~ 1987 Race Results ~
(All articles written by Kim Gregory)
Bobby Allen at Warsaw 06/19/87
Sat., June 19
Allen Wins Warsaw All-Star Sprint Race
Bobby Allen from Hanover, Penn., grabbed the lead away from Dave Blaney and drover the No. 1a Allen-Allen sprinter to victory in the All Star Circuit of Champions 40-lap winged sprint car feature here Friday night. Allen collected $4,000 for the win.
He survived a wild night of racing on a hard, dusty dirt oval that two four-car tangles during the feature race. Those accidents eliminated several cars from the 20-car starting field, including Kokomo Klassic winner, Dave Darland. Darland was fifth in the second heat race won by Kelly Kinser after starting from the last spot in the heat. Darland advanced to the feature race by driving hard in the B-Main, capturing fourth place in the race for the final starting spot in the feature field. Darland was sidelined early when he was involved in a multi-car pileup.
Kinser, A.J. Wendt, Jack Hewitt, and Jim Moughan were heat winners with fast qualifier, Bimbo Atkins from Warsaw, winning the B-Main. The top 10 finishers in the feature race were: 1. Allen; 2. Dave Blaney; 3. Rodney Ritter, Jr.; 4. Rodney Duncan; 5. Rick Ferkel; 6. Rick Ungar; 7. Joe Gaerte; 8. Rocky Hodges; 9. Jim Moughan; and 10. Terry Shepherd.
Jack Hewitt and Rick Ferkel at the 1987 Warsaw All-Star Show
Sat., July 25
Gurley, McKenzie, Denny Race To Speedway Wins
Mishawaka's Van Gurley race high on the dirt cushion in his #3B winged sprint to make a repeat visit to victory lane Saturday night at the Warsaw Speedway. Gurley's last feature win was back on May 16. Limited late model winner, Ron McKenzie, and Roadrunner winner, Shane Denny, are boasting the most feature wins in their respective classes as both picked up feature win number five.
Gurley jumped out fron ton lap one and led every lap to win the winged sprint feature. Point leader, DeWayne Barker, challenged Gurley on lap 19 as he tried both the high groove and the low groove of the track, but Gurley held him off. Then on lap 21, Mark Owsley closed in to pass Barker and finish second at the checkered. Barker finished third, followed by John Hadjuk, Tony Ploughe, Kurt Danner, Randy Hutchinson, and John Vigar. 18 year old, Sammy Keen, picked up his first heat win while Gurley won the other heat, Dave Darland the dash, and Den England took fast time of 16.12.
McKenzie closed to race side by side with early leader Rick Stone, passed, and led the remainder of the race to win. Stone held on to finish second with Doug Drudge, Allen Marsh, Fred Click, William Varney, Dan Kelsey, and Robert Johnson next to cross the finish line. McKenzie also picked up the dash win and Varney and Thames Goon were heat winners. Roger Grossnickle had fast time of 19.73.
David Fitzpatrick got the early lead of the roadrunner feature but was passed by Denny in his #58 camero more commonly known as the "Green Machine". Denny extended his lead and picked up the uncontested win. The battle for second place started on lap eight between Harvey Hayes and David Fitzpatrick and last for six laps as they raced back and forth, and side by side until Fitzpatrick got the edge on lap 14 to finish second. Hayes places third, followed by Ron Murphy, Bob Johnson, Jay Nordman, and Scott Dausman among the top eight. Denny and Murphy were heat winners.
Sat., Aug. 29
Winners Announced At Warsaw Speedway
Saturday was the last points race of the season at the Warsaw Speedway and as a result the 1987 season champions and feature winners have been determined. Den England, of Warsaw, in his own Classic Car Centre #84 winged sprint came into the night only one point down to DeWayne Barker, but ended up winning the feature and picking up the needed points to take his second track title in a row and third overall.
North Manchester's Roger Grossnickle had the limited late model championship wrapped up before the Saturday races began to earn his first title at the track while Ron McKenzie, of Claypool, picked up his seventh feature win of the season. Jay Nordman, of Columbia City, in his #56 roadrunner won his first track championship while David Fitzpatrick, of Silver Lake, led the last two laps of the roadrunner feature to win his first feature of the season.
England led every lap of the winged sprint feature to win his sixth feature of the year. Mark Owsley passed Barker on the 15th lap of the 20-lap feature to finish second followed by Barker, Bimbo Atkins, Jeff Walker, John Hajduk, Scott Fisher, and Kurt Danner. Tom Jewel and Brad Boyer were sprint heat winners with Denny Dyson picking up the 4-lap dash win. Grossnickle jumped out to an early lead of the limited late model feature, but was passed by McKenzie on the 14th lap who went on to win. Grossnickle picked up second place with Butch Boggs, Allen Marsh, William Varney, Bruce Hogue, Doug Drudge, and Dick Day rounding out the top eight. Limited late heat winners were DeWayne May and Ed Martin with McKenzie picking up the win in the dash event.
The early leader of the roadrunner feature was Jay Nordman, but with only two laps remaining, he had mechanical trouble and David Fitzpatrick picked up the win. Arnold Prater finished second followed by Harvey Hayes, Gerry Baker, Phil Draper, Terry Gagnon, Rex Alley, and Nordman. Baker and Prater were winners of the roadrunner heats. Saturday concludes the regular season of racing with the winged sprints, limited late models and roadrunners. Sept. 11 is the Fourth Annual Warsaw Fall Classic for winged sprints and pays $2,500 to win. Sept. 19 finishes out the season with the Second Annual Stock Car Invitational for limited late models and roadrunners.
