1991 Winchester 400

The twenty-second annual Winchester 400 was held under American Speed Association sanction on October 6, 1991, at the Winchester Speedway.

Young Glenn Allen, Jr. of Cincinnati, Ohio gave himself a pretty cool 21st birthday present, as he scored the biggest win of his ASA career in the 1991 “Winchester 400.” Mike Eddy grabbed the pole position with a lap of 16.544 seconds (108.800 MPH) among the 33 competitors trying to make the starting field. The two-time former winner jumped from his starting position to the early lead until hard-charging Tim Steele took over on lap 72.

On lap 99, a horrendous third-turn accident involving Dave Jackson of Loveland, OH and DeWaine McGunegill resulted in a lengthy red flag. Jay Sauter broke an axle tube causing grease to spill out onto the track in the entrance to the third turn. Unaware of the danger ahead, Jackson charged into the turn and was sent hurtling full-speed into the third-turn guardrail. Rebounding off the rail, Jackson’s heavily damaged machine vaulted into a series of barrel rolls, shedding most of the body of the car, before being slammed into by McGunegill who was unable to stop or avoid the contact. As the crowd held it’s collective breath, both drivers were extricated carefully from their cars and transported to Randolph County hospital, with Jackson then being airlifted to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, OH. Both drivers would eventually recover to race again.

Following a delay of more than 90 minutes to clean up the wreckage and replace the guardrail, racing action finally resumed. Back under green, Steele continued to lead until mechanical problems sent him into the first-turn wall. That handed the lead to seven-time and defending race winner Bob Senneker. Once again, the race leader would encounter bad luck, as the right-real wheel flew off Senneker’s Chevrolet, causing him to lose 45 laps while repairing suspension damage.

Race rookie Tim Fedewa, who broke a header, was the beneficiary of this chain of events as he took over the race lead on lap 210. Out in front, he would show the way to the field until Allen powered by for what would be the winning pass for the lead on lap 238. Leading the final 163 laps to win, Allen collected a $11,850 birthday present. Sauter trailed the winner across the line by 1.88 seconds to claim second followed by Fedewa, Jim Cooper, and Jeff Neal.

External links

* [http://www.winchesterspeedway.com/ Winchester Speedway website]
* [http://www.craracing.net/ Official CRA Website]