1974 – Lund Grabs Rain-Shortened Red Bud

 

DeWayne "Tiny" Lund won the rain-shortened Red Bud 300 stock car classic at Sun Valley Speedway. - Brian Norton Collection

Anderson, Ind. (August 16, 1974) – Was it meant to be this way? Probably.

Two of the three NASCAR drivers entered in the field were forced out, but Tiny Lund of Cross, S.C., grabbed the lead in his ’74 Camaro on the 117th lap and held it until the rain-drenched halt to the eighth annual running of the Red Bud 300 at Sun Valley Speedway Friday night.

Darrell Waltrip of Franklin, Tenn., one oof NASCAR’s greats, hit the fourth turn wall on lap 20after receiving a helpful nudge from Lund. Pete Hamilton, the polesitter for the 300 with a qualifying time of 13.419 seconds, experienced mechanical issues with his ’72 Dodge Challenger and was forced from the event after only 47 circuits around the high-banked quarter mile oval.

But the big story of the night had to be the driving of Gene Prosser of New Castle, Ind. After stepping into his machine amid the boos and jeers, the second fastest qualifier ran straightaway with some of the biggest names in stock car racing. Prosser never gave up and finished second classic followed by Dave Sorg of Fort Wayne, Ind.

Dennis Miles of Muncie, Ind., was fourth, driving a 1970 Camaro.

The race saw its first yellow flag after only seven laps of racing had been completed when Harold Scott and Miles got entangled on the first turn. Hamilton had jumped into a quick lead at the start and led until his car developed trouble on lap 46.

Tiny Lund made his move on lap 44 that probably won him the race as he moved up two positions as the green flag dropped for the restart. Lund literally jumped around Jackie Neal and jimmy Roberts. From that point, Lund waited patiently until Prosser made a wrong move and Lund slid under and into the lead.

Roberts put on the most exciting show of the evening as he moved from his eighth starting position into third place in less than 10 laps. Roberts held the third spot until the 91st lap when he was involved in a three-car pileup.

The race was red-flagged due to the mishap being delayed some 20 minutes. Prosser maintained his lead as the race was restarted but lost to Lund on the 117th lap.

Prosser got high in the second turn and spun but did a fine job of driving as he lost only a quarter of a lap to Lund. On laps 199 and 200, Lund and Prosser made their mandatory pit stops while jockeying for position. Lund maintained his lead and Prosser remained second with Sorg moving into the third spot ahead of Miles.

And then the rains came. Typical with most central Indiana races, the thunderclouds and strong winds made their appearance. The race, however, was never halted due to the rains until torrents hit on lap 159. The red flag immediately appeared, and the race was halted with Lund declared the winner.


Results –

1. Tiny Lund
2. Gene Prosser
3. Dave Sorg
4. Denny Miles
5. Jackie Neal
6. Gene Christie
7. John Sommerville
8. Don Keevin
9. LaMarr Marshall
10.Ken Simpson
11.Ray Fullen
12.Jiggs Meyer
13.Ernie Layton
14.Gene Fullen
15.Don Higgins
16.Jim Blount
17.Shorty Hinshaw
18.Randy Sweet
19.Mike Eddy
20.Bill Kimmel