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Saturday, September 7, 1991
St. John becomes a 3 Time Winner

Mike St. John became a three-time winner of the World Figure 8 Championship by storming from two laps down to spoil Wayne Arnold’s bid for a fourth win.

St. John joined Arnold as a three-time champion of the World Figure 8 and became the first since brother Kenny St. John to score back-back triumphs.

As so many previous winners have done, he overcame adversity to capture the 15th Annual World Figure 8 Championship. St. John went two laps down early in the race with a flat tire. However, he kept challenging the field and finally took the lead from Arnold with only 11 minutes remaining. St. John stayed in front for the final 30 laps.

St. John completed 347 laps and was the first among the top six home track finishers, including Arnold, Duane Lee, Bruce Tunny, Bill Tunny Jr. and Ronnie Clontz.

Michigan’s Robbie Loving was seventh to lead the visiting challengers from the nation’s hotbeds of figure 8 racing.

St. John started sixth and led early for 12 laps, swapping leads with Lee, Charlie Reed, and Arnold.

Arnold led for 154 laps but could not hold off the charging St. John who became the second driver to score back-to-back triumphs in the World Figure 8 Championship.

There were 20 lead changes among six drivers, including Bill Tunny Jr. and Clontz. St. John and Arnold finished eight laps ahead of Duane Lee.

Louisville’s Pat Pierce captured the Sonny Eaton Memorial award for rookie of the race by finishing 18th in his first World Championship.

Dale Knauss of the Speedrome earned the Sonny Thompson Memorial Award for position improvement by finishing 34th after starting 67th and completing 67 laps.

The pole was won by a record-close margin of one-thousandth of a second by Arnold over Lee.

Seventy-three drivers competed in the 1991 event.