1974 – Lund Wins Shawano USAC Go

 

Tiny Lund (55) powers to the inside of Butch Hartman (75) for the lead and eventual win at Shawano. – Pete Vercauteren Collection

By Pete Vercauteren

Shawano, Wis. (August 4, 1974) – Beating back the late race challenge of Ernie Derr, Dewayne “Tiny” Lund of Cross, S.C., steered his “min-powered” 1974 Camaro to top honors in the Centennial 100 for United States Auto Club late model stock cars on Sunday afternoon at the Shawano County Fairgrounds.

Lund took the lead on lap 63 as he ducked under current USAC point leader Butch Hartman after chasing the 1974 Dodge Charger pilot for some 20 laps on the half-mile clay oval.

Lund moved out to an immediate six-car-length cushion, but a rapidly balding right rear tire forced him to slow late in the race allowing Derr an opportunity to challenge for the lead.

Derr found the rear deck of Lund’s racer on lap 91 and tried an outside pass four revolutions later as the pair diced won the backstretch. However, the dry, slick track had reduced racing room to little more than one groove and Derr wisely pulled back behind Lund as they approached turn three.

As the duo received the white flag from starter Duane Sweeney, Derr decided to test the inside and moved up on Lund entering the south turn. Metal was tapped and Lund exited the corner in the lead and Derr lost traction and dropped back several car lengths.

At the checkered, less than a car length separated the pair. Lund’s Camaro was powered by a 350 cubic inch engine while the majority of the field was over 400 cubic inches. A weight per cubic inch rule was applied to equalize competition.

“I was running faster as the groove got higher because I could keep the engine wound up and not shut down in the corners,” Lund explained afterwards, after posting his first-ever USAC-sanctioned victory.

Starting seventh in the 14-car field, Lund moved by Derr on lap 4 to take fourth and eight laps later, slipped by Norm Nelson’s 1971 Plymouth to take third. Catching the afternoon’s fast qualifier, Don White on the 15th circuit, Lund dipped inside out of turn four two laps later to gain the second spot behind Hartman.

Lund began to gradually chip away at Hartman’s seven-second cushion which he built up after beating White in a mad dash for the first turn at the green flag. The margin was down by two car lengths by lap as the pair started to encounter slower traffic.

On several occasions, Lund had the inside groove on the defending USAC champion, but a slower car would force him to back off.

However, entering the south turn for the 63rd time, Lund dipped inside once again and moved ahead down the back straight. Hartman broke traction in the second turn and Derr slipped his 1973 Charger by.

Hartman nipped Nelson at the checkered as the pair finished a straightaway behind Lund and Derr. White rounded out the top five finishers in his 1974 Dodge Charger.

The USAC program was the first-ever at Shawano and first on a northeast Wisconsin clay oval since 1966.


Results –

1. Tiny Lund
2. Ernie Derr
3. Butch Hartman
4. Norm Nelson
5. Don White
6. Jigger Sirois
7. Ramo Stott
8. John Schultz
9. Paul Feldner
10.Steve Drake
11.Ray Bolander
12.M.J. McBride
13.Larry Cope
14.Bay Darnell