TWIN FEATURES HAVE LONG HISTORY WITH USAC SPRINTS
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Putnamville, Indiana (September 9, 2020)………In a bygone era, multiple USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car races held in a single day at one track wasn’t all that unusual. In fact, 64 such events have taken place over the past six decades, and will occur again once more this Saturday night, Sept. 12, when two 30-lap A-Mains will be showcased at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind.
The twin feature format is more of a rarity in recent years with this being the first double event for the series in nine years since the Oval Nationals at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway in 2011. It’s also only the third event like this in the past quarter century.
Such as it is this Saturday at Lincoln Park, this double feature format was born out of necessity due to an earlier rain out. This year’s scenario came to fruition due to the rain suspended event from July 31 at Lincoln Park where precipitation fell with four laps remaining in the semi-feature.
Saturday’s event will begin with qualifying for the “new” event, then pick up with the resumption of the makeup event beginning with the final four laps of the semi which leads into the 30-lap makeup feature, with lineups based on the heat race results from July 31 and the semi-feature finish from earlier Saturday night.
At the completion of the first feature, the “new” event will resume with heat races, last chance races and another 30-lap feature, as is the standard format.
Twin features for the USAC National Sprint Cars were much more prevalent during the decade of the 1970s. The highwater mark for said events was seven during the 1977 season.
On 17 occasions, a driver has swept both ends of the twin features, but none more often than Pancho Carter who did it four times, three times at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway alone in 1973-76-77 as well as at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway in 1976. Tom Bigelow is the only driver to achieve twin feature sweeps multiple times, doing so in 1974 on pavement at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds and on dirt in 1977 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
Other twin feature “sweepers” include Jim Hurtubise at Langhorne (Pa.) Speedway in 1961; Roger McCluskey at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track in 1966; Mario Andretti at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway in 1967; Greg Weld at the Reading (Pa.) Fairgrounds in 1968; and Sammy Sessions at the small track at Pocono (Pa.) International Raceway in 1969.
A.J. Foyt earned his final two USAC National Sprint Car victories on the same night in 1974 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Marvin Carman, conversely, earned the only two wins of his career with USAC on the same afternoon at Winchester in 1975. Steve Chassey doubled up at Winchester in 1979 as did Billy Cassella at Eldora that same season. Doug Wolfgang made a rare USAC appearance with a wing, winning twin 15-lappers at Tri-City Speedway in Illinois back in 1991, while Bud Kaeding heated up a cool fall night at Terre Haute with a sweep in 2001.
Over the years, 20 different tracks have hosted twin USAC National Sprint Car events on the same calendar day, including the likes of Winchester (Ind.) Speedway, which hosted the most with 14. Other hosts include Pennsylvania’s Langhorne Speedway, the Arizona State Fairgrounds, Terre Haute, Oswego, New Bremen (Ohio) Speedway, Dayton (Ohio) Speedway, Reading, Pocono, the New York State Fairgrounds, Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway, Eldora, the Indiana State Fairgrounds, the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, Salem (Ind.) Speedway, North Carolina’s 311 Speedway, Tri-City, Perris and even two Canadian venues, Cayuga International Speedway and Mosport’s Ascot North in Bowmanville, Ont.
Interestingly, there have even been six “Triplet” events with three USAC National Sprint Car features in one day, truly the test of man and machine as they put their own, and the car’s, physical endurance to the max. Four triplets were held annually at the Indiana State Fairgrounds between 1976 and 1979. Once, in 1977, Tom Bigelow captured two of the three events at the Indy Mile, winning the first and third features, 33 and 34 laps in length, respectively.
Dayton Speedway hosted a single USAC Sprint triplet in 1967 with Sonny Ates taking the first and third feature wins of the trio while Billy Cassella captured the first and third features at Winchester during a 1974 meet.
The next chapter of twin races arrives at Lincoln Park, which is the bookend of a three-race slate this weekend for the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars that kicks off Friday, Sept. 11 at Bloomington Speedway and continues Saturday, Sept. 12 with double features at LPS.
Saturday at Lincoln Park, pits open at 3pm ET, grandstands at 4pm, drivers meeting at 5:30pm and hot laps at 6pm. General admission tickets are $25 while children age 10 and under are free. Pit passes are $35 with kids 10 and under free. Modifieds and Super Stocks will also be in action.
Friday at Bloomington, pits open at 4pm ET, grandstands at 5pm, drivers meeting at 5:45pm and hot laps at 6:30pm. General admission tickets are $25 while children age 10 and under are free. Pit passes are $30 apiece, with kids age 10 and under $15. You may use your Bloomington Speedway Indiana Sprint Week tickets if they have not been used for the Lincoln Park Speedway Indiana Sprint Week Show. Modifieds are also on the event card.
Tickets will be available at the gate for all of this weekend’s events, but you can also purchase your tickets in advance at http://usactickets.com.
All three events will streamed live on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3frPoW6.
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ALL-TIME USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR “TWIN FEATURE” EVENTS:
8/27/1961: Langhorne, PA - Langhorne Speedway
WINNERS: Jim Hurtubise & Jim Hurtubise
4/7/1963: Langhorne, PA - Langhorne Speedway
WINNERS: A.J. Foyt & Roger McCluskey
1/26/1964: Phoenix, AZ- Arizona State Fairgrounds
WINNERS: Don Branson& A.J. Foyt
6/19/1966: Terre Haute, IN - Terre Haute Action Track
WINNERS: Roger McCluskey & Roger McCluskey
6/11/1967: Terre Haute, IN - Terre Haute Action Track
WINNERS: Bobby Unser & Greg Weld
7/16/1967: Oswego, NY- Oswego Speedway
WINNERS: Mario Andretti & Mario Andretti
8/27/1967: New Bremen, OH - New Bremen Speedway
WINNERS: Billy Vukovich & Mike Mosley
10/15/1967: Dayton, OH - Dayton Speedway
WINNERS: Sonny Ates, Larry Dickson & Sonny Ates
6/30/1968: New Bremen, OH - New Bremen Speedway
WINNERS: Sammy Sessions & Mike Mosley
7/15/1968: Oswego, NY- Oswego Speedway
WINNERS: Mike Mosley & Sammy Sessions
7/27/1968: Reading, PA- Reading Fairgrounds Speedway
WINNERS: Greg Weld & Greg Weld
8/25/1968: New Bremen, OH - New Bremen Speedway
WINNERS: Larry Dickson & Gary Bettenhausen
8/3/1969: Pocono, PA - Pocono International Raceway
WINNERS: Sammy Sessions & Sammy Sessions
10/26/1969: Syracuse, NY - New York State Fairgrounds
WINNERS: Gary Bettenhausen & Bill Puterbaugh
6/13/1970: Nazareth, PA - Nazareth National Speedway
WINNERS: Gary Bettenhausen & Don Nordhorn
10/17/1971: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Rollie Beale & Gary Bettenhausen
10/24/1971: New Bremen, OH - New Bremen Speedway
WINNERS: Cy Fairchild & Johnny Parsons
10/15/1972: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Tom Bigelow & Charlie Masters
10/22/1972: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway
WINNERS: Sammy Sessions & Don Nordhorn
6/8/1973: Indianapolis, IN - Indiana State Fairgrounds
WINNERS: Billy Shuman & Don Nordhorn
7/29/1973: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Lee Kunzman & Sammy Sessions
8/27/1973: St. Paul, MN - Minnesota State Fair Speedway
WINNERS: Tom Sneva & Tom Bigelow
10/14/1973: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Pancho Carter & Pancho Carter
10/21/1973: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway
WINNERS: Lee Kunzman & Pancho Carter
5/24/1974: Indianapolis, IN - Indiana State Fairgrounds
WINNERS: A.J. Foyt & A.J. Foyt
8/24/1974: St. Paul, MN - Minnesota State Fair Speedway
WINNERS: Rollie Beale & Pancho Carter
8/25/1974: St. Paul, MN - Minnesota State Fair Speedway
WINNERS: Tom Bigelow & Tom Bigelow
10/6/1974: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway
WINNERS: Pancho Carter & Larry Cannon
10/13/1974: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Billy Cassella, Johnny Parsons & Billy Cassella
5/23/1975: Indianapolis, IN - Indiana State Fairgrounds
WINNERS: Joe Saldana & George Snider
8/17/1975: New Bremen, OH - New Bremen Speedway
WINNERS: Bruce Walkup & Larry Dickson
8/30/1975: St. Paul, MN - Minnesota State Fair Speedway
WINNERS: Tom Bigelow & Joe Saldana
10/5/1975: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway
WINNERS: Rollie Beale & Larry Dickson
10/12/1975: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Marvin Carman & Marvin Carman
6/4/1976: Indianapolis, IN - Indiana State Fairgrounds
WINNERS: Pancho Carter & Larry Dickson
7/31/1976: Indianapolis, IN - Indiana State Fairgrounds
WINNERS: Sheldon Kinser, Bruce Walkup & Pancho Carter
10/10/1976: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway
WINNERS: Pancho Carter & Pancho Carter
10/17/1976: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Pancho Carter & Pancho Carter
4/17/1977: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway
WINNERS: Bubby Jones & George Snider
5/27/1977: Indianapolis, IN - Indiana State Fairgrounds
WINNERS: Tom Bigelow & Tom Bigelow
5/30/1977: Salem, IN - Salem Speedway
WINNERS: Pancho Carter & Tom Bigelow
7/2/1977: Indianapolis, IN - Indiana State Fairgrounds
WINNERS: Tom Bigelow, Pancho Carter & Tom Bigelow
7/4/1977: Salem, IN - Salem Speedway
WINNERS: Tom Bigelow & Dana Carter
10/9/1977: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway
WINNERS: Eddie Leavitt & Bubby Jones
10/16/1977: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Pancho Carter & Pancho Carter
5/26/1978: Indianapolis, IN - Indiana State Fairgrounds
WINNERS: Lealand McSpadden, Billy Cassella & Dick Tobias
5/29/1978: Salem, IN - Salem Speedway
WINNERS: Tom Bigelow & Billy Cassella
9/4/1978: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Tom Bigelow & Rich Vogler
10/15/1978: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Bruce Walkup & Pancho Carter
5/25/1979: Indianapolis, IN - Indiana State Fairgrounds
WINNERS: Tom Bigelow, Bubby Jones & Billy Cassella
6/17/1979: Salem, IN - Salem Speedway
WINNERS: Tom Bigelow & Pancho Carter
7/22/1979: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Greg Leffler & Steve Chassey
9/3/1979: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Steve Chassey & Steve Chassey
10/14/1979: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway
WINNERS: Billy Cassella & Billy Cassella
10/21/1979: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Steve Chassey & Tom Bigelow
6/16/1980: Cayuga, Canada - Cayuga International Speedway
WINNERS: Steve Chassey & Tom Bigelow
10/12/1980: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway
WINNERS: Sheldon Kinser & Larry Dickson
10/26/1980: Winchester, IN - Winchester Speedway
WINNERS: Gary Bettenhausen & Tom Bigelow
10/16/1982: Madison, NC - 311 Speedway
WINNERS: Ken Schrader & Sheldon Kinser
9/17/1989: Bowmanville, ONT, CAN - Mosport’s Ascot North
WINNERS: Wayne Hammond & Gary Fedewa
6/12/1991: Granite City, IL - Tri-City Speedway
WINNERS: Doug Wolfgang & Doug Wolfgang
8/23/1998: Salem, IN - Salem Speedway
WINNERS: Brian Tyler & Jay Drake
10/20/2001: Terre Haute, IN - Terre Haute Action Track
WINNERS: Bud Kaeding & Bud Kaeding
11/5/2011: Perris, CA - Perris Auto Speedway
WINNERS: Chris Windom & Damion Gardner
