Sigurd Olson "Sig" Haugdahl (January 10, 1891 – February 4, 1970) was an IMCA "Big Car" (now

sprint car Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...

) champion 1927 – 1932 and an early promoter of

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

racing in the

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Background

Sig Haugdahl was born on the Tiller farm in

Verdal Verdal is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Verdalsøra. Some villages in the municipality include Forbregd/Lein, Lysthaugen, Stiklest ...

, Nord-Trøndelag,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

and migrated to the United States in 1910 making his home with an uncle in

Albert Lea, Minnesota Albert Lea is a city in Freeborn County, in southern Minnesota. It is the county seat. Its population was 18,492 at the 2020 census. The city is at the junction of Interstates 35 and 90, about south of the Twin Cities. It is on the shores of ...

. He started his racing career in 1912 on an ice motorbike powered by an

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engine that reached a speed of 70 M.P.H. He soon switched to racing motorcycles but gave those up to race automobiles in 1912.

Racing career

Haugdahl's U.S. racing career in 1912, when he drove a specially equipped

Indian Motorcycle Indian Motorcycle (or ''Indian'') is an American brand of motorcycles owned and produced by American automotive manufacturer Polaris Inc.ice races in Minnesota. He began dirt track racing in 1918. He became the IMCA champion six years in a row, between 1927 and 1932. He built the Wisconsin Special to unseat USAC champion

Tommy Milton Thomas Milton (November 14, 1893 – July 10, 1962) was an American race car driver best known as the first two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. He was notable for having only one functional eye, a disability that would have disqualified him ...

. The car was named after its 836 cubic inch Wisconsin Airplane 6-cylinder motor, which was directly connected to the rear wheels. The car was long, wide, and had . The speed would first be exceeded after over ten years. Haugdahl is credited with winning the

International Motor Contest Association The International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) was organized in 1915 by J. Alex Sloan, and is currently the oldest active auto racing sanctioning body in the United States. IMCA is currently headquartered in Vinton, Iowa, and features s ...

(IMCA)

national championships in 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, and 1932.

World speed record

Haugdahl is reported to have set a world

land speed record The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regula ...

of 180 miles per hour in his Wisconsin Special car at the Daytona Beach Road Course on April 7, 1922. A world record was not awarded, however, because the run was not timed by the American Automobile Association and as such could not be verified. It is considered by some that the record speed was claimed by IMCA for the promotional benefits that it would offer. If true, this record would have represented a record speed faster than the official record, set by a car with a quarter less power than the current holder, five years before the official record reached this level.

Daytona Beach Road Course

World land speed record attempts moved from Daytona to the more consistent surface at the

Bonneville Salt Flats The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the Bur ...

with

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in 1935. Not wishing to lose the valuable visitor trade, Daytona Beach officials asked local racer Haugdahl to organize and promote an automobile race along the course. Haugdahl is credited for designing the track. The city posted at $5,000 purse. The ticket-takers arrived at the event to find thousands of fans already at the track. The sandy turns became virtually impassable, and the event was stopped after 75 of 78 laps. The city has not promoted an event since. Haugdahl talked with another local driver named

William France Sr. William Henry Getty France (September 26, 1909 – June 7, 1992), also known as Bill France Sr. or Big Bill, was an American businessman and racing driver. He is best known for founding and managing NASCAR, a sanctioning body of US-based stock ca ...

, and they talked the Daytona Beach Elks Club to host another event in 1937. The event was more successful, but still lost money. Haugdahl didn't promote any more events. France used the experience to found

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Award

Sig Haugdahl died at 79 years of age in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. Haugdahl was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1994. ''Fifth National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductions'' (National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum)

References

Other sources

*Fleischman, Bill and Al Pearce ''The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide 1998-99'' (Visible Ink Press: 1999) ,

External links

Historic Racing.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haugdahl, Sig 1891 births 1970 deaths Land speed record people NASCAR people National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees Norwegian racing drivers Norwegian emigrants to the United States People from Verdal People from Albert Lea, Minnesota Sportspeople from Trøndelag