After a 10-year interim, Ernie Derr finally captured the 100-mile Missouri Futurity at Sedalia. Derr receives his trophy from the Queen of Fairs Miss Janey Marie Seals and Mrs. W.C. Askew, wife of the Missouri State Fair secretary. They are joined by starter Woody Brinkman and announcer Jimmy Glenn. - Ken Simon Photo
Sedalia, Mo. (August 23, 1969) – Ernie Derr, who despite winning nine IMCA late model stock car national titles, had failed to win the Missouri State Fair’s 100-mile International Classic since 1959, broke the drought on Saturday afternoon as he wheeled his 1969 Dodge Charger to win before a record 15,560 race fans.
And although he got a stern challenge from a rookie half his age until well into the late stages of the race, the veteran was in command when it counted.Turning the mile dirt oval with finesse born of log experience, Derr overhauled 23-year-old Gordon Blankenship’s 1967 Plymouth on lap 72 after the first-year IMCA driver had grabbed the lead in a pit stop shuffle midway through the race.
A lap later, Blankenship, like Derr a Keokuk, Iowa, product, drove too deep into the first turn, slid wide, and Derr dived under him to take a lead he would never relinquish.
At the finish, the youthful Army veteran stood third, with Ole Brua of Albert Lea, Minn., holding down second in a 1969 Ford. Brua, the fast qualifier in time trials, had started in the sixth spot in the inversion.
Lewis Taylor of Shawnee, Kan., driving a 1967 Plymouth, finished fourth, followed by Gary Martin of California, Mo., in a 1969 Ford.
A hard, dry-slick condition kept times below record level all afternoon long and contributed to a variety of spinouts.
Results -
1. Ernie Derr, Keokuk, Iowa
2. Ole Brua, Albert Lea, Minn.
3. Gordon Blankenship, Keokuk, Iowa
4. Lewis Taylor, Shawnee, Kan.
5. Gary Martin, California, Mo.
6. Joe Wallace, Leavenworth, Kan.
7. Harland Conn, Fulton, Mo.
8. Roger Reid, Baldwin, Mo.
9. Jerre Wichman, Kansas City
10.Vern Covert, Topeka, Kan.
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