Dick Lang Racing History: need results

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.

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 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 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 Lynndale Farms (August)

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

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

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.