Wally Satterfield slides open the door of a Quonset hut on his 80-acrefarm outside Elmwood, Illinois, and there it is, sitting in silenttribute to one of the finest drivers Iowa has ever produced: A 1957Chevrolet stock car once raced by Johnny Beauchamp of Atlantic, Iowa.Beauchamp etched his name in racing history books in the Midwest and asfar away as Daytona.
Beauchamp won twice in NASCAR's top division, then known as GrandNational, and is perhaps best known for his photo finish with Lee Pettyin the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959. It took three days for NASCAR todetermine that Petty won by a scant two feet.
Satterfield, owner of the '57 Chevy campaigned by Beauchamp in theMidwest, and his former crewman, Dick Archibald, are only too happy toshow off the car.
Other than a modern seat and a few other modifications, the Chevy, whichSatterfield has restored, is authentic, right down to the IMCA decal onthe glass windshield.
"We ran the IMCA circuit with it," Satterfield says. "In 1959, we wonthe Northstar 350 at St. Paul, Minnesota, with it. It's got differentsheet metal on it now, but it's basically the same carothe same chassisand everything."
Tire marks on the door are living proof that the car still runs.Satterfield and his son, Larry, a former IMCA Modified driver, raced itin an old timers' event at nearby Peoria Speedway.
Satterfield got into racing 55 years ago.
"It was the coming thing," he says. "Everybody was doing it. We decidedto try it. We got a '35 Ford and took it to the race track."
Before he and Beauchamp teamed up, Satterfield says his cars and drivershad to compete against the Iowa legend when Beauchamp "had a factoryride."
Satterfield says when the factory dropped its backing of Beauchamp, thedriver's car owner, Dale Swanson, no longer wanted to run the entirecircuit. Satterfield then hired Beauchamp, who raced for each car ownerpart time. "Eventually he drove full time for me," Satterfield says.
Archibald hauled the cars owned by Satterfield and driven by Beauchampfrom track to track in the early 1960s. He also pitted for the team.
The travel schedule was often rigorous. Archibald says he remembers howBeauchamp would compete in an afternoon race at someplace like CedarRapids, Iowa. Then the team would hotfoot it to Sterling, Illinois, orsome other distant track for a nighttime race.
"Actually, they couldn't start the race until we got there," Archibaldrecalls with a smile. That's because the bulk of the field the promoterneeded to make the nighttime event a success had competed in the daytimerace and was en route.
What was Beauchamp like? "He was quiet, but get him in a race car and itwas all over with," says Archibald. "He liked to race, and he'd give itall she had."
Beauchamp died in 1981.
Archibald's prized possession is Beauchamp's first helmet, whichArchibald later wore when he raced.
"(Beauchamp's wife) Donna told me never to give this away," Archibaldsays of the battered helmet with leather that covered a driver's ears."She said I should keep it forever."