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Post by thunder98 on Jan 16, 2020 10:42:21 GMT -5
Race 7: Lowes Foods 200 at Hickory Motor Speedway; Hickory, North Carolina, April 10th, 1998 BEDLAM IN HICKORY AS WASHINGTON DOMINATESBy Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com - April 11th, 1998HICKORY, NC - After winning the Craftsman 200 under caution at North Wilkesboro, Damian Washington wanted everybody to know that his win wasn't a fluke and he backed that statement up with an utterly dominating performance at Hickory, leading 184 of 200 laps run under the lights at the North Carolina short track. "I told everybody in the garage that we're back in a big way while we were unloading. Some people laughed, but we got the last laugh tonight after whipping everybody's asses. I said it once and I'll say it again, we're back in a damn big way." A confident Washington said in victory lane, his emotions riding high after back-to-back wins and a miserable 1997 season. Polesitter Jason Sullivan put forth a valiant effort to try and defend his win here one year ago, leading the first 16 laps and ending up third at the fall of the checkered flag. "I'm pretty happy with how tonight turned out despite how bad our season is going. Any night we get a top five is a good night." Sullivan stated after his second top-five of the year and matching his best finish of 1998 thus far, also finishing third at Volusia in February. Both third-place finishes are Sullivan's only top-tens this season as well as he sits 13th in points, 35 points behind. 33 cars qualified for the Lowes Foods 200 but only 31 took the green flag as Greg Partridge and Zach O'Malley were scratches from the race. Upon further investigation, Partridge's Chevrolet was suffering from fuel pickup issues post-happy hour and couldn't get the car fixed before cars were called to the grid. O'Malley meanwhile was informed of a family emergency back in his hometown of Thorndale, Texas and had to catch the first flight he could from Hickory Regional Airport to Austin. With no drivers available, the 40 team scratched their entry. Partridge was scheduled to start 26th and O'Malley 31st. The race was oddly clean for the first half of the race as the first caution was for the halfway break at lap 100 but after that, things started getting rowdy as caution number two waved on lap 108 when Becky Conway's car was side-swiped by Caleb McDonald going into turn three, spinning the #95 Pontiac before getting rammed nose-to-nose by Alan Dudley's #52 Chevrolet. Both drivers would be parked by NASCAR after a confrontation on pit road following the incident that required officials to separate the two teams as Dudley would be listed finishing 28th, Conway 29th. The third caution came out on lap 128 when lapped cars Neil Charles and Trent Blanchard got a little too close for comfort, causing Blanchard's car to come down and hook the left rear of rookie Colin Howard's fifth-place car, sending all three into the wall and send Howard onto his driver side and over before coming back down on all four wheels in turn one. Charles would finish 17th after starting sixth, Howard 15th after starting 21st, and Blanchard 14th after starting eighth. The fourth and final caution of the race came out on lap 163 when rookie Grant Culpepper's patience ran out as he dumped Mike Palmer going into turn one. Culpepper had been running behind Palmer in 20th for fifteen laps prior to the crash. Culpepper would finish 19th and Palmer 22nd. As to be expected of short track racing under the lights, the officials were busy separating people during and after the end of the race. Following their accident on lap 108, Becky Conway parked her car next to Alan Dudley and heated words were exchanged by the two drivers before crews started getting involved. The story goes that Dudley wasn't happy with Conway for failing to signal that she was coming to pit road on lap 106 as Conway swerved across the track in front of Dudley and caused him to slam on his brakes momentarily. But Conway accused Dudley of intentionally ramming the nose of her turned car with his own nose in turn three after the caution had waved. Dudley denied the accusation, stating that his brakes locked up and caused his car to swerve to the left instead of staying high to avoid Conway's car. Both drivers were penalized ten points for the escalated confrontation, placed on probation, and Dudley is under investigation by NASCAR. If it is determined that Dudley intentionally rammed Conway's car, heavier punishment could be on the way including fines and multi-race suspensions. Later in the race, Colin Howard would be an innocent victim of hard racing by Trent Blanchard and Neil Charles while the rookie was running up in fifth place, having the fastest car in happy hour. Upon completion of the race, Howard parked his battered car next to Blanchard's on pit road and the two exchanged words. The 21-year old Howard was visibly upset that his potential first top-five run was ruined by two lapped cars racing each other harder than they should've. The cool-headed 26-year old Blanchard accepted blame for the accident, stating that his car was aero loose coming of turn four between Charles and Howard's cars, even going as far as to offer and pay for the damages to Howard's car. Cooler heads would prevail as the rookie was led away by his crew chief. Howard wouldn't be fined by NASCAR, but he was placed on probation. Finally after their encounter on lap 163, Mike Palmer approached rookie Grant Culpepper after the race and gave him a shove, showing his displeasure after being dumped. Culpepper stated that Palmer shouldn't have held him up for 15 laps (they were running 19th and 20th respectively at the time on the same lap) to which Palmer replied by saying that just because Culpepper's car was prepared at [Dale] Earnhardt's shop, that he didn't have to drive like him. Officials separated the drivers and NASCAR fined Palmer five points for the shove and both drivers were placed on probation. "It's bullshit. I didn't pull all-nighters for two weeks to get this car running again just to have some kid dump me like that." A frustrated Palmer stated after the confrontation. Other race notes: - Chad Moon's runner-up finish is his first top-ten finish since his win at the season-opener at Walt Disney World Speedway. He has finished outside of the top 15 in four of the last five races.
- Leroy Gardner suffered his fourth DNF of the season after losing a header on lap 71 after starting on the outside pole. He is tied with Barry Peterson for the most DNFs this year.
With Jimbo Bailey dropping out of the race with piston issues on lap 121 (resulting in a 27th place finish), Tim Foster, Jr. retakes the points lead after finishing 12th as he leads rookie J.R. Fowler by only four points. Bailey falls back to third in the standings ten points behind, race-winner Damian Washington leaps from 11th to fourth only 12 points back, and Sammy Moore is tied for fifth in points with Ryan Fisher, both drivers 14 points back. Moore holds the tiebreaker thanks to his win earlier this year at Volusia. Hopefully the drivers will have their heads back on their shoulders when the series rolls into Martinsville, Virginia next week for the Duragloss 250 on April 17th as the All Pro Southeast Series shares the paperclip with the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour as they run their third race of their season, the Goody's Headache Powder 200 on April 18th. ESPN2 will bring coverage of the Southeast series race starting at 1:00pm eastern time. Lap Leaders
Damian Washington - 184 Jason Sullivan - 16 Contingency AwardsBud Pole Award: Jason Sullivan (14.989 sec/86.464 mph) Safety Kleen Front Runner: Damian Washington (184 of 200 laps) Gatorade Hard Charger: Sammy Moore (+12, Started 22nd, Finished 10th) Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Grant Culpepper (15.018 sec/86.297 mph) Raybesto’s Rookie of the Race: Shawn Fontaine (Finished 5th) Race ResultsPoints Standings |
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Post by thunder98 on Jan 18, 2020 3:35:04 GMT -5
Race 8: Duragloss 250 at Martinsville Speedway; Martinsville, Virginia, April 17th, 1998 PIZZA PARTIES ALL AROUND AS COLLINS WINSBy Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com - April 18th, 1998MARTINSVILLE, VA - For the first time since the 1996 running of the Coca-Cola 300 at Orange County 38 races ago, fan favorite Kurt Collins finally returns to victory lane and as part of a promotion with his sponsor Domino's Pizza, everybody can get a free large pizza over the next week at participating locations across the southeast. Speaking of Coca-Cola, Gary Campbell won the pole for this race and led the first 36 laps before Becky Conway went on to lead the next 91 laps, the most of any driver before losing the lead on the restart after the halfway break to Leroy Gardner who had an excellent rebound after his DNF at Hickory as he led 75 laps with Collins following his tire tracks until lap 203 when Collins made the pass and led the final 48 laps en route to victory. Leroy Gardner finished second, Sammy Moore finished third, rookie Shawn Fontaine finished fourth, and Neil Charles rounded out the top five. Becky Conway would wind up eighth and Campbell was forced out of the race after dropping a valve under caution on lap 103. Yesterday's race at Martinsville marked the first time since 1989 that two women participated in the race as alongside Becky Conway would be 22-year old Kris Holloway of Benton, Texas who was called upon to fill in for Zach O'Malley who had to return home to Thorndale after the passing of his father before last week's race at Hickory. Holloway would start 26th but wouldn't even get to the green flag as a piston caused the engine to turn sour on the Bud Eagle-owned Thunderbird in turn two on the final pace lap. "I felt like I was learning a lot during practice and happy hour, but this definitely wasn't the first impression I wanted to make on the series. Hopefully we'll be able to complete at least one lap next week." A dejected Holloway stated as her car was towed back to her pit. Holloway at the moment only has one more scheduled race; next week at Greenville-Pickens Speedway before the series takes a three-week spring break and returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway. Car owner Bud Eagle says he hopes O'Malley will be able to return for Charlotte but understands if he needs to keep Holloway in the car. With Monday being the 30th anniversary of the first race in series history at North Wilkesboro Speedway under the original American Southeast Racing Coalition, the Martinsville weekend became the venue to celebrate the rich history the series has featuring notable drivers such as series director and first four-time champion Dean Goodman, the most-winningest driver and seven-time champion Roger Fowler, the first African-American Rookie of the Year recipient and champion Leonard Jackson, as well as 1979 series champion Chris Hayes, whose iconic underdog run for the championship lives on in the minds of the long-time fans of the series. Each driver led the pace laps in a car of their choosing with Goodman driving the formerly Bud Moore-owned 1965 Pontiac Bonneville he won the first two series championships with in 1968 and 1969, Fowler driving his 1976 Plymouth Duster that won four series championships in 1976, 1981, 1984, and 1988, Jackson driving his 1976 Roger Penske-owned AMC Concord that he won the championship with in 1977, and of course Chris Hayes driving the little car that could and did; his heavily-modified 1978 Pontiac Grand-Am that would've made Smokey Yunick proud and shocked the series when Hayes came out on top as series champion in 1979, besting the likes of Fowler, Anderson, Jackson, Charles, and Alexander. "The only better way we could've celebrated 30 years of keeping this ship afloat probably would've been to have the race at Wilkesboro...or have us racing out there with these guys, that probably would've been easier if I didn't already have a job to do." Dean Goodman would say with a chuckle and a smile. The caution came out six times over the course of the race, beginning with lap 40 when Blake Roosevelt clipped the left rear of Barry Peterson's car coming off turn two and sent him into the inside wall, only to come back up and tag rookie J.R. Fowler's left rear, sending him into a skid, and give Richie Howard nowhere to go as he plowed into the back of Peterson's car. Fowler and Howard were running ninth and tenth respectively at the time as Fowler went on to finish seventh and Howard 31st as he was forced to drop out as his car was leaking fluids. It's no secret that Barry Peterson's car is the slowest in the field and some drivers' patience is wearing thin considering how often he is a rolling road block that barely meets minimum speed. Peterson qualified last (32nd) for this race, a whole three miles per hour slower than Blake Roosevelt who qualified 31st. NASCAR is considering action against Peterson, telling him if he can't meet minimum speed, don't bother showing up. Back to the cautions, the second one came out on lap 59 when Sammy Moore's brakes locked up going into turn three and hit Jimbo Bailey in the right rear, sending the #32 Pontiac around. Luckily nobody else was involved as Moore went on to finish third and Bailey 17th, where he started, one lap down. Caution number three flew on lap 72 when Troy Pearson's car stalled on the frontstretch from 18th position. Pearson would wind up 25th, 11 laps down. As the cars were coming to take the caution, heartbreak struck for Caleb McDonald as he blew his engine going into turn three, slid on his own oil, and hit the turn four wall. McDonald started fifth and was running eighth at the time. The fourth caution came out on lap 100 when Alan Dudley spun Blake Roosevelt going into turn one. The fifth caution was for the halfway break at lap 125 and the final caution of the day came out on lap 232 when Derek Hawkins lost a camshaft and stopped on the backstretch which put him 26th in the final running order after starting a promising 4th. Just before the field took the one-to-go on lap 237, Damian Washington's car suffered electrical issues and stopped on the backstretch while running seventh after starting third. A frustrated Washington would wind up 19th, two laps down. Luckily cooler heads prevailed this week as there is now a tie for first in the points between seventh-place finisher J.R. Fowler and 11th place finisher Tim Foster, Jr. Neither driver has won a race so far this year but Foster gets the tiebreaker with seven bonus points to Fowler's two. Sammy Moore sits third in points by six points, his Dodge teammate and rookie Shawn Fontaine in fourth nine points back, and Kurt Collins moves up to fifth in the standings just 12 points behind. Next week the series stops in at Greenville-Pickens Speedway for the first time since 1989 with the BI-LO 200 on April 25th with TNN bringing the coverage under the lights starting at 6:30pm eastern time. Lap LeadersBecky Conway - 91 Leroy Gardner - 75 Kurt Collins - 48 Gary Campbell - 36 Contingency AwardsBud Pole Award: Gary Campbell (21.7 sec/85.808 mph) Safety Kleen Front Runner: Becky Conway (91 of 250 laps) Gatorade Hard Charger: Shawn Fontaine (+20, Started 24th, Finished 4th) Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Becky Conway (21.835 sec/86.297 mph) Raybesto’s Rookie of the Race: Shawn Fontaine (Finished 4th) Race ResultsPoint Standings |
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Post by thunder98 on Jan 19, 2020 4:23:05 GMT -5
Race 9: BI-LO 200 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway; Easley, South Carolina, April 25th, 1998 FONTAINE WINS 2ND OF '98 UNDER CAUTIONBy Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com - April 26th, 1998EASLEY, SC - Fans at the historic Greenville-Pickens Speedway were treated to a night of beating, banging, and all-around great racing that ended under caution with rookie Shawn Fontaine winning the BI-LO 200 under the lights, his second race of the season as he joins Damian Washington as the second multi-race winner so far this year. "I know they say 13 is a pretty unlucky number, but it felt pretty lucky considering how we managed to get the lead and keep it til the end." Fontaine would say in victory lane as he passed Ryan Fisher on lap 166 and led the final 35 laps en route to his second career victory after starting 13th. Fisher had a left rear tire going down and was forced into the pits after leading 61 laps, being relegated to a 20th-place finish two laps behind the leaders after starting fifth. "It sucks. We had a great car later in the race and thought we could get back on track tonight. Some things just aren't meant to be." Fisher would say as this is the third straight race he has finished outside the top ten. Derek Hawkins finished second followed by Robby Anderson, Chad Moon, and rookie J.R. Fowler rounding out the top five. Leroy Gardner led the field to green and led a race-high 63 laps before a bad pit stop left him to finish 18th, two laps down. Damian Washington was the only other driver to lead this race as he led 41 laps after starting third but fell back later in the going with a 12th-place finish. The caution would wave six times beginning on lap 25 when Sammy Moore came to a stop on the frontstretch, later finishing 26th, the first car three laps down after starting 18th. The second caution came out on lap 91 when Kurt Collins stopped in turn two while running in fifth, going on to finish 22nd, two laps down after starting second. The third caution was for the halfway break at lap 100. Caution number four came out on lap 130 when Keith Norton's car stopped on the frontstretch past the start-finish line. Norton would finish 24th, two laps down after starting 17th. The fifth caution waved on lap 183 when Adam Coleman smacked the outside wall coming off turn four and came down into Troy Pearson who was running 11th at the time. Pearson and Coleman would finish 19th and 27th, two and three laps down to the leaders after starting 21st and 29th respectively. The final caution waved on lap 195 when Greg Partridge smacked the wall the same way as Adam Coleman, coming down and collecting Richie Howard, Kurt Collins, and gave Gary Campbell nowhere to go as he was also hit by Caleb McDonald. Howard finished 15th, one lap down after starting 25th, McDonald finished 16th, one lap down after starting ninth, Campbell and Partridge were forced to drop out of the race, finishing 29th and 30th after starting sixth and 31st respectively. Blake Roosevelt was the first driver to drop out with piston issues on lap 71, finishing 32nd while Trent Blanchard burned a clutch on lap 146, finishing 31st after starting tenth. Last week, Kris Holloway made her series debut in the worst way possible; having her engine blow and failing to take the green flag. Tonight went much better for the 22-year old Benton driver as she qualified 26th and brought the #40 Wrench-A-Part/Chasco Thunderbird home in 23rd-place, the best finish so far this year for Eagle Racing. Owner Bud Eagle has not heard from usual driver Zach O'Malley about his status for Charlotte in three weeks’ time, though does expect to hear from him before the team arrives for the race weekend. A new points leader emerges as J.R. Fowler looks to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming only the second driver in series history to win both the series championship and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season, father Roger doing so back in 1971. Fowler leads defending series champion Tim Foster, Jr. by a single point with race-winner Shawn Fontaine four points back in third, followed by Robby Anderson who is 20 points back in fourth, and Jimbo Bailey 25 points behind in fifth. The NASCAR All Pro Southeast Series gets a spring break of sorts with two weeks off before heading to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 100 on Friday, May 15th. This is possibly the biggest race of the season as the Southeast series shares the venue with the ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series and the stars of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series as they prepare for the 14th running of The Winston, their iconic all-star race and with the ASA National Tour having an off week before going to Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on May 23rd, we'll see the return of Gary St. Amant, Bob Senneker, Mike Eddy, and Scott Hansen as the four horsemen of the Midwest duke it out with the best the Southeast series has to offer. ESPN2 will bring the coverage beginning at 2:00pm eastern time. Lap LeadersLeroy Gardner - 63 Ryan Fisher - 61 Damian Washington - 41 Shawn Fontaine - 35 Contingency AwardsBud Pole Award: Leroy Gardner (21.909 sec/82.158 mph) Safety Kleen Front Runner: Leroy Gardner (63 of 200 laps) Gatorade Hard Charger: Neil Charles (+16, Started 23rd, Finished 7th) Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Shawn Fontaine (21.598 sec/83.341 mph) Raybesto’s Rookie of the Race: Shawn Fontaine (Finished 1st) Race ResultsPoint Standings |
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Post by thunder98 on Jan 19, 2020 15:42:02 GMT -5
Race 10: Coca-Cola 100 at Charlotte Motor Speedway; Charlotte, North Carolina, May 15th, 1998 FOSTER WINS IN 3-WIDE PHOTO FINISHBy Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com - May 16th, 1998CHARLOTTE, NC - May 15th, 1998 will go down as one of the most glorious days in the history of the NASCAR All Pro Southeast Series as the division made their return to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the first time since River Callahan's near-fatal accident back in 1994. With Callahan giving the command and driving the pace car, Chad Moon and Richie Howard led the field to green amidst overcast skies that saw a race where cars were able to make moves left and right, run a second groove in the middle of the corner, and make sure nobody kept a large lead. Chad Moon would lead 25 laps before winding up 15th. Other lap leaders include Scott Hansen who led two laps from fifth starting position (the best of the ASA drivers) and wound up 12th despite being involved in an incident, Jimbo Bailey who led seven laps from 21st starting spot and finished fifth, Bob Senneker who led 14 laps from 29th starting spot, and Tim Foster, Jr. who led a race-high 52 laps including the final one for his first win of the season. At the end of the race it was down to Bob Senneker in front, rookie J.R. Fowler in second, and Tim Foster, Jr. in third as Senneker got tight in turn four on the last lap, hit the outside wall, and it was on from there as Fowler hit the back of Senneker's car and allowed Foster to swoop down to the bottom and steal the win away in a thrilling photo finish that got everybody talking in the Winston Cup garage as this race was the only companion event to the Winston Cup Series, even if it's The Winston. "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take, so when I saw Bob hit the wall and J.R. run into him, I dove as low as I could go without getting in the grass and shoved my foot to the floor. I think fans will be talking about this one for a while." Foster said in victory lane. With Tim Foster, Jr. winning the race over Bob Senneker in second and J.R. Fowler third, Ryan Fisher finished fourth, and Jimbo Bailey rounded out the top five. The caution waved four times over the 100 lap race beginning on lap 17 when Mike Eddy's car got tight and smacked the wall coming off turn four, coming down into Colin Howard's car and sending the #88 GM Goodwrench Pontiac sliding through the grass before collecting fellow ASA driver Gary St. Amant. Both drivers were forced to drop out of the race. The second caution flew on lap 30 when Caleb McDonald's car came to a stop on the backstretch. Caution number three was for the halfway break at lap 50 while the final caution waved on lap 67 when Scott Hansen came down on Colin Howard's car and slid up into the turn three wall, causing a chain reaction beginning with Derek Hawkins spinning Grant Culpepper and triggering a multi-car crash involving Robby Anderson, Becky Conway, Blaine Freeman, Neil Charles, Leroy Gardner, Troy Pearson, Richie Howard, Trent Blanchard, and Caleb McDonald. Other Race Notes: - With Zach O'Malley out of the #40 car for the unforeseeable future, Kris Holloway managed to finish 23rd for the second race in a row.
- Despite a rocky day and another potential top five ruined, rookie Colin Howard managed to finish tenth, his first top-ten since Lakeland.
Along with the win, Tim Foster, Jr. reclaims the points lead by seven over J.R. Fowler with Shawn Fontaine 16 points in third, Jimbo Bailey 33 points back in fourth, then Ryan Fisher and Damian Washington tied for fifth in points both 37 points behind. Next week the series will begin their inaugural Summer Nights Showdown at Bowman-Gray Stadium where in a stretch of six races (Bowman-Gray, Southern National, Bristol, Myrtle Beach, IRP, and Louisville), the three drivers who have the best average finish will receive cash bonuses. The best earns $40K, second gets $25K, and third gets $12.5K. TNN will bring the coverage of the Myers Brothers 250 starting at 6:00pm eastern time on May 22nd as Gary Campbell will try to defend his dominating victory from last season where he led all 250 laps. Lap LeadersTim Foster, Jr. - 52 Chad Moon - 25 Bob Senneker - 14 Jimbo Bailey - 7 Scott Hansen - 2 Contingency AwardsBud Pole Award: Chad Moon (34.696 sec/155.638 mph) Safety Kleen Front Runner: Tim Foster, Jr. (52 of 100 laps) Gatorade Hard Charger: Bob Senneker (+27, Started 29th, Finished 2nd) Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Chad Moon (34.692 sec/155.656 mph) Raybesto’s Rookie of the Race: J.R. Fowler (Finished 3rd) Race ResultsPoints Standings |
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Post by thunder98 on Jan 20, 2020 17:42:13 GMT -5
Race 11: Myers Brothers 250 at Bowman-Gray Stadium; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, May 22nd, 1998 ANDERSON HOLDS ON FOR WINBy Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com - May 23rd, 1998WINSTON-SALEM, NC - As if a thrilling night of action of Bowman-Gray Stadium couldn't get any better, the fans were treated to a green-white-checkered finish that saw Robby Anderson hold off Trent Blanchard for his first win of the year after starting 13th and leading 35 laps. Blanchard started tenth and led 59 laps as Keith Norton gets his first career top-five with a career-best third after climbing his way up from 28th starting position. His previous best finish was 11th in this race one year ago as a rookie. Speaking of which, rookie Grant Culpepper finished fourth after starting sixth and Richie Howard rounds out the top five after starting eighth. Neil Charles would win the pole for this race and led 32 laps before suffering ignition problems on lap 164. For a majority of the night, fans thought that J.R. Fowler would get that first win after coming so close at Charlotte as the second-generation rookie led a race-high 93 laps before being involved in an accident with Gary Campbell on lap 159, winding up 23rd, three laps down after starting fifth. One of Fowler's closest competitors for part of his time out front was Ron Snyder who led 29 laps and finished where he started in seventh, the first car a lap down. The only other car to lead laps tonight was Damian Washington who led two and finished 20th after starting on the outside pole. This year's race had its share of competition compared to last year as the caution waved six times beginning with the halfway break at lap 125. Things only got hotter as the night went on as the second caution waved on lap 130 when Derek Hawkins was spun by Jason Sullivan on the frontstretch. Caution number three came on lap 153 when Chad Moon's car came to a stop in turn one. The fourth caution was on lap 159 when leader J.R. Fowler got tangled with Gary Campbell going into turn three. The fifth caution waved on lap 167 when Neil Charles came to a stop in the grass in turns one and two. The final caution waved on lap 244 when rookie Colin Howard's car stopped by the armco in turn two while running third, dashing the rookie's hopes of a top five finish once again. Other Race Notes; - Grant Culpepper's fourth-place finish ties his career best as he also finished fourth at Homestead-Miami.
- Caleb McDonald finished a quiet tenth-place, earning his second top ten of the season after finishing seventh at Road Atlanta.
- In only her fourth career start, Kris Holloway finished 11th in the Eagle Racing #40, the team's best finish. Their previous best was 14th with Zach O'Malley at North Wilkesboro last spring.
- Like Shawn Fontaine during his win at Greenville-Pickens, Anderson led 35 laps and started 13th.
With the drop of the checkered flag, the Southeast series's first stop in their inaugural Summer Nights Showdown came to a close with the five remaining races being at Southern National Motorsports Park, Bristol, Myrtle Beach, IRP, and Louisville. Whoever has the best average finish after these six races will earn a $40,000 bonus while the second best earns $25,000 and the third best gets $12,500. Even for the third-best average finish, the money could go a long way in perhaps turning someone into a championship contender. At the conclusion of Friday night's race, Bowman-Gray Stadium's five-year lease has run out and series officials aren't sure if they want to renew and bring back the quarter-mile oval for the 1999 season. "Honestly speaking, we've had some pretty dull races there in recent years and it's a nightmare under caution when cars aren't sure where they're supposed to line up. It may be in our best interest to find a different venue, possibly branch out somewhere new." Series director Dean Goodman stated after the race, a former winner at Bowman-Gray back in his driving days. The general consensus amongst the drivers is that Bowman-Gray is a historic venue that gets lost with the cars of today and just isn't a good fit anymore given how slow the race is and that people are generally left with banged-up racecars. Not to mention that Friday night's race actually took longer to complete than the Coca-Cola 100 at Charlotte. NASCAR says the series is slated for another 25 race season in 1999 with perhaps more tracks being rotated like Richmond and Rougemont being removed from the calendar. Along with Bowman-Gray, tracks like Greenville-Pickens, Hickory, and Lanier also have their leases up and their race dates could evaporate at season's end, though officials are pleased with Hickory and Lanier while GPS is still in the air, originally being brought back as a one-off to celebrate the track as it was a venue in the ASRC's inaugural season. Tim Foster, Jr.'s lead in the points is starting to grow as he now leads J.R. Fowler by 16 points with Shawn Fontaine still in third 24 points behind, Jimbo Bailey in fourth 34 points back, and Ryan Fisher rounds out the top five as he is 43 points behind. The Southeast series gets a week off to rebuild and prepare for the Slim Jim 250 at Southern National Motorsports Park on June 6th as Troy Pearson will look to defend his win from last season while Speedvision brings the coverage starting at 7:00pm eastern time. Lap LeadersJ.R. Fowler - 93 Trent Blanchard - 59 Robby Anderson - 35 Neil Charles - 32 Ron Snyder - 29 Damian Washington - 2 Contingency AwardsBud Pole Award: Neil Charles (17.053 sec/52.777 mph) Safety Kleen Front Runner: J.R. Fowler (93 of 250 laps) Gatorade Hard Charger: Keith Norton (+25, Started 28th, Finished 3rd) Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Grant Culpepper (16.132 sec/55.79 mph) Raybesto’s Rookie of the Race: Grant Culpepper (Finished 4th) Race ResultsPoint Standings |
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Post by thunder98 on Jan 22, 2020 15:39:22 GMT -5
Race 12: Slim Jim 250 at Southern National Motorsports Park; Lucama, North Carolina, June 6th, 1998 ANDERSON WINS TWO IN A ROWBy Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com - June 7th, 1998LUCAMA, NC - It seems the short track chaos followed the NASCAR All Pro Southeast Series into Southern National Motorsports Park as just about everybody's car had some sort of damage. Robby Anderson was able to back up his win at Bowman-Gray Stadium with his second win of the season in the Slim Jim 250, holding off Sammy Moore in the closing laps while leading 96 laps after starting...13th... It would seem 13 is a lucky number this year as it has produced three winners in the first half of the season; Shawn Fontaine at Homestead-Miami, and Robby Anderson at Bowman-Gray and SNMP. "Winning two in a row feels pretty damn good, especially when there's a cool 40 grand at stake." Anderson said in victory lane as he's 2-for-2 in the Summer Nights Showdown. Sammy Moore had the cleanest car at the end of the night as he finished second after leading 19 laps and starting fifth. Richie Howard, Kurt Collins, and Damian Washington round out the top five with polesitter Jimbo Bailey finishing sixth despite leading a race-high 135 laps. Caution Report presented by Mr. GoodwrenchCaution #1 - Lap 14: Shawn Fontaine drops a valve and stops on the backstretch after starting second, finishing last (29th). Caution #2 - Lap 25: Leroy Gardner comes down on Jason Sullivan, sending both cars into the inside wall and sliding up into Becky Conway in turn one. Tim Foster, Jr. gets pinched between Conway and Neil Charles while also collecting Colin Howard. Caution #3 - Lap 106: Leader Jimbo Bailey slides up into Ryan Fisher, spinning the #30 coming off turn two. Caution #4 - Lap 112: Ryan Fisher, Chad Moon, and Tim Foster, Jr. are three-wide off turn two as Foster spins Moon down the backstretch. Kris Holloway is also involved in turn three. Caution #5 - Lap 120: Caleb McDonald tags Ryan Fisher coming off turn four, sending the #30 spinning again. This would serve as the halfway caution. Caution #6 - Lap 130: Adam Coleman and Vince Stevens get together in turn three. Caution #7 - Lap 154: Gary Campbell locks up his brakes and spins in turn three. Caution #8 - Lap 194: J.R. Fowler spins Chad Moon coming off turn four. Caution #9 - Lap 208: Derek Hawkins spins Ron Snyder on the frontstretch. Caution #10 - Lap 227: Adam Coleman spins in turn two. Other Race Notes: - Caleb McDonald matched his best career finish with a seventh-place finish after starting 22nd. He also finished seventh at Road Atlanta.
- This is only the third time this season that Tim Foster, Jr. has finished outside of the top dozen, finishing 14th just as he did at North Wilkesboro and Walt Disney World.
- Blake Roosevelt earned his best finish of the season with a 13th-place finish after failing to qualify for Bowman-Gray. Roosevelt's best finish prior to SNMP was 20th at Volusia. He also finished tenth here a year ago.
Tim Foster, Jr. continues to lead the points standings by ten points over J.R. Fowler with Jimbo Bailey 19 points back in third, Robby Anderson 32 points behind in fourth, and Sammy Moore 37 points back in fifth. Foster will prepare for double duty as the Southeast Series has a week off before going to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Dollar General 200 on June 19th, the third race of the Summer Nights Showdown and the halfway mark of this 1998 season. Both Tim Foster, Jr. and seven-time Southeast series champion Roger Fowler will race in the Loadhandler 200 the following night. ESPN2 will bring the coverage of the Southeast series race starting at 6:30pm eastern time. Lap LeadersJimbo Bailey - 135 Robby Anderson - 96 Sammy Moore - 19 Contingency AwardsBud Pole Award: Jimbo Bailey (14.792 sec/97.35 mph) Safety Kleen Front Runner: Jimbo Bailey (135 of 250 laps) Gatorade Hard Charger: Caleb McDonald (+15, Started 22nd, Finished 7th) J.R. Fowler (+15, Started 23rd, Finished 8th) Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Robby Anderson (14.75 sec/97.627 mph) Raybesto’s Rookie of the Race: J.R. Fowler (Finished 8th) Race ResultsPoint Standings |
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Post by thunder98 on Jan 25, 2020 21:48:34 GMT -5
Race 13: Dollar General 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway; Bristol, Tennessee, June 19th, 1998 HOWARD HOLDS OFF ANDERSON IN WILD RACEBy Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com - June 20th, 1998BRISTOL, TN - On the eve of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway, the stars of the All Pro Southeast Series took to the half-mile's high banks for 200 laps in an action-packed frenzy of door-to-door racing that saw Richie Howard win the Dollar General 200, his second win of the season and the fourth of his young career. Howard led 30 laps and started 11th as he had to hold off a red-hot Robby Anderson in a green-white-checkered finish, Anderson having led 46 laps after starting from the outside pole. "I knew Robby was gonna be a hard guy to hold off so I just took the inside away when I could and luckily the car managed to stick. It feels good to win again and hopefully we can keep the momentum going." Howard stated in victory lane as a different Howard, Colin Howard (no relation) earned his best career finish in third with Blaine Freeman in fourth and Shawn Fontaine rounding out the top five after leading a race-high 57 laps. Other lap leaders last night include rookie Grant Culpepper who led 18 laps and finished 12th, Ryan Fisher who led 41 laps before being caught up in an incident and finishing 13th after starting on the pole, and Leroy Gardner who led eight laps before failing to finish once again after starting fifth. As we reach the halfway mark in this inaugural Summer Nights Showdown, Robby Anderson continues to hold the best average finish at 1.33 with Richie Howard second at an even 3.0 and Grant Culpepper holding on to third at 9.33 with Colin Howard and Jimbo Bailey hot on his tail tied for fourth at 9.67. Caution Report presented by Mr. Goodwrench: Nine cautions for 45 laps Caution 1 - Lap 13: Mike Palmer slaps the wall coming off turn two, bounces off Neil Charles, and spins down the backstretch. Caution 2 - Lap 53: Blake Roosevelt smacks the wall coming off turn two, bounces off Blaine Freeman, and spins down the backstretch. Caution 3 - Lap 61: Trent Blanchard hits the turn two wall, comes down onto Sammy Moore, Moore comes up the track into Jimbo Bailey and Derek Hawkins going into turn three, and Tim Foster, Jr. rear-ends Moore's car and is also hit by Chad Moon, sending the #4 car onto its side before coming to rest on all four wheels. Foster came into this race as the points leader and would finish last (32nd). Caution 4 - Lap 71: Damian Washington slams the turn four wall and comes down on Derek Hawkins and Kurt Collins, sending the trio spinning down the frontstretch while also collecting Leroy Gardner, Caleb McDonald, and Gary Campbell. Caution 5 - Lap 83: Neil Charles makes contact with the turn two wall, bounces off Ron Snyder and Damian Washington's cars before spinning down the backstretch and getting hit by Gary Campbell, Grant Culpepper, and a shot to the driver's door by Blake Roosevelt, sending the #17 Pontiac flipping in turn three. Leader Ryan Fisher's car slid in the oil and hit the back of Charles's car. Caution 6 - Lap 100: Halfway caution. Caution 7 - Lap 108: Ron Snyder hits the turn two wall and comes down on Caleb McDonald and Mike Palmer, sending all three cars spinning down the backstretch and collecting Vince Stevens. Caution 8 - Lap 169: Mike Palmer smacks the turn two wall, comes down on Troy Pearson, and sends the #05 spinning down the backstretch. Caution 9 - Lap 193: Grant Culpepper hits the turn two wall, comes down and gets hit by Ryan Fisher, sending both cars spinning down the backstretch. With Tim Foster, Jr. being involved in an early caution on lap 61 and J.R. Fowler finishing the night in sixth, Fowler retakes the points lead by 16 over Foster with Robby Anderson and Jimbo Bailey both 17 points back tied for third and Shawn Fontaine 22 points back in fifth. "It's usually best to have these kinds of things happen in the early portion of the season but some things just can't be helped. Hopefully this won't put much of a hinder on our championship defense but now I've got a truck race to focus on." Foster would say after being released from the infield care center as he will make his second Craftsman Truck Series start in tonight's Loadhandler 200 along with Roger Fowler. After being hit in the driver's door and sent barrel-rolling down the pavement in turn three, Neil Charles managed to get out of his car under his own power in obvious discomfort while holding onto his left arm. Charles was taken by ambulance to a local medical facility where x-rays showed a dislocated shoulder and bruising along the left side of his body. The 42-year old two-time champion was kept overnight for observation and will be released Sunday morning. Crew members stated that Charles will return to the car at Lanier in a couple of weeks though Neil's nephew, Beau, will be on standby. Beau Charles, 26, has worked as a tire changer for his uncle's team since Neil's second championship season in 1991 as his father Steve serves as the crew chief. Blake Roosevelt's approach to Charles's car and some comments from other drivers claiming erratic driving made NASCAR administer a drug test to the 35-year old and former Rookie of the Year. The Southeast series will have a week off before heading to Lanier National Speedway for the Rose's Discount Stores 200 on July 3rd, being the new venue for the fourth of July weekend after being held at Volusia from 1990-1997. Tim Foster, Jr. will look to defend his victory from last year in what was a driver's duel between him and Ryan Fisher. TNN will bring the coverage starting at noon eastern time. Lap LeadersShawn Fontaine - 57 Robby Anderson - 46 Ryan Fisher - 41 Richie Howard - 30 Grant Culpepper - 18 Leroy Gardner - 8 Contingency AwardsBud Pole Award: Ryan Fisher (17.102 sec/112.198 mph) Safety Kleen Front Runner: Shawn Fontaine (57 of 200 laps) Gatorade Hard Charger: Shawn Fontaine (+16, Started 21st, Finished 5th) Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Jason Sullivan (16.964 sec/113.11 mph) Raybesto’s Rookie of the Race: Colin Howard (Finished 3rd) Race ResultsPoints Standings |
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Post by thunder98 on Jan 28, 2020 0:23:37 GMT -5
Race 14: Rose's Discount Stores 200 at Lanier National Speedway; Braselton, Georgia; July 3rd, 1998 GARDNER HOSED, COLLINS WINS 2ND OF '98By Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com - July 4th, 1998BRASELTON, GA - The NASCAR All Pro Southeast Series kicked off racing's Independence Day celebration with the running of the Rose's Discount Stores 200 at the Lanier National Speedway before a packed house and boy, did fans get their money's worth of fireworks. Damian Washington led the field to green but all eyes were on Leroy Gardner as he put on a clinic by leading a race-high 175 of 200 laps before being involved in an accident with Adam Coleman in turn four with 15 laps remaining, much to the crowd's dismay. Gardner posted his series-high seventh DNF of the 1998 season and was listed 25th in the final results. All was not without hope however as Kurt Collins would take the checkered flag for his second win of the season, leading the remaining 25 laps of the race after starting fourth which means race fans can get a free large pizza from Domino's for their Fourth of July celebrations. "I really hate it for Leroy [Gardner], man. I mean, we were having a real driver's duel until that eight car stopped right in front of him and ruined everything for the fans. Not exactly the way I wanna win races, but I guess that's how it goes sometimes." Collins stated in victory lane, the emotion practically sucked out of him as he took the win by two seconds over last year's winner Ryan Fisher with polesitter Damian Washington finishing third, Chad Moon finishing fourth, and points leader J.R. Fowler rounding out the top five. Caution Report presented by Mr. Goodwrench: Eight cautions for 40 laps. Caution 1 - Lap 28: Shawn Fontaine's car loses power and comes to a stop coming out of turn two. He would later finish 21st, three laps down. Note: Neil Charles would get out of the car and be replaced by his nephew Beau.Caution 2 - Lap 36: After serving a penalty on the restart, Jimbo Bailey gets side-swiped by Sammy Moore, spin in turn three, get hit by Kris Holloway and Beau Charles, spin on his passenger side and get hit by Grant Culpepper before coming back on all four wheels. Bailey went on to finish 15th after starting fifth. Caution 3 - Lap 42: Robby Anderson spins Jason Sullivan coming out of turn two. Thankfully everybody avoids Sullivan's car. Caution 4 - Lap 56: Richie Howard spins Alan Dudley coming off turn four. Caution 5 - Lap 100: Halfway caution. Caution 6 - Lap 133: Blaine Freeman gets loose under leader Leroy Gardner and spins himself in turn four. Jason Sullivan lightly hits Freeman's car. Caution 7 - Lap 147: Points leader J.R. Fowler gets spun from third position by Colin Howard. Caution 8 - Lap 186: Adam Coleman's car slows directly in front of Leroy Gardner in turn three. The two come together and slide into the pit entrance, ending Gardner's chances at victory. Robby Anderson was also involved with nowhere to go. Emotions were overflowing once again after yesterday's race as J.R. Fowler approached Colin Howard after being spun by his lapped car with 54 laps remaining. Howard claimed his brakes were malfunctioning and was battling a tight condition while the replay showed his car accelerating when pressed against the right side of Fowler's back bumper. Neither driver was docked any points though Howard remains on probation until the new year. However, all eyes were on Leroy Gardner as he was absolutely irate at Adam Coleman after their late-race incident that dashed any hopes of a victory for Gardner as the Kingsport, Tennessee driver was seen shouting at Coleman and having to be restrained by his pit crew members from causing potential harm to Coleman. "It's absolute bullshit that he wasn't on the apron heading into the pits with the leaders closing in like we were. I'm so damn mad right now, it's just about impossible to put into words... We had this field licked and had an awesome race with Kurt [Collins] once we hit heavy traffic only for a backmarker piece of shit to ruin everything. It's bad enough I've been racking up DNFs the last two years, but we're starting to run out of race cars back at the shop. If this keeps up, we're gonna have to scale back. But hey, at least everybody gets a free pizza, right?" Gardner vented after the confrontation. NASCAR would penalize Adam Coleman ten driver points for failing to yield to the leaders in a disruptive manner but was not placed on probation. Gardner has 40 DNFs in his career (since 1989) with 16 of them coming over the last season and a half as he led all drivers in 1997 (9) and leads all drivers this season (7). However, Gardner has led more laps (323) this year than any other driver, yet he sits 24th in points with only two top-fives and four top-tens with a best finish of second at Martinsville back in April. On a more positive note, Beau Charles was a busier man than usual this weekend as he practiced his uncle Neil's car and got into the car under the first caution of the day. The driver change was something the team practiced and they performed it so well over the course of the pit stop that they actually gained a spot from 12th to 11th. Although still sore from the Bristol crash, Neil couldn't help but smile at how fast the change went as he rested in the pit whilst watching his nephew perform. Beau ran as high as ninth before being involved in the second caution of the race, falling as low as 19th before battling back without a hood to finish 11th. "I was real impressed with him over the course of the weekend. He got used to the car in practice, we had it set up how we wanted it, and he showed a lot of promise. I'm still feeling sore so we might have to call on him again next week." The elder Charles would say as he had originally qualified 19th. With all the problems his competitors had today and after battling back for a top-five finish, J.R. Fowler extends his points lead to 27 over Tim Foster, Jr. and Jimbo Bailey with Damian Washington sitting 28 points back in third and Shawn Fontaine tied with Robby Anderson for fifth in points, both drivers 38 points behind. Race-winner Kurt Collins sits seventh in the standings, 40 points back of Fowler. Though Fowler has not had a DNF yet this season, one bad finish could tighten up the championship standings tighter than a vicegrip. "If there's anything my dad taught me, it's that consistency pays off. He showed everybody that last year before everything started falling apart. All we gotta do is keep the fenders on it and we could bring another championship home to Goodlettsville." Fowler stated after the race. There's no rest for the Southeast series as they head to Myrtle Beach Speedway for the Myrtle Beach 250 under the lights and round four of the inaugural Summer Nights Showdown while sharing the venue with the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series. TNN will bring the coverage on July 10th starting at 6:30pm eastern time. Neil Charles won at the South Carolina short track last year but for it to happen again it seems it'll be a two-man operation with nephew Beau. Lap LeadersLeroy Gardner - 175 Kurt Collins - 25 Contingency AwardsBud Pole Award: Damian Washington (14.088 sec/95.826 mph) Safety Kleen Front Runner: Leroy Gardner (175 of 200 laps) Gatorade Hard Charger: Colin Howard (+19, Started 28th, Finished 9th) Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Leroy Gardner (14.083 sec/95.86 mph) Raybesto’s Rookie of the Race: J.R. Fowler (Finished 5th) Race ResultsPoints Standings |
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Post by thunder98 on Jan 28, 2020 21:19:49 GMT -5
Race 15: Myrtle Beach 250 at Myrtle Beach Speedway; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; July 10th, 1998 SILVER ROOSTER RETURNS TO VICTORY LANEBy Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com - July 11th, 1998MYRTLE BEACH, SC - Just as the stars shined brightly around the Myrtle Beach Speedway, the drivers of the All Pro Southeast Series took to the track for 250 laps of close quarters competition with Ryan Fisher and Sammy Moore on the front row leading the field to green in front of fans and Busch Series teams alike. Moore would lead 57 laps but early eyes were on Mark Ryder as he made his return to the track for the first time since the 1995 season finale at Five Flags Speedway after his team's race shop on the campus of Mississippi State University burned to the ground just days before the team was set to leave for the 1996 season opener at Walt Disney World Speedway. Ryder started third, led 16 laps, and ran in the top five for most of the night before a malfunctioning cylinder on lap 182 brought him into the pits and out of contention. "I've been following the series as much as I could online and on TV while we were having the shop rebuilt and developing our new equipment. It was great to not only be back out there racing with everybody but also getting to catch up with guys who are still racing and coming to the track as well as meeting the newer drivers that I haven't seen before. There was definitely some rust during practice but the car qualified and raced well until that cylinder started acting up. Sometimes it would fire off like normal but after we brought it in under that caution, it started firing off less and less and I could hear it as the race wore on. I'm glad we were able to limp it home and I'm definitely looking forward to getting back into it all over again." Ryder stated after the race with nothing but a smile. Much like Leroy Gardner last week at Lanier, all eyes were on 21-year old second-generation rookie Colin Howard as he put on a show by leading a race-high 128 laps. Though he came up short of the win, veteran drivers had nothing but praise for the young man. "When we were racing out there for the lead, I didn't feel like I was racing against Colin [Howard], I felt like I was racing against Eric [Howard]. That kid has learned so much and he showed it tonight with how he raced; adjusting his line, managing lapped traffic, and keeping his cool under pressure. I'm sure Eric is proud of him and I hope Colin keeps this up. He'll be a star here if he does." Mark Ryder commented as he and Howard raced for the lead throughout the first half of the race. "I was definitely impressed with him though his inner rookie definitely came out towards the end of the race. He was pushing his car on older tires and getting frustrated with lapped traffic. We had trouble with some lapped cars that let him get close in the end, but he wasn't able to capitalize. Kid's got talent but he still has some improving to do." Race-winner Troy Pearson stated in victory lane after coming up through the field from 23rd starting position and leading 49 laps. "To be able to have a night like we did and come up as short like that, this is gonna sting for a while. Our car was perfect when we were pulling away out front but after we got back in traffic after a bad stop combined with that long green run, the handling just slowly went away and I tried too hard to get more out of this car which ruined our hopes of winning. I thought we'd have lapped traffic work in our favor and it did for the most part, but we just couldn't get around Troy [Pearson]." A dejected Howard said to reporters as the rookie has five top-ten finishes in his last six starts. This 1998 season has definitely been a disappointing one for Pearson, who finished fourth in points in 1997 with two wins. Through 15 races this season, he only has one win, two top-fives, four top-tens, and sits 16th in the points standings, a season somewhat similar to Damian Washington one year ago. "A lot of things haven't gone our way this year which is definitely disappointing, but I feel like we've gotten over that hump and we can get some momentum going towards the end of this season and be ready to compete for a title next season. Of course, as fierce as the competition is this season compared to recent years, that just means that someone has to be towards the bottom and I guess it's just our turn this year." The 32-year old Pearson would say. It looks as though Neil Charles will continue to call upon his nephew Beau to drive in relief as the former series champion didn't get out of the car during his first stop on lap 74, saying he was feeling fine up until the laps before the halfway caution when his left side and shoulder began acting up and caused considerable discomfort. Charles had to be gingerly pulled out from his #17 Pontiac before Beau hopped into the car and finished the race. Neil qualified 21st for the race and worked his way up to ninth by the halfway caution though because he couldn't climb out normally like he did last week, the #17 fell back to 11th on the restart but Beau did a splendid job driving in relief as he ran as high as fourth before finishing eighth when the checkered flag fell. Thankfully, Neil will have two off week's rest before the next Southeast series race at IRP on July 29th and nearly another month to rest before the race at Heartland Park in August. Neil was originally scheduled to take part in a NASCAR-sanctioned test with twelve other drivers during the second week of August. NASCAR says that if Neil feels as though he cannot participate in the test, then Beau will be eligible to replace him. The test, according to NASCAR, will be an important one that will help steer the direction of the series for the 1999 season but they did not disclose where the test is scheduled to take place. Caution Report presented by Mr. Goodwrench: Five cautions for 25 laps. Caution 1 - Lap 73: Vince Stevens gets hooked by Tim Foster, Jr. coming off to turn two, is sent into the inside wall, and spun back up the track. Caution 2 - Lap 125: Halfway caution. Note: Neil Charles would relinquish the driver's seat to Beau.Caution 3 - Lap 158: Tim Foster, Jr. locks up his brakes going into turn three, gets into Jimbo Bailey, and spins Bailey out in turn four. Caution 4 - Lap 181: Tim Foster, Jr. comes to a stop in turn four. Caution 5 - Lap 195: Greg Partridge comes down on Alan Dudley and both cars spin in turn three. J.R. Fowler continues to lead the point standings but his lead has shrunken down to 23 over Jimbo Bailey while the rest of the frontrunners had issues tonight. Tim Foster, Jr. falls to third in points by 32 points, Robby Anderson sits fourth 40 points back, and Shawn Fontaine rounds out the top five 42 points behind. As it stands right now, Fowler is the only full-time entry that has no DNFs and has run 99.86% of all laps run this season so far. On the subject of the Summer Nights Showdown, Robby Anderson continues to lead with the best average finish of 4.0 after finishing 12th with Colin Howard on his tail at 7.75 after his runner-up finish and Jimbo Bailey sitting in third at 8.75 after a sixth-place finish. As stated earlier, the Southeast series will have two weeks off to prepare for the race #16 of the season and the fifth round of the inaugural Summer Nights Showdown when they head to Indianapolis Raceway Park for the Indiana Dodge Dealers 150 on July 29th which will kick off a NASCAR quadruple header weekend as the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Busch Grand National Series will also be racing at IRP while the NASCAR Winston Cup Series runs the fifth annual Brickyard 400 at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tim Foster, Jr. will look to add onto his victory in Bristol as he prepares for his third start in the truck series while the Southeast series returns to IRP for the first time since 1994 as Mark Ryder will look to defend his win in his second race back. ESPN2 will bring coverage of the Southeast series race on July 29th at 6:30pm eastern time. Lap LeadersColin Howard - 128 Sammy Moore - 57 Troy Pearson - 49 Mark Ryder - 16 Contingency AwardsBud Pole Award: Ryan Fisher (20.2 sec/95.881 mph) Safety Kleen Front Runner: Colin Howard (128 of 250 laps) Gatorade Hard Charger: Troy Pearson (+22, Started 23rd, Finished 1st) Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Colin Howard (20.561 sec/94.198 mph) Raybesto’s Rookie of the Race: Colin Howard (Finished 2nd) Race ResultsPoints Standings |
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Post by thunder98 on Jan 30, 2020 18:29:25 GMT -5
Race 16: Indiana Dodge Dealers 150 at Indianapolis Raceway Park; Clermont, Indiana; July 29th, 1998 RYDER DOMINATES, RETURNS TO VICTORY LANEBy Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com - July 30th, 1998CLERMONT, IN - The NASCAR All Pro Southeast Series kicked off a major NASCAR quadruple header weekend in Indianapolis under the lights Wednesday night with their return to IRP after a three-year hiatus with the running of the Indiana Dodge Dealers 150. Myrtle Beach winner Troy Pearson started from pole position with Becky Conway to his outside but the second groove proved to be the fastest as Conway took the lead and led the first 19 laps before being passed by Mark Ryder and as they say, the rest is history. In only his second start back from the devastating electrical fire that put his team and career on hold, Mark Ryder led the remaining 131 laps to take his 18th career Southeast series victory with Becky Conway finishing second, Leroy Gardner in third, Kurt Collins fourth, and defending series champion Tim Foster, Jr. rounding out the top five. "For every student we've had that worked themselves to the bone for the last two and a half years getting this team back up and running again, this one's for you guys. Everyone; graduated or enrolled. We were all in this together and I can't thank everybody enough." An emotional Ryder said in victory lane. Caution Report presented by Mr. Goodwrench: Six cautions for 30 laps. Caution 1 - Lap 6: Caleb McDonald, Grant Culpepper, and Ron Snyder are three-wide coming off turn two, McDonald drifts up and pinches Culpepper and Snyder before McDonald spins and gets hit from behind by Adam Coleman. Caution 2 - Lap 13: Sammy Moore sends it into turn one and clips the right rear of Shawn Fontaine's car, sending both cars into the wall before collecting Keith Norton who gets run over and spun by Alan Dudley on the backstretch. Caution 3 - Lap 23: Grant Culpepper, Ron Snyder, and Richie Howard are three-wide coming off turn four and as Howard drives away, Culpepper slides up into Snyder, pinches him against the wall, and both cars collide in turn one. Caution 4 - Lap 75: Halfway caution. Note: Neil Charles would relinquish driving duties to his nephew Beau once again. Beau would finish 14th after Neil qualified seventh. Caution 5 - Lap 80: J.R. Fowler hooks the left rear of Colin Howard's car going into turn three and sends the #44 sliding up the track, giving Sammy Moore nowhere to go as he hits Howard in the driver door, making the 44 slide on its passenger side, and hit the outside wall with the back and front of the car before coming back down on all four wheels. Howard would stay in the race and finish 16th. Caution 6 - Lap 110: Jimbo Bailey sends Damian Washington into the turn one wall, continues pushing the #1 Chevrolet until spinning him in turn two. Like every night race this season as it seems, emotions were all over the place by the time the checkered flag fell and it all began on the backstretch during the cool down lap as Damian Washington sped up and doored Jimbo Bailey's Pontiac as retaliation for their incident with 41 laps to go. The two drivers confronted each other and words were exchanged between the championship contenders before cooler heads prevailed. "I just think it's ridiculous that he drove into my quarter panel, sent me into the wall, and kept pushing me before spinning me out. Some former champion..." A frustrated Washington stated after finishing 13th. Meanwhile, Colin Howard confronted J.R. Fowler over their run-in on lap 80 that sent Howard onto his side, claiming it was a cheap shot at payback for a lapped Howard spinning out Fowler from third place at Lanier, which Fowler denied as he was a lap down at the time of the accident. Howard was led away by his team, reminding the rookie he was still on probation after Hickory. "Was I mad he spun me at Lanier? Yes. Was this intentional payback? Absolutely not. We've got bigger fish to fry." Fowler commented as despite a major setback tonight, he still leads the championship standings. For a race sponsored by Dodge, Wednesday night's race couldn't have gone any worse for the brand as all three of their cars were involved in the second caution of the night. Keith Norton, the innocent bystander, was left to finish last (30th) with Shawn Fontaine finishing 29th after starting tenth and Sammy Moore getting caught up in a later caution, finishing 27th, leaving the Avengers finishing in three of the bottom four positions. Dodge Racing executives weren't pleased in the slightest and called for an emergency team meeting following the race between the three teams though most of the focus was on Sammy Moore, who caused the initial incident on lap 13. Shawn Fontaine wasn't pleased either though Moore apologized for his actions. "It's disgraceful to have this occur during any race, but it's especially aggravating when it happens during a race our manufacturer is sponsoring." One executive stated as the organization will try to regroup as they will soon head to the NASCAR-sanctioned test mentioned after the race at Myrtle Beach where Moore and Fontaine are among the 14 teams that will participate. Executives also stated that Wednesday night's catastrophe may hinder their hopes of expansion from three cars to possibly four or five for the 1999 season. After tonight's race, Fontaine, Moore, and Norton now sit eighth, ninth, and 25th in points respectively. After suffering a punctured tire under the second caution of the night, J.R. Fowler was relegated to a 20th-place finish which hurt his championship lead as it's down to just 13 points over Jimbo Bailey with Tim Foster, Jr. 17 points behind in third, Ryan Fisher 30 points back in fourth, and Robby Anderson 32 points behind in fifth. The Summer Nights Showdown is set to conclude at Louisville in late August as Robby Anderson continues to lead the best average finish category at 5.6 with Jimbo Bailey behind him at an even 9.0 and Colin Howard sitting at 9.4. Race-winner Mark Ryder is listed with a finishing average of 10.0 but because he didn't compete at Bowman-Gray, Southern National, or Bristol, he is ineligible to win any of the podium cash prizes. But before that, the majority of the Southeast series drivers will have a long-awaited break before the series goes to their second and final road course race of the season as Heartland Park at Topeka hosts the Diehard Shootout on August 22nd. It was in this race one year ago that saw then-rookie Chad Moon dominate before gearbox issues forced him out of the race which led to Roger Fowler earning his 82nd and final victory after holding off Becky Conway. Moon and Conway will have the checkered flag on their minds as TNN will bring the coverage beginning at 1:30pm eastern time. Lap LeadersMark Ryder - 131 Becky Conway - 19 Contingency AwardsBud Pole Award: Troy Pearson (23.584 sec/104.715 mph) Safety Kleen Front Runner: Mark Ryder (131 of 150 laps) Gatorade Hard Charger: Damian Washington (+17, Started 30th, Finished 13th) Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Tim Foster, Jr. (23.378 sec/105.638 mph) Raybesto’s Rookie of the Race: Colin Howard (Finished 16th) Race ResultsPoints Standings |
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