RELATED STORIES: Read more about Marchbanks Speedway and Hanford Motor Speedway in my Marchbanks section, including this regularly updated "History of Marchbanks Speedway, aka Hanford Motor Speedway."
Promoters of the inaugural 1967 USAC Champ Car race held at Hanford Motor Speedway on Oct. 22, 1967, did a nice job with their 36-page race program.
PDF of the Oct. 22, 1967, Champ Car race programThe program sold for $1 on race day and has all kinds of interesting stuff. The ads are a hoot, but these were the highlights for me:
- Cartoonish but artistic cover showing A.J. Foyt, somewhere south of Fresno, chasing Mario Andretti heading north over the Grapevine and headed through Bakersfield to Hanford. The cover included a caricature -- as if one was needed -- for over-the-top promoter J.C. Agajanian proclaiming, "Looks like we're right on th' right track for big time racing!"
- A nice preview that highlighted tire testing at the track, as well as an quotes from Foyt fearing the Offenhausers would overpower his Ford V8s on the 1.4-mile tri-oval.
- An explanation of how point formulas varied depending upon the race distance.
- Nice tight shots of some of the cars of the day. It's so nice to see cars that truly were unique, instead of spec chassis that suck the life out of innovation.
- Very detailed entry list, including car number, driver and hometown, car name, type of engine and car owner.
- An index of various car types:
- REF = Rear-engine Ford V8s (19 cars of this type were entered)
- RETO = Rear-engine Turbo-charged Offy (11 were entered0
- RESO = Rear-engine Super-charged Offy (one was entered by Agajanian for Bill Vukovich II)
- OD = Offy Dirt Car (amazingly two were entered for drivers Gary Bettenhausen and John McIntire)
- REC = Rear-engine Chevy (one was entered)
- OR = Offy Roadster (one was on the entry list but handwritten notes on the program indicate a Ford was substituted and driven by George Snider of Bakersfield)
- A lap-by-lap list of lap prize sponsors. Drivers earned $10 to $20 for each lap led, 134 in total.