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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