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USAR Hooters Cup Late Model Series Report and Results

6 November 1997

        Lakeland, FL - The United Speed Alliance Racing Hooters Cup Late Model
Series held their final hurrah at USA International Speedway in Lakeland,
FL and Freddie Query won the battle but Bobby Gill won the war.

        Query, from Mooresville, NC led the final three laps of the
Discount Auto Parts 250 in his W.J. Plemons Insurance Chevrolet to win the
race, but had only to look in his mirror to see the 1997 USAR Hooters Cup
Championship disappearing as Bobby Gill finished second and captured the
title by one point, 2517 to 2516. Gill, the veteran Dalton, GA driver was
able to take his Terminal Trucking Chevrolet around the Miller Lite
Chevrolet of Jimmy Cope of Pinellas Park, FL on the final lap to wrap up
the title. Query won $12,000 for his victory, and Gill and his Concord, NC
based team will take home $50,000 for winning the championship.

        Billy Bigley Jr of Naples, FL also passed the ailing car of Cope on
the final lap to nail down the third finishing position in the race and in
the process the defending Champion wrapped up third in the 1997 points
battle. Cope was able to hang on and finish fourth while Dick Anderson of
Wildwood, FL rounded out the top five. Anderson won the Hard Charger Award.

        Mike Garvey of Suwanee, GA took the pole in qualifying with a lap
of 20.750 seconds around the 3/4 mile high banked oval for an average speed
of 123.094 mph. Garvey led the first 142 laps before giving way to Cope who
led for 99 laps. Garvey collected the $1,000 Royal Purple Halfway Leader
money while the Miller Beer Top Rookie of the race was Harold Fair Jr who
finished in sixth spot.

        This was the final event for the USAR Hooters Cup Late Models as
the series will be dropped by USAR in favor of the larger and slower ProCup
cars in 1998. USAR also announced earlier that they will drop their
Modified and Sportsman series as well. In its three years of existence, the
Hooters Cup provided the opportunity for many Late Model drivers to test
their skills against their peers while at the same time providing a decent
payout for those who made the races. The departure of the series will leave
a void in Late Model racing that hopefully will be filled by someone prior
to the start of the 1998 season.

John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel

RESULTS DISCOUNT AUTO PARTS 250

1. Freddie Query                255
2. Bobby Gill                   255
3. Billy Bigley Jr              255
4. Jimmy Cope                   255
5. Dick Anderson                255
6. Harold Fair jr               255
7. Glen Gault                   255
8. David Jude                   255
9. Mario Gosselin               255
10. Darrell Brown               254
11. Tom Nikla                   245
12. Tom Free                    234
13. Dwayne Dempsey              233
14. Homer Heflin                219
15. Dan Mabry                   212
16. Derrick Kelley              211
17. Mike Garvey                 197
18. Jack Cook                   167
19. Daniel Johnson              155
20. Jimmy mathews               136
21. Steve Avinger               128
22. Tony Walls                  111
23. Jim Hennessey               93
24. Claude Plante               25
25. Lee Raymond                 22
26. Ronnie Sanders              20
27. Scott Wimmer                20
28. Nevin Jenkins               20
29. Steve Dorer                 20
30. Richard brinson             8
31. Dave Mader III              6
32. Bill Plemons Jr             5

Cautions: 10 for 66 laps
Time of Race: 2 hrs 26 mins
Lap Leaders: Garvey, Cope, Gill, Jude, Query
Hooters Pole Award $1,000: Mike garvey
Royal Purple Halfway Award $1,000: Mike Garvey
Miller Beer Top Rookie $1,000: Harold Fair Jr
Hard Charger $500: Dick Anderson