1970 Hofer Wins August 15

Thanks to Kyle Ealy and Midwest Racing Archives for this story.

Columbus Junction, Iowa (August 15, 1970) – A new name was added to the list of winners in Mississippi Valley Speed Club stock car racing Saturday night as Benny Hofer came from his third-row position to nail down his first feature event victory.

Hofer’s big night also included a win in the second heat and propelled him to within one point of sixth-place Byron Buchele in the point standings. Coming in second, and adding to his point lead, was John Moss, who took advantage of an eleventh lap restart to move from fifth place into second.

Bill Neuman had led the race for the first 10 laps, with Hofer, Ron Hemstead and Moss following in that order. Neuman and Brown spun out on fourth corner and were both forced out of the race.

This put Hofer into the lead on the restart, with Hemstead and Moss together in the second row. Moss got the jump on Hemstead, and the first three positions remained unchanged for the last 10 laps.

Larry Jenkins made his best showing in several weeks while coming in fourth, and Ron Jackson finished fifth. Crossing the line in sixth place was Stan Crooks, ahead of Pokey West, Truman McDowell, Bud Darting, and Walt Carney.

The one driver who suffered the most for the night was Mark Mosier, who came to race, but was unable to time his car and sat out the competition. He now trails Moss by 16 points in the standings and is only ahead of third plan Pokey West by seven markers.

In time trials, Moss edged Mel Morris for fastest time, 26.30 seconds to 26.31. Mike Brooks was third with 26.67 and Jackson had fourth fastest with 26.99.

The point standings now show Moss with 185, Mosier 169, and West 162, holding down the top three places. Still in fourth place is Bud Darting with 115, but Hemstead is closing in with 101. Sixth and seventh places show Buchele with 85 and Hofer with 84. Mel Morris took eighth place with 75 points ahead of Ron Perdock’s 74. Tenth-place Dan Robertson has 56, and Larry Jenkins and Bob Helm have 51 and 48 respectively.

Feature –

1. Benny Hofer

2. John Moss

3. Ron Hemstead

4. Larry Jenkins

5. Ron Jackson

6. Stan Crooks

7. Pokey West

8. Truman McDowell

9. Bud Darting

10. Walt Carney