Sig Haugdahl
Encyclopedia
International Motor Contest Association
The International Motor Contest Association was organized in 1915 by J. Alex Sloan, and is currently the oldest active auto racing sanctioning body in the United States. IMCA is currently headquartered in Vinton, Iowa, and features several classes and divisions of weekly racing in six geographical...
champion 1927 - 1932 and an early promoter of stock car racing in the United States.
Background
Sig Haugdahl was born on the Tiller farm in Verdal, Nord-TrøndelagNord-Trøndelag
is a county constituting the northern part of Trøndelag in Norway. As of 2010, the county had 131,555 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-least populated county. The largest municipalities are Stjørdal, Steinkjer—the county seat, Levanger, Namsos and Verdal, all with between 21,000 and...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and migrated to the United States in 1910 making his home with an uncle in Albert Lea, Minnesota
Albert Lea, Minnesota
Albert Lea is a city in and the county seat of Freeborn County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 18,016 at the 2010 census....
. He started his racing career in 1912 on an ice motorbike powered by an Indian (motorcycle)
Indian (motorcycle)
Indian is an American brand of motorcycles. Indian motorcycles were manufactured from 1901 to 1953 by a company in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, initially known as the Hendee Manufacturing Company but which was renamed the Indian Manufacturing Company in 1928. The Indian factory team took the...
engine that reached a speed of 70 M.P.H. He soon switched to racing motorcycles but gave those up to race automobiles in 1912.
Racing career
Haughdahl's U.S. racing career in 1912, when he drove a specially equipped Indian MotorcycleIndian (motorcycle)
Indian is an American brand of motorcycles. Indian motorcycles were manufactured from 1901 to 1953 by a company in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, initially known as the Hendee Manufacturing Company but which was renamed the Indian Manufacturing Company in 1928. The Indian factory team took the...
in ice races
Ice racing
Ice racing is a form of racing that uses cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, All-terrain vehicles, or other motorized vehicles. Ice racing takes place on frozen lakes or rivers, or on carefully groomed frozen lots...
in Minnesota. He began dirt track racing
Dirt track racing
Dirt track racing is a type of auto racing performed on oval tracks. It began in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 30s. Two different types of racecars predominated—open wheel racers in the Northeast and West and stock cars in the South...
in 1918. He became the IMCA
International Motor Contest Association
The International Motor Contest Association was organized in 1915 by J. Alex Sloan, and is currently the oldest active auto racing sanctioning body in the United States. IMCA is currently headquartered in Vinton, Iowa, and features several classes and divisions of weekly racing in six geographical...
champion six years in a row, between 1927 and 1932. He built the Wisconsin Special to unseat USAC
United States Automobile Club
The United States Auto Club is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, the USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500...
champion Tommy Milton
Tommy Milton
Tommy Milton was an American race car driver best known as the first two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. He was notable for having only one functional eye -- a disability that would have disqualified him from competing in modern motorsports.Born in St...
. The car was named after its 836 cubic inch Wisconsin Airplane 6-cylinder motor, which was directly connected to the rear wheels. The car was 192 inches (4,876.8 mm) long, 20 inches (508 mm) wide, and had 250 hp. The speed would first be exceeded after over ten years.
World speed record
Haugdahl is reported to have set a world land speed recordLand speed record
The land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...
of 180 miles per hour in his Wisconsin Special car at the Daytona Beach Road Course
Daytona Beach Road Course
Daytona Beach Road Course was a race track that was instrumental in the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, or NASCAR. It originally became famous as the location where fifteen world land speed records were set...
on April 7, 1922. A world record was not awarded, however, because the run was not timed by the American Automobile Association
American Automobile Association
AAA , formerly known as the American Automobile Association, is a federation of 51 independently operated motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a not-for-profit member service organization with more than 51 million members. AAA provides services to its members such as travel, automotive,...
and as such could not be verified. It is considered by some that the record speed was claimed by IMCA for the promotional benefits that it would offer. If true, this record would have represented a record speed 50 mi/h faster than the official record, set by a car with a quarter less power than the current holder, five years before the official record reached this level.
Daytona Beach Road Course
World land speed record attempts moved from Daytona to the more consistent surface at the Bonneville Salt Flats with CampbellMalcolm Campbell
Sir Malcolm Campbell was an English racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times during the 1920s and 1930s using vehicles called Blue Bird...
's Blue Bird in 1935. Not wishing to lose the valuable visitor trade, Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...
officials asked local racer Haugdahl to organize and promote an automobile race along the 3.2 miles (5.1 km) course. Haugdahl is credited for designing the track. The city posted at $5,000 purse. The ticket-takers arrived at the event to find thousands of fans already at the track. The sandy turns became virtually impassable, and the event was stopped after 75 of 78 laps. The city has not promoted an event since.
Haugdahl talked with another local driver named William France Sr.
William France Sr.
William Henry Getty France Sr. , also known by Bill France Sr. or Big Bill, was an American race car driver. He is best known for co-founding and managing NASCAR, a sanctioning body of United States-based stock car racing.-Early life:France was born in Washington, D. C...
, and they talked the Daytona Beach Elks Club to host another event in 1937. The event was more successful, but still lost money. Haugdahl didn't promote any more events. France used the experience to found NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
.
Award
Sig Haugdahl died at 79 years of age in Jacksonville, FloridaJacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
. Haugdahl was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a Hall of Fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning officials and media members....
in 1994.
Other sources
- Fleischman, Bill and Al Pearce The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide 1998-99 (Visible Ink Press: 1999) ISBN 1578590930, ISBN 9781578590933