from research: Steve Bolan was well off, financially, "a self-made rich man whose hobby is technology" - and racing: he raced Sprints for several years in the seventies, generally not making the news apart from accidents and other incidents, but also had a heat race win at Tucson in 1972, and a C-main at El Centro/CA in '76. He apparently retired from racing then, only to reappear in April of 1981 with his turbine Sprint car, which must've cost a fortune to build. The turbine itself "was used in an Indy car in the early 1970s", allegedly, and the car was tailor-made for the big frame of its driver (6'7", 240lbs), who planned to set the racing world on fire - "A year or two is all I'll get before they ban me" - targeting the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, weekly races at Manzanita, and possibly some CRA and open comp events. "I'll be the first to break 20 seconds for a lap on Manzy's half-mile track, and they can't tell me to go home. I have a copy of their rules."

Well, history tells us that it was Californian Leonard Lee who pushed the Manzy track record to 19.88" in September of 1981, and I'm not sure the Bolan turbine ever ran there. But it made it to PIR over the next winter, and made a good showing there, so much so that there was talk about banning the car, but Dennis Wood and Windy McDonald (PIR's head honchos) would have none of it. "We had some complaints about it, but since Bolan is running it, there hasn't been much trouble", McDonald stated in a 1983 pre-race article. "But... if a Gary Bettenhausen was running it, you'd hear some real complaints" - ouch!

Well, Bolan never gave much trouble during the five years he ran the car, except for the accident with Nish. He eventually retired for good in 1986, and diverted his interests to Hollywood, appearing as an extra and stunt flyer in several movies, and eventually finding his niche as a special effects man. His most famous invention? The Master Blaster, a wind generating device using a... turbine!

Edited by Michael Ferner, 29 January 2018 - 22:51.

[Michael Ferner]

Slow progress is being made on the Jerry Miller front:

The one from Phoenix is (was?) about four years younger than the one from New Mexico, being born in late 1946 or early 1947. He was described as a sophomore driver in 1969, when he was amongst the top ten in ARA points pretty much throughout the year, ending in tenth. He finally won his first Sprint car race on April 3 of 1971 at Manzy, and competed until 1984, minimum. He mostly competed in Arizona, sometimes in CRA events in Southern California, and made at least one trip to the Midwest in 1975, racing weekly in Nebraska and also partaking in the Knoxville Nationals. Occasionally drove Midgets, too.

Unfortunately, the Phoenix newspapers never appear to have latched onto the name coincidence, not before 1976 anyway. The New Mexico Jerry already competed at Manzy several times in 1967, and maybe also in '68, I don't know. He made at least two appearances in 1969, once complementing fellow New Mexican Buddy Taylor mid-season, and at the Western US Championships in October, when his hometown was already given as Speedway/IN, but the Arizona Jerry was also listed as an entry in preview articles! Apparently, NM Jerry moved semi-permanently to Indiana that summer to race more often (reportedly five times a week!), but was still often listed under Albuquerque, probably when he was driving for his still NM-based father. Wayne Miller's favourite number was #65, by the way, and it's interesting to note that the Sacramento Jerry Miller raced a #65, too, for a couple of years, confusing the unsuspecting researcher! That, however, was the car of Nothern California owner Dick Frost, while NM Jerry raced a #65 for Southern California's Norm Hall, too.

The NM/Indy JM appears to have retired after the 1981 season, while the CA JM raced on until 2001, it seems, and maybe even longer. By that time, Jerry Miller junior had begun racing on Hoosier weekly tracks, without too much to show for. His career appears to have petered out in the noughts, too. It should go without saying, that with a name like that, researching these fellas is a piece of cake...

I've got a new road under my wheels
In my heart there's a new little song
I'm livin' and still not forgivin'
From now on I'm drivin' alone

Edited by Michael Ferner, 30 January 2018 - 11:21.

[Michael Ferner]

Returning, finally ( ), to the OT, the Copper World Classic. A short synopsis: it all began as a typical Opencomp event for Sprint cars and Super Mods, and it was originally intended to expand it over the years into a mini-series of up to four races, which never came to pass. There were always some support races: stock cars, in the beginning even Formula Fords on the road course in the infield and, wait for it: a sports car race! In 1979, a non-sanctioned Midget race replaced these, and that's how it stayed for a time. For 1984, the main event was split up into a Sprint car race proper, and a "Roadster race" for Super Mods and asphalt Sprints. That eventually led to the stock cars becoming the main category, having the longest race and the fattest purse, but it didn't stay that way for long.

Losing the fall CART race in 1987 became the catalyst for a rethink of the PIR strategy: the Midget race became the opening round of the USAC Western States Regional Championship, a series that had been introduced in 1983 on California tracks (mostly Ascot), and recently expanded to half a dozen tracks in California and one in Nevada. Two years before, USAC had already started sanctioning the Super Modifieds at the Copper World, and another two years on brought in their flagship series, the Silver Crown Championship cars, to replace the Sprint car event. At some point, the stock cars were dropped, and eventually the Super Modifieds, too, after a period when the races were sanctioned by the Supermodifieds Racing League. Twindling crowds led to moving the date back six weeks, and to run the event in conjunction with the IRL Indy cars, but that only lasted four years, and after a further two years a radical change saw the event moved to a November night date, just before a big NASCAR weekend at the track. Another three years of that, and it was finally finito.

[E1pix]

Great work Michael, Thanks. 

[Jim Thurman]

Then, why don't you help me disentangle them?

 

I don't want to spoil your fun    Plus, with the overlap, trying to sort the Jerry Millers out was a nightmare at the time. At least when the two Andy Hillenburgs turned up, results would sometimes use a middle initial or have (OK) or (IN) behind their name(s). Michael, I'm always happy to help you. That is, when I can. I don't have any great compilation of data, just the raw data, which isn't exactly easy for me to access at the moment. You have access to more online sources than I do, so anything different I can come up with either would be from the collection of old racing papers or visits to libraries to go through microfilm of newspapers that aren't ​online. 

 

I was able to help in the past with the two Dick Fries (CA and PA) and other similar cases of duplicate names, though I still haven't discovered "Ace" Duncan's given first name

Edited by Jim Thurman, 04 February 2018 - 03:16.

[Bob Riebe]

Does the Jerry Miller who ran a frat house at Bemidji State College count?