ARCA Trucks: Guinn grabs Kentucky win over 'speedy' Speakman
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
August 12, 2001SPARTA KY – For the second time this year, ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series hard charger Jeff Speakman finished a heartbreaking second behind series standout Chad Guinn. The seemingly unstoppable Guinn took the checkered flag at Kentucky Speedway on Friday night, marking his third ARCA win this season and his ninth win in the history of the series, the most of any past or present driver.
“I really like Kentucky Speedway,” said the Erie, Michigan driver. “It’s a nice track, nice and smooth. It’s a good facility overall. I owe this win to my crew chief, Chuck Carroll, my crew, Kendra Lake, Bob Powers, my mom and dad, and my great sponsors, BFI Waste Systems, Coastal Coating Systems and Northland Collision.”
After a rain delay deleted ARCA truck qualifying from the schedule, drivers lined up for the feature according to championship owner points earned. Guinn, who was second in owner points, started the race beside points leader Robbin Slaughter. Just one lap after the green flag, Slaughter spun out in front of Guinn, handing last year’s rookie champ the lead. Guinn never relinquished his position, earning the Cloyes Gear Halfway Leader honors and another trophy for his collection.
Guinn, who was second in last year’s points race, has also notched ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series wins at Crystal, Owosso, Flat Rock, Winchester, Plymouth, Toledo, LaSalle and Lorain County.
A yellow truck loomed in Guinn’s rearview mirror – none other than Ed and Company Hard Charger award winner Speakman. The Piqua, Ohio driver maneuvered his way through the tightly packed trucks from 14th position on the starting grid to a second place finish.
“I just drove the wheels off the truck, pretty much,” Speakman said. “Coming from the tail like that, we had Chad (Guinn) in sight there, and we were gaining on him at the end. But we just ran out of time and brakes. We didn’t have any brakes left at the end at all, because we used them up coming through the field. We had to be a little patient coming up through there. When I had an opening, I had to take it.”
Speakman has been consistently fast in the competitive truck series, winning seven poles and one feature in the past three years. However, this year Speakman’s Pennzoil-National Auto Lube-Dick’s Paint & Body Shop Ford seems to be out of the points chase.
“As far as the points go, we’re not really running all the races,” Speakman said. “We missed the two dirt races, so that pretty much put us out of the points. I guess maybe when you’re not going for the points, you don’t have to win, and you can drive a little differently. You don’t have to be so conservative.”
Middletown, Ohio rookie Brett Oakley took a third place finish with the MAR-FLEX Products-Tegtmeyer’s Ford Ranger. He was followed closely by fourth place finisher Bill Withers, of Columbus, Ohio in the Mannings USA-Hall Electronics Ford and fifth place finisher Jack Weethee, of Grove City, Ohio in the Weethee Builders-Amerihost Inns-Den’s Auto Ford.
This year’s Dixie Motor Speedway winner Johnny Witham, Hamilton, Ohio, remained consistent during the race, starting sixth and finishing sixth. ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series sensation Robbin Slaughter, Columbus, Ohio, took a respectable seventh place after the early spin in the Carmen’s Vacuum-Napa Auto Parts Ford sent him to the back.
The Performance Paint-Moore Trucking-Tegtmeyer’s Ford Ranger of Dayton, Ohio’s Eugene Crase came in eighth, while David Clay, of Carlisle, Ohio, nabbed ninth in the Carlisle Electric-Community National Bank Chevrolet. Pataskala, Ohio’s Dave Reeb rounded out the top 10 finishers in the Accurate Logistics-Hytek Ford.
After starting in seventh position, rookie Darren Jones ran into some bad luck. The Fairfield, Ohio driver discovered a blown engine in his No. 15 truck on Wednesday. Jones and his crew spent most of Friday before the race installing a borrowed motor, only to have carburetor trouble, knocking the Pusch’s Restaurant Ford out of the race at lap 17.
The versatile ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series heads west to the mile track at Chicago Motor Speedway this weekend to run in conjunction with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Practice is Friday, with the race at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The following Saturday’s race at Kentucky’s I-75 Speedway has been cancelled due to continued construction at the track, giving the ARCA truck competitors a much-needed weekend off after solid weekly competition since late June.
Practice results from Kentucky Speedway, Aug. 10, 2001- Speakman, 14.554 seconds, 61.839 mph; Weethee, 14.657, 61.404; Withers, 14.686, 61.283; Guinn, 14.727, 61.112; Witham, 14.904, 60.386; Oakley, 14.969, 60.124; Crase, 15.052, 59.793; Mark Otting, 15.208, 59.179; Slaughter, 15.232, 59.086; Jeff Wichmann, 15.287, 58.874; Tully Esterline, 15.331, 58.705; Stan Maitlin, 15.452, 58.245; Reeb, 15.718, 57.259; Jones, 16.284, 55.269.
Text provided by Wendy Wellman
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