Editors Note: In a nod to our 90 years of history, each week SPEED SPORT will look back at the top stories from 15, 30 and 60 years ago as told in the pages of National Speed Sport News.

15 Years Ago 2010

News: Formula One ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone has called for calm following the outcry of condemnation of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, which certainly wasnt very exciting.

There is no panic, no crisis for F-1, he told The Times in the UK. I think there is nothing we can do immediately and we should not just knee-jerk into changes.

The new rules. which include cars qualifying on low fuel and banning refueling during the race, predictably put the fastest cars at the front of the grid, and once the running order had been determined by qualifying and the first lap of the race, it didnt change very much for the rest of the race.

I had dinner with my mum the other night and she said it (the race) was kind of boring, Lewis

Hamilton said. I havent seen the race, but Ive heard from a lot of people that it wasnt positive. They were so excited by the hype of Michael (Schumacher) coming back and all that and it was just kind of very dull. there was no overtaking.

One reason for all of this was because just ahout everybody was on a one-stop strategy: and the drivers were overly cautious. Conserving their tires because they didnt want to have to make a second pit stop.

Jaime Alguersuari, on a two-stop strategy; was the first driver to set a lap below the two-minute mark, and that seemed to wake up the other drivers because Fernando Alonso immediately responded with a lap half a second faster.

In future races the drivers should he willing to lean on their tires harder. But mandating two stops would help solve the problem.

The drivers point out that it is even more difficult to follow in the aerodynamic wake of a car this year than last season. Banning the wheel cover hubcaps actually reduced this predicament.

But as all the teams have considerably improved their doubledeck rear diffusers this has made the situation worse as this type of diffuser wreaks havoc on the airflow it kicks back to the car behind.

The bottom line in all of this is that many of the fans are not happy. F-1 is in the entertainment business. And the customers come first.

Winners: Saturdays Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh From Florida was a blow out. When Audi decided to give the American Le Mans Series season opener a pass, few expected anything less from Peugeot, the other dominant player on the world sports-car stage, than a victory.

From start to finish the contest up front was all French. Running like clockwork without any of the mechanical glitches or pitlane mistakes of the kind seen last year, the two turbocharged diesel 908 HDI FAPs paraded as a two-car train on a scenic cruise across the barren landscape of the Central Florida World War ll airport circuit.

Coming out on top with their colorfully painted Peugeot coupe were Marc Gene, Alexander Wurz and Anthony Davidson, while some 13 plus seconds back was their sister 908 with Pedro Lamy, Sebastien Bourdais and Nicolas Minassian aboard.

The winning Peugeot team led all 367 laps of the 3.7-mile road course during the once-around-the-dock classic.

Behind the calm exterior there was something of a fratricidal war between the two cars, a fact not lost on Wurz.

As he put it, We all pushed 100 percent. Our strategy people had smoke coming out of their ears. On our last stop our margin was just three seconds, so it came down to Sebastien and myself, he explained.

In the end, Wurz, Davidson and Gene were up to the task.

30 Years Ago 1995

News: Private stockholders of the Flemington Fair and Carnival Corp. Friday approved negotiations with Paramus developer Malvern Burroughs for the possible sale of Flemington Fairgrounds in Raritan Township.

According to Bridgewaters The Courier-News, Burroughs Development Corp. would build a shopping mall on the site that has been home to the Flemington Fair for 138 years, and has offered some $6.75 million for the 48-acre parcel.

The fairgrounds are assessed at $2.37 million, according to the Raritan Township tax list. In the 1860s, the fairgrounds served as a Civil War encampment.

Burroughs Development Corp. will draft a written formal proposal for the development of the Flemington Fair Mall, similar to the Bridgewater Commons in Somerset County, and submit it to

stockholders, according to Paul Kuhl, president of the Flemington Fair and Speedway.

Kuhl holds the controlling interest in the property, having bought the holdings from former owner Frank W. Bohren some 5 years ago.

As part of the agreement with Burroughs, the agricultural fair, a tradition in Hunterdon County, would be relocated on the property and permitted to operate for at least 40 years by leasing 10 acres for $1 a year.

The last and oldest agricultural fair in New Jersey, which was first held here in 1856, is an old-fashioned 4-H fair with quilting contests, livestock competitions and ribbons for best pies.

Winners: Sterling Marlin wrapped his fingers around the windpipe of the Lady in Black and finally choked the life out of her.

He acted in self-defense.

Marlin did it after she whipped the daylights out of 34 of his peers.

Treacherous Darlington Raceway, known in stock car circles as The Lady in Black, wore a new cloak of asphalt and rose to the occasion. Fifteen times she struck like an angry rattler. Of the 15 cautions, multi-car accidents accounted for eight of the yellows.

Of the 42 starters, 34 bent sheet metal, either major or minor, and some did it more than once in one of the most bizarre races in the 45-year history of the track.

I was watching a wreck and a race broke out, said one crewman.

The eight best-looking cars after the race included Marlins and those driven by Derrike Cope, Steve Grissom, Bobby Hamilton, John Andretti, Mike Wallace, Dave Marcis and Ricky Craven, and most of them had tire marks on them.

The yellow flag waved for 87 laps, 30 percent of the 293-lap distance.

The lead changed hands 16 times among 11 drivers. Marlin, who led 44 laps, including the final 12, raced Dale Earnhardt and Ted Musgrave for the victory.

60 Years Ago 1965

News: A complete line of racing tires, a new safety inner tire and special rubberized fuel cells will be offered by The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for this years Indianapolis 500 on May 31.

John J. Hartz, director of tire development, said the LifeGuard inner tire a tire within a tire and the fuel cell are designed to reduce dangers from two principal race-track hazards tires punctured by foreign objects and fuel tanks damaged in a crash.

The inner tire made its debut at the 1965 Daytona 500 and preserved second place for Darel Dieringer and fourth for Ned Jarrett. After suffering severe tire damage, both drivers were able to maintain control and keep going to the pits for a quick tire change.

The LifeGuard inner tire holds a separate air supply capable of carrying the car in the event of injury to the outer tire.

The other product also has been race tested. A car using a Goodyear fuel cell, the Ford GT, won the 1965 Daytona Continental. The fuel cells are being built on a custom basis on request.

The inner tires, like the racing tires themselves, will be avail able to all drivers when Indianapolis practice begins May 1.

Hartz said the new line of racing tires was tested by a dozen of the countrys leading drivers, including A. J. Foyt, in three different sessions at Indianapolis between June and December and showed great promise.

The new Indy tires show very low rolling resistance and excellent cornering qualities-attributes that are highly important to drivers in this race, Hartz said.

Winners: U. S. Road Racing Champion Jim Ball of Midland Texas, aided by his neighbor Hap Sharp made a runaway of the 15th running of the 12-hour Grand Prix of Endurance at Sebring Intl Raceway.

The Hall-designed Chevrolet engined Chaparral led all but a few laps of the event and decisively trounced the best cars that Ferrari and Ford could put on the track.

The white fiberglass-bodied car raced through 94-degree heat in the early stages and a tropical rainstorm midway in the event which left four inches of water over most of the course, but never skipped a beat.

When it was all over, the sleek streamlined car was 21 miles ahead of its nearest competitor, a

Ford GT handled by Ken Miles and Bruce McLaren. This car won valuable points counting toward the international GT prototype championship and Challenge Mondial Cup.

State Police at Sebring estimated the crowd at 68,000. It was by far and away the largest crowd in the history of the event. The race was nearly three hours old before the last of the waiting line of cars was admitted to the ancient airport course.

The heavy rain which slowed the Chaparral to the point it required nine minutes to turn a lap, eliminated any chance of a record the Hall-Sharp combo had to be satisfied with a 196-lap total for 1,019.2 miles and a speed average of 84.723. The record, was set last year by Ferrari drivers Mike Parkes and Umberto Maglioli of 214 laps, 1,112.8 miles at 92.365 mph.