Ernie
Derr is joined by IMCA’s Al Sweeney, Gene Van Winkle and Woody Brinkman after a
dominating performance at Lincoln.
Lincoln, Neb. (September 6, 1961) – Ernie Derr, the defending International Motor Contest Association champion and current point leader, picked up all the marbles Wednesday afternoon in the late model stock car races at the Nebraska State Fair.
A crowd of 9,500, believed to be the biggest weekday throng in the history of State Fair auto racing here, saw the chunky Derr from Keokuk, Iowa, pilot his 1961 Pontiac to a three-victory slam.
He opened the program by breaking his own one-lap record in time trials. With the dirt track as hard as asphalt, Derr took one spin around the 5/8-mile oval in 34.25 seconds, a half second under his old mark.
He established records for two events covering 10 laps and 50 laps that will be hard to break.
In winning the first heat in a duel with his nearest challenger, Ramo Stott of Keokuk, Derr posted a 10-lap mark of 5 minutes and 58.8 seconds.
Dick Hutcherson, also of Keokuk, came closest to the new record in winning the second heat. But his time was a full 2 seconds off.
Derr led all the way to defend his feature race championship. He took the checkered flag more than a quarter of a mile ahead of runner-up Lenny Funk of Otis, Kan.
Derr’s time for 50 laps was 28 minutes and 56 seconds, also a new record for the event.
Funk, in a 1961 Ford, was second all the way. Stott battled it out with Hutcherson for third, finally moving ahead on lap 28 and holding his position to win show money by two car lengths.
Derr met his match in the 10-lap match race, a contest among the four fastest drivers. Light never showed between the cars as Derr gained the lead three times only to lose it again until he got the inside groove on the last turn and passed Funk and Hutcherson in the homestretch.
The spirited crowd had a big favorite – a Simca driven by Don Bowles of Kansas City. The little foreign job apparently had it under the hood but couldn’t hack it on the curves.
Bowles spun out while a contender in two races before taking the consolation win to qualify for the feature. The light, shorter wheel based Simca really scooted on the stretches but slipped badly on the rock-hard dirt curves.
Results –
1. Ernie Derr, Keokuk, Iowa
2. Lenny Funk, Otis, Kan.
3. Ramo Stott, Keokuk, Iowa
4. Dick Hutcherson, Keokuk, Iowa
5. Bob Reynolds, Edmonds, Okla.
6. Darrell Dake, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
7. Newt Bartholomew, Carlisle, Iowa
8. Jerry Harrison, Topeka, Kan.
9. Kenny Lee, Des Moines
10.Luther Poteet, Topeka, Kan.
11.Froggie Droz, Ottumwa, Iowa
12.Shorty Eberts, Avondale, Mo.
No comments:
Post a Comment