Lealand McSpadden is a former dirt track racing

Dirt track racing

Dirt track racing is a type of auto racing performed on oval tracks. It began in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 30s. Two different types of racecars predominated—open wheel racers in the Northeast and West and stock cars in the South...

 driver who competed mostly in sprint

Sprint car racing

Sprint cars are high-powered race cars designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa....

 and midget

Midget car racing

Midget cars, also Speedcars in Australia, are very small race cars with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four-cylinder engines.-Cars:Typically, these cars have 300 to 400 horsepower and weigh...

 cars. He was nicknamed "The Tempe Tornado".

Born in Gallup, New Mexico

Gallup, New Mexico

- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 20,209 people, 6,810 households, and 4,869 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,513.7 people per square mile...

, McSpadden's family moved to Tempe

Tempe, Arizona

Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...

, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

, in 1954. He began racing in 1968 with a supermodified bought from local racer Billy Shuman. He recorded his first sprint car feature race win at Manzanita Speedway

Manzanita Speedway

The Manzanita Speedway was a dirt track racing facility located in the suburban southwestern part of Phoenix, Arizona, USA. The facility had a 1/3 mile and 1/2 mile tracks. The track held USAC events up through the 2009 Sprint Car season opener...

 in 1972.

McSpadden's 26-year career included nearly 200 feature wins, including 25 in five different divisions at Manzanita during the 1977 season. His awards are numerous; he is a three-time winner of the Western World Championship for sprint cars (1978, 1993, 1995) and he won the 1991 Chili Bowl midget car event. As well as racing in the United States, McSpadden was a frequent competitor in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n races, where he would make guest appearances at "Australia vs the USA" nights at Parramatta City Raceway.

One particular race at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California

Chico, California

Chico is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States. The population was 86,187 at the 2010 census, up from 59,954 at the time of the 2000 census...

, saw McSpadden crash out in his heat. He was badly shaken and his car took severe damage but promoter J.W. Hunt offered to add $1,000 to the winner's purse if McSpadden could come back through the qualifying B-main race and win the main event. He won both the B-main and the main event to win the increased purse.

He retired from competitive racing in 1996 after winning the SCRA non-winged sprint car championship, having announced that he would be diverting his attention to the NASCAR

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 SuperTruck Series (which would later become the Craftsman Truck Series

Craftsman Truck Series

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing...

).

Awards

In 1998, McSpadden was inducted into the Arizona Motorsports Hall of Fame. He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2000, the Arizona Republic named him the fifth-greatest driver from that state in the past 100 years.

Personal life

In February 2003, McSpadden was diagnosed with cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

. After surgery and treatment he has now been in remission for five years.