March 1968 Champ Car race program

The $1 race program for the first of two 1968 Champ Car races at Hanford Motor Speedway features lots of photos of action taken during the inaugural USAC Champ Car race at the newly renovated track just months before.

The images capture the wide variety of chassis and technological ideas at play during those days.

A lot of the famous names from the 1967 race returned, with one notable addition: Danny Ongais making his Hanford Champ Car debut in a rear-engine Chevy V8. Ongais crashed during practice and did not start.

Here's a breakdown of the entries:Cover of program for March 1968 USAC Champ Car race at Hanford Motor Speedway

•     REF = Rear-engine Ford V8s (nine cars of this type were entered, compared with 19 at the 1967 race)
•     RETO = Rear-engine Turbo-charged Offy (13 were entered, up from 11 in 1967).
•     REC = Rear-engine Chevy (four were entered, up from one in 1967)
•     REO = Rear-engine Offy (two were entered)
•     CD = Chevy Dirt Car (one was entered)
•     OD = Offy Dirt Car (one was entered)
•     OR = Offy Roadster (one was entered)

There were some interesting advertisements, including one touting a live closed-circuit broadcast at Selland Arena of the upcoming Indianapolis 500 ("The year of the showdown: Turbine vs. Piston"). 

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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."