Road America, Circa 1958

Text by Robert Birmingham
Photos by Glen Glendenning

The 1957 NASCAR race weekend attracted a less than hoped for crowd and rightfully so. To put it bluntly, the two-race program was too short, and the large American cars were not interesting. Therefore in 1958 Road America returned to what by now had become known as the June Sprints and three months later, the Road America 500.

The June Sprints program offered four races, two each day. Saturday events started with a 48 mile race for small bore production and modified cars followed by an 80-mile race for more exotic, racier Ferraris, Porsche Spyders, and Maseratis among others. Seasoned fans carrying coolers, picnic baskets and folding lawn chairs knew the drill and headed to elevated vistas where they basked in the sun to enjoy colorful and exciting competition. But for first-timers this was an introduction and experience, one they would continue to enjoy for years to come.

Sunday’s first race was much the same as those on Saturday, enjoyable club racing but the weekend’s final race, 152 miles for B, C, D Modified and B Production was different. Well-known drivers, the likes of Walt Hansgen, John Fitch, Briggs Cunningham, Milwaukee’s Jim Jeffords, Augie Pabst and Andy Rosenberger to name a few, were seen behind the wheel of beautiful exotic Ferraris, Maseratis, Lister and D Jaguars, a lone Aston Martin and more.

Team Cunningham entered two Lister Jaguars with drivers Walt Hansgen and Eddie Crawford, and came in one-two at the checkered flag. Of special local interest were two local drivers, Jim Jeffords, fourth overall and B Production winner, and Augie Pabst, seventh overall and second among D Modified entries. Jeffords’ Corvette, owned but not entered by Nickey Chevrolet of Chicago, went on to win SCCA’s B Production National Championship. Pabst was racing his newly-purchased bright red ex-Jim Johnston Ferrari Testa Rossa for the first time. Early the following year Pabst earned USAC championship points driving the TR, and then mid-year switched to Harry Heuer’s Meister Bräuser Scarab Race Team and earned sufficient points driving both cars to win USAC’s 1959 Professional Road Racing Championship.

1958 500 September 6-7

The early September Road America 500 weekend kicked off on Saturday with an 80-mile race for small bore Production and Modifieds, followed by 120-mile race for larger production cars. Both were enjoyable club events that set the tone for the Sunday’s 500-mile feature. Past 500s attracted name drivers in powerful cars and were expected to return, but sad to say Phil Hill and Carroll Shelby were pretty much transitioning into pro racing and were not entered.

Continuing rapid growth in sports car sales brought new spectators north to watch cars of their choice as TR3s, MGAs, Austin Healeys and Porsches competed, cars they were quick to recognize and fans could add more drivers to their list of favorites.

Come Sunday morning at 10 AM, without fan favorites Hill and Shelby on the grid, others stepped forward to steal the show. Lance Reventlow and Gaston Andry co-drove Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (NART) Ferrari 335 Sport to a convincing overall victory 6 laps up on the second place trio of drivers Jim Johnston, Bud Seaverns and Ed Lunken. Several entries scored sufficient points to wrap up their respective class championships but of interest to Milwaukee and surrounding area fans it was the Excalibur, created by respected industrial designer Brooks Stevens, driven Hal Ulrich, ably assisted by co-driver Carl Haas. At the checkered flag they were seventh overall and first among B Modifieds, enough for Ulrich to be crowned 1958 SCCA B Modified Champion.

We have no photos of the 1958 June Sprints, but Glen Glendenning was back for the 500 in September. Below are shots of the Production car classes, the Modified class will be in Part 2.

Production Class Photos

Road America, Circa 1957