1961 – Veteran Driver Wins Southland 250-Miler

 

Ernie Derr won the MARC-sanctioned Southland 250 at Birmingham. 

Birmingham, Ala. (November 5, 1961) – Ernie Derr of Keokuk, Iowa, proved the old champions are dangerous competitors Sunday as he outdueled 31 Midwestern and Southern drivers and won the first annual Southland 250 at Birmingham Fairgrounds Speedway.

Derr, a four-time International Motor Contest Association stock car champion, became the third representative of a racing organization to triumph during a three-week tour of southern states by the newly formed group headed by Curtis Turner and John Marcum.

Harold Smith, who finished second to Derr at Birmingham, won the first race at Atlanta. Smith is the 1961 Midwest Association for Race Cars (MARC) champion. Turner, the NASCAR kingpin who is promoting races under the MARC banner, won at Columbia, S.C.

The drivers put on one of the finest shows ever witnessed at the half-mile track. Derr drove a 1961 Pontiac while Smith piloted a 1961 Chevrolet. Third-place finisher Clyde Parker of Detroit, Mich., also competed in a 1961 Chevrolet.

Turner had won the pole position and had lapped the field in his 1962 Ford, when his car developed differential trouble and was forced to drop put.


Results –

1. Ernie Derr
2. Harold Smith
3. Clyde Parker
4. Jerry McCredie
5. Jerry Douglas
6. Phil Cronin
7. Emory Mahon
8. Iggy Katona
9. Charlie Glotzbach
10.Bill Erhardt