{"id":17044,"date":"2015-07-28T09:16:34","date_gmt":"2015-07-28T16:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=17044"},"modified":"2015-07-28T09:16:34","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T16:16:34","slug":"race-cars-and-pace-cars-at-iola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/race-cars-and-pace-cars-at-iola\/","title":{"rendered":"Race Cars and Pace Cars at Iola"},"content":{"rendered":"

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People say that the Internet is killing old car shows, so the Iola Old Car Show in central Wisconsin decided to do something about it. The 2015 event held July 8-11 adopted a racing theme to pump up the excitement level. The result was the biggest-grossing Iola Show ever and all proceeds go to the town.<\/p>\n

To put things in perspective, the annual show draws over 100,000 people to Iola the second week of each July and that\u2019s impressive in a village of 1,000 souls. But the show had started to trend down a little and event director Larry Fechter was having none of that. \u201cYou ain\u2019t seen nothing yet,\u201d said Fechter. \u201cBut the 2015 Race Cars and Pace Cars theme was a great way to start our revival.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drag racer Don Garlits was signed up to make appearances at the show and drew a large crowd all weekend, but local racing car owners such as Carl Pyper and Ed Kramer showed up two. Both had racing cars powered by Indian motorcycle engines, Carl\u2019s car was a 1914 board track racer and Ed\u2019s was a 1951 midget. Burton Brown brought his well-known Bonneville streamliner, while Seth and Gordon Rohla showed up with their super original \u201963 Plymouth Super Stock drag car. Also on hand was the Menards Racing Team with two vehicles.<\/p>\n

Adding the Race Car and Pace Car theme to what is already one of the country\u2019s largest old car shows added a new dimension to the venue. The giant theme car tent was packed with all types of racers from Lou Natenshon\u2019s Cunningham to Paul Zieldorf\u2019s Willys and Fiat drag machines. Additional racing cars such as a pair of 1957 circle track cars from Ford and Chevy made a colorful display of speed demons outside the big top style tent.<\/p>\n

Pace cars are part of racing and Iola showcased a good variety from the famous \u201969 Camaro Indy Pace car to a rare creamy yellow \u201957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser convertible that also paced the Brickyard Classic.<\/p>\n