By Randy York
Eagle, Neb. (June 25, 1972) – Someone suggested Don Droud should drive straight home, run into his living room, plop down on the couch, and pinch himself.
That way he would know it was for real. He would have had time for it all to soak in.
“I might do that, I’m serious,” Droud said after he won his first super modified feature race ever Sunday night before 2,700 fans at Eagle Raceway.
“This is absolutely the biggest thrill in my life,” added the 33-year-old Droud. “I’ve not only never won a feature; I’ve never even come close.”
“I counted every lap,” said Droud, after leading from start to finish in the 30-lap A-main. “But after I got the checkered, I ran one more lap just to be sure.”
“I’m no Lloyd Beckman, Roger Rager, or Lonnie Jensen, I know that” added Droud. “I own my own car, and it cost a ton of money to run it. For me to win a feature against this type of competition is unreal.”
“I don’t know if it was prophetic or what,” reflected Droud. “But when I was packing up this afternoon to come out here, I told the boys I thought might win the feature. Of course, I thought it was wishful thinking.”
A $500 check made it see more real. And so did the congratulatory gestures from Dick Sutcliffe, and Beckman. But the most important reward was the adulation heaped on him by his kids – Cindy, 15, Don Jr., 10, and Rod, 7.
A multi-car pileup on the first turn of the first lap of the feature, eliminated four cars and caused thousands of dollars in damage.
Lincoln’s Lonnie Jenesen, bidding to become the first driver to win three straight features at Eagle since the late Kenny Gritz did in 1969, was one of those four drivers forced out of competition. The others were Larry Upton, Mike Cecak, and Dan Holliman.
Such prominent drivers as Sutcliffe, Ray Lee Goodwin, Del Schmidt, and Eddie Leavitt couldn’t even crack the top-four as Keith Hightshoe of Ashland, Wayne Holz of Lincoln, and Beckman finished 2-3-4 behind the winner.
Results –
Time trials – Lonnie Jensen, Lincoln (16.78)
Trophy dash – Lonnie Jensen
Heat #1 – Dan Holliman, Lincoln
Heat #2 – Lloyd Beckman, Lincoln
Heat #3 – Wayne Holz, Lincoln
Consolation – Ray Lee Goodwin, Kansas City
Match race – Lloyd Beckman
B-main – Don Maxwell, Lincoln
A-main –
1. Don Droud, Lincoln
2. Keith Hightshoe, Ashland
3. Wayne Holz
4. Lloyd Beckman
5. Gerald Bruggeman, Hoskins
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