Darrell Waltrip
Salem, Ind. (August 18, 1974) – The announcer said it was Darrell Waltrip, the man who had won six straight races on the Salem Speedway in his late model sportsman stock cars, but it didn’t seem quite like old times.
First of all, the car he was driving was a Ford, not a Chevelle, and it had the number #84 on it, not the customary #48. And its engine, rather than roaring, frequently popped and sputtered. Instead of being the sleek machine Waltrip is accustomed to steering, the Ford looked a bit bedraggled, with its nose and tail shoved in, souvenirs of a crash on Saturday night at Clermont, Ind.
By the time Sunday’s 100-lap American Speed Association race was drawing to a close, however, it was obvious that looks can be rather deceiving. There was Waltrip, the Grand National star from Owensboro, Ky., by way of Franklin, Tenn., a half-lap ahead of the second-place finisher and coasted to the checkered flag.
Waltrip doesn’t own the Salem Speedway, but he has won almost enough money here in the last five years to buy the half-mile, high-banked track. Sunday’s race, dubbed the “Raider 100,” unwittingly was named for Waltrip’s wife, Stevie, whose maiden name is pronounced “raider,” Darrell announced.
Actually, the raider part refers to the purchase of southern stars Waltrip, Tiny Lund of Cross, S.C., and Pete Hamilton of Atlanta, for a three-race series that began with Friday’s Red Bud 300 in Anderson, Ind., then continued on to Indianapolis Raceway Park Saturday night and then Sunday afternoon at Salem.
Waltrip’s car got its dents at a heat race crash at IRP. Lund’s ’74 Camaro was badly damaged in the same wreck. In another wreck that night, Hamilton’s car was so badly damaged, he packed up and left for home.
Because Hamilton wasn’t at Salem as previously advertised, race director Milt Hartlauf offered race fans a refund on their tickets. Only seven accepted. Another 3,819 stayed to watch Waltrip and Lund challenge ASA’s best, led by high-banks ace Larry Moore of Dayton, Ohio.
Moore, also piloting a ’74 Camaro, was the fastest qualifier, with a lap at 93.865 miles per hour, while Waltrip, battling a sick engine and chassis problems from the night before, settled for third fastest. Lund, desperately trying to fix the suspension on his car, didn’t get to qualify at all.
In the feature, with the faster cars lined in inverted order, Waltrip started third and Moore fifth, while Lund had to start at the tail of the 23-car field.
Waltrip fell back to fourth place then worked his way up to second place before the yellow flag flew on lap 6.
“My car died on that first caution – down in the second corner,” Waltrip remarked. “Finally, it caught, coughed, and sputtered, and re-fired. I gunned it down the backstretch and it got back in line. But my engine never ran good after that.”
Nevertheless, after the green flag came back out again on lap 13, Waltrip need only two laps to catch and pass race leader Denny Miles of Muncie, Ind. Moore roared past Miles for second place on lap 22.
Moore steadily chased down Waltrip, then zipped into the lead on lap 33 when he trapped Waltrip behind a slower car.
“I really just thought I’d let him go,” Waltrip said. “I’ve run here enough to know that when someone goes by me that fast, I don’t think he can last. If he can last, I figure I can’t beat him.”
Moore didn’t last. His axle snapped 10 laps later, putting Waltrip in first place to stay for the remainder of the race.
Meanwhile, Lund, winner of Friday’s Red Bud, had passed 19 cars in the first 29 laps and was closing in on Rodney Combs of Hamilton, Ohio, for second place when his brakes failed, then the clutch went out in a period of five laps.
Combs, competing in his first race here, kept his ‘73 Camaro within striking distance until Don Higgins of New Castle, Ind., crashed in front of Combs on lap 91. Combs plowed into Higgins but glanced off and kept going to finish second. Lund settled for third, a lap off the pace.
Waltrip collected $1,200 for the victory while Combs earned $670, and Lund took home $450.
Results –
1. Darrell Waltrip, Franklin, Tenn.
2. Rodney Combs, Hamilton, Ohio
3. Tiny Lund, Cross, S.C.
4. Charlie Greenwell, Owensboro, Ky.
5. Denny Miles, Muncie, Ind.
6. Don Keevin, Anderson, Ind.
7. Kenny Simpson, Bedford, Ind.
8. Ray Fullen, Anderson, Ind.
9. Bill Kimmel, Clarksville, Ind.
10.Darrell Basham, Jeffersonville, Ind.
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