Dutch Hoag - Langhorne Victories

Langhorne Victories

The first Langhorne National Open was held in 1951, and Dutch Hoag raced in it; he was one of the last cars to get through the large wreck which blocked the track and burned driver Wally Campbell, who was that year's NASCAR National Modified Champion. The National Open was the premiere event for weekly racers; track champions and other top racers from everywhere Modified and Sportsman cars were raced, gathered at a large, fast speedway where nobody had a home-track advantage. The race was renamed to the "Race of Champions" when it was moved to Trenton in 1972 after Langhorne Speedway was closed.

Dutch Hoag first won the National Open in 1956, in a car he did not normally drive. This was Hal Kempeny's 1937 Ford coupe, which had been driven for its previous owner by Pete Corey. It had a Ford overhead-valve V-8 engine.

Hoag won the 1960 and 1963 Langhorne races with another team that wasn't his regular ride. These were with car owner Dave McCredy, as a teammate to Bill Wimble, two-time NASCAR national Sportsman champion.

In 1967, Hoag won the National Open driving for the Turner Brothers, his car owners in weekly racing at several tracks in New York State, along with traveling to special events elsewhere. Hoag and the Turners won one hundred features together.

Dutch Hoag's last Langhorne victory was in 1968, driving his own car. His team was sponsored by the road-construction company of Gene DeWitt, who later was nationally noted as car owner for Richie Evans' team when Evans won nine NASCAR national Modified championships. Hoag won the 1968 National Open by a full lap.