ARCA Truck release, points, notes, I-75 Spdwy

TEAM WITWER DOES IT AGAIN; WORMCASTLE DOMINATES AT I-75

Mt. Vernon, KY (6-8-02) by Wendy Wellman - Jostling for the lead with
his father for most of the race, Pete Wormcastle finally pulled out in
front of the lead pack at lap 83 to score his first ever ARCA Lincoln
Welders Truck Series feature win at I-75 Speedway on Saturday.

The New Haven, Indiana driver started the race on the outside pole with
his father, Joe, right behind him at fourth. At lap 16, Joe passed Pete
for the lead. Both Wormcastles kept racing tight, with Pete stealing the
lead back at lap 45, only to lose it again to Joe on lap 76. Much to his
dismay, Joe’s Witwer Construction Chevy broke several laps later.

“Dad was leading and something just happened to his motor all of a
sudden,” Pete said. “Chad Guinn was on the outside of me. I got in on
the outside of my dad and pushed up a little bit and got inside of Guinn
to grab the lead. I really have to thank Kyle Witwer for all of his
support.”

This is the second win in 2002 for the Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Team
Witwer. Joe Wormcastle took home the checkered from the season-opener at
Kentucky Speedway in May.

After leading for two laps after Joe’s motor went sour, Chad Guinn fell
to second place behind Pete, where he finished the race in the
BFI-Northland Collision-Coastal Coating Services Ford.

“If we wouldn’t have gotten into lapped traffic and the brakes would’ve
stayed with us, I think we might have caught him,” Guinn said
confidently.

Guinn initially blew a head gasket during practice before the race, but
his crew chief Chuck Carroll led the Erie, Michigan-based team and
quickly replaced it prior to qualifying.

Columbus, Ohio Pro-4 veteran Bill Withers grabbed a third place finish
in the Mannings USA-Hall Electronics-Wachholz Engines Ford. He was
followed by the Tidewater Marketing-John Pierce Plumbing Ford of
Fairfield, Ohio’s Darren Jones at fourth. After qualifying at 10th, 2001
Rookie of the Year Brett Oakley brought home his second fifth-place
finish in a row this year in the MARFLEX Products-Bales Motorsports
Ford. Piloting the Pate Manufacturing Ford to sixth place, West
Virginia’s “Flyin'” Brian Rowe was the last truck to finish on the lead
lap at I-75.

Old Milwaukee polesitter Brandon Knupp of Sidney, Ohio, took seventh in
the Mark Knupp Muffler & Tire Ford, just enough to boost the young
driver up to second place in the championship points chase. After
breaking an engine last weekend at Ona and qualifying a disappointing
20th Saturday, Ed & Company Hard Charger Award Winner John Kasmierski
managed an eighth place finish in the Pat & Dandy’s Sports
Pub-Mississippi Barbecue Sauce Ford.

Greenville, Ohio’s Stan Maitlen scored his best finish of the season at
ninth in the Maitlen Racing Ford, while Kevin Reeb finished at 10th in
the Accurate Logistics Ford, the second top-10 finish this season for
the North Baltimore, Ohio rookie.

The ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series heads next to its home track of
Toledo Speedway on Friday, July 5, for a 50-lap event at the famous
Northwest Ohio half mile.

Series Notes:

-With his victory on Saturday, Pete Wormcastle can now add his name to
the All-Time Winners’ List of the young Lincoln Welders Truck Series.
(Wormcastle even had his favorite girls at I-75 Speedway the track with
him to celebrate, his wife Jamie, and daughter Mary.) Other active
drivers included on the list are Guinn (12), Slaughter (8), and with one
each: Tully Esterline, Paul Hahn, John Kasmierski, Jeff Speakman, Jack
Weethee, Joe Wormcastle, Bill Withers.

-The unofficial points standings in the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck
Series championship points race are: 1. Chad Guinn (940); 2. ®Brandon
Knupp (835); 3) Pete Wormcastle (795); 4. Darren Jones (785); 5. Brett
Oakley, Jeff Speakman (780, tie); 7. Joe Wormcastle (760); 8. Bill
Withers (740); 9. Eddy Adams, Kyle Witwer (725, tie); 11. Jack Weethee
(720); 12. Paul Hahn (690); 13. ®Kevin Reeb (680); 14. Robbin Slaughter
(675); 15. John Kasmierski, Mark Otting (660, tie); 17. Tully Esterline
(630); 18. ®Steve Christman (515); 19. Stan Maitlen (485); 20. Brian
Rowe (425); 21. Jeff Quiett (400); 22. Phil Bozell (220); 23. Jeff
Wichmann (135).

-Sixteen-year-old Brandon Knupp isn’t just running away with the
rookie-of-the-year points chase. Just 105 points out of the lead, he’s
threatening the championship run of Chad Guinn, the top series rookie of
2000 . . .  unofficial rookie points standings are as follows: 1.
Brandon Knupp (835); 2. Kevin Reeb (680); 3. Steve Christman (515).

-A scenic venue is one thing! . . . Both of the past two tracks the
traveling truck series has run – Ona Speedway and I-75 Speedway – were
located in beautiful areas in the hills of West Virginia and Kentucky.
However scenic they may be, neither entrance to either track was very
conducive to hauler/motorhome traffic. As a matter of fact, several
motorhomes pulling trailers got stuck leaving extremely foggy I-75
Saturday on the hilly roadway exit. Chad Guinn’s crew actually had to
get out and physically push their motorhome to get it unstuck, while
Eddy Adams got help from Team Witwer, pulling his trailer to safety. The
Bales Motorsports team was smart and left their tractor-trailer rig at
home, opting for a much smaller mode of transportation to the elusive
I-75 Speedway. Needless to say, the teams are all looking forward to the
roomy Toledo Speedway event on July 5, with its concrete pit area and
easy access to main roads!