1973 – Gould wins ARCA Dayton 500

Bruce Gould

 

 

New Bremen, Ohio (September 23, 1973) – Bruce Gould took the lead on the 108th lap and except for a few pit stops, led the rest of the Sunday afternoon to win the Dayton 500 ARCA new car race at the New Bremen Speedway.

Ron Hutcherson, the only other driver to finish on the same lap as Gould, finished second to wrap up the season point championship. A. Arnold, the only other driver with a chance to overtake Hutcherson for the point lead in the ARCA championship finale, was knocked out of contention early when he was involved in the most serious on-track accident of the day.

Bobby Watson, who started on the outside of the front row, led from the second lap until he blew a tire in the third turn on lap 108, and hit the guardrail. Arnold, Watson’s teammate, had no place to go and crashed into Bobby, sending Watson to the local hospital where he was listed in satisfactory condition with chest injuries.

The most spectacular accident of the day, however, occurred in the pit area after John Sellers, whose car had been backfiring, drove in for a pit stop. Sellers’ car was put on a jack to change a tire while his crew began to refuel the machine while it was still running.

The car backfired again while the fuel was being poured, causing a fire. No one was injured but it took more than an hour for the race to continue because all of the speedway fire extinguishing equipment was used up and more had to be obtained.

Fourth place finisher Mike Johnson, who received some relief driving from Jack Shanklin, was disqualified and moved back to last place for running oversized tires.

Results –

1. Bruce Gould
2. Ron Hutcherson
3. Dave Dayton
4. Cliff Hamm
5. Delmar Clark
6. Eddie Tearman
7. Ralph Young
8. Iggy Katona
9. Wayne Trinkle
10. Bill Jackson
11. Bill Clemons
12. Jim Osgar
13. Johnny Banks
14. Tom Culbertson
15. Ed Richardsville
16. John Sellers
17. Danny Dean
18. Wayne Watercutter
19. Bobby Watson
20. A. Arnold
21. Kenny Kirby
22. Jack Shanklin
23. Jeff Faber
24. Bob Thomas
25. Jim Yates
26. N.D. Copley
27. Tony Schiller
28. Gen Smith
29. Kenny Black
30. Ross Smith
31. Grant Wilmont
32. Bobby Sands
33. Jim Clark
34. Mike Johnson