Thursday, September 12, 2013

1970 - Fairground Kings; Oldham and Reece




Des Moines, Iowa (September 12, 1970) - Dick Oldham of Des Moines was officially declared the State Fairgrounds late-model stock car point champion with 314 points. Oldham won only one feature during the season - the midseason championship. He drove a 1969 Chevelle.

Stan Stover of Reinbeck was runner-up to Oldham with 285 points; defending champion Bob Hilmer of Dysart was third (249), Darrell Dake of Cedar Rapids fourth (244) and Don Hoffman of Des Moines, the 1969 sportsman champion, was fifth (239).

Phil Reece of Des Moines nabbed the sportsman (cars of 1955-64 vintage) title with 1,393 points, according to standings released by promoter Homer Melton of Rock Island, Ill. Trailing Reece was Larry Embrey, Grimes, 1,275; Jerry Roberts, Prairie City, 978; Sonny Morgan, Blue Earth, Minn., and Ken Davidson, Des Moines, 687.

Lem Blankenship of Keokuk and Hilmer won the most late model features with four each. Blankenship captured four of the first five then went off to compete in the United States Auto Club. Hilmer, after rebuilding his 1969 Chevelle, won four of five mains from June 27 through July 25. He had only two fourth place finishes after that.

In the sportsman division, Reece, who competed in a 1957 Chevrolet, captured five feature victories. He won only one after June 13 and that came September 4.


Final Point Standings - 

Late Model –

1. Dick Oldham, Des Moines – 314
2. Stan Stover, Reinbeck – 285
3. Bob Hilmer, Dysart - 249
4. Darrell Dake, Cedar Rapids – 244
5. Don Hoffman, Des Moines – 239
6. George Barton, Ankeny – 224
7. Don Davidson. Des Moines – 193
8. Jerry LeCroy, Des Moines – 155
9. Chris Maurer, Colfax – 145
10. Danny Clement, Rhodes – 142
11. Dan Dickey, Packwood – 140
12. Dave Chase, Council Bluffs – 114
13. Shorty Selsor, Des Moines – 96
14. Gary Jones, Des Moines – 88
15. Buggy Vincent, Nevada – 76


Sportsman -

1. Phil Reece, Des Moines – 1,393
2. Larry Embrey, Grimes – 1,275
3. Jerry Roberts, Prairie City – 978
4. Sonny Morgan, Blue Earth, Minn. – 945
5. Ken Davidson, Des Moines – 687
6. Joe Merryfield, Des Moines – 503
7. Marvin Korns, Brooklyn – 469
8. Roger Bruce, Des Moines- 448
9. Chuck Berg, Des Moines – 298
10. Buzz Sampson, Des Moines - 298


1 comment:

  1. Dick Oldham was my Dad. It makes me proud to be able to Google his name and see this after all these years.

    ReplyDelete