Denny Miles won the ASA-sanctioned 50-lap stock car feature at Greater
Salem Speedway. Joining Miles in victory lane is Milt Hartlauf (left) and ASA’s
Rex Robbins.
Salem, Ind. (April 30, 1972) – A brief shower that forced nearly an hour’s delay for Sunday’s late model and sportsman stock car races at Greater Salem Speedway “really hurt me,” Denny Miles said.
If the Muncie, Ind., driver thinks the rain played havoc with him, he should have talked to Jerry Long of Woodbine, Tenn.
Long, who nearly passed up the feature race after the frame of his 1964 Chevelle had been bent in a heat race pileup, slipped into first place on the first turn of the 16th lap as he and Miles began lapping slower cars.
The rain came on the 17th lap, halting action with Long in front, and the NASCAR sportsman competitor stayed in front for eight more circuits following the restart.
But on the third turn of the 26th lap, “I had to get up a little too high on laps cars, and it was still wet up there. The rear-end of my car went ‘swit’,” explained Long as he made a gesture mimicking a car sliding towards a guardrail.
He slapped against the guardrail, bending sheet metal into his right rear tire. Miles ducked beneath him into the lead and never was headed as he wrapped up the victory by about 100 yards over a charging LaMarr Marshall.
Long, who said he’d been running “just hard enough to stay ahead of Miles,” parked his car and settled for 18th place.
Miles’ problem with the shower actually started one lap before the first drops of rain splattered the track. His 1969 Chevelle’s engine “busted a ring on the piston.”
When the rain started, the field ran several unscored laps under caution before officials decided to halt the race. The combination of the busted piston ring and the slow laps allowed oil to foul up the spark plug in the afflicted cylinder of the engine.
On the restart, Miles’ car trailed a long plume of blue smoke through each corner as he chased Long. “My engine was missing out,” Miles said. “and it didn’t seem like I had enough power to catch him.”
When Long exited the fray, Miles backed off to conserve his car and his supply of oil which had been bolstered by a quart during the delay. “As long as it smoked, I knew I had oil,” Miles laughed.
Miles’ reduced pace allowed Marshall, who charged into contention about the same time Long smacked the guardrail, to close within a car’s length of Miles with about 10 laps to go.
However, Marshall and his 1972 Chevelle got stuck behind a slower car and by the time he he’d gotten free to pursue Miles, he was no longer up to the task.
Miles, the 1970 American Speed Association champion and the 1972-point leader, collected $660 for the victory before a crowd of 3,661.
Results –
1. Denny Miles, Muncie
2. LaMarr Marshall, Louisville, Ky.
3. Gene Payne, Owensboro, Ky.
4. Lonnie Breedlove, Indianapolis
5. Ellis Herbert, Louisville, Ky.
6. Alex Burke, New Castle
7. Andy Vertrees, Louisville, Ky.
8. Tommy Spaugh, Louisville, Ky.
9. Gil Schildknecht, Louisville, Ky.
10.Ray Fullen, Anderson, Ind.
11.Willard Googe, Louisville, Ky.
12.Steve Blunk, Clayton
13.Jim Blount, LaPaz
14.Darrell Basham, Clarksville
15.Billy Henshaw, Mooreland
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