Lincoln 100
Illinois State Fairgrounds
Springfield, Ill.
Originally scheduled to be at the first mid-west event under the promotion of Robert Baskowitz and Red Baron Productions on May 9 th the race was red flagged after 24 laps there by making it the first Grand American race to be postponed due to dangerous track conditions after part of the race had been completed. As a matter of fact the race on the 16 th was held just as if the events on the 9 th never happened but for now back to the 9 th .
After leaving Nashville late on Friday night the Grand American crews headed to Springfield, Ill. for an event on the one mile dirt track at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. The tight schedule prompted track officials to hold two five laps heat races instead of timed qualifications. Wayne Andrews won the first heat of seven cars and Jimmy Capps won the second heat of six cars. The dust problem did not appear until the feature when H.B. Bailey emerged from the dust cloud to lead lap one. On lap two six cars were involved in an accident that took out Steve McWhite. The green came back out to start lap nine with Tiny Lund going to the front. A thick dust cloud again quickly engulfed the track as Bailey regained the lead on lap 12 just before Buck Baker spun into the inside guard rail in turn four where he was hit by Wayne Andrews. Baker said visibility was so bad that there was no way Wayne could have seen me in time. The field remained under caution after the wrecked cars were removed from the track until the red flag was displayed on lap 24. At this point it was Jimmy Vaughn leading followed by David Boggs, Bailey, Capps, Ernie Shaw and Lund on the lead lap with Bobby Fleming one lap down and Bobby Brewer, Stan Starr, Jr., James Ramey, Bob Williams and Al Straub two laps down. After a meeting between promoters, fair board, track and NASCAR officials it was announced that because of unsafe track conditions the race would be postponed until next Sunday the 16 th . This brought boos from fans that had tickets for second day qualifying at Indianapolis on the 16 th as no refunds would be made but ticket stubs would be honored on the rescheduled date. The drivers and crews had nothing to show for the days activities but several torn up race cars and emptier pockets than when they arrived.
Buck Bakers Firebird being towed back to the garage.
The remains of the Cougar driven by Wayne Andrews. Reid Shaw had now lost two race cars in two weeks after the 71 Mustang was crashed at Dover.
Drivers discuss the days events after the race was postponed. Al Stilley photo.
Now, fast forward to Sunday the 16 th . Posted results indicate that the race started on the 9 th was not restarted from where it was stopped. This was a new event with qualifying and the green flag waving on lap one.
Race #6 ended up being the last event of Red Barron Week. Tiny Lund started on the pole with Jimmy Vaughn along side. Vaughn grabbed the lead on lap one until Lund got by and led laps 5 thru 7. Vaughn went back out front until lap 13 when Buck Baker took over the top spot. Lund lost an engine on lap 14 and Wayne Andrews broke the driveshaft in the borrowed Camaro after 22 laps. Vaughn fought back and led lap 27 before yielding the lead to Baker a lap later. Baker would hold on to the top spot the rest of the way putting a lap on the field. At some point the race was stopped for half an hour for rain.
Baker collected $1,550 of the $7,775 purse. There were 2 cautions for a total of 5 laps. 11 of the 18 starters were running at the finish.
Fin Srt Car # Driver Car Laps Reason out
1 8 87 Buck Baker 71 Firebird 100 Running
2 12 90 Jimmy Capps 69 Camaro 99 Running
3 2 7 Jimmy Vaughn 70 Camaro 99 Running
4 11 39 James Raimey 69 Camaro 98 Running
5 18 47 Al Arnold 70 Camaro 95 Running
6 6 54 Bobby Fleming 69 Camaro 94 Running
7 5 19 Bobby Brewer 68 Camaro 93 Running
8 4 21 Tommy Andrews 70 Mustang 90 Running
9 17 61 Tommy Lechlider 69 Camaro 90 Running
10 16 6 Alf Brewer 68 Firebird 83 Running
11 9 06 Bob Williams 70 Mustang 79 Running
12 14 17 Ernie Shaw 70 Mustang 56 Overheating
13 3 74 Al Straub 71 Mustang 34 Head gasket
14 13 86 David Boggs 71 Firebird 23 Valve
15 7 24 Wayne Andrews 68 Camaro 22 Driveshaft
16 1 55 Tiny Lund 70 Camaro 14 Engine
17 10 9 Stan Starr, Jr. 70 Chevy II 6 Overheating
18 15 27 Steve McWhite 68 Camaro 1 Technical
Buck Baker
updated by @dennis-andrews: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
