Drivers wave to the fans prior to the start of the “Joe James 100” at
Salem Speedway. Parnelli Jones (51) and Don Branson (1) lead the field to
green. – Ken Coles Photo
By Wayne Fuson
Salem, Ind. (September 4, 1960) – That fellow Noah Webster must have been a real square…about auto racing, that is.
In his perennial best seller, Noah says a rookie is “a raw recruit…a novice…a beginner.”
Rufus Parnelli Jones, a young man from Torrance, Calif., proved Noah wrong again on Sunday afternoon. This “rookie” on the United States Auto Club sprint car circuit won another race, his fifth of the season, to clinch the coveted Midwest championship.
Jones is anything but a novice. But poor old Noah didn’t know there are rookies and then there are other rookies. A race driver must prove himself elsewhere before he can get a license to compete with the USAC sprints.
There is one thing for sure…Jones is the hottest “rookies” ever to hit the famed high banks. He has had his Chevrolet-powered racer singing a merry tune all season long. He and his running mate, Jim Hurtubise, another California youngster who set the racing world on its ear last May by setting qualification records at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at a hair under 150 miles per hour.
These graduates of the IMCA short track league, both driving Chevies, have proved that the old reliable Offenhauser engine is not invincible as most people thought.
Don Branson, one of the Offy clan, was hot on Parnelli’s tail for the first 70 laps of the grueling 100-lap race under a hot blistering sun on Salem’s high-banked asphalt.
Branson, the 1959 Midwest champion, led Parnelli in the Midwest standings 378 to 366 at the start of Sunday’s race.
Branson had to pit for a tire on lap 40 but was quickly back charging. He had almost picked up the lap he had lost when his engine went sour (valve trouble) and he was finished after 70 laps.
Jones now has 466 points to Branson’s 398. With only one race left, there was no chance of Branson catching Jones.
Jones set a new track record of 96.8 miles per hour to win the pole position. His speed for 50 miles was 87.249 miles per hour, another track record.
Jones got the lion’s share of the $7,800 purse which contributed to the season’s biggest crowd - 6,981.
Results –
1. Parnelli Jones
2. Roger McCluskey
3. Ronnie Duman
4. Al Miller
5. Bud Tingelstad
6. Chuck Hulse
7. Wayne Welker
8. Jim Hurtubise
9. Don Branson
10.Jim Packard
11.A.J. Foyt
12.Leon Clum
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