USAR: Scott Hall Looking for Second Consecutive Victory

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

July 17, 2001

Rising Star Set to Compete in NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Late Model Event

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.-- When Scott Hall takes to the track this weekend for NASCAR Weekly Racing Series late model action at New River Valley Speedway in Radford, Va., the rising star will be looking for his second consecutive victory. Hall enters the event on the heels of scoring his biggest career victory July 5th in the Bailey's Firecracker 300 NASCAR Weekly Racing Series late model event at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C.

"Man, the victory at Caraway was a huge boost for everyone on this Taylor Motorsports team," Hall said. "We happened to be in the right place at the right time. I'm looking forward to racing this weekend at New River Valley. We ran up here last year with the late model car and had a good run. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going."

The driver of the No. 25 Carlin Financial Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Taylor Motorsports has been getting plenty of seat time this season. Hall has competed in the American Racing Association (ARA) Late Model All-Stars Series, as well as running as a teammate to USAR ProCup Series Southern Division points leader Hal Goodson in a couple of ProCup events.

"We started out the season with plans to run the entire ARA schedule, but have entered a couple of ProCup races with strong showings, and we will enter Scott in three more USAR ProCup events this season," said Crew Chief and twin brother Jason Hall. "Our plan is to compete full-time on the USAR ProCup Series next year."

The 100-lap late model event this weekend at New River Valley Speedway is a companion event to the Kroger 250 USAR ProCup Series race. The Walkertown, N.C. resident will have a teammate to turn to for advice.

"With Hal (Goodson) and the No. 45 team being up there this weekend for the ProCup race, we will have a teammate to look to if we need any help," Hall said. "Taylor Motorsports is one big team. We all work together to make sure all three of our teams get into victory lane."

NASCAR Weekly Racing Series late model practice and qualifying at New River Valley Speedway is set for this Saturday from 2:45 - 4:30 p.m. EST. The 100-lap event will get the green flag immediately following the conclusion of the USAR ProCup Series race.

Dominant Vickers Finishes Second in Thriller at Jennerstown
17-year-old closes in on Hooters ProCup North Point Lead

Thomasville, NC ­ 17-year-old Brian Vickers and BLV Motorsports dominated the second half of the USAR Hooters ProCup Series Lucas Oil 250 at Jennerstown Speedway in Pennsylvania and finished a thrilling second place to Jeff Agnew. Vickers led 127 laps, but Agnew won the battle for the top spot on the final half-lap of a four lap shoot-out to edge Vickers by a mere .010 seconds for the victory. With his second place finish, Vickers closed to 23 points of USAR Hooters ProCup Series Northern Division point leader, Mardy Lindley.

Vickers qualified the #42 Stewart Components Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the 7th position and contended with the top-5 cars during the first half of the race. Brian stated, ³We had a good car during the first half of the race. We were right there with the top-5. I believe we made our pit stop right around halfway and my crew did an awesome job to get us the lead. We came in the pits about fifth and went out as the leader of the race.²

Brian was the halfway leader of the race and maintained the top spot until lap 249. ³We had real good car after our pit stop and I was able to stay out front. We were able to build a comfortable lead during that long green flag run. If it would have stayed green, I think we would have been in a better position toward the end,² commented Vickers. The red flag came out with four laps to go and setup a shoot-out between Brian, Jeff Agnew and Jason Sarvis. Brian jokingly stated afterwards ³We are going to vote for races to end under caution from here on out. Seriously though, Jeff had a better car than us at the end of the race and raced us real hard and clean. He is a good racer and I have a lot of respect for him. I think we gave the fans something to cheer about and I would like to congratulate Jeff, Doug (Agnew¹s Crew Chief Doug Weddle) and the all of Team 7 on their win; they deserved one. All in all, we had a good night and made up some points on Mardy. We will be back and ready to go in two weeks at Winchester.²

The Lucas Oil 250 from Jennerstown will be broadcast on Speedvision Thursday, July 19th at 9:00pm. Brian and the BLV Motorsports team will be back in action on Saturday, July 28th at Winchester Speedway in Winchester, IN. To learn more about Brian and the team, log onto www.brianvickers.com.

Text provided by Jason Wise

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