Dick Tobias
Mechanicsburg, Penn. (July 11, 1970) – Dick (Toby) Tobias, Lebanon, Penn., made his return to the Williams Grove Speedway a most successful one.
The 1963-64 super modified champion at the Grove, came back as a member of USAC, and went out and scored his first feature win since joining the professional association earlier this season. Tobias' best finish before Saturday night's win was a fourth place.
Tobias, who posted the second best time of the night, started fifth in the 40-lap event, and was running fourth during the early stages of the event. Tobias improved his spot two positions when the two front runners - Larry Dickson and local star Bobbie Adamson - got together in the second turn on lap 13.
It took the Lebanon veteran seven laps to catch the hard running Greg Weld, who got the lead following the accident. But the Kansas City, Mo., pilot got a little out of shape in the fourth turn and that was all Tobias needed.
He pushed the Ruppert Chevy into the lead moving down the front stretch, and once in the lead, his knowledge of the track paid off, and at one point stretched his lead to a quarter of a lap over Weld.
Although it was Tobias' finest hour, it was Adamson who stole the spotlight.
The hard charger had fast time, won the first heat, moving away and was running second in the main event, when he struck Dickson, who got out of shape.
Adamson charged back from 20th spot and was in the third running position at the conclusion of the event. But due to a USAC ruling, which states that if a car needs the use of a push truck, the car and driver are one lap behind. Adamson, who was awarded eighth place, was greeted with a standing ovation, by the large crowd.
Weld was never challenged for the runner up honors, and Dickson, who was able to keep moving, despite his collision with Adamson, collected third-place money. Defending point champion, Gary Bettenhausen, was fourth and Rollie Beale, was a close fifth.
In addition to Adamson, other heat winners included: Dickson, Karl Busson, and Beale. Tobias won the semi-feature event.
Adamson's fast time was 25:05 seconds.
Due to the excellent fan support, promoter Jack Gunn was able to exceed the posted purse, and his payoff was in excess of $8,000.
Results –
1. Dick Tobias
2. Greg Weld
3. Larry Dickson
4. Gary Bettenhausen
5. Rollie Beale
6. Carl Williams
7. Ralph Liguori
8. Bobby Adamson
9. Jimmy Oskie
10.Don Nordhorn
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