Hickory Story & Team Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tim Southers
USAR Media Relations
770-719-0204
usar@bellsouth.net
Gill Enjoys Third Win of the Season
HICKORY, NC - Bobby Gill passed Hal Goodson with 27 laps remaining Saturday night to win the Naturally Fresh Foods 250 presented by Galaxy Foods at Hickory Motor Speedway. Gill, the two-time defending Hooters ProCup Series champion, was able to use pit strategy to get the win.
"We waited as long as we could to pit and I think having the fresher tires really paid off for us tonight," Gill said. "Our car really seemed to work well towards the end of the race."
The win was the 15th in the Series for Gill in 47 starts. Goodson started the race from the pole and remained in the front pack of cars all night long.
"We just used up the car there at the end," Goodson said. "We needed a good finish tonight for the points and this will help towards the end of the season."
Two-time Asheville track champion and former Hickory Motor Speedway competitor Mart Nesbitt equaled his career-best finish in the Series when he brought his Chevrolet home in third-place.
"We want to thank everyone for their help," Nesbitt said. "Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina, Glaxo Smith Cline and Ingles have helped us make it possible to improve our program this year and hopefully we will have more finishes like this the rest of the year."
Lee Tissot, who won the previous USAR Hooters ProCup Series race at Hickory Motor Speedway last October, finished fourth collecting his fourth consecutive top-five finish. Brian Vickers completed the top-five.
The race featured no less than nine drivers who have competed at the historic .363-mile track on either a regular or semi-regular basis. Among those drivers was local favorite - and former Hickory Motor Speedway track champion - Shane Huffman.
Huffman qualified seventh and was running in the top-10 when he crossed over some fluid, sending him hard into the turn three wall ending his bid for a third consecutive win in the Series. Huffman entered the weekend as the hottest driver in the Series with back-to-back wins at Coastal Plains Raceway and Peach State Speedway. Huffman finished 29th after the crash, dropping one position in the points standings to fourth.
The race was slowed 10 times by caution with the final caution flag thrown to the field on lap 215 when Steven Christian and Derrick Kelley made contact while running in the top 10. Goodson restarted in the lead and held the front spot until Gill made his last pass for the race, holding on for the win and $10,000 prize.
Tissot led at halfway to win the $1,000 Lucas Oil Products bonus. Tissot has completed in the top 10 in six of seven Southern Division races this season. Hal Goodson won his second consecutive pole at Hickory Motor Speedway to collect the $1,000 Lance Snacks Pole Award. Kelley and Daniel Johnson eached advanced 15 positions during the race to share the W.J. Plemons Investments Hard Charger Award.
Dell Murphy used his 14th-place finish to collect the Miller Lite Rookie of the Race Award.
Stacey Puryear finished sixth, with Jay Fogleman in seventh and Kelley finishing eighth. Mario Gosselin finished ninth and Christian completed the top-10.
The Series will return to action in the Southern Division in two weeks when they travel to Myrtle Beach Speedway.
-30-
Team Press Releases
Contact: Patrick Rogers
Racing Relations
(336) 210-8529
E-mail: pat@racingrelations.com 05/28/01
Huffman sees victory slide out from under him
HICKORY, N.C. - Three wins in a row would be a lot to ask of a driver in any racing series. Anyone that follows the USAR Hooters ProCup Series knows what a feat that is, with the competition level being so high, but when driver Shane Huffman is on his home
track of Hickory Motor Speedway, victory is almost expected. Coming off back-to-back wins in the last two USAR events, the Hickory, N.C. native was unable to complete the storybook ending Saturday night at the Naturally Fresh 250, presented by Galaxy Foods, after hard impact with the turn four wall, the result of an encounter with fluid on the historic .363 mile oval known as "America's Most Famous Short Track."
After an uneventful day, which saw Huffman post some of the fastest speeds in practice and ultimately qualify seventh, the XTRA Motorsports driver was physically okay, but clearly disappointed. "That's probably the hardest I've ever hit here," said Huffman.
"I saw (Gill) moved up a little in the middle of (turns) three and four. As soon as I hit the throttle, I was backwards. It was like being on ice. A couple of the other teams said they got into it too, we were just the unlucky ones."
Before the accident, Huffman ran second and was battling for the lead with eventual winner Bobby Gill, after electing to pit early with several of the other frontrunners. "Shane just didn't like how the car was behaving early," said crew chief Ronnie White, "so we decided to pit as early as possible, without compromising our chances of contending at the finish. He said the second set of tires really gave him something to work with. We were just gonna wait until the end and see what we had for (the field). It's unfortunate, but that's just racing."
Huffman now sits fourth in the USAR Southern Division point standings, 18 behind third place Hal Goodson, and 59 off of new leader Bobby Gill.
Huffman and "The Brat Bunch" will return to action June 9th, when the USAR Hooters ProCup Series makes the first of two scheduled visits in 2001 to the Myrtle Beach Speedway in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Visit www.shanehuffman.com for more information, as well as up to the minute practice, qualifying and finishing results on race day.
- For Immediate Release - Contact: Jason Wise,
(336) 778-2785, x0
Goodson Scores Runner-Up Finish at Hickory
USAR ProCup Series Driver Continues Consistency
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., (May 28, 2001) -- Hal Goodson continued his string of
strong, consistent runs Saturday night in USAR ProCup Series action at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway, scoring runner-up honors.
Goodson started the night from the pole position, earning the Lance Snacks Pole Award with a lap of 15.391 seconds, 84.907 miles per hour. During the early stages of the 250-lap event, Goodson's No. 45 Taylor Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo looked to be unstoppable, leading the first 92 laps.
"We had a really good car tonight," Goodson said. "The crew worked hard during practice and gave me a car that we were able to put on the pole. I thought we had a shot at the victory tonight, but just came up a little short. Overall, I'm happy with our finish. These are the kind of runs that we need to keep having."
After a pit stop during the race's midpoint, Goodson began to work his way back to the front. By lap 181, Goodson was running second behind leader Lee Tissot. The duo would battle for several laps with Goodson eventually taking the lead on lap 209. The Darlington, S.C. native would hold the point for the following 11 laps until being passed by race winner Bobby Gill.
"I looked in my mirror and saw Gill was coming and was just hoping that we could keep him behind us," Goodson said. "He was a little better than us at the end of the race, but we'll take second and get ready for the next race."
Goodson's second-place finish moved him into third position in USAR ProCup Series Southern Division point standings. In the season's first seven events, Goodson has scored one victory, four top-five's and six top-10's.
Goodson and his Taylor Motorsports team get a weekend off before heading to Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina on June 9 for the next USAR ProCup Series Southern Division race.
For more information on Hal Goodson and Taylor Motorsports, visit the team's official website at www.taylor-motorsports.com
Puryear 6th at Hickory
Stacy Puryear of South Boston, Va, driving the Naturally Fresh Foods Chevrolet Monte Carlo, started 5th and finished 6th at Hickory Speedway on Saturday night. Puryear quickly moved up to the 3rd position on Lap 3 behind pole winner Hal Goodson and second place Steven Christian. He would stay there until he pitted at Lap 93. A miscue on the pit stop relegated him back to the 16th position on the restart. Puryear patiently worked his way back into the top 5 by lap 218, only to lose the 5th position to Mart Nesbitt with three laps to go. Nesbitt would go on to finish 3rd.
A very, pleased Puryear had these comments: "This was a good run for the Naturally Fresh Foods team tonight. We had a very fast racecar the first part of the race. I was just riding in 3rd until we pitted. I know those last 25 laps were very exciting for the fans because they were to me.
