THIS DATE IN USAC HISTORY: MAY 7
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (May 7, 2020)………May 7 might as well be called “a day of firsts.”
After all, for four of the seven drivers who’ve won on May 7, the date was the day of their first career USAC National feature victory.
“Hard Luck” Lloyd Ruby was known as such due to his persistence of bad luck permeating his Indianapolis 500 performances. However, the supremely talented Texan had all the luck on his side in the first and only USAC National Midget visit to Taft Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla., where Ruby won the first of his two career series races.
James McElreath was an immediate success, winning USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year in 1976, then the following year, winning the USAC Sprint opener at Salem (Ind.) Speedway in March of 1977, and then the second coming on May 7 on ABC’s Wide World of Sports at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track, his first series victory on dirt. A shooting star in the sport, he’d lose his life in a crash at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway later that same season at the age of 23.
Brad Doty was well-known for his penchant of success with the wing, and when USAC Sprints began sprouting them on occasion in the late 1980s, Doty was there, scoring his first USAC victory at Paragon (Ind.) Speedway in May of 1988, just 2.5 months before he was paralyzed in a sprint car crash at Eldora Speedway. He remains highly active in the sport to this day as a commentator and writer.
Tracy Hines was superb with the USAC Silver Crown series in the year 2000, winning his second-straight at the time on May 7 at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill.
Future USAC National Midget and Sprint champ Josh Wise owned May 7 during 2004-05, winning his first career USAC Sprint race at The Dirt Track at Memphis Motorsports Park in 2004. He followed up the next year in 2005 with a Midget score at Beaver Dam, Wisc. That same night at the same track, however, Mat Neely was victorious for the first time in the USAC National Sprint division.
Most recently, in 2016, Chad Boespflug tamed the Eldora Speedway highbanks for the first time in his career, and it was the first of his six wins during a career-best season.
MAY 7 USAC NATIONAL WINS:
(2) Josh Wise
(1) Chad Boespflug, Brad Doty, Tracy Hines, James McElreath, Mat Neely & Lloyd Ruby
MAY 7 USAC NATIONAL WINNERS:
1957: Lloyd Ruby, USAC Midget at Taft Stadium – Oklahoma City, Okla.
1977: James McElreath, USAC Sprint at the Terre Haute Action Track – Terre Haute, Ind.
1988: Brad Doty, USAC Sprint at Paragon Speedway – Paragon, Ind.
2000: Tracy Hines, USAC Silver Crown at Gateway International Raceway – Madison, Ill.
2004: Josh Wise, USAC Sprint at The Dirt Track at Memphis Motorsports Park – Millington, Tenn.
2005: Josh Wise, USAC Midget at Raceway @ Powercom Park – Beaver Dam, Wisc.
2005: Mat Neely, USAC Sprint at Raceway @ Powercom Park – Beaver Dam, Wisc.
2016: Chad Boespflug, USAC Sprint at Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio