Diamond State 250 May 31, 1970

Diamond State 250

Dover International Speedway

Dover, Delaware

Sunday, May 31, 1970

Grand American race #12 of 1970 was held at Dover International Speedway, a 1 mile paved oval. Originally scheduled for the 17 ^th of May it was rained out and rescheduled. Tiny Lund came into the event having won 10 straight and leading in the point standings. Ken Rush had moved into second in points on the strength of 5 consecutive top 5 finishes while Wayne Andrews had slipped to third in points after missing Richmond and going out with a blown engine in a borrowed Camaro at Ona.

Tiny again started from the pole but was out early when his second engine went sour finishing 27 ^th . His pole setting engine made a lap in 27.71 seconds but had expired in the morning practice.

Jim Paschal started in 3 ^rd place but was out with engine failure on lap 95. Records show that Richard Childress, Buck Baker and Randy Hutchison were in the race but I dont have their finishing positions.

Ken Rush took the lead on lap 135 and never looked back. At the end he was 3 laps ahead of second place finisher Sonny Hutchins. Hutchins was driving the same #48 Camaro he had driven to a second place finish at Charlotte and the same car James Hylton had won with at Daytona. I dont know if he did not finish or just ran the last few laps at reduced speed but Ultimate Racing History results indicate engine trouble.

Anyone remember the rear spoiler on the 1970 Cougar Eliminator? The one that looked like a wing. Well it worked like one too. After being too loose at Charlotte with no rear spoiler Wayne Andrews tried the Eliminator spoiler at Dover. The mounting angle was adjustable and after trying a different setting at every practice they just could not keep the rear of the car on the ground. For the race they went back to the old standard sheet metal rear spoiler and managed another third place finish.

Rush collected $3,000 of the $20,000 purse. Thirty cars started the event and there were only 2 cautions.

Fin Srt Car # Driver Car Laps Reason out

1 10 44 Ken Rush 69 Camaro 250 Running

2 48 Sonny Hutchins 69 Camaro 247 Engine

3 15 Wayne Andrews 70 Cougar 246 Running

4 21 Frank Sessoms 68 Camaro 240 Running

5 75 Bobby Brack 68 Camaro 239 Running

6 33 Joe Dean Huss 69 Camaro 234 Running

7 88 T. C. Hunt 68 Camaro 232 Running

8 9 Stan Starr, Jr. 68 Camaro 231 Running

9 Al Grinnan 231 Running

10 7 Jimmy Vaughn 69 Camaro 228 Running

A couple of extremely brief Associated Press clips:

I found a report that stated the sour engine problem Tiny had was a broken oil line on the first lap. It was unclear as to whether he finish after repairs or if he parked it when the oil line broke.

This was the first Grand American race for Max Berrier in an American Performance Center Javelin. He ran with the leaders until mechanical issues resulted in a 15th place finish.

While researching the August GA race at Dover I found information contrary to what is reported here. The report I had of the Diamond State 250 agreed with the article Dave posted that listed Sonny Hutchins in a Camaro. An Article I found on he Blue Hen 200 stated Sonny had driven Melvin Joseph's #49 Mustang to a 2nd place finish in the Diamond State 250. That being the case it is possible Al Grinnan was in the Diver's #48 Camaro. I know Sonny did drive the #48 Camaro at Charlotte so I assumed it was that same Camaro at Dover.

Based on these 2 entry lists I found - one for the original race date and the other from the make-up date - looks like Sonny was in the #48 Camaro with Ray Hendrick in Joseph's #49 Mustang. Maybe that new info you found confused the two Virginians?

Both from The Daily Times of Salisbury, Maryland.

Race preview for May 17th date from Salisbury's Times

Report for Tiny's pole win for the rescheduled race

Race report from the Evening Sun of Hanover, PA

How about this cringe-worthy caption? "First NASCAR Grand National ... race ever conducted in the north". Where do I begin with the inaccuracies as it relates to the promo of the Grand American race?

Wayne Andrews may well have missed Dover had it been run on its original date. But the 2 week delayed and an assist from Bud Moore put him back in action.

Chase, I noticed Al Grinnan is not listed in the entry list either. Maybe some more confusion about Virginia drivers?

Thanks Chase, I've never seen this article. Reid did get most of the engine parts from Bud but they were provided at a cost. At one point during the 1970 season they had blown so many motors Reid sold a '34 Ford Phaeton to get the money for the next engine.

Ray Hendrick certainly would have been a logical choice for Dover track builder, Mel Joseph to put in his #49 Mustang for a Dover race. The Richmond speedster won a number of big modified races at Dover and was a big draw in the area. In fact, the very same year - 1970 - Ray Hendrick set a Dover speed record for all types of cars that would stand until broken in 1977 by Geoff Bodine.

Hey Chase... if you get a chance sometime, you might check out the Wilmington, DE; Philly; Dover & Baltimore papers to see if you can find out who won that September 1, 1969 Modified race at Dover. I have an idea the Schaefer Beer trophy may have wound up in Ray Hendrick's den.

According to this excerpt from a history of the All-Star Racing League, Ray Hendrick did win two Schaefer Beer Trophies from the All-Star League / NASCAR / Open Comp events at Dover to add to his huge trophy collection. Hendrick used to run a Budweiser beer tap as a hood ornament sometimes on the Tant/Mitchell "Flying 11" - so I don't know how that sat with the Schaefer folks!

Ray Hendrick would come back and sweep the October 1970 double header at Dover, setting a track speed record, topping the mark set by AJ Foyt. This 1970 story also confirms that Ray Hendrick did indeed take home the Schaefer Beer trophy by winning the All-Star race at Dover in 1969.