Ernie Derr
Oklahoma City, Okla. (September 24, 1961) – Ernie Derr, the national IMCA speed king, won his third consecutive 150-lap late model stock car race at the Oklahoma Free State Fair on Sunday afternoon.
His time for the 75-mile contest was 17 minutes and 58 seconds.
It was “King” Ernie all the way as an overflow crowd of 6,000 fans jammed the grandstands – one of the best crowds in 15 years according to fair secretary Tom Conrady.
By the 90th lap, “Durable Derr” had lapped all of the 15-car field but second place Lenny Funk of Otis, Kan., and third place finisher Dick Hutcherson of Keokuk, Iowa.
Funk and Hutcherson were both behind the wheels of 1961 Fords and had to make pit stops for more fuel. Derr, in his ’61 Pontiac, made it all the way without a stop and finished with a good two gallons on gas in the tank.
Derr’s chief mechanic, after the race, said the winner’s car carried 22 gallons and could have kept going for a couple of more laps before reaching the danger point.
Oklahoma’s Bob Reynolds, of Edmond, finished 11th in his 1961 Ford. The Sooner champion displayed plenty of speed on the straightaways but experienced trouble holding the track on the south end.
Reynolds ran as high as fifth through the first 96 circuits, but his second pit stop, for minor repairs and replacement of an air cleaner, cost him valuable time and position.
Derr, starting on the pole position thanks to his 29.00 second qualifying run in time trials, was in front coming out of the first turn and from there on saw nothing but the back end of the man who is trying to capture his fourth International Motor Contest Association racing championship.
Funk challenge several times in the early going only to be outpowered in the turns and by the 42nd lap, Derr was well out front by six car lengths.
At the 64th mark, weaving through slower traffic, Derr had stretched his lead to over half a lap. By the 90th lap, Derr had passed everyone except Funk and Hutcherson in a show of too much car, and too much driving ability.
Hutcherson passed Funk on lap 112 and stayed in second until lap 140 when Funk slipped past Hutcherson to regain second place.
One of the tough-luck drivers of the day was Ramo Stott of Keokuk, Iowa. Stott, who had finished second in last year’s point standings, and is high on the point list this season, was in the thick of the race when his motor began to overheat, and he had to make a pit stop on lap 49. He never got back on the track.
Gerry Harrison of Topeka, Kan., was the first casualty of the race when he slammed his 1960 Ford into the fence on the third lap of the race.
Results –
1. Ernie Derr, Keokuk, Iowa
2. Lenny Funk, Otis, Kan.
3. Dick Hutcherson, Keokuk, Iowa
4. Eddie Harrow, Corpus Christi, Tex.
5. Mickey McMahon, Keokuk, Iowa
6. Newt Bartholomew, Carlisle, Iowa
7. Ed Purkey, Peoria, Ill.
8. Roland Wilson, Bedford, Iowa
9. Jim Classe, Russell, Minn.
10.Boyce Whitlock, Monroe, La.
11.Bob Reynolds, Edmond, Okla.
12.Gerry Harrison, Topeka, Kan.
13.Ole Brua, Albert Lea, Minn.
14.Ramo Stott, Keokuk, Iowa
15.Bob Hodges, Springfield, Mo.
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