1980<<1981 >>1982

Kenny St. John wins his 4th in a row!!

It looked flawless but Kenny St. John’s fourth consecutive World Figure 8 Championship triumph was anything but perfect.

After completing a record-shattering 512 laps, St. John recalled his trials and tribulations:

“I don’t think too many people saw it but on the second lap, I got hit at the crossover and I had to tell myself to settle down. Later on I thought the front left wheel bearing was going out but it was only a slow leak in the left rear tire that was making the car not handle right. At 400 laps the left rear spring lost its arch at 400 laps. We didn’t feel it would break but it sure made me work harder because the car didn’t handle right.”

When the electronic scoreboard signaled the end of the fifth annual World Figure 8 Championship, St. John was headed toward another victory celebration with a pocketful of records.

His 512 laps erased his 1980 record of 478 laps and the $5,120 he collected for winning was a new record. Earlier, St. John set a one-lap qualifying record of 17.664 seconds.

St. John also led for a record 354 laps despite a new standard of 35 lead changes with Chuck Hall and Wayne Arnold. The early pace was hectic especially with Arnold, Hall and St. John swapping the lead at will. There were 17 lead changes in the first 71 laps. Arnold and St. John dueled for more than 200 laps before an over-heating engine forced Arnold into the pits for 12 laps. St. John’s winning margin was 19 laps over runner-up Wayne Arnold.

Four out of state veterans finished behind the Speedrome’ s top two drivers of 1981. They were Hull and relief driver Dennis Pace in third, Bob Studt and Dave Miller fourth, Ray Gaddis fifth and Gary Earley sixth. Rounding out the top 10 were oval specialist Lonney Breedlove, Dave Grayson, Bill Frazer and Lubie Allen. Breedlove pitted early to replace a right front brake rotor.

Earley, the 1980 Michigan State Champion, earned the Sonny Eaton Memorial Award for finishing sixth in his first World Figure 8 Championship event.

Redwood, Minnesota Speedway champion Duane Mertens earned the coveted Sonny Thompson Memorial Award by moving all the way from 51st starting position to 20th when the three-hour clock ran out of time.

As always, it was a struggle for some. Breedlove was running in third place on the leader’s 438th lap when he slammed into a stalled car. Mike St. John’s crew replaced a right front shock early in the race dropping him from the top 10. Ray Bray was running sixth after 100 laps when a faulty ignition forced him out of the running. Gary Grose was seventh after 160 laps and had to pit with a flat tire and later went out with a broken header.

For St. John, it was a rich victory. St. John collected $5,120 for his victory.

A total of 59 drivers competed in the fifth annual extravaganza of Figure-8 racing. St. John was among seven drivers during qualifications that bettered his 1980 record. It was the fastest 24 car-starting field in event history.

Lap leaders
1-4 Wayne Arnold
5-7 Chuck Hall
8 Wayne Arnold
9-10 Chuck Hall
11 Wayne Arnold
12-20 Chuck Hall
21-23 Wayne Arnold
24 Kenny St. John
25-33 Chuck Hall
34-35 Wayne Arnold
36 Chuck Hall
37 Wayne Arnold
38-46 Chuck Hall
47-55 Wayne Arnold
56-64 Kenny St. John
65-70 Wayne Arnold
71 Kenny St. John
72-104 Wayne Arnold
105-108 Kenny St. John
109-125 Wayne Arnold
126-129 Kenny St. John
130 Wayne Arnold
131-132 Kenny St. John
133-134 Wayne Arnold
135-139 Kenny St. John
140-153 Wayne Arnold
154-162 Kenny St. John
163-169 Wayne Arnold
170-172 Kenny St. John
173-175 Wayne Arnold
176-178 Kenny St. John
179-186 Wayne Arnold
187-198 Kenny St. John
199-211 Wayne Arnold
212-512 Kenny St. John

 

1981	9/12/81
Finish	Start Position	Car #	Driver	Hometown	Car	Laps Completed
1	1	1	Kenny St. John	Indpls. In.	1980 Corvette	512
2	2	12	Wayne Arnold	Indpls. In.	1980 Corvette	493
3	7	5	Chuck Hall/Pace	Toledo, Oh.	1978 Camaro	485
4	14	54	Bob Studt/Miller	Dearborn, MI.	1969 Camaro	462
5	22	779	Ray Gaddis	Romulus, MI.	1978 Camaro	453
6	13	9	Gary Earley/Holman	Rockwood, MI.	1975 Camaro	427
7	4	0	Lonnie Breedlove	Indpls. In.	1981 Regal	415
8	18	8	Dave Grayson	Indpls. In.	1973 Camaro	408
9	10	4	Bill Frazer	Indpls. In.	1973 Camaro	379
10	26	60	Lubie Allen	Taylor, MI.	1969 Datsun	365
11	40	93	Bruce McFall	Elwood, In.	1962 Falcon	271
12	36	36	Mike Klein	Indpls. In.	1969 Camaro	253
13	5	2	Donnie Utterback	Indpls. In.	1967 Firebird	243
14	15	43	Donnie Garrigus	Indpls. In.	1971 Camaro	241
15	6	32	Gary Grose	Indpls. In.	1968 Camaro	236
16	20	4	Jack Dandy	Taylor, MI.	1978 Firebird	213
17	35	52	Jack Dossey Jr.	Indpls. In.	1972 Nova	210
18	46	63	Marion Hester/Hochgesang	Indpls. In.	1970 Chevelle	187
19	23	98	Cecil Karr	Indpls. In.	1974 Firebird	176
20	51	75	Duane Mertens	Danube, Mn.	1970 Camaro	164
21	27	97	Dean Griffin	Indpls. In.	1967 Firebird	160
22	9	9	Tom Varsel	Taylor, MI.	1980 Camaro	147
23	43	711	Mitch Reno	Flat Rock, MI.	1976 Camaro	147
24	8	1	Mike St. John	Indpls. In.	1971 Camaro	143
25	16	7	Jim Tunny	Indpls. In.	1980 Camaro	128
26	37	60	Leathel Bowles	Indpls. In.	1969 Cougar	123
27	29	91	Gary Haskett	Noblesville, In.	1975 Trans Am	120
28	3	PH 5	Ray Bray	Indpls. In.	1980 Camaro	118
29	58	57	Bill  Tunny Jr.	Indpls. In.	1967 Camaro	115
30	53	11	David Rodriguez	Putnamville, In.	1970 Mustang	115
31	17	1	Joe Jackson	Indpls. In.	1970 Camaro	114
32	24	6	Jack Dossey Sr.	Indpls. In.	1968 Camaro	106
33	19	96	Mike Knight	Louisville, Ky.	1972 Camaro	89
34	55	67	Sam Brandenburg	Indpls. In.	1974 Camaro	62
35	52	76	Dave Sesney/Turner	Indpls. In.	1967 Camaro	60
36	21	98	Bob Coffey	Indpls. In.	1970 Firebird	55
37	31	43	Bob Cloud	Indpls. In.	1971 Firebird	53
38	59	45	Phil Lynch	Indpls. In.	1967 Mustang	49
39	11	25	Billy Arnold	Indpls. In.	1967 Firebird	46
40	25	11	Herb Rose	Anderson, In.	1976 Camaro	46
41	48	12	Roger Goodwin	Indpls. In.	1972 Camaro	44
42	47	54	Jim Cook	Plainfield, In.	1968 Camaro	43
43	32	21	Richard Schaeffer	Indpls. In.	1972 Camaro	34