Fast 15: 15 Facts About the Williams Grove National Open
October 4, 2019
The first National Open was held in 1963, won by eventual two time Indianapolis 500 champion Gordon Johncock.
32 different drivers have won the National Open.
Of those 32 drivers, four have attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500: Gordon Johncock, Larry Dickson, Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell
Of those four drivers, three were able to qualify: Johncock, Dickson & Kinser.
Gordon Johncock is the only driver to be victorious in both the Williams Grove National Open and the Indianapolis 500.
There are five 2 time champions of the National Open: Bobbie Adamson (67,68), Lynn Paxton (82,83), Mark Kinser (95, 99), Sammy Swindell (97, 10) and David Gravel (14, 17).
There are four 3 time champions of the National Open: Steve Smith (74, 76, 81), Kenny Weld (71, 72, 73), Doug Wolfgang (84, 85, 86), and Stevie Smith (89, 91, 15).
Steve and Stevie Smith are the only father-son combination to both be victorious in the National Open.
There are two 4 time champions of the National Open: Steve Kinser (90, 92, 94, 03) and Lance Dewease (96, 01, 02, 18).
The winningest driver in the history of the National Open is Donny Schatz, with a total of 5 victories (00, 04, 05, 07, 12).
The World of Outlaws sanctioned the National Open for the first time in 1978, their inaugural season, but did not sanctioned the event again until 1989 when Stevie Smith won it for the first time.
Rain forced the National Open to be postponed and ran unsanctioned in 1998 and 2008, with Billy Pauch (98) and Cody Darrah (08) picking up their first and only career wins in the event.
Lance Dewease’s four National Open victories have all come for different car owners: Walter Dyer (96), Joe Harz (01), Al Hamilton (02) & Don Kreitz, Jr. (18)
The number of laps of the main event for the National Open has fluctuated over the years, as the inaugural event was 100 laps in 1963, before switching to 150 laps in 1969, and back to 100 laps in 1978, then to 40 laps in 1980, 75 laps in 1983, 50 laps in 1991 and eventually to the 40 lap format that we know today.
The shortest National Open was won by Doug Esh in 2006, when rain halted the event after 26 of 40 laps.
Bobby Allen (1975), Fred Rahmer (2013) & Don Kreitz Jr. (1993) are the only people to win the National Open as a driver, and as a car owner (with someone other than themselves driving the car) with Joey Allen winning for Bobby in 1987, Stevie Smith winning for Rahmer in 2015, and Lance Dewease winning for Kreitz in 2018.
The 2019 Williams Grove National Open will feature the richest purse in track history, with the victor pocketing $65,000.
