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CRA SPRINT CARS
KNOXVILLE RACEWAY - KNOXVILLE, IA
MAY 10, 1991
*Thanks to Bill Wright.
Griffin Takes Friday Knoxville CRA
Opener
by Bob Wilson
Knoxville, Iowa (May 10) - Richard Griffin found the racing
surface to his liking as he captured the 30-lap feature event for the
California Racing Association (CRA) non-winged sprint cars at
Knoxville Raceway Friday night.
Griffin, who was obviously the fastest car all evening, set two track
records on the night. He piloted his sprinter into the lead of the
feature event on lap 12 from a fourth row starting position. Once in
front, the fleet Griffin appeared to be on his way to an unchallenged
victory.
On lap 24, Bubby Jones came into the picture and began to vie for the
top spot. Two laps later, Lealand McSpadden made it a three-some as
Griffin's tires began to go away. The final circuits saw several
challenges for the top spot as Griffin was able to keep the point
position and crossed the finish line three car lengths ahead of Jones
and McSpadden to claim the $3,000 first place money.
Finishing fourth was a fast-closing Billy Boat, Rip Williams took
fifth and Ron Shuman settled for sixth. Gary Howard, Sid Blandford,
Steve Ostling and Rich Bubak formed the top 10 finishers.
This seventh annual CRA Midwest Tour of Champions saw Griffin
establish new track records at one and ten lap distances in the Pepper
Fite-owned Ford-powered sprinter. Additional marks were set for three
laps and 12 laps.
Qualifying heats went to Griffin, Cary Faas and Rickie Gaunt.
McSpadden took the trophy dash and the B Main.
A companion Knoxville Limited Sprint program found Mark Wilson on top
of an 18-car field in that division's feature event. Dwight Snodgrass
was second and Mike Twedt finished third.
TIME TRIALS (Qualifying Order):
1. 29, Richard Griffin, Silver City, NM (5) 18.936 (NTR); 2. 6, Billy
Boat, Phoenix, AZ (11) 19.326; 3. 24, Bubby Jones, Glen Avon, CA (7)
19.441; 4. 91, Lealand McSpadden, Tempe, AZ (20) 19.553; 5. 2, Ron
Shuman, Tempe, AZ (12) 19.703; 6. 67, Carl Shockley, Montclair, CA
(10) 19.716; 7. 1, Rip Williams, Yorba Linda, CA (14) 19.830; 8. 47,
Cary Faas, Yorba Linda, CA (16) 19.859; 9. 16L, Leonard Lee, Spring
Valley, CA (6) 19.916; 10. 5, Steve Ostling, Bellflower, CA (21)
19.958; 11. 81, Jon Stanbrough, Danville, IN (13) 20.065; 12. 66, Mike
Jones, Hartford, SD (2) 20.151; 13. 45, Harlan Willis, Ventura, CA
(24) 20.220; 14. 20, Dennis Rodriguez Jr., Fountain Valley, CA (19)
20.229; 15. 98, Verne Sweeney, Lomita, CA (18) 20.238; 16. 42, Mark
Sokola, Huntington Beach, CA (3) 20.320; 17. 0K, Don O'Keefe Jr.,
Union City, CA (23) 20.371; 18. 19, Rickie Gaunt, Torrance, CA (25)
20.386; 19. 9, Rich Bubak, Golden, CO (9) 20.399; 20. 14, Brian
Campbell, Glendale, CA (26) 20.420; 21. 31, Sid Blandford Jr., Vail,
CO (15) 20.436; 22. 75, Gary Howard, Rancho Cucamonga, CA (8) 20.583;
23. 19x, Bob Weuve, Newton, IA (1) 21.166; 24. 37, Mike Thomas, Des
Moines, IA (22) 21.088; 25. 32, Don Tucker, Hawthorne, CA (27) 21.530;
26. 61, Gary Bland, El Cajon, CA (4) NT; 27. 56B, Rick Becker, Sun
Prairie, WI (17) NT.
TROPHY DASH (started), 3 laps, :58.2 (NTR):
1. Lealand McSpadden (1) 2. Billy Boat (3) 3. Bubby Jones (2) 4.
Richard Griffin (4)
HEAT RACE 1 (started), 10 laps, 3:19.6 (NTR):
1. Richard Griffin (6) 2. Harlan Willis (2) 3. Rip Williams (4) 4.
Steve Ostling (3) / 5. Rich Bubak (7) 6. Lealand McSpadden (5) 7. Mark
Sokola (1) 8. Gary Howard (8) DNS Gary Bland
HEAT RACE 2 (started), 10 laps, 3:21.3:
1. Cary Faas (4) 2. Jon Stanbrough (3) 3. Billy Boat (6) 4. Ron Shuman
(5) / 5. Dennis Rodriguez Jr. (2) 6. Don OKeefe Jr. (1) 7. Bob
Weuve (8) 8. Brian Campbell (7) DNS - Don Tucker
HEAT RACE 3 (started), 10 laps, 3:20.3:
1. Rickie Gaunt (1) 2. Verne Sweeney (2) 3. Bubby Jones (6) 4. Leonard
Lee (4) / 5. Sid Blandford Jr. (7) 6. Mike Jones (3) 7. Mike Thomas
(8) 8. Carl Shockley (5) DNS - Rick Becker
B-MAIN (started), 12 laps, 4:05.4 (NTR):
1. Lealand McSpadden (1) 2. Carl Shockley (2) 3. Mike Jones (3) 4.
Gary Howard (10) 5. Dennis Rodriguez Jr. (4) 6. Mark Sokola (5) 7. Sid
Blandford Jr. (9) 8. Rich Bubak (7) / 9. Don OKeefe Jr. (6) 10.
Mike Thomas (11) 11. Bob Weuve (12) 12. Brian Campbell (8) 13. Don
Tucker (13) DNS - Rick Becker, Gary Bland
A-MAIN (started), 30 laps, NT:
1. Richard Griffin (8) 2. Bubby Jones (6) 3. Lealand McSpadden (5) 4.
Billy Boat (7) 5. Rip Williams (2) 6. Ron Shuman (4) 7. Gary Howard
(16) 8. Sid Blandford Jr. (19) 9. Steve Ostling (10) 10. Rich Bubak
(20) 11. Leonard Lee (9) 12. Mike Jones (12) 13. Rickie Gaunt (15) 14.
Harlan Willis (13) 15. Mark Sokola (18) 16. Dennis Rodriguez Jr. (17)
17. Cary Faas (1) 18. Carl Shockley (3) 19. Jon Stanbrough (11) 20.
Verne Sweeney (14).
Lap Leaders: Williams 1-11, Griffin 12-30.
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