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Former Track ChampionBob Foor Honored At Port Royal1977Local Late ModelWeekend ResuitsWednesday, August 10, 1077 — Bedford Gazette, Bedford, Pa, — 5DRIVER OF THE YEARSTANDINGSLoud Showers Quiet Local SpeedwaysPainls shown below r«fl«t 1h* driven performance on Itie loyglievt three-track circuit In Pennsylvania.BEDFORDJENNERSTOWNHESSTONDriverPointsBob Foor, who now operates an automobile dealership just east of Bedford, Is shown here with his racing machine backThree decades ago racing .began on a regular basis at Port Royal Speedway, and in that time, over 1,500 drivers have battled it out in over 1,000 races.On August 13, Port Royal . Speedway will be paying a • special tribute to the best of those drivers in special ceremonies.Expected to be on hand for the ceremonies are pasttrack ■ champions, or theirBAKER’SWELDING SERVICEALL TYPES OFWELDINGINCLUDING PORTABLEl.fH uicd in the funner Harris Biim'i hidj». in lt;hr hardin 1965. lie won the track title that year at the Port Royal Speedway. He, along with other former track Cham-representatives, in both the super sprint and late model divisions.Among the list of past year champions expected to be on hand is former local racing star Bob Foor who won the point title back in 1965 at Port.Some of the other champions include Pete Swarmer, John Grum, Carl Vogt, Frankie Thompson, Eddie McCardle, Mitch Smith and Lynn Paxton.Also featured will be a number of vintage racers, ail 30 years old or older. Owners who will have racers at the ceremonies include Bill Shirk, Lebanon; Frank Murray,pions, will be honored this Saturday night at the speedway.Hellertown; Buster Warke, Allentown; and Marlin R. Heller, Dover; and Lynn Paxton of York Springs,TurkRurkct..............138Gary Marlz...............1)4Jim N'ave .........98Larry Wright..............64Jerry Price................42Jerry Claar................38Kenny 1m lor...............38BobElbin ..................8Charlie Cragan............Y0Very I Felton.................Steve Rice...................Paints are awarded the lop five finishers in fealuro events as follows: 10,8, 6,4, 3. Double points 1or leatures 75 laps or longer.Supporters Sponsors Are:Hartley National Bank Martz Chassis Engineering Turner Feight Motors Pit WitWaltrip Wins Race InRelief For D. AllisonI leiyhl sBEDFORDShop623-9315Home623-5697Bath rooms - Kitchens - porchesDUCKWORTHBROTHERS301-689-6336 Frostburg, Maryland• Tile• Marble• Slate• Quarry Tile• Terrazzo• Cement WorkMartz Chassis’—Proven WinnersCongratulations ToThis Weekends WinnersWILLIAMS GROVELarry Gorman — Feature WinnerLERNERVIllEFrank Choura— Feature WinnerNORTH HILLSJim Irvine Jr. — Feature WinnerST. CLAIRSVILLEDave Malloy — Feature WinnerMARTZBy JERRY GARRETT AP Motorsports Writer TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Darrell Waltrip, driving in relief of heat-fatigued Donnie Allison, took an uncontested victory over Cale Yarborough in Sunday’s ninth annual Talladega 500 Grand National stock car race.Meanwhile, Skip Manning’s engine failed him six laps from the upset of the season.Waltrip, whose own Chevrolet blew an engine while running among the leaders after the halfway point, took.over the Chevrolet of Allison, one of several drivers unable to cope with 96-degree heat and nearly identical humidity, with 23 laps left in the 188-lap event, Manning, last year’s rookie of the year, was leading Waltrip with six laps left when the engine in his Chevrolet began belching smoke from a loose hose on the oil cooler, ruining his bid for his first■ m9 *i* .-v *ever Grand National victory.Yarborough, whose Chevrolet had only high gear left, was well off the pace when the caution flag eame out for Manning’s oil spraying problem. The race finished undfer caution. Manning, who got the black flag, stayed out anyway and look third place. Buddy Baker’s steaming Ford sputtered to Fourth, with Lennie Pond fifth.Allison, who said he felt ill enough before the race that he didn’t even want to start the car, tried to get relief several times before Waltrip finally got in, but his crew was waiting for a caution period, so they wouldn’t drop out of contention during the change.Waltrip and David Pearson 'were paged on the public address system to report to Allison’s car. Waltrip, on a dead run, made it there first.Waltrip and Allison teammed to average 162.525 miles per hour. •■ £We're happy to announce that ‘Gus’ Frear, ace mechanic on the famed number 76 modified driven by Gerald Chamberlain, was released from the Hershey Medical Center last Thursday. He is home now and resting comfortably.CHASSIS ENGINEERINGpitt st.BedfordGASURiAOS S8OTSSNorth of Bedford on Rt.MQ»2 Mlnutetlt;fom Tvrnplkn InterchangeWe have double winners in our contest for this week. Since Donnie Allison needed relief help from Darrell Waltrip to win the Talladega 500, we’re presenting two free tickets to BFR to the two people who predicted each driver to wia The two contestants who picked these drivers at the closest average winning speed were Kenny Smith, who guessed Waltrip, and Sherry Wigfield (AGAIN) who had Allison picked. Our congratulations to both. Honorable mention goes to Mrs. Thomas Hickey for coming the closest to the correct speed. Shepredicted 162.575 mph and the speed was 162.525. Now that’sclose. Unfortunately, she predicted Cale Yarborough to win.Our next contest will be the Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan on Aug. 21. Send or drop your predictions with the average winning speed to Pit Wit, Bedford Gazette, P.O. Box 571, Bedford, Pa. 15522. Deadline is Friday, August 19,1977.”Tlu/IQuMuJufetWELDONiienncplus• Sandwiches• Sizzling Steak Platters• Seafood• Complete MenuKitchen Open Till I A.M.Bedford Fairgrounds Raceway (BFR) will remain silent agai n this week due to the Bedford Fair now in progress. Auto racing action will pick up next Friday night (Aug. 19). We'll give you more details on the show next week.1978 Daytona 500 Tickets Are Now Being Moiled OutEaHereakel Out!!.at it's BestBaked orun-bakedlDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Reserved seat tickets for the February 19th Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway are in the mall to those early birds having placed orders for the world's most prestigious stock car race,An indication of the continuing popularity of the sport of auto racing is that reserved9Why Use Less Than The Best?'Don't take chances with your car's engine/ use theNUMBER ONEMotor OilAvailable At Any Local Texaco StationDistributed In Bedford County Byii-iOIL'•til• 1ASH BRIDGE215 Railroad St ..Bedford623-6885seat tickets are being sent to all but nine states in this initial mailing.The nine states not yet having representation at this classic conclusion to SPEED WEEKS ’78 are Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah.D.I.S. Ticket Office Manager, Mary Moyer, said, I can't recall so many states being represented so early. It’s a sign that racing fans should place their reserved seat orders early to avoid possible disappointment later.”The highlight of the two weeks is set for 1:00 P.M., Sunday, February 19th when 40 of the true greats of the sporl take the green flag for the 20th running of the f Daytona 500 Winston Cup stock car race.Those wishing ticket information are urged to phone the Daytona International Speedway ticket office at 904-255-5301 or write: Tickets, Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fla. 32015.WILLIAMS GROVESmoke y Snell baker blitzed his way through the early heavy traffic and then continued on to win the 25-lap sprint car feature at the Williams Grove Speedway on Friday night.Several times during the remaining 21 laps, Snellbaker had leads washed away when the yellow was needed after minor incidents on the speedway. Still, he finished 2.1 seconds in front of Lynn Paxton, who again was tooling the Boop’s Aluminum Spl.Jay Myers held off Randy Wolfe to earn third place money. Wolfe, a rookie driver, turned in his best effort of the season, by tolding off Jimmy Edwards for fourth spot.Larry Gorman held off a frantic last lap effort by Tom Deck to win the 25-lap late model feature. It was Gorman’s second win of the season, but his first since teaming up with Paul Johnson, owner of the J S Salvage Spl., last week.Gorman started fourth and had the lead after only three laps. He had things under control until the 24th lap when the yellow was needed when Jeff Leiphart spun out. That set the stage for the wild finish.Peck managed to pull along side of Gorman as the two moved into the tliird turn, and it was a drag race to the finish, with Gorman winning out ty a half length. Charlie Wlerman nipped Jim McBee Iy a half length for third, and Bob Croop was fifth.NORTH HILLSThe 35 lap Late Model Fbature wept fairly smooth with only a couple cautions. Jim Irvine Jr. of Zelienople started on the outside pole and stayed there till the checker. Brian Mueblman of Harmony had inside pole, and held 2nd spot for 12 Japs when the trai 1 ing arm broke and he was . forced to go to the pits. Wexford's Herb Scott who had been 3rd, took over 2nd place and finished there. Jimmy Bertges of Laurel Gardens who had started the race in 7th position moved up fast to take over 3rd place, Frank Choura from Harmony took over 4th place and Larry Walters of Evans City was5th.PORT ROYAL- Keith ^ ’Kauffman, 1 Mif-flintown, drove the Groninger Construction K33 into victory lane for the second time this . year at the Port Royal Speedway. Kauffman took the lead at the outset and was never headed as he bested second place Jim Nace for the checker.Johnny Grum finished third for the second consecutive week, while eight time winner Miteh Smith could do no better than fourth. Paul Pitzer wheeled the Weikert’s livestock 29 into fifth. Dick Tobias, making his first appearance as a driver since 1968, finished sixth in the Boop’s Special. Gary Gollub, Ronnie Rough, Cris Criswell, and Dick Ruth rounded out the top ten.In the twenty lap late model event, Terry Sheffield won his first race ever at Port Royal as he got a good break on the sixteenth lap and came home a winner. Sheffield, who had been running fourth in the race, had the three cars leading him get tangled in the second turn and spun out. Sheffield inherited the lead and came home to collect the checker. Ed Spencer, seven time winner came from the rear in only four laps to finish second. Butch Renninger came home third, with Erk Hockenberry fourth, and Bill Landis fifth.LINCOLNLeading feature winners Steve Smith and Ronnie McBee charged into victory lane Saturday night at Lincoln Speedway, Smith thwarting Dub May’s bold bid in the super sprint 25-lapper and McBee staving off Bobby Goodling in the 50-lap Pocono Qualifier for late-models.It was the seventh Lincolnisuccess of 1977 for each driver. Smith now has won two in a row after a six-week dry spell while McBee boasts a skein of three straight and has been home first in five of the last six L-M events here.LERNERVILLEWinning his first feature here since 1970 and a guaranteed spot in the Pittsburgh 300, Frank Choura from Harmony drove his 1974 Cbmaro to a narrow victory in FYiday night's 25 lap Late Model feature at Lernervlile Speedway,Steve Travers of DuBois achieved his goal for the first time ever at Lernervlile by winning the Sprint feature. The Modified main went to Ed Lynch of Apollo, his eighth.Choura, elated with the winin his recently purchased machine, credited the Martz chassis with superb handling ability. “It’s the most competitive car I’ve ever driven,” cfcclared Choura who started the feature on outside pole position. With the feature reflecting a straight up start, after qualifying, Bob Wearing was on the pole and led the first 8 laps before the' engine died on a 9th lap restart. Choura inherited the lead, but fcy this time Dave Hoffman had moved from 13th starting spot to Choura’s back bumper. Despite a determined effort by Hoffman, Choura was never rattled and Hoffman settled for second at Jack Freeman’s checkered flag. Larry Walters, Blackie Watt, Jack Sotosky, Gary Henry, Carl Murdick, Norm Myers, Nord Rayko and Wearing rounded out the top 10.SELINSGROVEWith his eye on the overall KARS point title, Smokey Snellbaker made a triumphant return to the Selin-sgrove Speedway on Saturday night.Tooling the Lloyd’s Enterprise Spl., Snellbaker romped to victory in the 25-lap sprint car feature, giving him an excellent shot, at the title, which he won in 1975.Tom Peck inched a little closer to the overall KARS title in the late model ranks when he breezed to victory in the 25-lap run.Snellbaker started off the season as a Sellnsgrove regular. However, several weeks ago he joined the Lloyd team which had been racing at another Saturday night track. But Snellbaker’s victory at Williams Grove on Friday night put him in the thick of the point Battle and Snellbaker convinced the Lloyds to try Selinsgrove.Starting 11th, Snellbaker shot by Tom Spriggle on the nth lap, and breezed to a 1.6 second victory over Spriggle, the .current KARS point leader. The victory was Snellbaker’s fourth of the season, tops in the sprint division.Eddie Zirkle, who led during the early stages of the event, rode home third, with Ben Showers fourth and Barry Camp fifth.Peck, who had not finishedthe last two races at Selin-sgrove, was in command most 1 of the way. He took the lead away from Mike Kriner following a ninth lap restart, and then romped to a SVi second victory.Dale Kerstetter won the battle for runner-up honors, just nipping Bob Croop, last week’s winner at the wire. Larry Hare was fourth, and Kriner, in a Dodge, was fifth.JENNERSTOWNAfter last Saturday night’s rainout at Jennerstown Speedway, there are only four more weekly racing programs on the 1977 schedule.This coming Saturday evening, August 13, the Ohio Micfeet Association drivers will appear along with the regular Late Model, Modified Coupe and Semi-Late Model Divisions.On August 27 the popular Urated Racing Club super sprints make their final appearance of the year.Also on the 27th, the point races will come to an end. With only three weeks left, the drivers will be going all out to improve their positions in the standi ngs.Gary Martz has a commanding 58-point lead over team mate Turk Burket in the Late Model listing.The final event of the season takes place , on Saturday, September 3rd, the annual running of the '‘Laurel Highlands 101.” This premier test for the Late Models goes 101 laps and has always been a thrilling climax to the racing season at Jennerstown Speedway.MOTORDROMELight rain started to fall about5 P.M. this past Sunday and forced the cancellation of the races at the Motordrome “70” Speedway,NAZARETHBobby Bottcher of Lehighten broke his bad luck jinx at Nazareth Raceway on Sunday night and came up with his first modified win of the 1977 season in the 30-ttpper. This was Bottcher’s fust win at Nazareth In two years as he wan by nearly a straightaway over Buzzie Reutimann.HESSTONLATROBEThe traeks listed above also fell to the rain that dominated mast of the racing action over the weekend.READINGYoung lion Meme DeSantis finally opened the door he had been knocking on all season at the Reading Fairgrounds Friday evening, Taking the lead from a faltering Frank Cozze an lap 17, the 21 year old DeSantis did not make an error and was victorious by a half straightaway over fourtime RSCA champion Dick Tobias.READINGThere was a new winner and an old winner Sunday night.The new winner was Frank Cozze who grabbed the first 20-lap feature for his initial career victory at the Home of Champions.”The old winner was Kenny Brightbill who picked up the checkered flag in the 20-lap finale for his 11th win of the season and the 106th of his Reading career.liHAGERSTOWNRain hit the Hagerstown Speedway following the completion of the qualifying heats forcing the cancellation of the two scheduled features on Sunday evening’s racing program.Bobby Maiers won the first late model heat, with Ronnie McBee finishing second and Buddy Armd, third. Sam Nalley won the second heat, followed by Chuck Brannon and Gerry Fries.FLEMINGTONJim Horton of Bradley Gardens survived four restarts and the late challenges of Jay Stong of Norristown to capture his second win of the season Saturday night at the Flemington Fair Speedway in the modified 30-lapper, in a show started late due to an early rain storm.Gerald Chamberlainfinished fourth in the feature event,Emerson Fittipaldi, of Brazil, was the youngest man ever to win a world driving championship at the age of 25.Big Guns HighlightAtlantic Coast 300DOVER, Del. — The entry list for the August 21st Atlantic Coast “300” NASCAR National Championship Modified race at DoverDowns International Speedway now totals over 33 drivers with the August 15th entry deadline still more than a week away.Reading like the “Who’s Who” of Modified racing, the list includes: John Anderson, pole sitter at Charlotte in 1976 and again at Daytona earlier this year; Richie Evans, 1973 NASCAR National Modified Champion, Maynard Troyer, winner of the 1976 Trenton Race of Champions; Geoff Bodine, world record holder(Dover - 144,051 MPH) andwinner of many major modified events plus numerous New England track Championships; Jerry Cook, five-time NASCAR National ■Modified Champion; Charlie Jarzombek, reigning track champion at Freeport and Riverhead Speedways in New York; Melvin Swisher, 1978 North Carolina State ModifiedChampion; Harry. Gant,winner of this year’s National Championship Modified events at Daytona and Charlotte; Fred Harbach, reigning track champion at Islip (NY), and New Egypt (NJ).Wayne Anderson, winner over Geoff Bodine in the 1977 Race of Champions Qualifier at New Egypt; Merv Treichier, winner of the 1975 Trenton Race Of Champions; Joe Thurman, former NASCAR National Late Model Sportsman Champion; Satch Worley, reigning track champion at Ashville, Caraway, arid Hickory Speedways in North Carolina; and Lennie Pond, popularNASCAR Grand National driver now also competing in major modified and Late Model Sportsman events.On Sunday, August 21st, the infield will open to patrons at 7 a.m. with grandstand gates opening at 8 a.m. 'Final Atlantic Coast “300 practice and qualifying for starting positions 26 through 33 will begin at 12:10 p.m. with the race scheduled to start at 1:39Do YourselfA Favor...We carry all popular brands eluding• Ice623-8731 ! Pretzels!Call for local home deliveryKASEBEVERAGEOpposite Fairgrounds » BedfordAmerica’s lowest prices convertible!JeepCJ■ ®CJ-7CJ-5When it comes to deciding which is the best sports; utility for you, there's really only one choice: Jeep CJ, Built from the ground up for demand ing on or off road: performance, CJ leads the way in reliability, toughness; and maneuverability with the great go-anywhere capability of built-in 4-wheel drive. The original Jeep CJ-5 features tough Jeep guts and power to spare. And the Jeep CJ-7 with its longer wheelbase offers extra room and options like Quadra-Trac*—the Jeep exclusive full-time 4-wheel drive system. Whatever your choice in sports utility vehicles, Jeep CJ is the one for you. Which CJ? Well, you’ll have to decide that, Come on in and let us help.Jeep, FI C JJeep wrote the book on 4-wheel drivel.1 XGene Turner—Don FeightTURNER FEIGHTMOTORS623-5080Bedfordt
Newspaper Details
Bedford Gazette
Bedford, Pennsylvania, US
Wed, Aug 10, 1977
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Thomas S.
NY, USA 06 Jul 2020
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