Mechanicsburg – When Williams Grove Speedway cranks up the Diamond Anniversary, 75K to win, Champion Racing Oil National Open on Saturday, October 22, it will spin off the fall classic as the seventh latest running of the event in its 60-year history.
For sure this year’s make-up Champion Racing Oil National Open sanctioned by the World of Outlaws will mark the latest running of the event in nearly 25 years.
Billy Pauch won an unsanctioned National Open back on October 24, 1998.
But running the biggest event in the East so late in the season is a rarity.
The latest-ever running of the National Open took place back on November 7, 1971 when Kenny Weld took the win over Johnny Grum.
October 29, 1967 saw Bobbie Adamson score the victory and a year later, on October 27, it was Adamson again taking the big win.
In 1969, an upset win by Selinsgrove driver Gene Varner took place on October 26.
The dawn of the 1970s saw the race contested on October 25 when the aforementioned Grum scored the win.
Next in line is the Pauch victory on October 24, 1998.
And in what will move into a tie for the seventh latest Open race in history when the 2022 version is completed, the National Open saw Weld again take the checkers, this time on October 22, 1972.
So in keeping with history, since an average 25-year interval has developed between the two most recent late-October National Opens, Williams Grove drivers and fans should not again expect the fateful occurrence for another quarter century.
Mark your calendars now.
The year will be 2047!
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