1977<<1978 >>1979

Sunday, October 1, 1978
Kenny St. John wins with “Half a Car”

Kenny St. John survived all kinds of problems to win the 1978 World Figure 8 Championship.

St. John basically drove “half a car” into the winner’s circle after completing a record 454 laps in the second annual World Figure 8 classic. There wasn’t much left of the winning 1978 Camaro.

When St. John finished the race, he was riding an “open air tax” because the entire right side fiberglass had been ripped off. The right side body of the C.J. Rayburn Automotive sponsored Camaro was fully dislodged after an incident.

Amazingly, St. John overcame two flat tires and a crash with defending champion Jim Fox, who was running second at the crossover on the next to last lap.

St. John won by a mere one lap advantage over Fox who completed 453 laps.

The pair of home track veterans outlasted a strong contingent of the nation’s top figure 8 stars. The next five finishers were from out of state. Michigan’s Bob Studt, John Briggs and Billy Simmons finished 3-4-5 with Louisville’s Ron Hargeshemier sixth and East Coast veteran Sonny Eaton seventh. Briggs was the fastest qualifier at 20.243 seconds in a Camaro.

Rounding out the top 10 were Royce Johnson, Louisville’s Rance Harmon and John Handlon.

St. John and Michigan’s Chuck Hall were among the early leaders. Fox joined them and all time great Figure 8 Champion Sonny Thompson in a four-way duel for the lead. Wrapped up in the battle, the four front-runners drove like it was a trophy dash instead of a three-hour endurance race. Fox and St. John eventually dueled for the lead down the stretch.

St. John got a winning break when a red flag came out for other reasons just after he had entered the pits with a flat tire, saving him from losing crucial ground to Fox.

Record 68 drivers from eight different states competed including Indiana’s own Sonny Thompson, short track star Terry Cater and dirt track star Charlie Reed plus Michigan’s Chuck Hall and 1977 runner-up Bob Belz.

After finishing the race, Maryland Figure 8 star Eaton was rushed to an area hospital after suffering from a heart attack. In his honor, the Sonny Eaton Memorial trophy was established as a new race award to the top-finishing rookie in the World Figure 8 Championship.

As predicted for such a wide-open race, two different drivers had won the first two World Championship Figure 8 three-hour endurance races. The event quickly established itself as the most unpredictable among all figure 8 races.

Lap Leaders
1-8 Bob Studt
9-26 Kenny St. John
27-33 Bob Studt
34-36 Kenny St. John
37-42 Jim Fox
43-62 Sonny Thompson
63-160 Jim Fox
161-215 Kenny St. John
216-233 Jim Fox
234-256 Kenny St. John
257-342 Jim Fox
343-344 Kenny St. John
345-359 Jim Fox
360-454 Kenny St. John
 

1978 World Figure 8 Final Results

Finish Position Start Position Car# Driver/Hometown Laps completed
1 3 2 Kenny St. John Indpls. IN. 454
2 6 740 Jim Fox Greenfield, IN. 453
3 5 54 Bob Studt Dearborn, MI. 446
4 1 80 John Briggs Ypsilanti, MI. 429
5 20 771 Billy Simmons Livonia, MI. 371
6 25 11 Ron Hargesheimer Louis. KY. 344
7 14 82 Sonny Eaton S.Springs, MD. 344
8 32 5 Royce Johnson Gwood, In. 335
9 18 16 Rance Harmon Louis. KY. 314
10 35 40 John Handlon Indpls. IN. 286
11 44 5 Johnny Keller Elwood. IN. 255
12 36 91 Dick Kath Beloit, IL 251
13 28 42 Danny Blackwell Louis. KY. 216
14 40 137 Rich Van Vyve Mt. Clem, MI. 200
15 33 8 Joe Receveur Indpls. IN. 191
16 16 86 Donnie Utterback Indpls. IN. 190
17 49 88 Steve Wheeler Indpls. IN. 181
18 9 63 Sonny Thompson Indpls. IN. 180
19 19 83 Ed Wilson Greenfld, IN. 175
20 37 111 Cecil Carr Indpls. IN. 173
21 22 60 Lubie Allen Taylor, MI. 156
22 29 78 Don Mishler Mt. Clem, MI. 151
23 27 69 Manny Buss Kings, NY. 131
24 2 5 Chuck Hall Toledo,OH. 117
25 41 93 Bruce McFall Elwood, IN. 117
26 50 71 Dean Sizemore Indpls. IN. 115
27 15 74 Drury Ramsey Detroit, MI. 107
28 51 81 Adell Carico Rockford, IL. 100
29 30 03 Jim Fivecoat Indpls. IN. 94
30 42 59 Al Spears Indpls. IN. 89
31 43 30 Bill Frazer Indpls. IN. 89
32 66 55 Randy Jones Alex. IN. 85
33 65 33 Richard Matula Indpls. IN. 47
34 8 236 Charlie Reed Whiteland. IN. 76
35 52 17 Danny Napier Indpls. IN. 67
36 17 72 William Briggs Ypsilanti, MI. 65
37 48 76 Bob Hayden Indpls. IN. 64
38 4 0 Paul Page Indpls. IN. 61
39 55 62 Marion Hester Indpls. IN. 58
40 39 32 Cowboy Warren Indpls. IN. 55
41 10 47 Ricky Lovingood Louis. KY. 52
42 62 51 Larry Vester Indpls. IN. 52
43 30 0 Paul Page Indpls. IN. 51
44 60 261 Richard Schaeffer Indpls. IN. 50
45 47 22 Doug Buhmeyer Beloit, IL 50
46 23 37 Bob Belz Mt. Clem, MI. 48
47 38 158 Marvin Strong Seymour, IN. 45
48 12 9 Frank Loving Taylor, MI. 45
49 63 240 Doug Burge Indpls. IN. 43
50 7 69 Steve Browne Louis. KY. 41
51 53 122 L.K. Keniston Beloit, IL. 41
52 64 59 John Goforth Alex. IN. 38
53 67 91 Danny Barnd Gwood, IN. 36
54 56 1 Terry Cater Spiceland, IN. 34
55 34 25 Tom King Anderson, IN. 26
56 54 85 Mark Turner Indpls. IN. 25
57 21 73 Jim Tunny Indpls. IN. 21
58 45 4 Ron Lawson Indpls. IN. 20
59 24 8 Ray Spears Indpls. IN. 16
60 13 50 Raymond Evert Indpls. IN. 16
61 26 38 Bobby Ellett Indpls. IN. 10
62 31 9 Chuck Hargraves Indpls. IN. 9
63 57 13 Chuck Cloud Indpls. IN. 8
64 61 27 Steve Caplinger Indpls. IN. 6
65 58 12 Steve Gill Anderson, IN. 5
66 46 20 Frank Harris Indpls. IN. 2
67 59 73 Chris Girt Indpls. IN. 1