Columbus racing driver Gene Petro was a man on a mission in 1971.
He had seen the best year of his racing career in terms of money in 1970 and set a goal to improve on ’71.
Petro has teamed up with Darrell Woodbury of Woodbury Welding in Union City to drive his Chevelle. Then, in his 19th year of racing, he started the season with several victories and led the model’s late stock car points on four tracks at the end of June.
Eldora Speedway, New Bremen Speedway, Clark County Fairgrounds in Springfield, Ohio, and Whitewater Valley Speedway in Liberty showed Petro as their front runner on the way into July 1971.
Woodbury had previously owned sprint cars before late model cars. In addition to Petro, Woodbury also had Larry Moore, Floyd Gilbert, Dick DeBolt and Chick Hale drive his late Model No. 20.
Before the 1971 season began, Eldora owner and promoter Earl Baltes said he would pay a $ 1,000 bonus to the first driver to win 10 features in a class. Petro did just that on July 11th that year, scooping his 10th win at Eldora and taking home the extra money Baltes had promised.
By the end of July 1971, Petro had achieved 21 feature wins on five different tracks, two of which were achieved on his home track, the 25th Street Fairgrounds Raceway in Columbus. It seemed like he was well on his way to hitting the 30-win mark for the season and a career as the best winner. He also set his goals on October 3 that year after Baltes announced that he would be hosting the first World 100 stock car race, which would pay $ 4,000 for winnings.
In late July, Petro would take a move that would resonate across the late-model community when he was hired to take over Morgan Chandler’s 1971 Chevelle, which had been driven by Ralph Latham. Chandler and Luther McDonald had been partners with Latham, whose Queen City Chevrolet-sponsored Latham car had driven 29 victories in 1970.
But when the team struggled a year later, Chandler and Latham split after Chandler bought McDonald and Latham. Then he asked Petro to drive the car. The car at the time was considered to be one of the best, if not the best, drives in Dirt Late Model racing at the time.
Petro then abruptly left the Woodbury team and brought the equipment back to Union City. Chick Hale then became the new driver for the Woodbury Chevelle for the remainder of the season. In an interview with the Dayton Daily News earlier this year, Petro gave his reasons for the change.
“I have car number 1 now,” he said. “The Woodbury car was good, but he (Woodbury) didn’t have time to work on it. I should be doing the engine work and driving. It ended up with me doing almost all of the work, dragging the car out on the track, and driving it. The drive from Columbus to Eldora is 160 miles one way, and sometimes I was up all night working on it. “
After piloting Chandler’s car for a month, Petro’s season at Whitewater Valley Speedway was interrupted with tragedy on September 11th. A car raced over the guardrail and came to rest in the pit area. Petro and another man were injured and taken to the hospital.
Petro received 26 stitches in his right ankle and said at the time he would be out of the cockpit for a few weeks, if not longer. Earl Smith took the ride that night and won the feature.
While Petro was on the mend, his leg had burned and he had to be hospitalized for surgery for a skin graft. Petro’s season was officially over. He hadn’t driven since the crash in the Liberty pit lane. Petro was the favorite to win the first World 100, which happened a week later. He had won 11 features on the track during the season.
With his season ending prematurely, Petro also lost the chance to win the points at both Eldora and Whitewater Valley. John Hofstetter would win the Eldora Points and Vern Le Fevers would win the Whitewater Championship. Petro came back in 1972 and 1973 to win the Eldora circuit championship. He finished third in the World 100 in 1973 after leading the first 14 laps of the race.
Petro died at his Florida home in 2001 at the age of 66.
Local go-kart tracks begin
Columbus Speedway, which hosts events at Bartholomew County’s 4-H Exhibition Center, opens tonight with its first points race of the season.
The gates open at 1 p.m. with the drivers meeting at 5.30 p.m., followed by practice.
Jennings County Outlaw Karting, which hosts racing events at the Jennings County’s 4-H Exhibition Center in North Vernon, will hold its first points race on Friday.
Brownstown is racing tonight
After it rained last weekend, Brownstown Speedway will be back in action tonight with Kids Night.
Division races will be Pro-Late Models, Open Wheel Mods, Pure Stocks, Hornets, and Crown Vics.
For more information, please visit brownstownspeedway.com.
Twin Cities Opener Tonight
After the season opener rained last Saturday, the Twin Cities Raceway Park will try again tonight to tackle the 2021 season with late crate models, open wheel modifications, super stocks, pure stocks, hornets and crown vics.
Visit twincitiestrack.com for more information.
Lawrenceburg is racing tonight
Lawrenceburg Speedway will be back to racing tonight after the rain washed out scheduled activities last Saturday.
Tonight there is a regular program of sprints, open-wheel modifications, stock-only, and hornets on offer.
For the latest information, visit lawrenceburgspeedway.com.
This week in racing history
From 50 years ago in 1971, Sheldon Kinser won the Sprint Car feature at Bloomington Speedway. Bob Kinser finished second, followed by Hal Minyard, Mike Johnson and Calvin Gilstrap.
Also 50 years ago this weekend, the 25th Street Fairgrounds Raceway in Columbus opened its season when Ralph Clary won the V8 late model division against Don Hobbs, William Wampler, Joe Lobb and Galen Fox. Tommy Day took on the V6 feature through Doc Telsner, Roger Vellener, Chuck Gilpin, Bill Smith and Don Jeffers.
Fifty years ago, Tommy Day won the 1971 season opener at Twin Cities Speedway. He had won at Whitewater Valley Speedway in Liberty the night before his victory in Columbus, beating Vern LeFevers and Ron Baker there.
From 40 years ago, in 1981 in Brownstown, Ray Godsey won the late model over Russ Petro, Don Hobbs, Kenny Simpson and Paul Crockett. Troy Burton won the modified Street Stock Main Event against Ernie Niemoeller, David Thomas, Bob Johnson and Gregg Lyle.
Also from 1981 Dennis Noppert won the Late Model Feature in Twin Cities against Dee Kramer, Chuck Gilpin, John Mitchell and Dewayne Palmer. Willie Sallee performed his second straight street stock feature against Ted Pfeiffer Jr., Mark Bruce, RC Calton and Bucky Ross.
From 30 years ago in Brownstown in 1991, it was Bob Pierce who won the late model over John Gill, Steve Barnett, Kevin Claycomb, and Mike Jewell. Scott Patman won the Street Stock Feature against Darin George, Darren Davis, Brad Barrow and Doug Hall. George Berry took on the bomber feature through Scott Barker, Jeff Helton, Ray Hughes, and Bob Johnson.
