1999 NASCAR All Pro Southeast Series *In Progress*

Exhibition: Daytona Dash at Daytona Int’l Speedway; Daytona Beach, FL; February 13th, 1999

HOWARD EDGES BAILEY IN PHOTO FINISH

By Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com – February 14th, 1999

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – After a five-year absence from the World Center of Racing, NASCAR’s Southeast touring division returned to the 33 degree-banked turns of the iconic Daytona International Speedway as part of Speedweeks with the running of the Inaugural Daytona Dash, a 20-lap, winner-take-all event worth a cool $50,000 to the winner. The lineup initially included 25 drivers for the event but three drivers elected not to participate; Caleb McDonald after crashing during the season opener, Gary St. Amant with lack of interest, and 1997 Southeast series champion Tim Foster, Jr. who graduated to a full-time Craftsman Truck Series campaign.

With that said, Keith Norton would start from the pole with Grant Culpepper on his outside as 22 cars took the green flag on Saturday morning under beautiful blue skies with a massive crowd on hand that were still filing in for the season opener of the NASCAR Busch Series; the NAPA Auto Parts 300 that would be run after the Dash. The race began with drivers staying in line eleven rows deep for the first few laps before going three-wide for most of the race with positions changing every lap at speeds of 165 MPH.

The only caution in the 20-lap dash came on lap 13 when Grant Culpepper was pinched between Beau Charles and Shawn Fontaine in a four-wide situation with Neil Charles on the bottom closest to the apron. Culpepper got into the left rear of Fontaine’s car which triggered a chain reaction with Fontaine getting into Leroy Gardner who got into Troy Pearson who got into Robby Anderson, sending the #55 Quality Care Ford into the wall and forced Anderson out of the race. “We were all riding around getting a feel for the pack and the draft, next thing I knew I was in the wall. I figured inexperience would rear its ugly head. Hopefully NASCAR thinks twice before trying to put 40 of us out here all together.” Anderson was quoted saying after his visit to the infield care center. Other cars involved included Damian Washington, Jason Sullivan, Derek Hawkins, and Chad Moon, all of which were able to continue with minimal damage.

Richie Howard would lead the field back to green with three laps to go and the pack was back together coming back to the line with two to go. Grant Culpepper led the white flag lap before losing the lead to Jimbo Bailey in turn one and would be challenged by Colin Howard going into turn three. The two cars were side-by-side all the way to the start-finish line where Howard took the win in a photo finish over the 1994 series champion. Ryan Fisher, Becky Conway, and Grant Culpepper would round out the top five. “I know it doesn’t count for points or anything, but we won at Daytona! Not a lotta people can say that, now can they?” An ecstatic Howard said in victory lane.

After the lone practice session and the race itself, the drivers had both admiration and criticism for superspeedway racing in these late models, the more experienced drivers saying that the youth in the field could be problematic like it was in the Dash while at the same time being impressed by the safety advances that prevented any harm to Robby Anderson, who hit the turn one wall at 145 mph. “If these were the cars we were racing five years ago, it’d be smashed to smithereens and Robby probably would’ve broken something. Nowadays with these bumper bars helping to absorb the impact along with these new seats and belt system, all Robby got was the wind knocked out of him. We’ve come so far in a short amount of time that speedway racing would be heavily considered going forward. Superspeedways though? I think we’ll stick to the Dash for now.” Said Dean Goodman, former series champion and present head of competition for the Southeast series.

With Daytona Speedweeks wrapping up today with the 41st Daytona 500, the teams of the All Pro Southeast Series return home and prepare for the second points-paying stop on the schedule with the Food Lion 100 from North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, the series’s first visit to the track since 1993. TNN will bring the coverage on Friday, February 19th at 1:30pm eastern time.

Lap Leaders

Richie Howard – 5
Grant Culpepper – 4
J.R. Fowler – 2
Colin Howard – 1
Becky Conway – 1
Mark Ryder – 1
Kurt Collins – 1
Troy Pearson – 1
Jason Sullivan – 1
Derek Hawkins – 1
Shawn Fontaine – 1
Robby Anderson – 1

Contingency Awards

Bud Pole Award: Keith Norton (Set by Rules)
Safety Kleen Front Runner: Richie Howard (5 of 20 laps)
Gatorade Hard Charger: J.R. Fowler (+14, Started 22nd, Finished 8th)
Goody’s Headache of the Race: Keith Norton (-14, Started 1st, Finished 15th)
Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Kurt Collins (53.991 sec/166.694 mph)

Race Results

Race 3: Jiffy Lube 200 @ Road Atlanta; Braselton, Georgia; February 27th, 1999

HAWKINS HEARTBROKEN, NEWMAN SCORES FIRST WIN

By Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com – February 28th, 1999

BRASELTON, GA – It was a beautiful sunny afternoon at Road Atlanta as 37 cars took the green flag for the Jiffy Lube 200. Rookie Andre Carter earned his first career pole with defending winner Derek Hawkins to his outside. Two other rookies managed to qualify in the top ten, those being Corey Garcia in fourth and Ryan Newman in sixth. Though Carter led the field to green, the rookie wasn’t able to hold off Hawkins who got a great run through the first right-hander going uphill. The first half of the race was surprisingly calm with the exception of the first caution at lap 3 for Adam Coleman and Vince Stevens spinning at the end of the esses and lap 21 when Mark Ryder’s Chevrolet dropped a valve and was forced out of the race from the tenth position without bringing out a caution.

The halfway caution saw a major shakeup in the running order as several teams had problems in the pits. But Derek Hawkins was perhaps on cruise control as it looked as though the #47 Pontiac was well on his way to winning this race in back-to-back seasons until lap 44 the clutch burned out going into turn five, causing the car to come to a slow stop and bring out the third caution of the race which led to a four-lap shootout for the win with rookie Ryan Newman leading Chad Moon, Jason Sullivan, Damian Washington, and Colin Howard. Hawkins was visibly disappointed when he took the walk from his car to the infield care center for his mandatory visit. “Now I know how Chad [Moon] felt after that race at Heartland Park a couple of years back. We qualified great, we ran great, we had this field licked, then it all went down the drain just like that. I hate it for everyone back at Southern Miss that worked hard on my cars this season. But at least they’ll get an interesting lesson come Monday.” Hawkins would say after being released.

However, there was no catching that Penske Racing Ford as the 21-year old Newman won by over three seconds in what is The Captain’s first win in the southeast series since Leonard Jackson’s win at Sebring in November 1978. Since this is an off weekend for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, Penske was present in the pits and in victory lane as the celebration began for the South Bend, Indiana driver. “I knew we had a better car than Derek [Hawkins] and we were giving him a run for his money, but his car had better handling in some of the more important parts of the track that I couldn’t navigate as well even after watching what he was doing. I hate that his misfortune is our gain, but that’s just how the cookie crumbles, I guess.” Newman was quoted saying in victory lane as this win catapulted him from 13th in points up to a tie for sixth with Leroy Gardner. Chad Moon finished second with Jason Sullivan rounding out an all-Ford podium, 1996 series champion Damian Washington in fourth, and Colin Howard in fifth.

Mechanical Report presented by Pennzoil
36. 47 – Derek Hawkins |44/50| Clutch
37. 21 – Mark Ryder      |21/50| Valve

Road courses typically give rookies a hard time their first time out. That wasn’t the case for Ryan Newman as he started sixth and went on to win the race. Beau Charles, who has experience thanks to the Topeka race last year, rallied from 25th starting position to 11th. Corey Garcia was one of the cars running in the top five until problems on his pit stop sent him, along with others, to the back of the pack. Garcia wound up 22nd with Steve Hayden having an uneventful day in 25th, and polesitter Andre Carter relegated to 27th.

Rookie Report presented by Auto Zone
1. 27 – Ryan Newman (Started 6th)
11. 71 – Beau Charles (Started 25th)
22. 20 – Corey Garcia (Started 4th)
25. 31 – Steve Hayden (Started 23rd)
27. 4 – Andre Carter (Started 1st)

The points standings took a major toss and turn after the checkered flag fell as Colin Howard takes over the points lead thanks to his fifth-place finish with Chad Moon and Shawn Fontaine both just a single point behind with Becky Conway and Jason Sullivan both tied for fourth and a mere two points behind. Damian Washington’s fourth-place finish shot him up 10 spots in the standings to a three-way tie for 16th with Neil Charles and Corey Garcia while Keith Norton’s 34th-place finish dropped him like a rock, 11 positions down to a three-way tie for 27th with defending series champion J.R. Fowler and Derek Hawkins. After trekking to North Carolina and Georgia, the NASCAR All Pro Southeast Series heads back to The Sunshine State for a pair of Florida races beginning with the Sunshine Rotors 200 at USA International Speedway in Lakeland on March 6th. Richie Howard dominated that race one year ago, leading 114 of 200 laps from the outside pole. He’ll look to defend his victory as Speedvision will bring the action for their first of five races in this 1999 season starting at 1:00pm eastern time.

Lap Leaders
Derek Hawkins – 41
Ryan Newman – 8
Corey Garcia – 1

Contingency Awards
Bud Pole Award: Andre Carter (93.403 sec/97.898 mph)
Safety Kleen Front Runner: Derek Hawkins (41 of 50 laps)
Gatorade Hard Charger: Robby Anderson (+23, Started 36th, Finished 13th)
Goody’s Headache of the Race: Derek Hawkins (-34, Started 2nd, Finished 36th)
Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Derek Hawkins (90.208 sec/101.366 mph)
Raybesto’s Rookie of the Race: Ryan Newman (Finished 1st)

Race Results
Points Standings

Race 5: Pennzoil 100 at Homestead-Miami Speedway; Homestead, Florida; March 19th, 1999

CHARLES EDGES ANDERSON AMIDST GARAGE MELTDOWN

By Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com – March 20th, 1999

HOMESTEAD, FL – Chaotic doesn’t begin to describe the events that took place during the Pennzoil 100 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the fifth race of the 1999 NASCAR All Pro Southeast Series. But first, Andre Carter would lead the field to green for the third consecutive race as the qualifying trim for the Foster family team hasn’t skipped a beat. Lakeland winner Derek Hawkins would start alongside to make it an all-Pontiac front row as the field of 36 cars took the green flag in front of a packed house. Carter would manage to lead the first lap but afterwards it was the Robby Anderson show as he led a majority of the race. The caution would fly five times over the 67 laps that made up the Pennzoil 100 but there would be three of them got fans talking in the stands and resulted in irate pit crews that caused series officials to hold multiple meetings following the checkered flag. Colin Howard, J.R. Fowler, and Jason Sullivan were all hooked in their right rear quarter panels and spun into the turn three wall, impacting the wall on driver’s side.

It all began on lap 23 when Bob Senneker hooked Colin Howard’s car and sent the second-year driver into the turn three wall at roughly 108 mph, the majority of the impact coming from the front and rear of the driver’s side compartment. Howard was able to drive his car back to the pits and behind the wall, but not before members of his team confronted Senneker’s crew. Words were exchanged but luckily nothing escalated past that. Howard was checked and released from the infield care center with only slight bruises. After Senneker suffered last lap woes, falling from seventh to 27th, he approached Howard in the garage and apologized for the incident. “I take complete responsibility for what happened out there. My spotter had me cleared, I tried ducking in behind Colin, and I ended up hooking him. I miscalculated things and didn’t see him letting off more than I was. I’m glad he’s alright and I hope we can put this behind us. That’s just not the kind of racer I want to be seen as.” Senneker stated after his meeting with series officials which left him on probation until season’s end.

The next incident on lap 42 had the potential to be the scariest crash as rookie Ryan Newman hooked defending champion J.R. Fowler and sent him into the outside wall while battling for fifth, hitting squarely on the driver’s side at 100 mph in an impact that looked similar to the one that took the life of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver John Nemechek in 1997 on Homestead’s original configuration. The crowd was hushed at the sight and sound of the impact before erupting in cheers that Fowler’s car was able to continue and pull into the pits for repairs. “I took a pretty damn good lick and it knocked fourth gear out of the transmission. So all I could do was ride around until the end. It hurt like a son of a [redacted] and I don’t know what that no-neck chump thought he was doing out there.” Fowler stated in a phone interview as he was taken to a local medical facility after the race. Though he was lucky not to fracture anything, doctors determined that Fowler has a slight concussion, a mild case of whiplash, and deep bruising in his left shoulder, brachium, and ribs. Fowler will be reevaluated before the next race at North Wilkesboro and is not expected to miss any races, though the 99 team will search for a relief driver if necessary. Rumor is that J.R.’s father Roger will come out of retirement to serve as said relief driver, but nothing has been confirmed by the team.

Unfortunately, things escalated following the incident as members of Newman’s crew claimed Fowler flipped the bird at the 27 crew as he left the pits, the two teams pitting only a couple of stalls apart. This soon erupted into a pit-clearing melee of sorts which left Gary Campbell and Blaine Freeman’s crews trying to assist officials in breaking up the ruckus. Multiple crew members from both teams were placed on probation along with Ryan Newman. “We were just racing hard inside the top ten, getting down towards the end of the race and I just miscalculated my entry into three and got into J.R., sending him into the wall. I saw how he hit in my mirror and hoped he wasn’t hurt. I’m sure he’s pretty mad at me and I can’t blame him one bit. I hate how our crews got ugly with each other afterwards. It’s just not a good example to set.” Newman stated postrace after finishing third. Team owner Roger Penske stated in an email that he will personally deliver a new transmission to the 99 team and pay for Fowler’s medical expenses as a measure of good will, also stating that he will discipline the team members involved in the scuffle accordingly, mentioning that what happened has no place on any track at any level of motorsport.

The final caution came out on lap 59 and featured Blaine Freeman hooking Jason Sullivan and sending him into the turn three wall at about 109 mph, primarily impacting with the left front of the car and the left rear, similar to Colin Howard earlier in the race. Sullivan was checked and released from the infield care center but waited around until after the race to talk to Freeman on pit road, who wound up finishing 20th. Words were exchanged but nothing escalated beyond that, though the incident placed Freeman on probation until season’s end. “I know Blaine’s not a bad kid. He misjudged it going into three like other guys did. I’m feeling a bit sore but I’ll go get checked again and hope it’s nothing too serious.” Sullivan stated as he voluntarily went to a local medical facility for what turned out to be a mild case of whiplash and some chest bruising as a result of the near head-on first impact.

After three crashes in the same location that could’ve been fatal, series officials were pelted by the media following the race to which series director Dean Goodman was ready to respond to criticisms from the media. “Although we’re very pleased with how well the foam inserts, shock-absorbing bumpers, and Hans devices all worked in these incidents, it’s clear that we’ve still got work to do in order to ensure the safety of our drivers. Understandably, the circumstances of these incidents all had the same common denominator; failure to judge closing rates entering the third turn. We trust that these lacks in judgment will not happen again. While we don’t blame the drivers and teams from getting hotheaded as a result of what happens on the track, the last thing we need is for people’s safety to be jeopardized. The appropriate parties have been placed on probation until season’s end and hopefully we can leave it at that. As for the 44, 99, and 82 cars, we will take them back with us to our research and development center in Charlotte and will return each car after we’ve finished our findings. Though what we saw out there was rough, these incidents do not jeopardize the remaining races set to take place on speedway ovals. We’ve come so far in the past four years not to have this happen again and I hope that someday in the near future that safety will advance far enough that the only thing a driver would suffer in incidents like this would simply be having the wind knocked out of them.” Goodman stated from the media room in the infield.

Jimbo Bailey managed to take the lead from Robby Anderson coming to the final caution at lap 59 which set up a four lap dash to determine the winner. Just as it looked like Bailey had the race won coming towards the white flag with Anderson battling Neil Charles for second, Bailey’s car darted for the pit entry lane with a flat left rear tire, relegating him to a 28th-place finish. Fans jumped to their feet to watch the duel for the win, capped off by a photo-finish that saw Neil Charles win for the first time in 43 races dating back to Myrtle Beach in 1997, capping off the comeback trail after barrel rolling at Bristol last year. “We got lucky with this one, I’m not gonna lie! We had a great starting spot, managed to keep it up there in contention, avoided the chaos, and brought her home in one piece. Robby had a hell of a car today. To lead as much as he did and lose by a nose? That’s gotta hurt. Beau and I know that feeling all too well.” The elder Charles said from victory lane.

Caution report presented by Mr. Goodwrench: 5 cautions for 20 laps.
Caution 1 – Lap 7: Sammy Moore gets spun by Jason Sullivan going into turn one, sending the #6 sliding up into the wall.
Caution 2 – Lap 23: Bob Senneker spins Colin Howard going into turn three.
Caution 3 – Lap 33: Halfway caution.
Caution 4 – Lap 42: Ryan Newman spins J.R. Fowler going into turn three.
Caution 5 – Lap 59: Blaine Freeman spins Jason Sullivan going into turn three.

Mechanical Report presented by Pennzoil
35. 82 – Jason Sullivan |59/67| Piston
36. 44 – Colin Howard  |23/57| Valve

Once again we have three rookies finishing in the top eleven with Ryan Newman finishing third, polesitter Andre Carter in fourth, and Steve Hayden once again in eleventh. Beau Charles finished 13th and Corey Garcia had a nice quiet run through the pack, finishing 15th after starting 35th.

Rookie Report presented by Auto Zone
3. 27 – Ryan Newman (Started 8th)
4. 4 – Andre Carter (Started 1st)
11. 31 – Steve Hayden (Started 25th)
13. 71 – Beau Charles (Started 15th)
15. 20 – Corey Garcia (Started 35th)

The points picture took another turn as thanks to their respective incidents; Jason Sullivan fell from fourth in points to 12th now 40 points behind new leader Robby Anderson and Colin Howard fell from a tie for seventh to 18th, 54 points behind. Anderson has a 15 point lead over Becky Conway with rookie Ryan Newman 16 points back in third with Leroy Gardner falling to fourth now 19 points behind and Neil Charles jumping from ninth to fifth only 21 points back. While Sullivan and Howard were the biggest losers in the points this week, Derek Hawkins (+8), Kurt Collins, and Andre Carter (+7 each) were the biggest gainers.

Considering how hectic things were in Homestead, teams will try to recuperate and regain their composure as the series has not one, not two, but three short track races to deal with starting at the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway for the Craftsman 200. Damian Washington broke a 31-race losing streak and will look to defend his win from a year ago as TNN will bring the coverage on March 27th beginning at noon eastern time.

Lap Leaders
Robby Anderson – 56
Jimbo Bailey – 8
Neil Charles – 2
Andre Carter – 1

Contingency Awards
Bud Pole Award: Andre Carter (37.085 sec/145.612 mph)
Safety Kleen Front Runner: Robby Anderson (56 of 67 laps)
Gatorade Hard Charger: Kurt Collins (+28, Started 36th, Finished 8th)
Goody’s Headache of the Race: J.R. Fowler (-23, Started 11th, Finished 34th)
Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Shawn Fontaine (37.22 sec/145.083 mph)
Raybesto’s Rookie of the Race: Ryan Newman (Finished 3rd)

Race Results
Points Standings

Race 7: Duragloss 200 at Martinsville Speedway; Martinsville, Virginia, April 16th, 1999

HAYDEN SLIPS BY FINGER FOR FIRST WIN, CHARLES 3RD FOR ALL-ROOKIE PODIUM

By Nick Johnson/NASCAR.com

MARTINSVILLE, VA – A packed crowd filed into Martinsville Speedway for the Duragloss 200 on Friday afternoon to watch the stars and cars of the All Pro southeast series as Leroy Gardner earned his second pole of the season with Mark Ryder starting alongside. Four rookies qualified in the first four rows, led by Steve Hayden in third with Beau Charles in fifth, Corey Garcia in sixth, and Ted Finger qualifying seventh in his debut race. Finger, the Carolina dirt track racing veteran of seven years, was hand-picked by Troy Pearson to drive the #05 Lee’s Pontiac for 11 races while the three-time champion is out of action due to injuries sustained in the landing of his barrel-roll at North Wilkesboro. Gardner and Ryder both battled for the lead for the first 82 laps of the event until Ted Finger kicked the door down and took the lead on lap 83, leading 100 laps before the handling went away late and left the door open for Byron, Georgia’s Steve Hayden to make the pass in turn three and take home his first career series victory with Ted Finger in second, Beau Charles in third, Jason Sullivan in fourth, and polesitter Leroy Gardner rounding out the top five.

Hayden was ecstatic when he reached victory lane, the 23-year old crediting his testing at Middle Georgia Motor Speedway for his success. “Middle Georgia’s not exactly a paperclip like Martinsville but the setup we developed from there was a good starting point for us when we unloaded and as the race wore on, the car just kept handling well. We were able to get under the 05 there and make him use up his tires on the high side enough for him not to catch us, but he sure put us all on notice and I hope he can keep contending for wins going forward. But for what it’s worth, there’s gonna be a hell of a party on the corner of W.E. Green Jr. Parkway and New Dunbar Road tonight!” Hayden was quoted from victory lane as Ted Finger received kudos from his fellow drivers on pit road.

“Running those dirt tracks really teaches you how to drive on egg shells and that’s how we were so fast for most of this thing but there at the end with those guys on the tail end of the lead lap, I was running the car too hard and it started getting tight enough to where we couldn’t keep it on the bottom and hold back that 31. I like to think I had a good first impression and I’m excited for the next race and every race I’m running after that.” Finger stated as fans took a liking to the former weekly racing champion. No question that Troy Pearson was right on the money in his choice of substitute.

This was oddly one of the cleanest races in series history at Martinsville as only one caution waved for the halfway break at lap 100 and the long runs left 20 cars finishing on the lead lap. While fans were treated to an exciting beginning and end to the race amidst The Ted Finger Show, Becky Conway put on a clinic of her own as she drove from her 33rd-place qualifying spot and managed to snag a ninth-place finish for the #95 Burger King Dodge.

Caution Report presented by Mr. Goodwrench: One caution for 5 laps.
Caution 1 – Lap 100: Halfway caution.

Other Race Notes:
• Despite top-ten qualifying efforts, Richie Howard (8th), Derek Hawkins (10th), and Trent Blanchard (9th) all fell deep in the running order, finishing 30th, 31st, and 33rd respectively.
                o Hawkins pit on lap 87 with engine issues but soldiered on, finishing 7 laps down.
• After losing a gearbox on lap 177, Adam Coleman now leads all drivers with 3 DNFs in 7 races.
                o Coleman states that due to funding issues, he may have to skip Richmond but says that he will definitely not be able to run the big track at Charlotte.
• Mark Ryder got his best finish of the season by finishing sixth after what’s been an abysmal start to his 1999 campaign with only one top-20 finish before yesterday. Ryder has been plagued by mechanical woes       which took him out at Road Atlanta and North Wilkesboro.
• Bob Senneker earned his best finish (8th) of the season and his second top-ten in seven races, his first since Lakeland when he finished ninth.

Mechanical Report presented by Pennzoil
32. 8 – Adam Coleman |177/200| Gearbox
33. 10 – Trent Blanchard |154/200| Steering
34. 19 – Blaine Freeman |81/200| Piston

With rookie drivers Steve Hayden, Ted Finger, and Beau Charles making for an all-rookie podium while Corey Garcia finished 12th and Andre Carter finishing 14th, Ryan Newman turned out to have the weakest day of the rookie class as he started and finished in 20th, the last car on the lead lap.

Rookie Report presented by Auto Zone
1. 31 – Steve Hayden (Started 3rd)
2. 05 – Ted Finger (Started 7th)
3. 71 – Beau Charles (Started 5th)
12. 20 – Corey Garcia (Started 6th)
14. 4 – Andre Carter (Started 18th)
20. 27 – Ryan Newman (Started 20th)

After finishing 21st, the first car off the lead lap, Robby Anderson loses the points lead to Leroy Gardner. Anderson is only two points behind with Ryan Newman (-13) falling back to third, Ryan Fisher (-21) in fourth, and Becky Conway (-22) rounding out the top five. Race winner Steve Hayden jumped six spots to return to and round out the top ten but Ted Finger jumped the most spots (+7) to 35th, leapfrogging past drivers that haven’t run all seven races this season. Beau Charles (+5) and Bob Senneker (+3) also jumped up in the standings. Neil Charles (-5) lost the most ground today after finishing 27th with Ron Snyder and North Wilkesboro winner Gary Campbell both losing four spots each. As a result of his engine woes, Derek Hawkins lost three spots in the standings.

With seven races down and 18 to go, teams get a near month-long break from the action until the next time the All Pro southeast series takes to the track at Richmond for the Gatorade 200 on May 14th. The southeast series didn’t go to Richmond last year but Jason Sullivan will look to defend his 1997 victory there as ESPN2 will bring the coverage beginning at noon eastern time.

Contingency Awards
Bud Pole Award: Leroy Gardner (21.900 sec/89.296 mph)
Safety Kleen Front Runner: Ted Finger (100 of 200 laps)
Gatorade Hard Charger: Becky Conway (+24, Started 33rd, Finished 9th)
Goody’s Headache of the Race: Trent Blanchard (-24, Started 9th, Finished 33rd)
Jiffy Lube Hot Lap: Bob Senneker (21.206 sec/108.277 mph)
Raybesto’s Rookie of the Race: Steve Hayden (Finished 1st)

Race Results
Points Standings