rickschwalliephotos.com

Delmas Conley, the patriarch of the talented southern Ohio racing clan who won more Super Late Model races in his 70s than most drivers do in a career, died Tuesday afternoon, according to team publicist Ryan Delph. The 79-year-old Wheelersburg, Ohio, resident who owned and operated Conley Trucking had been hospitalized with cancer since mid-December. | Slideshow

The ageless wonder inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame in 2003 tallied 561 career feature victories over seven decades of racing as one of the state's all-time winningest drivers, scoring numerous track championships and capturing major events that included the Beckley USA 100 at Beckley (W.Va.) Motor Speedway, the Southern 100 at his hometown Southern Ohio Speedway, Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park's Cornett Clash and Eldora Speedway's Johnny Appleseed Classic.

Conley's famed red No. 71 — his also successful sons Rod Conley (71R) and R.J. Conley (71C) drove near identical cars for Conley Motorsports alongside their father at many of the same tracks — was popular as Dirt Late Model racing moved from the early to modern era, but he was later even more popular among older spectators as he became the sport's fastest septuagenarian.

"I never feel like I’m an older guy,” Conley said after a 2012 victory. "Everybody puts a lot of emphasis on age, and age is a factor, without a doubt, but it’s what you feel and what you want to do. If I didn’t feel like I could drive a race car, I wouldn’t get in it. If I didn’t feel like I could be competitive, I wouldn’t race.”

Conley's career included track championships at Southern Ohio, Beckley, Atomic, Portsmouth and Checkered Flag Speedway near Ashland, Ky. He was a nine-time starter of the World 100 (best finish of seventh in 1991 and '94) and a six-time starter of the Dirt Track World Championship (best finish of ninth in 1987) and fourth-place finisher in 1980's Hillbilly 100 at I-79 Speedway in Shinnston, W.Va. His 561st and final victory came Aug. 8 at Portsmouth.

“I never want to retire," Conley said in the 2012 interview, adding he arose for work at 5 a.m. daily. "I’m a firm believer that if you retire and shut it down, you just rust. If I live to be 80, I want to be going at 80. If I live to be 90, I want to be doing something at 90. I want to be productive.”

Visitation is 3-7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 9, at Harrison-Plyes Funeral Home in Wheelersburg; the funeral is 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 10 at the funeral home with interment at Memorial Burial Park in Wheelersburg. Find a complete obituary at harrison-pyles.com.