Recently scanning through several different media guides from various race series, I noticed the large number of drivers that were born in 1989.
I thought back to the year they were born and what a memorable racing season it was. Some of the key moments include:
Bob Frey won a record third-straight Little 500...Chuck Gurney won the nine-race USAC Silver Crown Series Championship and also won the Belleville Midget Nationals and the Turkey Night Grand Prix…The Chili Bowl was a two-day event and Sammy Swindell, driving for Gary Runyon won the feature….The CRA came to the Midwest for a six-race swing, bringing 27 teams from the West Coast. Jerry Meyer topped the biggest event of the trip winning at Knoxville, Iowa.
ARCA sanctioned midgets throughout the Midwest and drew nice fields at events in Alabama and Georgia….Two of open-wheel racing’s most popular and charming drivers from different eras died, Jim Hurtbise at 56 from a heart attack, while AIDS claimed the life of Tim Richmond….Steve Butler made an attempt at the Indy 500 driving for Stoops Racing, but came up short….Ron Shuman switched to the Alex Morales team and won the CRA title. Brad Noffsinger led the series with nine victories. Jeff Bagley lost his life in a May accident at Ascot.
Kevin Olson turned the first sub-15-second lap at Angell Park Speedway, winning the Badger title by 23 points over Kevin Doty….Mike Bliss dominated midget racing in the Pacific Northwest, winning the WMRA championship...Tony Elliott was the sprint-car champion at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway, while the “Rhinestone Cowboy” Chuck Amati topped Bloomington and Paragon...Billy Hughes nipped John Heydreich for the ARDC midget crown. Heydenreich scored three Florida wins and topped the USAC fields at Williams Grove and Flemington Speedways….UMARA had a solid season, and ran events at the soon-to-be-closed Chicagoland venues Raceway Park and Sante Fe Speedway….Racing returned to the Sacramento (Calif.) Mile for the first time since 1970.
The Arizona Midget Racing Ass’n was formed and Cactus Jack Yeley was the first  series champion…Eight USAC Western Midget events were broadcast live from Ascot Park. ESPN then telecast several more USAC National Midget and Sprint Car events from IRP... Gary Koster captured his second-straight BCRA midget title…In a heated battle after 47 USAC Western Midget races, Robby Flock emerged as champion by 16 points over Sleepy Tripp. USAC TQ racing on the West Coast was popular with Gary Howard winning the championship…Winners at the Copper Classic included Ken Schrader (Silver Crown), Rich Vogler (midget) and Davey Hamilton (super modified)….USAC sanctioned both non-wing and winged events during the season. Rich Vogler, teaming up Hoffman Racing used a BuickV-6 on the pavement and a Gaerte V-8 on dirt, easily winning the crown over Eric Gordon. Jeff Gordon scored his first USAC National victory at Florence, Ky., in a winged event…Midget Racing East (MRE) was started as a rival group to NEMA.
Russ Gamester emerged as series champion in the 36-race USAC National Midget Series, which included first-time visits to Lanier Raceway, Louisville Motor Speedway, Moberly Motorsports Park and Kalamazoo Speedway…Vogler, driving the Wilke No. 11, won the Hut Hundred at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway.
This columnist was working at National Halibrand, was 25 pounds lighter, had no gray hair and was in his second season of writing articles for NSSN.