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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 15, 2007
Contact: DICK JORDAN
“THE LEALAND LEGACY” AT MANZANITA SALUTES RACING LEGEND LEALAND McSPADDEN
Lealand McSpadden, a member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa, will be the focus of attention Saturday night when Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Ariz. hosts the Lucas Oil USAC/CRA Sprint Cars in “The Lealand Legacy.”
McSpadden, also a member of the Arizona Motorsports Hall of Fame in Phoenix, is regarded as one of the all-time Manzanita Speedway heroes, fondly referred to as “The Tempe Tornado.” His initial CRA Sprint Car win came at the 1/2-mile dirt track in 1973 and 19 years later he claimed the CRA driving championship.
His 78 career feature wins rank him third on the all-time winners list and 30 of those came at Manzanita Speedway. Dean Thompson (103) and Bubby Jones (80) are the only drivers with more CRA wins than Lealand, who also had the fastest qualifying time on 60 occasions and won 44 trophy dashes.
In 1975 he won the Arizona Sprint Car title and in 1978 he won the “Western World” Sprint Car championship at Manzy, one of over 120 total Manzanita victories in various types of cars.
A veteran of USAC’s Silver Crown Series, Lealand won the 1992 “Hulman Hundred” at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.
In 1996 Lealand retired from racing after a stint with the SCRA Sprint Cars which produced more feature victories.
Tony Jones continues to lead the Lucas Oil USAC/CRA Sprint Car standings in pursuit of his initial USAC driving title. Jones finished third in last year’s USAC/CRA standings.
LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES STANDINGS
1 Tony Jones 756
2 Mike Spencer 673
3 Rickie Gaunt 589
4 Danny Sheridan 584
5 Scotty Weir 558
6 Rip Williams 515
7 R.J. Johnson 474
8 Darren Hagen 460
9 Cory Kruseman 428
10 Garrett Hansen 388
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