1981 – Leavitt First in ‘Grove’ Encounter

Eddie Leavitt won the 100-lap USAC championship dirt car race at Williams Grove Speedway,  

Mechanicsburg, Penn. (July 5, 1981) – Eddie Leavitt of Kearney, Mo., passed Steve Kinser for the lead when the Bloomington, Ind., hot shoe got too high and bumped the guardrail in the fourth turn of the 60th lap in capturing the 100-lap USAC championship dirt race Sunday night at Williams Grove Speedway.

Barry Camp, a central Pennsylvania super sprint veteran from Beaverton, finished a distant second with Jack Hewitt of Troy, Ohio, taking third. Roger Rager of Mound, Minn., was fourth and Kinser settled for fifth.

Another driver familiar to area sprint fans, Paul Pitzer, started on the pole position and led the first 23 circuits when he clipped a lap car that spun out in front of him and was forced out of action.

Kinser, who passed Ron Shuman for second in the early going, was running right behind Pitzer when the mishap occurred. He stayed out of trouble and the lead was his for the restart.

From lap 23 to 60, Kinser ran the high groove, setting a torrid pace while Leavitt, who started 10th in the field of 20, made his presence felt and inherited the runner-up spot when Smokey Snellbaker was sidelined by mechanical problems.

Leavitt then applied considerable pressure on Kinser, and the three-time World of Outlaws champion made the one mistake that cost him. As he moved through the third and fourth turns on lap 60, he drifted too high, bumped the rail, and Leavitt was right there to seize the opportunity.

Camp surged around Rich Vogler for third about the same time that Leavitt was taking command. Then, on a restart, a tangle occurred in the first turn with Kinser getting the worst of it and Camp steered clear to grab second where he remained until the checkered.


Results –


1. Eddie Leavitt
2. Barry Camp
3. Jack Hewitt
4. Roger Rager
5. Steve Kinser
6. Joe Saldana
7. Ken Schrader
8. Tom Bigelow
9. Gary Gray
10.Mark Alderson
11.Rich Vogler
12.Larry Rice
13.Greg Leffler
14.Smokey Snellbaker
15.Duke Cook
16.Ron Shuman
17.Paul Pitzer
18.Gary Patterson
19.Kramer Williamson
20.Johnny Parsons