Ron Fariss Wins at Road Atlanta
December 1, 2002 BRASELTON, GEORGIA - Veteran road racer Ron Fariss earned his fourth Stock Car Championship Series (SCCS) win of the 2002 season with a dominating performance at Road Atlanta in the DRP Holiday Run. Fariss took the lead at the green flag by winning a drag race to the first turn of the 2.54-mile road course with fastest qualifier J.P. Morgan. "It was like we were slow coming to the green flag. The starter came out and threw his arm out before he dropped the flag. When he came out with it, I took off," Fariss explained. "I probably had a better gear for that slow of a start." Once in the lead, Fariss was never challenged in the caution-free stock car race. After turning the fastest lap of the race on lap two, Fariss worked at slowly building an invincible lead. "This race track really taxes everything you've got," the winner said. "It's an easy track to overdrive." Fariss had previous experience on the 12-turn road course as a driver in the GT1 sports car class. He liked the SCCS Late Model Stock Cars better on the fast track. "I've been impressed," Fariss admitted. "This little SCCS car handles better than my GT1 car. They're a lot more forgiving." Behind Fariss, polesitter J.P. Morgan and Chris Mitchum exchanged second place several times in the tightest battle for position on the racetrack. Morgan won the battle for second, but Mitchum earned enough points with a third-place finish to capture the season-long SCCS points race. "We started out the year hoping to be a two-car team. I wasn't even supposed to be the number one driver," the 26 year-old Mitchum said. "After the first race we realized that the Stock Car Championship Series had so much promise we decided to invest all of our efforts to it. Our main goal was to win the championship." Mitchum won the championship by 15 points over Fariss. John Martin, who had entered the race tied for the points lead with Mitchum, was third, five points back. Stock Car Championship Series (SCCS) Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia Holiday Run December 1, 2002 Unoffical Finish Finish,Start,Car Number,Driver,Hometown,Car Make,Laps,Status 1,2,22,Ron Fariss,Lynchburg VA,Chevrolet,27,running 2,1,11,JP Morgan,Ether NC,Chevrolet,27,running 3,3,6,Chris Mitchum,Reston VA,Chevrolet,27,running 4,7,99,John Martin,Cornelius NC,Monte Carlo,27,running 5,5,67,Al Rowland,Mebane NC,Pontiac,27,running 6,6,80,Michael Brown,Blue Ridge VA,Pontiac,26,running 7,4,10,Bill Bratton,Clifton Forge VA,Chevrolet,25,mechnical 8,8,2,Bob Davis,Lynchburg VA,Chevrolet,16,overheating Time of Race: 49.95 Winner's Average Speed: 95.183 mph Margin of Victory: 18 seconds Fastest Lap of the Race: Ron Fariss lap 2 at 1:32.300 (99.067 mph) Caution Flags: none Lap Leader: JP Morgan 0, Ron Faris 1-27 Lead Changes: 1 Stock Car Championship Series (SCCS) 2002 Driver Championship Points (Unoffical) Position,Driver,Hometown,Points 1,Chris Mitchum,Reston VA,1785 2,Ron Fariss,Lynchburg VA,1770 3,John Martin,Cornelius NC,1765 4,Michael Brown,Blue Ridge VA,1490 5,Bill Bratton,Clifton Forge VA,1485 6,Andy Tunnell,Martinsville VA,1295 7,JP Morgan,Ether NC,1260 8,Jeff Werth,Silver Spring MD,1110 9,Mark Gobble,Salem VA,800 10,John Goodson,Tallahassee FL,660 11,Kenny Liesfeld,Montpelier VA,635 12,Al Rowland,Mebane NC,485 13,Marshall McLeod,Raleigh NC,375 14,Ron Read,Fairfax VA,215 15,Al Zimmerman,South Boston VA,150 16,Ronnie Newman,Roanoke VA,130 17,Eric Bishop,Salem VA,85 18,Ed DuCoin,Marlton NJ,80 19,Tom Warren,Salem VA,75 20,Bob Davis,Lynchburg VA,130 http://www.sccsracing.com