Virginia International Raceway April 17-18, 1971
Durham Morning Herald Monday April 19, 1971 - By CLIFF TURNER, Herald Sports Writer
MILTON - Army specialist fourth class Hurley Haywood took a few days leave to help Peter Gregg drive in the Danville 300 Sunday at Virginia International Raceway.
He's glad Uncle Sam was understanding enough to let him take a breather from his quartermaster outfit.
"It's a real thrill for me to team with Peter and win here," said the young Haywood, who hopes for an early out from the Army. "I hope I have no more than a month left. I just returned from Vietnam and want to devote most of my time to racing," he said.
Haywood was stationed in Can Tho, 100 miles south of Saigon.
He thinks the race track is safer.
When describing his performance after he had driven the Gregg Porsche under the checkered flag, Haywood said, "If Dave Heinz hadn't had some bad luck in that spinout and a lengthy stay in the pits we would never have beaten him.
"Did you see the way he took off? Fortunately for Peter he was able to do less braking in the turns than Dave did and that was to our advantage," he added.
"Peter and. I felt the only way we were going to beat his 427 Corvette was to force ourselves to make only one pit stop, stay out of trouble and drive as hard as we possibly could," he offered. "He was just too strong for us. A little luck for us sure went a long way.
"I was a little disappointed that the pit crew took so long in getting me out after I went in the pits on the 64th lap. We were over two minutes (2:25) to be exact) in getting back on the track,''' said an unhappy Heinz.
"I felt like I could make it with the bent clutch arm, but the pit crew felt I should come in and have it checked. While I was in there I got more fuel to be sure I had enough to finish the race. By that time Haywood had gone by. Then the spinout on the 77th turn did me in for the day," he added.
"For a while after I got the car back on the track following the little accident, we felt like we could have a chance to get back in," Heinz continued, "but in the spinout I lost a hood pin and had to stop and get another one."
Before realizing the hood pin had fallen out and the hood was getting a little shaky, Heinz had cut Haywood's lead of a minute and three seconds to 15 seconds. The high-geared Corvette didn't want to give up.
DAVID LORING, who was the Formula winner, credits his victory to a car that handled beautifully.
"When I entered the first turn after the green flag I felt the race was mine," he smiled after winning. "After spinning out early I knew that I could catch the leader. The car handled beautifully. No problem."
After winning Saturday's first heat, Bill Scott, a, veteran among Formula drivers, whispered a few words of wisdom into Loring's ear. "Bill gave me a few pointers that really helped me," said the former Canadian driver, who won the Ontario Region Formula Ford Championship in 1970.
VIR WAS Loring's second race in the United States. His first American event was the IMSA Inver House GP at Daytona in February where he finished ninth after starting 50th due to missing the qualifying because of a blown engine.
What about the future for the 20-year-old driver? "I hope to race Formula Three's in Europe if I can't get a sponsor for the U.S. next year, he said.
In 1970 Loring's record showed 10 wins from 26 starts, including Formula B races. He started racing in July 1969 with Autodynamics Formula V in Canada as he was (and still is) too young to compete in SCCA events.