PORTLAND, Ore. -- Ever the gentleman, Hershel McGriff was good-natured about
finishing 13th in a NASCAR-sanctioned race at age 81.

"My competition was faster," he deadpanned.

Although he certainly would have taken a victory, McGriff seemed nevertheless
pleased with his showing on the road course at Portland International Raceway,
part of the NASCAR Camping World West Series.

"
There were a lot of other cars out there that were a lot slower. He did a great
job. I followed him for a little while and I couldn't get around him.
"
-- JIM INGLEBRIGHTJim Inglebright of Fairfield, Calif., won the race, which
featured a late caution for a green-white-checkered finish. He edged fellow
Californian Greg Pursley, who slipped partially off track on the final turn.

McGriff was the defending champion in Portland winning the only other time the
series -- then known as Winston West -- visited the track in 1986.

The odds were against him before the race started. Although he automatically
qualified as one of 26 drivers in a race that had 28 spots, he had to start at
the back of the pack and one lap down because of changes he made to the car
after the qualifying session. He replaced the carburetor.

"I really didn't have a lot to lose," he said. "I did not want to go out there
and flop around."

He certainly didn't, said Inglebright.

"There were a lot of other cars out there that were a lot slower," the winner
said. "He did a great job."

Inglebright suggested that any concerns about an 81-year-old's reaction time in
a dangerous sport do not necessarily apply to the youthful McGriff.

"I followed him for a little while and I couldn't get around him," Inglebright
said.

McGriff, who last raced in 2002, broke his own record as the oldest driver.

In a career that has spanned more than six decades, he has four Cup Series
victories -- all in the 1954 season -- and 37 wins on the West series. He is a
member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame.

McGriff, who spent most of his adult life in Oregon but now lives in Arizona,
drove in his first race in the family sedan on a dirt track at Portland Speedway
in 1945 at age 17. The next year there, with the track newly paved, he won his
first race.

In 1950, he won the Pan American Road Race in Mexico and met NASCAR founder Bill
France, who invited him to run in the first Southern 500 at Darlington. Through
the years, he competed in 85 races on the Cup Series.


Prize money
$1,850: Hershel McGriff's payday for finishing 13th in Sunday's Camping World
West race at Portland International Raceway. The $1,850 is more money than he
won in 60 of his 85 Cup starts from 1950 to 1993, including three of his four
wins. All of his wins came in 1954, when he finished sixth in the standings.
Three of the wins paid $1,000; the other $2,425.--Sporting News Wire Service

West: News, Results, Schedule
But he eschewed NASCAR's premiere series because he wanted to be closer to his
family and business in Oregon, and focused instead on the West series -- where
he competed in 233 races between 1954 and 2002.

McGriff won the 1986 Winston West championship, was named one of NASCAR's 50
greatest drivers, and was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006. He
retired from racing twice, first in 1954 and then again in 2002.

He made his last Cup start at Sonoma in 1993 when he was 65, but did not finish.

McGriff, who hadn't raced in seven years, entered three events this summer. He
did not qualify for a June 20 race at Infineon Raceway. He was expected to try
and qualify again for an Aug. 1 race in Tooele, Utah.

David Mayhew of Arascadero, Calif., was the polesitter for Sunday's race. His
shop put the decals on McGriff's No. 04 Park Corporation Chevrolet.

"It's awesome," Mayhew said of McGriff's accomplishment. "The first time I saw
him he was jumping into a seat at the shop and I thought, that guy's not 81
years old," he said.

Pursley, who is from Newhall, Calif., finished in front of Brian Wong of Newport
Beach, Calif., on the 1.98-mile road course.