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April 1967 VIR RACES
By KEN RINGLE
Associated Press Writer
DANVILLE, Va. AP - George Alderman, a 35-year-old race car dealer from Newark Del., led an eight-car assault on the record books Sunday in the fastest day of racing ever run at Virginia International Raceway.
Driving the same McLaren-Chevrolet that carried him to victory two weeks ago in the Governor's Cup sports car races at Upper Marlboro, Md., Alderman ran away from the 16-car field of sports racing cars, finishing 39 seconds ahead of Jerry Crawford of Bow, N.H., in a Lola T70.
In the process, Alderman turned a lap at 2. minutes, 13.8 seconds, or 87.00 miles an hour for the 3.2-mile road Course. It was nearly two seconds under the previous record of 2:15.69 set last year by Dick Thompson of Washington in a Ford GT40.
Six other class records fell during the eight races run on a day of bright, overcast skies and 70-degree temperatures. A sizable crowd of 15,000 packed the hills and infield to watch the action, which sometimes was on the spectacular side.
Peter Hutchison of New York, driving a Lotus 35, collided with Robert McQueen's LeGrand racer during the Formula event at the end of the back straightaway, sailed over McQueen's spinning car, and continued on the course. Halfway around the track, though, his steering gear broke and Hutchison careened off the course, end over end, near the crossover bridge and crashed upside down in flames in a section of swampy underbrush.
Hutchison, who had a broken the lap record unofficially in qualifying Saturday, escaped with only a blistered forearm and shins. The car, however, was destroyed.
While Alderman's race was the fastest, easily the most competitive event was the battle of big production cars won by Ed Lowther of McMurray, Pa.
Lowther, starting second, next to pole-winner Bob Grossman of Nyack, N.Y., passed Grossman on the first lap and finished several car-lengths ahead after a nose-to-tail battle throughout the 30‑minute race time. Both cars, Cobra 427's, turned consistent 2:15 laps, also under Thompson's previous record, and. were clocked at nearly 170 m.p.h. on the backstretch.
Among the other hotly contested races was the A Sedan event won by Peter Lake of Boston, Mass., in a Mustang. Lake took over first place when John Kelly's Porsche 911, from Washington, sickened after leading for most of the race.
Tony Adamowicz of Falls Church, Va., won the B Sedan class in a well-driven Lotus Cortina
In the C and D Production race, national champion Bob Tullius of Alexandria Va spun his TR-4 on the first lap, but stormed back through the pack to finish fourth overall and first in class. Buzz Marcus of Jenkintown PA, in another TR-4 was first in D and second overall, while Robert Leitzinger of Pittsburgh in a Lotus Elan easily outdistanced the entire field.