Dick Lang Racing History: 1969 Michigan Wolverine Trans American

6/4/07

1969 Michigan Wolverine Trans American

Brooklyn, MI. Wolverine 4-Hour. May 11, 1969.
Michigan International Speeday.

Qualifying highlights- 1) Parnelli Jones; 5) Mark Donahue; 8)Pete Revson; 10)Jerry Thompson/Don Yenko; 17) Dick Lang

Final Results:
1) Parnelli Jones (Mustang)
2) Mark Donahue (Penske Camaro)
3) Jerry Titus (Firebird)
4) Bob Tullius (Javelin)
5) Dick Lang (Camaro)

Dick Lang with Mark Donahue at the wheel. Click on photo to enlarge.

Dad was a huge admirer of Mark Donahue. --Not only was Mark a great driver, but he was a great guy -- who helped Dad with his set-up on several occasions.

Dick Brown's Firebird with Lang's Camaro and Titus's Firebird in hot pursuit.
(photo by Ron Lathrop)

Lang passing Fred Opert's Porsche (photo by Ron Lathrop)

Full Results courtesy of Ultimate Racing History.

For many more wonderful photos of the race with some commentary, check out Ron Lathrop's large collection of photographs.

Wolverine Trans American

SCCA Trans Am race

Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, MI

May 11, 1969

104 laps on 3.31 mile road course; 344.24 miles

Fin	St	Driver	#	Owner	Car	Laps	Money	Status
1	1	Parnelli Jones	15	Bud Moore	Ford Mustang Boss 302	104	5,000	running
2	5	Mark Donohue	6	Roger Penske	Chevrolet Camaro	103	3,500	running
3	6	Jerry Titus	27		Pontiac Firebird	103	2,600	running
4	19	Bob Tullius	33		AMC Javelin	102	2,000	running
5	17	Dick Lang			Chevrolet Camaro	102	1,700	running
6	18	Larry Harley Brad Dunn	72		Pontiac Firebird	100	1,400	running
7	14	Rusty Jowett			Chevrolet Camaro	99	1,200	running
8	35	Craig Fisher	7	Todco Racing	Chevrolet Camaro	98	1,000	running
9	36	Ted Roberts Dick Guldstrand	55		AMC Javelin	97	800	running
10	21	Fred Baker Dick Smothers			Porsche 911	96	3,000	running
11	22	Gary Wright			Porsche 911	96	1,800	running
12	15	Richard Brown	62		Pontiac Firebird	96	700	running
13	37	Bill Ortega	25		Pontiac Firebird	95	600	running
14	31	Harry Theodoracopulos Paul Richards			Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA	94	1,500	running
15	26	Ed Wachs			Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA	94	1,200	running
16	23	J.A. Lagod	74		Chevrolet Camaro	94	500	running
17	13	Erhard Dahm Garrett Van Camp			Porsche 911	94	900	running
18	42	Pete Feistman Russell Norburn	17		Porsche 911	93	800	running
19	20	Erwin Dollinger Jim Osborne			Porsche 911	93	700	running
20	28	Maurice Carter	18		Chevrolet Camaro	91	400	running
21	39	Jim Corwin	26		Chevrolet Camaro	91	300	running
22	40	Paul Sanford Fred Opert			Porsche 911	91	600	running
23	34	Herb Swan			BMW 2002	89	500	running
24	24	Bill Campbell L. Marty Gifford			Porsche 911	89	400	running
25	9	Bob Bailey Jim Locke			Porsche 911	88	300	running
26	29	Dean Gregson	28		Ford Mustang	87	200	running
27	27	Larry Bock	11		Chevrolet Camaro	85	150	running
28	33	Tony Adamowicz Herb Wetanson	20		Porsche 911	87	200	ring/pinion
29	8	Peter Revson	1	Carroll Shelby	Ford Mustang Boss 302	73	150	blown tire
30	4	Milt Minter	37		Pontiac Firebird	71	100	wheel
31	32	Jim Netterstrom Bruce Jennings	22		Porsche 911	68	100	oil pressure
32	7	Bert Everett			Porsche 911	61	100	did not finish
33		Dan Furey	53		Ford Mustang	56	100	did not finish
34	2	George Follmer	16	Bud Moore	Ford Mustang	52	100	clutch
35		Ron Grable	3	Ronnie Kaplan	AMC Javelin	52		oil pressure
36		John Martin	4	Ronnie Kaplan	AMC Javelin	48		universal joint
37	25	Wilbur Pickett			Porsche 911	40	100	did not finish
38	41	Bob Grossman Bob Dini	5		Chevrolet Camaro	37		valve
39	12	Joe Buzzetta Peter Gregg			Porsche 911	34	100	did not finish
40	11	Ronnie Bucknum	9	Roger Penske	Chevrolet Camaro	29		power steering
41	10	Don Yenko	19		Chevrolet Camaro	24		engine bearings
42	3	Horst Kwech	2	Carroll Shelby	Ford Mustang 9F02M148627	8		accident
43	30	Dick McDaniel	32		Pontiac Firebird	4		did not finish
44	38	Wayne Allen	40		Chevrolet Camaro	3		black flagged
45	16	William Lowell	87		Ford Mustang	3		black flagged

Notes: Derwood Fletcher, a fan, was killed in an accident in the infield during the race.

The race had FIA international sanction.

The name of Ed Wachs's co-driver is currently unknown.

Jim McElreath was scheduled to co-drive with Dick McDaniel, but did not arrive from Indianapolis in time.

Time of race: 04:11:00

Average Speed: 85.49 MPH

Pole Speed: 145.1 seconds

Race Purse: $ 34,800

Attendance: 21,648

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Racing With My Father-in-Law

By Jack Kitchen.

Racing with my Father In-Law:

A few years ago (2003) Dick’s son (Todd) and I coerced him into three days of motor sports in the desert. Todd and I have heard the stories of Dick’s days behind the wheel of corvettes hundred maybe thousands of times. I don’t care how many times I’ve heard them, I always ask to hear them again. The stories of running door-to-door with Yenko, Donahue, and Parnelli Jones were magical to me. Dick had unknowingly passed the dream of becoming a racecar driver onto Todd and I. I ended up volunteering for NASCAR teams in North Carolina and working at a dealership in a parts department for a year just to get closer to that dream. I built road-racing cars on a shoestring budget and was taking driving lessons when I could afford them. Todd has since put a racecar together and is seeing the dream of trading paint come true. [ed. Note: Low, low budget dirt track racing]

Todd and I wanted more than anything to spend a day on the track with Dick. Hesitantly he agreed to go to the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. It must have been odd for Dick to go to a class that he could have easily taught. He never let on that he had raced Bob Bondurant long before the school was ever started.

We strapped in the cars for three days of instruction. I must have been smiling every second. I mowed over cones while learning trail braking and heal & toe shifting. Dick was given the name “Turbo” after schooling the youngsters on the skid pad. The Grand Finale of the school was a race. The students tested their new skills against each other. Todd dominated the first part of the race and made passes where I would never have attempted. Todd showed a couple of our classmates how to avoid crashing by driving through the desert. Dick steadily moved through the pack. I brought up the rear with a perma-grin! When the yellow flag was thrown, Todd made a devastating rookie mistake by passing the pace car. Victory slipped away from Todd and “Turbo” took the checkered flag and won once again that afternoon.

Dick claims that he is truly retired from racing and he would rather go hiking than race cars again. I got the chance to race with a true racing legend and it was an experience that I’ll never forget. Having a racing story to share with Dick is a priceless gift that I will be able to keep with me forever.

Todd Comments:

I agree completely with Jack. That racing school was the most fun I've probably ever had. Dad was a great sport to go along with it. He didn't enjoy it at all until he won that final race. Then he finally relaxed and smiled. Also, to be fair, I did blow it by passing the pace car, and I was gaining on dad with a few laps to go. But once he got through slower traffic he left me in the dust. I started pushing too hard to catch him and fell further back. Yet another lesson from Dad.

Langs Chevrolet History

Lang's Chevrolet was in business from 1926 until it was sold in 2016. Dick Lang began working for his father, Fred W. Lang, in the 1950s. Dick began running the business in the 1960s.

Here are some old pictures of the business.

Xenia 1926 Grand Opening of the Dealership

Fred Lang delivering a new car to a customer.

Used Car Lot in the 1940s(?)

"New" Fairborn Dealership circa 1953.

"Modern" Service and Parts Department in the 50s.

Dick Lang "promoting" the business at a young age.