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DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1968
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Boyd In Right
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Place To Find
i
i Safe Cars
by BERNARD KAHN
_S PORTS EDITO R______
By BERNARD KAHN when Bunkie pitted and the South
Uncle Tom McCahill is the renown News Sports Editor Carolina giant held the lead until the
ed automotive editor of Mechanix As befits the Birthplace of Speed, 58th lap when he ran out of luck
Illustrated and author of books on the Daytona Beach driver-mechanic and gas — stalling in the east turn.
cars who makes his home in Ormond team of James (Bunkie) Blackburn Lund limped to the pits, and despite
Beach. Today he makes his annual and Ray Fox teamed up to win the losing many minutes came blazing back
appearance as our guest columnist. third annual NASCAR 300 mile to move into third place in the same
In fact, once a year for more than sportsman car race Saturday. lap with leader Blackburn and second
a decade, Uncle Tom has written Blackburn drove Fox’s jazzy 1965 place Farmer. Lund’s luck ran out
this column on Daytona Race Day Dodge to a comfortable victory, forty again as his engine blew in the 111th
and I look forward to reading it seven seconds in front of his closest lap.
as much as his many, many other pursuer, before 42,000 fans who braved
Farmer, a Hueytown driver in a Dodge,
fans. (BK) 40 degree winds at Daytona Interna was pressing pacesetter Blackburn into
By TOM McCAHILL tional Speedway.
THE CAT SCHEDULED to drive the The 31 year old home pro averaged
pace car in the Daytona 500 today is 140.423 MPH for the 120 lap race, Top Execs At 500
Alan S. Boyd, a cracker boy from Jack despite seven caution flags that waved
sonville and Lyndon’s Secretary of for a total of 37 laps. The Daytona 500 has attracted
Transportation. This cabinet office It was shy of Jim Paschal’s 148.188 a number of top automotive ex
•It
covers more ground than a jack rabbit record set last year in a Plymouth. ecutives. They include Earl
with the hives, which includes all the Long shot Hoss Ellington of Wilm Hathaway, president of Firestone
mandatory safety gadgets on our new ington, N.C., a refugee from the outlaw Tire & Rubber Co.; and Don
cars. circuits, was the surprise runnerup Frey, a Ford Motor Co. vice
Now this writer doesn’t have any in a Ford. NASCAR driving star Bobby president and Ford’s chief for
Allison of Hueytown, Ala., piloted his product development
• ••••••• • ••••• • • • • « • •••••••••••a
■ ••••••••■■•a
Ford to third place. • ••••••a
* )'
Only the first three cars completed the 97th lap. Then Farmer’s engine
the full 300 miles, with fourth place pooped out and he dropped the drive
Bill Wimble of Rome, N.Y., trailing shaft.
by two laps in his Pontiac. Another top contender, Lee Roy
For the happy Blackburn, it was Yarbrough, was sidelined at 175 miles
his first win in 12 years of r a c i n g when the differential in his Ford went
TO THE WINNERS and he relished it. The parttime life kaput.
. . James (Bunkie) Blackburn, center, holds trophy as winning driver while Pete Benoit, insurance salesman had won the pole From the drop of the green flag,
left, sponsor of 300 mile race, presents another to Roy Fox, who set up winning car with the fastest qualifying run at 175.903 the fans sensed there were two cars
MPH and he finished the 300 the same that had a sizeable speed jump over
way he started it — first. the other entries — Blackburn’s and
* ★ ★ ★
* Blackburn said the top speed he Lund’s.
hit on the banked 2.5 mile track Saturday The victory was worth $8,700 to
was 187 MPH on the straights. Bunkie
Bunkie Played It By pit stop in the 29th lap. Shortly Blackburn and Fox, out of the total
almost became a cropper after a fuel
prize pot of $39,000.
The triumph by Blackburn, who hasn’t
thereafter, the white Dodge ran over driven on the Grand National circuit
debris on the course and he had to
By BRAD WILLSON in the Daytona 500 two years ago. in modified-Sportsman racing and was make an unscheduled pit stop for tires for two years, also marked the first
News-Journal Sportswriter time since 1960 that one of the regular
“The high speeds wouldn’t bother me. leading the Modified-Sportsman race in the 40th lap.
Bunkie Blackburn played the NASCAR If they can do it,” he said, matter here to two years ago, but crashed NASCAR G.N. stars has failed to win
300 mile race by ear and won going of factly. For engineer-mechanic Ray Fox, the the sportsman race here.
away. Crashed In 1966 with 10 laps to go when a slower NASCAR sportsman success just about By his well deserved win, Blackburn
car nicked his left rear and sent him completed a grand slam for him on
Bunkie, the lean North Carolinian A native of Fayetteville, N.C., where into the wall. follows in the foot steps of three other
who now lives in Daytona Beach, drove he played football on the high school his home course. In 1960 Fox prepared home pro Daytona drivers who scored
McCAHILL his white and red No. 3 Dodge to the first team, Bunkie began racing in 1953. Asked why he hadn’t been doing the Chevrolet driven to victory in the at the Speedway here in past years
big victory of his racing career Satur Daytona 500 by Junior Johnson. In — Nelson Stacy and Marvin Panch.
particular beef with the kid in the day. He’s won several track championships (See WILLSON on next page) 1961 Fox set up the Dodge piloted now retired from racing, and the late
safety suit but I would like to point In Victory Lane, and later in the by Dave Pearson into the July 4 Fire Fireball Glenn Roberts.
out that as long as he’s here, he’s press room, Bunkie talked easily and cracker race winner’s circle here. This puts Blackburn in elite company.
th the right place to learn how to with poise about the $8,700 victory. A field of 50 sportsman type stock ★ ★ ★
make cars really safe. Anyone with “Ray (Fox) and the rest of the ‘500’ Winners cars' went to the post Saturday and
at the finish there were 20 survivors.
the brains of a retarded termite knows boys did a wonderful job of setting It was a particularly chilling windup Yellow Flag For
that the Grand National race cars up the car. That’s the difference between for Rod Eulenfeld of Jacksonville.
arc just about as safe as it is nossible winning and losing,” the 6 foot. 160 Records for the ning. prwiq'Ls a -tit til 37LaDsOfl2Q
