Mel Morris "gave em' hell" at the Mississippi Valley Speed Club season opener at West Liberty. - Ron Thruman Collection
West Liberty, Iowa (April 17, 1971) – It was the opening night of racing for the Mississippi Valley Speed Club at West Liberty Raceway on Saturday night, but Mel Morris had his Dodge Charger in mid-season form.
He started out the night by recording the quickest time in qualifying, then added a win in the third heat. But his big win came in the feature event when h lapped 13 of the 19 cars en route to victory.
Finishing second in the feature was Byron Buchele, who held off a steady challenge from Dean Montgomery and Ron Prymek. Mark Mosier had some handling problems but finished fifth. The rest of the top 10 places went to Bob Helm, Ron Perdock, Bill Newman, Bud Darting and Stan Crooks.
Pokey West, John Moss and Ron Hemsted, three of last season’s frontrunners, weren’t around at the finish of the feature. All three had mechanical troubles and were forced into the pits early.
In time trials, Morris turned the half-mile oval in 25.56 seconds with Moss, Montgomery and West tied for second quickest at 25.68 seconds.
Helm took the first trophy dash win of the season starting from a running start for the first time in MVSC history. Larry Jenkins, Ron Prymek, Mel Morris and Pokey West were heat winners while Bill Schwader, a newcomer to MVSC this year, won the semi-main.
Over 7,000 race fans jammed the stands at West Liberty with late arrivals finding standing room only.
Results –
Time trials – Mel Morris (25.56)
Trophy dash – Bob Helm
Heat #1 – Larry Jenkins
Heat #2 – Ron Prymek
Heat #3 – Mel Morris
Heat #4 – Pokey West
Semi-main – Bill Schwader
Feature –
1. Mel Morris
2. Byron Buchele
3. Dean Montgomery
4. Ron Prymek
5. Mark Mosier
6. Bob Helm
7. Ron Perdock
8. Bill Newman
9. Bud Darting
10.Stan Crooks
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