Dave, I had no idea there was a competition about this back then. I don't remember Tiny making the record attempt at Rockingham. I ran across the article while doing research and thought it was interesting enough to share.
Wednesday, October 21, 1970 Statesville Record & Landmark
SPORTS VIEWSBy HERMAN HICKMAN
Lund Is Still Seeking Speed Record For Mile
ROCKINGHAM Tiny Lund almost did it. But almost doesn't count, especially when, as they say, "a miss is good as a mile".Lund, the fish camp operator, explained why he thought the Grand Americancarscould outrun the big 4,000- pound Grand Nationals."The Grand American cars, because of their size and weight and handling abilities, are better suited for tracks of a mile,"but he fell short of the world speed record for a one- mile closed course Tuesday at North Carolina Motor Speedway.The 40-year-old Lund, driving a Chevrolet Camaro prepared by Ronnie Hopkins of Greenville, S. C., turned a lap of 134.900 miles an hour despite mechanical problems which plagued him throughout the sunny afternoon.The winningest driver on NASCAR's Grand American series, Lund was after the world record of 139.048 set here March 5 by Bobby Allison of Hueytown, Ala., in a Dodge prepared by Mario Rossi of Spartanburg, S.C..Lund had five laps on the banked mile oval before noon. After lunch, the 6-4, 250-pound driver went back to the Camaro and spent the next five hours trying to beat Allison's record. A leaking oil breather kept Lund in and out of the pits early in the afternoon. By the time the leak was repaired, the track was slippery with oil. Although bitterly disappointed, Lund remained confident that the Grand American boys would show up the Grand National drivers when they gather for a100-mile Grand American race scheduled here for Oct. 24.The next day is the sixth annual American 500 for Grand National drivers. "We had several problems which cropped up and our time was limited today," said Lund. "I believe we could have broken the record if we had a couple of days to work on it."Lund, who has won 17 GA events this year and 32 during the first three years of the division, won the inaugural title in 1968then called Grand Touring. He drove a Cougar prepared by Bud Moore of Spartanburg. Moore's Cougars won 11 of the series' 19 events, with Lund in victory lane nine times.Hard times, which are nothing new to Lund, greeted him in 1969. He won six races, but the point title went to Ken Rush of High Point, N. C. Lund joined Hopkins this year and they signed on with a sponsor, Pepsi Cola. The team won a record-tying 10 races in a row, and lead the current point standings with 17 victories.
ROCKINGHAM FAVORITE Tiny Lund and his No. 55 Pepsi Special are Titanic". . . - favorites in the final Grand American Challenge Series Race scheduled Satururday, at North Carolina Motor Speedway at Rockingham.
Henry County 100
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville, Virginia
Saturday, October 17, 1970
Grand American race #34 of 1970 was held at Martinsville Speedway, a 1/2 mile paved paperclip. It was the first visit for the series to the historic speedway. Starting positions were determined by a qualifying race won by Tiny Lund who held the top spot from the drop of the green flag until Jim Paschal drove around him on lap 17. Paschal held the lead the rest of the way to record his 10th win of the year. Paschal finished about a car length a head of Lund who was able to keep Paschal in site by virtue of 6 cautions that lasted 25 laps. Frank Sessoms finished 3rd and Johnny Allen 4th both on the lead lap.
Paschal and the American Performance Center Javelin had now won 7 of the last 9 races but Lunds second place finish gave him a 66 point lead in the standings which was enough to ensure the Championship regardless the results of the last race of the season at Rockingham.
Paschal collected $1,050 of the $5,215 purse. Nineteen cars started the event but two went out on the first lap with engine failure. Fourteen were running at the finish.
Twenty cars were scheduled to start the race but the car to be driven by Virginian Paul Radford did not complete a lap. I did not find out if the car failed to make the grid or went out on the parade laps but it was listed as having engine failure finishing in 20th place. Im not sure but it seems like I heard somewhere he was to drive the same #48 Camaro that had been driven by James Hylton, Sonny Hutchins and Bob Glass earlier in the year.
1969 Grand Touring Champ Ken Rush had been out since being injured in a wreck at Flemington but his brother Harold is credited with bringing his Camaro home to a 7th place finish.
Fin Srt Car # Driver Car Laps Reason out
1 14 Jim Paschal 70 Javelin 100 Running
2 1 55 Tiny Lund 69 Camaro 100 Running
3 21 Frank Sessoms 68 Camaro 100 Running
4 97 Johnny Allen 70 Mustang 100 Running
5 5 Pee Wee Wentz 69 Camaro 98 Running
6 2 Randy Hutchison 69 Camaro 96 Running
7 44 Harold Rush 68 Camaro 96 Running
8 15 Wayne Andrews 70 Cougar 96 Running
9 54 Bobby Fleming 69 Camaro 96 Running
10 27 Jerry Hufflin 68 Camaro 96 Running
11 87 Buck Baker 70 Firebird 94 Running
12 17 Ernie Shaw 68 Mustang 94 Running
13Shelton Henson 69 Camaro 85 Running
14 86 David Boggs 69 Firebird 81 Accident
15 88 T. C. Hunt 69 Camaro 77 Running
16 Tommy Lechlider 68 Camaro 56 Engine
17 26 Richard Childress 68 Camaro 23 Oil Pres.
18 33 Joe Dean Huss 69 Camaro 1 Engine
19 19 Bobby Brewer 69 Camaro 1 Engine
20 Paul Radford 69 Camaro 0 Engine
Personnel note: Dad recorded in his log book that the engine ran poorly, coughed and sputtered all day. Bad enough that he felt the chassis setup could not be evaluated.
Hey Johnny, You might be right so I went back and looked at the results for the GA race at Savannah in April of that year and I did not see Tim's name. Do you think it is possible that Tim did not tell them he was in the field? It did happen once that a guy from Ga. was in a GA race and nobody would have known if he had not won the race!
The 34th race of 1970 for the Grand American Challenge Series was to have been at Savannah Speedway on Oct. 11th but the 100 mile event was canceled without explanation as reported by AP.
The cancellation leaves two events remaining on the schedule. The Henry County 100 at Martinsville on the 17th and the Grand American 100 at the North Carolina Motor Speedway on Oct. 24th.
Dad remarked in his log book that the track surface at Jacksonville was oil based and the car ran hot. He noted that the shaker screen needed to be revised for the next trip there. They had mounted the screen like the picture above of Tiny's car, fastened top and bottom to the nose of the car. The oil applied to the track surface collected on the screen and caused the dirt to stick to it. He observed that the Jacksonville regulars had mounted their shaker screens where they would pivot at the top. This allowed the screen to swing and as it hit the stop it would jar the dirt off the wire mesh.
Jacksonville 200
Jacksonville Speedway
Jacksonville, Florida
Saturday, Oct. 3, 1970
Grand American race #33 of 1970 was held at Jacksonville Speedway, a 1/2 mile dirt oval. Starting positions were determined by 10 lap qualifying races won by Tiny Lund and Jim Paschal. Point leader Lund had not been in the winners circle in 2 months as Paschal and the American Performance Center Javelin had won 6 of the last 7 races. Starting from the pole Lund led 189 of the 200 laps resulting in a one lap margin of victory over Joe Dean Huss who led the other 11 laps. Paschal was sidelined by a broken rocker arm after 51 laps but the most excitement happened on lap 4 in a wreck that took out 3 rd place starter Jimmy Vaughn, Johnny Allen and Buck Baker.
Lund collected $1,350 of the $5,360 purse. Seventeen cars started the event with twelve running at the finish.
Fin Srt Car # Driver Car Laps Reason out
1 1 55 Tiny Lund 70 Camaro 200 Running
2 33 Joe Dean Huss 69 Camaro 199 Running
3 15 Wayne Andrews 68 Cougar 198 Running
4 88 T. C. Hunt 69 Camaro 196 Running
5 21 Frank Sessoms 68 Camaro 193 Running
6 86 David Boggs 69 Firebird 188 Running
7 17 Ernie Shaw 68 Mustang 187 Running
8 26 Richard Childress 68 Camaro 183 Running
9 19 Bobby Brewer 69 Camaro 182 Running
10 24 Bobby Wilson 68 Camaro 170 Running
11 90 Jimmy Lee Capps 68 Camaro 124 Heating
12 27 Jerry Hufflin 68 Camaro 121 Running
13 54 Bobby Fleming 69 Camaro 92 Oil leak
14 2 14 Jim Paschal 70 Javelin 51 Rocker arm
15 3 7 Jimmy Vaughn 69 Camaro 4 Wreck
16 5 97 Johnny Allen 69 Mustang 4 Wreck
17 87 Buck Baker 70 Firebird 4 Wreck
The win also vaulted Paschal into second place in the point standings only 52 points behind leader Tiny Lund.
Kingsport 300
Kingsport Speedway
Kingsport Tenn.
Saturday, September 5, 1970
Race #32 of 1970 was the second Grand American event held at Kingsport Speedway that year, a 3/8 mile paved oval. Tiny Lund started on the pole with Wayne Andrews to his outside. Andrews led the first lap but it was Jim Paschal who came from the inside second row that led the most laps, 249 of 297, on his way to victory number 9 and his 4th in a row. His dominance of late is seen in the fact that he has won 6 out of the last 7 races and was second in the one he didnt win. Buck Baker led 47 laps and finished 3rd behind Andrews in 2nd.
Paschal collected $1,000 for the win. Twenty one cars took the green flag before a crowd reported to be only 500. There were 2 cautions for 11 laps.
Fin Srt Car # Driver Car Laps Reason out
1 3 14 Jim Paschal 70 Javelin 297 Running
2 2 15 Wayne Andrews 68 Cougar 296 Running
3 5 87 Buck Baker 70 Firebird 295 Running
4 2 Randy Hutchison 69 Camaro 293 Running
5 8 Phil Wills 69 Camaro 281 Running
6 88 T. C. Hunt 69 Camaro 281 Running
7 26 Richard Childress 68 Camaro 278 Running
8 4 97 Johnny Allen 69 Mustang 277 Running
9 54 Bobby Fleming 69 Camaro 274 Running
10 92 Paul Tyler 69 Firebird 273 Running
11 70 George Bauer 68 Camaro 266 Running
1 55 Tiny Lund 70 Camaro 86 Fuel Pump
7 Jimmy Vaughn 69 Camaro Engine
04 C. B. Gwyn 68 Cougar Engine
