Dick Lang Racing History: 1964

Showing posts with label 1964. Show all posts

8/4/07

1964 Greenville Ohio

January 26, 1964, Greenville Motorcycle Track. Corvair Sedan.

I need to find out more about the only time he raced a Corvair.

12 Hours of Sebring, March 21, 1964
Shelby Cobra #CSX2138 – Ford V8 2v OHV 4727cc N/A GT5.0
Sponsors: GOODYEAR
Driven by: Dan Gerber (USA)/George Reed (USA)
DNS: Dick Lang (USA)
Result: did not finish (Fuel tank) - 117 laps

Lang was scheduled to co-drive a Cobra at the 1964 Sebring 12 hour race, but the car dropped out due to a leak in the fuel tank before his shift began.

Click HERE for a picture of the #19 Gerber Cobra.

1964 Marlboro Raceway

April 12, 1964. Marlboro Raceway.
President's Cup A&B Production Results:

Charlie Hayes (Cobra)
Harold Keck (Cobra)
Daniel Gerber (Cobra)
Dick Lang (Corvette)
Bob Motet (Corvette)
Ed Myers (Sting Ray)
Don Yenko (Corvette)
Bob Finn (Corvette)

Results from the April 25, 1964 issue of Competition Press.
(Thanks to Mike Matune). Click on photo to enlarge.

1964 VIR

April 19, 1964 VIR SCCA nationals. #85 Corvette Stingray (Lang) Disqualified!
Click on the pictures to view in larger size.

SCCA Sports Car Magazine reported:

There can be no question that the feature race was that only in name. The three production runs and Saturday's formula race proved much more interesting. A strong field of 12 cars started the AP-BP go, led by the Cobras of Graham Shaw, Mark Donohue, and Harold Keck; the Sting Ray of Dick Lang; Bob Grossman's GTO; and the BP Corvettes of Don Yenko and Bob Mouat. Keck was in the race only through a fine display of sportsmanship on the part of Graham Shaw. Keck's Cobra had snapped an axle in practice Saturday, and the good Tombstone sent his plane to Columbia to fetch him a spare.
It was evident on the first lap that Lang hadn't read the script as he led Shaw, Donohue, and Grossman across the line. Keck was seventh with a mangled right front fender, having rammed Donohue in the rear at the end of the back stretch. After several abortive efforts, Donohue finally slipped past the Sting Ray on the 5th lap, with Shaw following suit on the 7th. Grossman was still within 10 seconds of the leaders who were running under a hanky. Keck was another half-minute back after having been black-flagged to see what great chunks of rubber the bent aluminum was tearing out of his Goodyears.
In his spectacular early dash, Lang apparently had over-revved slightly, taking some of the edge off his top-end tune. As he fell back, so did Shaw who began to experience cutting-out under hard acceleration. Keck started catching Grossman two seconds a lap, finally nipping the Ferrari on the 18th as Donohue took the checkered flag 16 seconds ahead of Shaw and another second in front of Lang. The Cobra had averaged 80.6 mph, one mph faster than the Genie-Ford's winning speed. Yenko took 6th and BP, Mouat having pranged a pole on the 15th lap while running 7th.
Unfortunately for Dick Lang, the race did not end with the checkered flag. The Sting Ray's rear fender wells had been altered to accommodate a pair of monster tires. Same old protest; same decision. Lang was disqualified. His subsequent appeal is now pending action.

Click here for a summary of the race.

Update: Dick Lang filed a counter-protest against the Cobras since they were running the same-sized tires. The matter was resolved when both sides agreed to file no further protests and Lang agreed to accept the DQ (since he didn't win due to the engine problem). Lang raced the rest of the year with the same set-up and no further protests were filed.

Another Photo below (click on photo for larger view):

Nice photo here (click on photo for larger image):

1964 Indianapolis Raceway Park

April 26, 1964. Regional Race and Indianapolis Raceway Park.

1964 Southport Raceway

June 6-7, 1964. Southport Raceway, St. Paul MN DNF: Dick Lang (brakes) 1st AP: Jerry Hansen Shelby Cobra 2nd AP: George Montgomery Shelby Cobra 3rd AP: Roy Kumnick Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray

1964 Mid-Ohio (June)

June 14, 1964 @ Mid-Ohio.
SCCA National Races at Mid-Ohio : AP Class
First: Dick Lang, Corvette Sting Ray
(Click on photos to view larger image)

Bob Johnson in the #33 Cobra

Taking the checkered flag

1964 Lynndale Farms (Milwaukee)

June 28, 1964. Divisional Race at Lynndale Farms Raceway in Milwaukee. Cobras beat the Corvettes on this day...

(Race Results)

1st AP Bob Johnson Shelby Cobra
2nd AP Tom Payne Shelby Cobra
3rd AP Dick Lang Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray
4th AP Roy Kumnick Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray
5th (lst BP) Lew Draper Chevrolet Corvette
6th (1st CP) Allan Kovar Lotus Super Seven

1964 Mid-Ohio (July)

July 12, 1964. Divisional Race at Mid-Ohio

Top 4

Bob Johnson (Cobra)
Dan Gerber (Cobra)
Tom Swindell (Stingray)
Dick Lang (Stingray)

1964 Lynndale Farms (August)

August 1-2, 1964. National Race at Lynndale Farms Raceway, Milwaukee.

1964 Mid-Ohio (August)

SCCA US Road Racing Championship GT race
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, OH
August 30, 1964
42 laps on 2.4 mile road course; 100.8 miles

Fin	Driver	#	Owner	Car	Laps	Status
1	Bob Johnson	99	Shelby American	Shelby Cobra Ford CSX2494	42	running
2	Ken Miles	98	Shelby American	Shelby Cobra Ford CSX2431	42	running
3	Tom Payne	13		Shelby Cobra CSX2430	42	running
4	Pete Harrison	87		Cobra Ford CSX2128		running
5	Bill Wuesthoff	17	Robert Bosch	Porsche 904 GTS 066		running
6	Lew Draper	33		Cobra Ford CSX2189		running
7	Bruce Jennings			Porsche 356 Carrera		running
8	Chuck Stoddard			Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ		running
9	Pete Lovely	15	Alan Mann	Ford Cortina Lotus		running
10	James Spencer		Alan Mann	Ford Cortina Lotus		running
11	Larry Wehr			Jaguar XKE		running
12	Max Nerriere			Lotus Elite		running
13	Red Crim			Austin-Healey 3000		running
14	Dick Lang	85		Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray		did not finish

1964 Greenwood Roadway, Iowa

September 27, 1964. Divisional Race at Greenwood Roadway, Des Moines IA.

B, C-production - 60 miles

Tom Payne, Ann Arbor, Mich., Cobra Ford (A-1)
Dick Lang, Xenia, Ohio, Stingray Coupe (A-2)
John Martin, Florissant, Mo., Corvette (A-3)
Dennis Henningson, Mason City, Corvette (B-1)
John Gardella, Detroit, Lotus Super 7 (C-1)
Ed French, Kansas City, Lotus Elan (C-2)
Ted Clark, DeKalb, Ill., Lotus Super 7 (C-3)
Robert Crane, Moline, Ill., Lotus Super 7 (C-4)
C.F. Rand, Glen Ellyn, Ill., Lotus Super 7 (C-5)

1964 Nelson Ledges Raceway (Akron)

October 4, 1964. Regional Race at Nelson Ledges Raceway in Akron OH. First: M. R. J. Wyllie in a Lola Mk.1 2nd: Dick Lang in a Corvette (1st in AP class).

1964 Indianapolis Raceway Park (October)

October 18, 1964. Divisional Race at Indianapolis Raceway Park. (Race Results) 1st (CM) Dave Causey Lotus 19 Chevrolet 2nd (lst AP) Dick Lang Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray

1964 Riverside

American Road Race of Champions[AP+BP]
Sports Car Graphic presents the First Annual American Road Race of Champions (Race 12 - A & B Production Race), Riverside International Raceway Date: 15.11.1964

Did not finish:
- Dick Lang (USA) Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Dick Lang DNF AP

Lang is in Corvette #33 at left. Picture from 1965 issue of Corvette News. Click on photo to enlarge.

Riverside in '64 is very different than the sprawling development of today.

1964 Final Results

1964 - (group: AP) Pos. Driver Car Points
1. Bob Johnson (USA) Shelby Cobra Ford 42
2. Harold Keck (USA) Shelby Cobra Ford 25
3. Dick Lang (USA) Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray

Here are the results from 1962, 1963, and 1964:

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.