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1981 United States Auto Club
Don Branson / Jud Larson Memorial Weekend
Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, Ohio
Sunday, April 26th
Inaugural Silver Crown Feature for Dirt Championship Cars.
USAC recently changed rules to entice and allow “Outlaws” to run under a Conditional License at selected events. Steve Kinser is the only driver not running for USAC points that showed up.
Qualifications:
1. Tom Bigelow, Hammond 56, 17.113 (New Track Record); 2. Gary Bettenhausen, Delrose-Holt 1, 17.138; 3. Larry Rice, Pizza Hut 55, 17.241; 4. Steve King, Stanton-King 75, 17.257; 5. Jack Hewitt, DePalma 58, 17.389; 6. Sheldon Kinser, Leyba 11, 17.428; 7. Eddie Leavitt, Commercial Truck 53, 17.432; 8. Paul Pitzer, Gurtizen-GCQ Racing 51, 17.595; 9. Bobby Olivero, Wilke 5, 17.607; 10. Bill Tyler, Roberts 57, 17.608; 11. Larry Dickson, Conroy 81, 17.616; 12. Leland McSpadden, McCray 64, 17.799; 13. Rich Vogler, Smith Speed Shop 17, 17.822; 14. Steve Cannon, Fortune 39, 17.826; 15. Joe Saldana, Johnson Sheet Metal 33, 17.845; 16. Smokey Snellbaker, Lloyd Racing Enterprises 54, 17.966; 17. Bill Vuckovich, Cook-Stapp Racing 48, 18.131; 18. Lennie Waldo, Stronger Ford 81, 18.133; 19. Greg Leffler, Armstrong Mould 43, 18.209; 20. Billy Engelhart, Marcello Steel 42, 18.863; 21. Bud Wilmot, Madison Inn 84, 18.965; 22. Chris Cumberworth, LaGrande Inc. 7, 19.234; 23. Richard Powell, Powell 77, No Time; 24. Tracy Potter, Midwest Tele-Promotions 24, No Time; 25. Ricky Hood, Stenger Ford 71, No Time; 26. Ken Schrader, Raceweld Charger 71, No Time; 27. Jerry Potter, Booth 62, No Time; 28. Bill Compton, Syring 22, No Time.
Powell crashes during qualifications. Vogler is suffering from mechanical problems and fails to qualify.
First Heat (20 Laps)
1. Tom Bigelow, 2. Larry Rice, 3. Jack Hewitt, 4. Larry Dickson, 5. Bobby Olivero, 6. Greg Leffler, 7. Joe Saldana, 8. Bill Vuckovich, 9. Bill Compton, 10. Bud Wilmot, 11. Rich Vogler, 12. Eddie Leavitt.
Bigelow leads laps. Rice and Hewitt ran in positions for the distance as well.
Second Heat
1. Steve Kinser, 2. Gary Bettenhausen, 3. Sheldon Kinser, 4. Paul Pitzer, 5. Leland McSpadden, 6. Bill Tyler, 7. (?), 8. Billy Engelhart, 9. Steve Cannon, 10. Chris Cumberworth, 11. Lennie Waldo, 12. Smokey Snellbaker.
Kinser, Bettenhausen and Sheldon ran 1-2-3. for the duration of this heat.
Feature (100 Laps)
1. Steve Kinser [2] $5,700; 2. Jack Hewitt, $3,600; 3. Steve Chassey [20] $2,600; 4. Paul Pitzer $2,100; 5. Sheldon Kinser $1,800; 6. Leland McSpadden $1,600; 7. Steve Cannon $1,500; 8. Chris Cumberworth $1,400; 9. Bill Compton $1,400; DNF-10. Tom Bigelow [1] $1,300; DNF-11. Larry Dickson $1,250; DNF-12. Bud Wilmot $1,200; DNF-13. Bobby Olivero $1,550; DNF-14. Bill Vuckovich $1,100; DNF-15. Greg Leffler $1,050; DNF-16. Joe Saldana $1,000; DNF-17. Larry Rice $980; DNF-18. Lennie Waldo $1,065; DNF-19. Bill Tyler $955; DNF-20. Billy Engelhart $950.
Lap leader: Steve Kinser 1-100.
Gary Bettenhausen is suffering from the painful effects of pleurisy in his left side for the second week now. Steve Chassey will substitute for Bettenhausen.
Start: Steve Kinser blows by Bigelow for the lead into turn 1. Lap-5: Engelhart is done due to an oil leak. Laps-8 through 16: Yellow is out after Tyler is done due to an accident in turn 3. Lap-9: Waldo is done after he suffers from a broken shock. Laps-18 through 23: Yellow is out after Sheldon Kinser tags the wall in turn 4 and Rice gets tangled up. Rice would restart, but a steering problem causes him hit the wall almost head-on in turn 3. Lap-31: Leffler is done with suspension problems. Lap-35; Chassey has moved into 8th. He is suffering from the effects of a broken stud and lost a cylinder. Lap-41: Red flag after Olivero hits the wall in turn 3 and flips through turn 4. Dickson (2nd at the time) was attempting to lap Olivero and was involved and suffers from a cut hand. Dickson was about to give up the seat to Rice, who had buckled into the car, until USAC Officials note any driver substitution would restart at the rear. Dickson gets that hand bandaged up and back out on the lead lap. The red flag had cancelled an already record setting pace by Kinser. Laps-42 through 45: Run under caution to line the field. Lap-54: Chassey is up to 5th. Lap-62: Wilmot is done with throttle issues. Lap-64: Steve Kinser has lapped up to 5th. Laps-79 through 90: Caution is out after Dickson and Chassey tangled on the backstretch. Dickson is done for the day. Lap-85: Hewitt misreads the Pit Board of another team and thought he was Black Flagged. USAC Chief Steward, Rollie Beale, corrected Hewitt’s mistake and restores his racing position. Lap-86: Bigelow is done with magneto issues. Lap-100: Kinser wins by about 10 car lengths over Hewitt, the only other driver on the lead lap.
Steve Kinser-“I learned my lesson in the Heat and I knew I wanted to run up around the holes. I could have run a little harder but I wanted to be smooth and that’s what I concentrated on.”
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