Late Model Report and Results: Comdata/Overdrive 200
20 October 1997
LITTLETON IN OVERDRIVE FOR COMDATA WIN Nashville, TN - David Littleton of Columbia, TN, in the George Clanton Construction Chevrolet Monte Carlo dominated the second half of the Comdata/Overdrive 200 today at Nashville Speedway USA . Littleton took the lead on lap 135 and then stretched the lead to over 4 seconds at the finish. The win was only the second ever for Littleton in Late Model competition at Nashville, his previous win coming in the Winston 200 in July of 1995. "We had a fast car, and once I got to the front I felt pretty comfortable," an excited Littleton commented afterwards. "I would like to thank my crew and sponsor for their help. We have had a tough year with engine and other problems, and I thought we would never get back in winner's circle." There were 40 Late Models that took the green flag behind pole sitter Jerry Coble of Madison, TN in the Comdata/Ryder Chevrolet. It was the outside pole driver, Andy Kirby of White House, TN that became the first clear leader of the race as he kept the Coors Light/Mapco Express Ford on the high side of Coble for almost two laps before edging into the lead. Coming up quickly from his 4th starting spot was Chad Chaffin who slid into second place ahead of Coble with a neat inside move and then slid back to third again when Coble and Chaffin touched. The opening scramble soon settled down to some good racing with Kirby leading Coble, Darryl Sage, Chaffin, and Littleton as the fifth lap was completed. Kirby opened a quick lead, but by lap 10 Coble began to close the gap by running a lower line than the leader seemed able to run. By lap 20 the two were nose-to-tail and Coble began looking to the inside for the lead. The first caution of the event flew on lap 24 when Bennie Hamlett broke something in the rear end and lost control exiting turn 4 and hit the outside wall. John Hayden tried to check up and was hit in the rear by Scott Henderson, spun and slammed hard into the now stationary Hamlett machine. As cleanup was completed, and the cars returned to green flag racing Kirby still led with Chaffin now in second, having passed Coble just as the caution flew, Coble, Littleton and Greg Williams.Littleton was into third on lap 41 as he dipped below Coble and began to chase down the leaders. Meanwhioe back in the pack, Joe Buford was coming to the front at a rapid place as he moved into the top ten on lap 50, after having started in 28th. Buford would get as high as fifth before he tried to pass Jon Kerley on the outside coming off turn four. The two cars touched, shooting Buford into the turn four wall and ending a great run. Chaffin had managed to work his way under Kirby for the point on lap 34 and he soon opened a lead on the restart. Kirby was able to keep up for the first couple of laps, but running the higher line could not maintain contact and soon was three car lengths behind.Casey Atwood had now moved up to challenge the top five, which consisted of Chaffin, Kirby, Coble, Littleton and Sage. Chaffin's day eas to end early as the right rear wheel came off the car on the exit from turn two causing a spinout and eventually his retirement.Kirby returned to the lead with Coble right behind. Then on the restart, Coble slipped under Kirby and retook the point. Shortly after the halfway point two cars spun on the backstretch and the caution flew again, and this time all the leaders headed for the pits and new rubber and fuel. The only exception was Adam Petty who stayed on the track and by doing so took over the lead of the race. Kirby won the race off pit road, with Littleton, Coble and Kerley following him out. Atwood was blocked in and came out of the pits in tenth spot. On the restart, both Billy Morris and Cecil Chunn were able to get a lap back as Petty was slow coming up to speed, but Petty soon ran Morris back down, but could not close on Chunn. On lap 135 Littleton slid to the inside of Petty in turn four and took the point. From then on he opened up a lead on the field that would eventually be as great as the length of the front straight. The fight for the positions behind Litttleton continued unabated with Kirby, Wade Allan Buttrey, Coble, Kerly and eventually Atwood dueling back and forth. Kirby got hung up behind the lapped car of Morris and lost three spots while Atwood took advantage of slower traffic to advance into the top five with 50 laps left in the 200 lap race. The final quarter of the event saw Littleton open a straightaway lead over Coble. Kerley took a wild ride on lap 173 as he tried to get under Buttrey's car in turn 2 and contact was made. Kerley bounced off another two cars as he tried to get straightened out before continuing without losing a position. Atwood had worked his way aroud Kirby and was right on the rear of Kerley, while Kirby stayed glued to atwood's bumper. Atwood slipped past Kerley to evade the three car fight and set off after Coble. The final change in the top five came on lap 184 when Kirby finally got back around Kerley for fourth. Littleton took the win with Coble second, Atwood third, Kirby fourth and Kerley rounding out thetop five. There were only 5 cautions in the race for a total of 39 laps which resulted in an average speed of 71.824 mph. Six cars finished on the lead lap with 28 cars still running at the finish. Nashville Speedway USA - Provisional results for the Nashville Late Model Stock, Comdata/Overdrive 200: Ps.Ql.No. Driver , Car Laps -- -- ---- ----------------------------------------------------- ----- 1 6 2 David Littleton George Clanton Construction Chev 200 2 1 45 Jerry Coble Comdata/Ryder Chev 200 3 20 53 Casey Atwood Brooks & Dunn Metal Rodeo Chev 200 4 2 10 Andy Kirby Mapco Express/Coors Light Ford 200 5 8 44k Jon Kerley Sharon Super Market Chev 200 6 24 49 Adam Petty Spree Sprint Cellulsr Pont 200 7 9 87 Wade Allen Buttry Perfecta Drywall/Cunningham Chev 200 8 14 55 Dean Howard Bradley Paving/Sam's Auto Sales Chev 200 9 23 42 Ricky Sanford PSG/Auto Shield Chev 199 10 12 0 Mike Murray Mapco Espress/Coors Light Chev 199 11 8 44 Billy James Jayski's Page/X-OBYTE Chev 199 12 25 15 Jason Oates Five Star Racing Pont 199 13 39 4 Marty Ward Hooters Ford 199 14 10 81 Todd Morris Prudential Realty/Terry Clark Chev 199 15 26 52 Dwayne Hudson Hudson Racing Chev 199 16 29 09 Ricky Bolden Capitol Chevrolet/Sloans Yamaha Chev 199 17 15 84 Cecil Chunn Camino real Mexican Restaurant Pont 199 18 21 26 Russell Winstead Renshaw Automotive Chev 198 19 19 23 Toby Robertson Racing Decor Chev 198 20 40 17 Greg Williams Koester Company Chev 197 21 31 5 Mark Day Scogin Enterprise Chev 197 22 27 51 Jimbo Vance Double R Paving Chev 197 23 33 8 Walt Nabors Nabors Motorsport Chev 194 24 32 80 Tony Formosa TM's Automotive/Red Line Oil Chev 194 25 13 18 Glenn Stovall Tar heel Chevrolet-Olds Chev 193 26 36 72 Dorris Vaughn Top Sellers Chev 189 27 30 7 Brian Hall Hall Brick Cleaning Chev 189 28 3 21 Darryl Sage Hollingsworth Oil/Sudden Service Pont 187 29 5 03 Jerry Underwood Beaman Auto/Steve Bass Tire Pont 140 30 35 28 Joe Brantley W KY Machine Shop/Slit Fire Chev 136 31 7 104 Craig Wilson Arrow 104.5FM Chev 121 32 11 3 Bo Miller Millers AAA Transport Chev 120 33 17 91 Mark Cash Red Hot & Blue Bar-B-Q Chev 112 34 4 1 Chad Chaffin Logan's Roadhouse Ford 76 35 28 107 Joe Buford Cone Oil/107.5FM The River Ford 56 36 34 75 Scott Henderson Lewisburg Industrial & Welding Chev 26 37 22 96 Bennie Hamlett Smyrna Pawn/Fairway Rental Ford 23 38 37 95 John Hayden Tapp Motors/Thermo-Tilt Windows Chev 23 39 18 04 Jeff Higdon Higdon Racing/Templeton Dozer Chev 7 40 16 11 Michael Green Michael's Motor Company Ford 2 Margin of Victory : 4.7 seconds Cautions : 5 for 39 laps Track Length : 0.5960 Miles John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel