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Short Track Roundup (10/01/97)

1 October 1997

Mobile, AL - Mother Nature wreaked havoc with the racing in the
Southeast this past weekend by raining on just about everyone's
parade. Despite all the wet stuff there was plenty of action to be
found as a number of series wrapped up their season. Here is our
weekly look back at the action on the Short Tracks.

The biggest loser to the rain was the Hav-A-Tampa Shootout at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, GA. Although Billy Moyer won the pole on Friday night he will have to wait until October 11th to see if he can wrap up the series title as well as the race. Rick Eckert will start outside row one with Terry Phillips and Scott Bloomquist making up the second row. *** The NASCAR Busch Series ended the season at Crawford County Speedway, IA where Tom Hearst got the win over Steve and Joe Kosiski. Joe took the series title with brother Steve second. *** The IMCA Deery Brothers series raced at Lee County, IA and Gary Webb won the race as well as the series Championship. Lonnie Bailey and Tommy Elston took the checkers in second and third. *** Bart Hartman took the win in the MACS sponsored Winchester 200 at Winchester, VA with Gary Stuhler and Chub Frank following him home. *** State Fair Speedway in Oklahoma City, OK was the site of the NCRA finale and Jeep Berry beat Delbert Smith and Larry McDaniels to the checkers. McDaniels wrapped up his 6th Championship, and third in a row with his third place finish. *** Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, KS ran the Ponderosa Fall Classic and Don O'Neal held off Steve Barnett and Jim Curry to take the win. *** The National Late Model Sportsman Series left their familiar dirt surface for the asphalt of Columbia Motorsports Park in Lake City, FL where an ex-dirt racer turned asphalt pilot, Tuck Trentham got the win in a borrowed car. Chris Usry was second with Ivedent Lloyd third. *** Southern raceway in Milton, FL crowned Larry Boutwell the season track Champion after he won the feature. *** Mike Boland was the winner at Talladega Short Track, AL followed by Kenny Merchant and Ted Lackey.

On the asphalt Late Model scene, Hank Parker took the All-Pro series win at Winchester Speedway, IN with Jeff Fultz second and Mike Harmon third. *** In Southwest series action at Altamont, CA, Doug McCoun took the laurels with Chris Raudman in second and Bryan Germone third. *** The Texaco Halvoline Series went to Thunder Road Speedbowl in Barre VT where Phil Scott was the winner with Dave Dion and Chuck Beede rounding out the top three. *** At Southampton Motor Speedway, VA David Blankenship took the win in the main event with Phil Warren and Bubba Johnston trailing him home. *** Jennerstown, PA hosted the ASA cars for the Pennsylvania 400, but it turned out to be the Pennsylvania 290 as rain caused the race to be cut short. Steve Carlson took the win ahead of Ted Smokstad and Scott Hansen. With two races left Kevin Cywinski has a commanding lead in the points. *** The Goldstar Championship 100 was run at Hawkeye Downs Speedway in Cedar Rapids, IA and Max Corporon got the win over Johnny Spaw and Kevin Nuttleman. Despite a DNF, Jeff martin is still the points leader. *** Jeff Storm clinched the MASC title with his win at Lake Geneva, WI. Dave Dublicka and R. J. Malec were the next across the line. *** Jerry Coble took the win at Nashville Speedway USA over Joe Buford and Andy Kirby while Roy Binkley won the Bud 125 for the trucks. *** Lance Moss took the checkers first in the Pepsi Cola Cup at Concord, NC with Stacy Puryear and Ryan Zeck the next two. *** Richard Burton was the winner in Late Model action at Colorado National Speedway. *** Scott Carlson took home the win in the Cooley Barnet 100 at Mobile International Speedway, AL with Dale Little and Wayne Niedeken Jr following him to the line. *** The Southeast motorsports community is in mourning for the loss of Pat Mitchum, Race Director and Flagman for the Florida Pro Series who was killed in a car accident this past week. Our sympathies and heartfelt wishes go out to his family.

The Open Wheel cars had an eventful week with the World of Outlaws back to more familiar territory in Greenwood, NE where they held two races at I-80 Speedway. Mark Kinser won the Preliminary race with Sammy Swindell and Steve Kinser second and third. The next night Swindell got the win over Steve and Greg Hodnett took the third spot. *** The ASCS Renegade Tour were at Las Cruces, NM where Bobby Davis was the winner over Gary Bradley and Rick Zeihl. John Carney won the series Championship. *** The Frigidaire All Stars were in Mercer, PA and Dean Jacobs led Terry McCarl and Ed Lynch to the line. The second scheduled race was washed out and will not be rescheduled. This means that Frankie Kerr wraps up the Championship with one race left on the schedule. *** In Antioch, CA Brent Kaeding won the NARC feature as he beat Jason Lund and Randy Tiner to the line. *** The ASCS Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, AR saw Wayne Johnson lead Johnny Gardner and Pete Butler home for the win in the preliminary feature. The next night Johnson again got the win in the main event with Steve Genneton and Mike Ward following him to the line. *** The Cajun Sprints Cars were at Pike County Speedway, MS and Lane Whittington was the victor with Michael Dupuy second and Glenn Clements third. *** NAMARS was in Kokomo, IN and Jay Drake used a last lap pass to nip Kevin Williams at the line with Dave Darland third. The next evening's race at Bloomington, IN was rained out just prior to the feature and will be completed October 2nd.

That wraps up our look back at the action around the short tracks for the past week. There is still plenty of good racing to be found all across the country so head on out to your local short track and see the future stars of motorsports in action, it is a great way to spend an evening. Have a Ball, Ya'll!

John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel