| Photo ID # | f04.07.09__K3_KAT_UNK_0070F_1 |
| Car #: | #K3 |
| Driver (s) : | Les Katona |
| Location: | Flemington |
| Date: | 1970's |
| Photographer: | Ace Lane Jr. |
| Photo provided by: | Ace Lane Jr. |
| Comments: |
The "Flying Hunkie" Les Katona... Definitely one of the
toughest sportsman drivers of the day... While his tough driving
earned him some very loyal fans, it was that same toughness on the track
that caused some others to root against Les. And what all of this did
was made the sportsman division just as exciting as the headlining modified
class! Les, and guys like Ray Liss, Joe Hall, Newt Hartman, Tom Hager,
Al Michalchuk, Pete Madsen, George Ault... and others keep fans glued to the
action when the sportsman took to the track. Because of the dominance of Les throughout the early 70's (and a handful of others), Paul Kuhl enacted the "3 Win Rule" which basically stated that if you won a total of 3 sportsman features at Flemington Speedway, the following year (and all years following) you HAD TO RUN MODIFIED. It was Paul's way of trying to keep the sportsman class as a feeder class for the modifieds, and to try to prevent anyone from dominating the class for very long.... Once in the modifieds, Les also had some great years behind at both Flemington and at East Windsor Speedway. Away from driving, Les operated "Lawrence Engineering", a fully equipped race ship complete with a fabrication shop. Les began building racecars and I'm almost wondering if the success of the little white #K3 coupe above, on a full race chassis, didn't inspire Les to go into the racecar building business.... Les made for some really exciting moments at the track, and his expertise has helped many racers along the way. |
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