Southeastern Motorsports Midwinter 200 at JAX Raceways: Report and Results
20 January 1998
JACKSONVILLE, FL. - "The Dinosaur" Cecil Eunice added to his already impressive list of wins by holding off Gary Spivey to capture the victory in the SouthEastern Motorsports Midwinter 200 Presented by Jerry Hamm Chevrolet at JAX Raceways Saturday evening. With over 500 wins in his career the Blackshear, GA driver needed all his experience to put the Norman Pontiac/Ace Pole Chevrolet into Victory Lane. Spivey, from Jacksonville, FL in the PeeWee Wiggins Racing/Snow Brothers/Gary Johns Chevrolet started the race from the pole after setting the fast time in qualifying with a lap of 19.223 seconds for an average speed of 93.638 mph around the half mile oval. At the drop of the green Spivey took advantage of his starting position to grab the lead with Wayne Shuggart in the SE Motorsports/LeMee Florist/Moody Light Chevrolet second and Eunice dropping into third. Earl Pearson Jr was running in fourth with Chuck Chitty holding down fifth. The leader remained in formation for the first few laps with the main action further back in the pack as D.J. Braddock brought the SE Motorsports/Willards Bar-B-Q/Coca Cola Chevrolet into fifth as he worked his way around Chitty on lap seven. The usual early spate of cautions slowed the race often during the early stages, but the lead of Spivey was never really challenged. The battle for position was right behind him as Eunice worked on the rear of Shuggart every lap in attempt to make the pass. On lap 22 as the cars headed into turn three, Eunice finally was able to get up alongside Shuggart and took the second spot as the two machines exited turn four. Eunice quickly closed the short space between himself and Spivey and began applying the pressure. The battle between the two cars carried them away from the third place car of Shuggart as they soon had a 10 car length cushion as they began to encounter lapped traffic. At the halfway point of the 75 lap affair, Spivey continued on the point with Eunice glued to his back bumper. Shuggart was still in third with Pearson in fourth and Braddock fifth. Chitty had been able to hold on to sixth, but was coming under pressure from seventh place Everett Phillips who had been steadily moving forward after starting the race in tenth. Vel Lowdenslager, Steve Whitener and Jeff Godbee made up the remainder of the lead lap cars. On lap 47 as the two lead cars approached the lapped car of Kit Chappell, Spivey went low in turn three and held the low line right on the back bumper of Chappell. Eunice went to the high side in turn four and somehow made his car stick and came out of turn four with the lead. Spivey was able to quickly pass Chappell and now it was his turn to pressure Eunice. The two cars continued their fight lap after lap with Eunice using every available bit of experience to hold off Spivey. On lap 51 Chitty went high out of turn four and barely saved the car. Phillips shot by on the inside and began to run down Braddock. Lowdenslager became the victim of a blown engine in the car of Eric Platt and spun in the oil relegating him back to the end of the lead lap. At the front it was a two car battle as the laps wound down with Spivey continuing to apply heavy pressure to the rear of the orange car of Eunice. Eunice was not to be shaken as he held his line through the corners and maintained the same smooth driving style that had gotten him to this point. With just five laps left, Shuggart, running in third, headed to the pits for no apparent reason, and parked his car. This moved Pearson up into third with Braddock fourth and Phillips fifth. The order continued that way to the finish with the front two cars opening up a 20 car length lead at the checkered flag. There were eight cars remaining on the lead lap at the finish of the race, which was run under clear skies and warm temperatures before a packed house. 11 caution flags slowed the event but there were no serious causalities and only a few accidents to mar a great race. In the 50 lap Open Wheel Modified event that preceded the Late Models, Terry Pless set fast time in qualifying and started on the pole. Pless led the opening laps until his engine let go on lap 13. This handed the lead to Vel Lowdenslager who would hold on to the front spot and take the checkered flag for the win. Lowdenslager had to weather heavy pressure from both second place finisher Jason Fitzgerald and third place Donnie Hall. Both drivers took their turn trying to shake the leader but to no avail. Hall and Fitzgerald swapped second place several times during the race, but despite their best attempts were unable to take the point. Keny Porter finished in fourth with Kenny Blair taking fifth. In the Hobby Stock 50 lapper, Greg Hall beat Frankie Lloyd and early leader Johnny Collins to the checkers. Robby Peterson was fourth and John Lester fifth. The Pure Stock 25 lap Feature saw Joey Myers lead the way to the line ahead of Jimmy Balkcom. In the Powder Puff race the winner was Judy Chancey. John Kaiser -- The Autochannel JAX Raceways -- Provisional results for the = Midwinter 200 Presented by Jerry Hamm Chevrolet, Open Wheel Modified 50: Ps.Ql.No. Driver , Car Laps -- -- ---- ----------------------------------------------------- ----- 1 4 32 Vel Lowdenslager Tristate/Wal-Mart/Nichols Siding 50 2 2 99 Jason Fitzgerald Raceline Perf/Fitzgerald Engines 50 3 3 55 Donnie Hall Five Star Industrial Service 50 4 6 20 Keny Porter Ray's Auto Repair/Auto Body Design 50 5 8 01 Kenny Blair Magic Racing 50 6 12 18K Nick Ramsey Glenn Blackstone 50 7 7 51 Doodle Pipkin Rich's bar-B-Q/Fernandina Beach 50 8 20 61 Venus Pipkin Floyd Garrett Muscle Cars 50 9 5 21 Danny Chancey Sissy Tatum 50 10 10 3 Marty Whitener 48 11 14 95 Joseph Jones Automotive Block Welding 48 12 19 16 Carlton Wainwright Halls Racing Engines 47 13 17 9 William Bailey Robbie Robinson/Robinson Auto Elec 44 14 13 22 Tommy Gelaro F L Gelaro Transport/TG&Son Trucking 39 15 35 Dean Bennett Bramha Truck & Tractor 26 16 18 77 Steven Skipper 26 17 11 15 Gary Godwin S&S Auto/Raceline Performance 21 18 16 13 Wayne Long Wal-Mart/J Williams Const 13 19 1 28 Terry Pless 3D Exteriors/Master Graphics 10 20 9 23 Bobby Balkcom Wal-Mart/SE Elec/B&C Tire 10 21 15 8 John Carlisle Mom and Dad 8 Track Length : 0.5000 Miles JAX Raceways -- Provisional results for the Midwinter 200 Presented by Jerry Hamm Chevrolet, Late Model 75: Ps.Ql.No. Driver , Car Laps -- -- ---- ----------------------------------------------------- ----- 1 2 22 Cecil Eunice Ace Pole/Norman Pontiac Chev 75 2 1 3 Gary Spivey Snow Bros/Gary Johns/Wiggins Rac Chev 75 3 4 46 Earl Pearson Jr Dog House Cafe/Fox Engine ServiceChev 75 4 8 61 D.J. Braddock SE M/S/Wilards Bar-B-Q/Coca Cola Chev 75 5 10 46x Everett Phillips Everett's Custom Services Chev 75 6 11 8 Steve Whitener White's Const/Lumber Unlimited Chev 75 7 9 5 Jeff Godbee Justice Coalition/Aggressive SignChev 75 8 7 23 Vel Lowdenslager Nichols Siding/Granger Lumber Chev 75 9 5 66 Chuck Chitty C&C Powerline Chev 74 10 24 21 Hampton White Precision Auto Supply Chev 73 11 18 99 Kit Chappell Gator's Dockside/SOS Lounge Chev 72 12 19 6 Michael Harper Reliance Fasteners/Gary Johns Chev 72 13 3 62 Wayne Shuggart SE M/S/LeMay Florist/Moody Light Chev 69 14 21 7 Donnie Durrance Precision Auto Supply Chev 59 15 6 44 Eric Platt Globe Electric/Hocus Pocus Eng Chev 50 16 15 32 Buster Delay Peach Plaza Shell Chev 40 17 12 18 Michael Lloyd Lloyd Land Clearing Chev 31 18 23 31 Donnie Hall Trucking/Aggressive Signs Chev 24 19 27 11 Marty Whitener Hatcher Logging/Witcher Eng Chev 24 20 20 5X Mark Carter Chev 24 21 22 3X Russell O'Quin Little's paint & Wall Covering Chev 22 22 26 77 Joseph Jones Automotive Block Welders Chev 6 23 14 201 Larry Manning Roberts Semi Trailers Chev 5 24 17 2X4 Johnny Collins Zion Termite/Fickling Const Chev 3 25 25 17 Travis Burris 3 26 13 10 David Crews San Juan Showbar/Box Seats Bar Chev 1 27 28 45 Richard Noda Nelson Plumbing/Alexa Body Chev DNS 28 16 00 Derek Suits T-Mans Window/J&D Const Chev DNS Track Length : 0.5000 Miles