1967 was the 13th season of competition for John McNeill's Independent Racing Association that held events at Sanford Motor Speedway on Friday nights and Rockingham Speedway on Saturday nights. Three divisions competed each night that earned points in heat races and features that counted toward the year long Points Championship. The divisions included the Late Model, Modified (formally called Amateur) and Rookie. Tommy Bostick from Bennettsville, South Carolina won the Late Model Championship with 16 wins that earned 2,620 points which beat J.D. McDuffie by 296 points. James Sears won the Modified Championship setting IRA records that are summarized below, if anyone knows who won the Rookie Division please post it.
For the 1967 season James Sears, John Sears brother and already a Amateur Division Champion, accepted an offer from Harold Carmac from Ramseur to drive his #29 black and white 1936 Chevrolet coach. By the end of the season Harold would be Mechanic of the Year and James would be Champ again.
James won the first race of the season at Sanford on April 14th and started a run that would last until the end of June. On May 6th at Rockingham he made it 8 in a row and set a track qualifying record of 17.00 seconds. After a rain out at Sanford on the 12th they returned to Rockingham on the 13 to set another qualifying mark of 16.90 sec. making him the first to turn a lap under 17 seconds and notched the 9th win in a row. By the June 13th Rocket 100 at Rockingham James had extended the streak to 13 in a row and laid down a time trial lap of 16.40 sec. to tie the new track record just set by Wayne Andrews in Late Model qualifying. He won number 14 that night. A win at Sanford on June 9th made it 15 in a row.
Several sports writers opined that the double header scheduled for the 19th at Rockingham would end James' streak because the finishing order of the first 25 lapper would be inverted to start the next 25 lap event. Sears won the first race and started in the rear of the 19 car field in the second race. It took him 3 laps to move up to 3rd and another 4 laps to pass second place Bobby Dunn and leader Hampton Turpin. From there it was clear sailing to victory number 17. Several papers reported James' win at Sanford on June 16th to be number 20 but my records show that the two victories they credit to James were actually won by Joe Hodges from Ramseur in another Harold Carmac Chevrolet at the end of the 1966 season so it was win number 18 in a row. Wins on the 17th at Rockingham and Sanford on the 23rd make it 20 wins in a row.
At the June 24th event at Rockingham the streak ended at 20, the cause, a broken coil wire. Wayne McBride of Star won the race making him the only other feature winner to that date in the Modified division. I can not prove it but I believe the red #79 '37 Pontiac coupe now owned by Billy Biscoe is the car that Wayne drove that night.
James got right back in the groove and won at Sanford on June 30th. The next night at Rockingham saw another double header with Sears winning the first race from the pole and starting in the rear of the second 25 lapper. About half way through the race he caught Hampton Turpin and led the rest of the way to record win number 24. Wins at Rockingham on July the 4th and at Sanford on the 14th run the total to 25 wins in 26 races.
At Rockingham on the 15th of July James started on the pole and led the first 8 laps then went high in the third turn, apparently overdriving, and David Munnerlyn, who had finished second to Sears 17 times this season, took the lead and held it the rest of the way with James on his bumper. The total is now 25 out of 27.
The next two races I can not confirm but I believe James finished second to Jimmy Norton in the feature at Sanford on July 21st making it the first time all season he went two races without winning making it 25 out of 28 and he won at Rockingham on the 23rd making it 26 wins in 29 races. This would start another streak of 10 in a row. Later news reports confirm that Sears had only 3 loses to date so the count is right but I can't confirm the dates of these two races or which one he won for sure.
Wins at Sanford July 28th, Rockingham July 30th, Sanford Aug. 4th and 11th, Rockingham Aug. 13th, Sanford Aug. 18th and 25th, Rockingham Aug. 26th make it 34 wins in 37 races.
A win in the first race of a double header at Sanford on Sept. 1st made it 10 in row and 35 out of 38. Sears started in the rear of the second 25 lapper and finished second to Jerry Wicker who led flag to flag. The grind of the long season took is toll as the car limped under the checkered flag with a blown engine. The total now stands at 35 out of 39.
David Munnerlyn scored his second win on Sept. 2nd at Rockingham followed by Archie Adams, Jerry Wicker, Jimmy Norton and James Sears in 5th. James drove a '38 Ford #49 that night because his Carmac Chevy was not available because of the engine failure at Sanford. Sears total now is 35 out of 40 and was only the second time he would loose two in a row.
Back in Carmac's Chevy wins at Sanford on Sept. 8th and 15th and Rockingham on the 16th make it 38 wins in 43 races. On Sept. 22nd at Sanford James started on the pole and led the first couple of laps before being passed by David Munnerlyn and Archie Adams. The two were pulling away when Sears blew a tire on lap ten. Munnerlyn won his third race of the year and Sears was out of the top ten for only the second time leaving the total at 38 out of 44.
The final race of the season at Rockingham came on Sept. 23rd and featured a double header for the Modified Division. Archie Adams won the first 20 lapper followed by Tom Jackson, Wayne McBride and James Sears in 4th. Sears won the second 20 lapper to run the score to 39 wins in 46 races. The final race of the IRA season came on Sept. 30th at Sanford Motor Speedway and James won the 40 lap feature to cap his Championship season with the 40th win in 47 races.
Sears scored 4,860 points, that was 2,718 more than second place David Munnerlyn who had an outstanding points total. David had totaled 98 more points than the Late Model Champ Tommy Bostick who scored 16 wins.
Sears and Carmac topped off the season with two wins in a row at the newly opened Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C. starting on Oct. 1st. and finished with a 4th place on the 15th. That's 42 wins in 50 races in 1967.
