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Part
V
As the racing at Dorney
Park Speedway approached the end of the 50s, it appeared that the asphalt
racing at the flat fifth-mile speedway was going strong. And so it
would seem as the 1958 season began. But one year later big problems
would take place bringing a quick halt to stock car racing at Dorneyville.
The 1958 season would once more be under the Lehigh Valley Stock Car
Racing Association banner with veteran promoter Red Crise at the helm.
As other asphalt tracks were closing, Dorney Park continued to attract big
fields of cars. The '58 season would find the Stock Cars back as the
main class. The Non V8 class would begin the year as the support
division. Later in the year they would be replaced by the Sportsman
cars.
1958 would be a
wide-open year at the Park. Outside of the rain outs and one Midget
show, the stock cars would stage 14 races and have 11 winners. It
would be the sixth race of the season before they would have their first
repeat winner. Dick Keen would win the first race of the year.
That would be followed by victories by Warren Mutter, Red Rhode, George
Sleight and John Harpel. Also during that time two races were lost
due to rain.
The first repeat winner of the season would be Dick Keen. The week
after Keen's second win would be the only midget race of the year.
The ARDC Midgets hit the track and Wayne Dorsetter was the winner.
The next weekend would find Marty Acker winning his only 1958 feature.
One week later Red Rhode was back in victory lane celebrating his second
win of the year. That was followed up by a win by Freddy Adams.
Up next would be the Twin 50s. Replacing the 200-lap team races, the
Twin 50s would find two drivers winning their only features that year.
The first 50-lap challenge went to Rocky Ewing. In the second 50-lap
affair it was Dick Havens scoring the checkered flag. One week later
the rain would claim the show.
Only three shows left on the 17-race schedule. The first one would
find Red Rhode winning his third of the year making him the leading winner
in 1958. Up next would be a 100-lap grind for the stock cars.
Jack Rudy would only win one race that year and he would do it in this
championship event. Dave Ely then closed out the year with a feature
win in the final event.
In the Non V8 class the leading winner would be Sonny Oswald with three. Cookie
Hauze captured two and Gerald Kennedy had one. The Non V8 class was
replaced with the Sportsman division. Hal Kennedy would take two
wins with
single wins going to Bob Breck, Shorty Kellar, plus Sonny Oswald would
take the 50-lap championship race.
1959 started out with promise. Dorney Park was back on Saturday
nights under the Lehigh club. But a new form of racing was sweeping
through the region. Go-Karting was red-hot in the Lehigh Valley.
Dorney Park joined the karting craze in 1959 and it soon became the
premier karting facility. A big road course was built at the
speedway and action would take place on Sundays. Drivers from across
the country were heading to Dorney Park to race karts. And many of
the Park stock drivers were also building karts. This would play a
big part in the outcome of the 1959 season.
The 1959 season started out just like the '58 campaign. It was wide,
wide open racing. Monk Kellar won the first race of the season and
week two would find Rocky Ewing the winner. Warren Mutter won week
three and George Clark was the victor one week later. Week five and
still no repeat winners as Jimmy Ryan took the checkered. The same
would hold true for the sixth week as Smokey Dengler captured the win.
Up next would be twin features for the stock cars. Would one of the
two shows find the first repeat winner? The answer would be no.
The first race was a 25-lap main with Freddy Adams claiming the win.
The next feature that night would go 30-laps and Marty Acker would be in
victory lane.
But trouble was brewing and it came at another speedway. Problems
arose at a Friday night track run by the Lehigh Club. The problems
continued the next night at Dorney Park when the drivers refused to race.
The show was cancelled. The announcement was then made that the next
week a show would be run at Dorney Park. But, only a few cars showed
up that night and the race was dropped.
At this point the management decided to make a change. The stock car
racing would be dropped and the popular kart show on Sunday would move
into the Saturday night slot. Many of the Park regulars had karts so
they continued to race at the Dorneyville track. Late in the season
some midget driver presented Park management with the idea of a weekly
midget show but the midgets never turned a wheel that year at Dorney Park.
The 1950's, so prosperous for the stock cars, ended in a way no one ever
expected.
Luckily, the racing would return to Dorney Park one year later. From
that point on, until the demise of the track, racing would be big at
Dorney Park. The track would develop very loyal fans who would think
of being no where but at Donreyville on a Saturday night. Sadly,
today the track is gone, the Hercules Roller Coaster is now built on the
site of the famed track. All that remains is turn three, which can
be found under the coaster.
Be sure to check out
Steve Bubb's weekly column in Area
Auto Racing News
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