ARCA Truck release/results, Flat Rock Spdwy

In ARCA Trucks, it's two in a Rowe

 

FLAT ROCK MI (6-28-03) - By Don Radebaugh - Brian Rowe made it two wins a row on the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series tour with a hard-fought victory in the Livernois Motorsports 100 Saturday night at Flat Rock Speedway.

 

The Barboursville, West Virginia driver used patience and a pick in lapped traffic to overtake the leader 24 laps from the finish, and then held off defending series champion Chad Guinn to earn his second career ARCA Truck triumph in only his fifth attempt.

 

"First off, I just want to thank Livernois Motorsports for putting on the show and AJ (Pate) for putting a great truck underneath me. This is a fun little racetrack, and there's plenty of room for passing which makes it really nice. We burned off the right side tires getting there, but it was well worth it."

 

Rowe, in AJ Pate's Pate Manufacturing Ford Ranger, made a bold, three-wide maneuver in lapped traffic to overtake Guinn for the lead on lap 77 of the 100-lap event and then fended off an further attempt from Guinn to regain control. Guinn, in his father Larry Guinn's BFI-M&M Heating Ford, finished second, the only other truck on the lead lap.

 

Two-time ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series champion Robbin Slaughter pitted early-on under caution and raced from the tail-end to finish third in his own Carmensvacuum.com Ford. John Kasmierski, in the Carpenter's Local 1138 Ford, survived an early-race, multi-truck pile up to finish a solid fourth ahead of Ron Wells, who finished fifth in the Tanner HVAC-Main Auto Parts Ford.

 

Guinn, the all-time series winner, jumped out into the lead at the onset and stretched his advantage to ten lengths over outside polesitter Wells. Then the yellow flag came out for a five-truck pile up in turn one when Mark Otting, Kasmierski, Brandon Knupp, Jack Weethee and Bill Withers tangled. All but Weethee were able to restart the race, and there were no injuries. 

 

By lap 30, Rowe, who had started 11th, had already worked his way into second; but by then Guinn had a full straightaway advantage. Then the red flag came out on lap 40 when it began to rain negating Guinn's built-up lead. After an hour rain-delay to dry the track off, racing resumed with Rowe camped out on Guinn's bumper for the restart. Guinn, no doubt full aware he could not let up from here, set a blistering pace with Rowe in tow never more than five lengths away. And that's the way the stayed until lapped traffic came into play allowing Rowe to get within inches of Guinn's bumper. Headed into turn three, Guinn steered high while a lapped truck, knowing what was coming - and by track protocol - steered low. Regardless, Rowe steered lower and made it three-wide as the trio charged off turn four. By the time they reached turn one, Rowe emerged as the leader. Although Guinn caught Rowe in traffic a time or two, the eventual winner extended his advantage to five lengths before the checkered flag would finally fall on the action-packed main event. 

 

Second-generation ARCA Truck racer Kevin Reeb finished sixth ahead of Tucson, Arizona driver John VanHorn, who finished a solid seventh in his first Flat Rock start. Indianapolis, Indiana driver Sonny Kendall finished eighth in front of 17-year-old Brandon Knupp who finished ninth. Longtime ARCA racer Eddy Adams completed the top-ten finishers.

 

The Cloyes Gear Halfway Leader award went to Guinn while Rowe picked up the Ed & Company Hard Charger honors for advancing the most positions. 

 

The ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series will next race at Toledo Speedway on July 6 followed by a visit to Lake Erie Speedway on July 11 where they will be paired up with the ARCA RE/MAX Series for an ARCA double header at the newer Erie, Pennsylvania paved oval. 

       2003 ARCA LINCOLN WELDERS TRUCK SERIES EVENT #3    
       Flat Rock Speedway, Flat Rock MI, 6-28-03   
       Official Results, Livernois Motorsports 100   
           
      FIN STR NO DRIVER/RESIDENCE TEAM & CAR LAPS STATUS 
      1 11 5 Brian Rowe/Barboursville WV Pate Manufacturing Ford 100 Running 
      2 1 4 Chad Guinn/Erie MI BFI-M&M Heating-Northland Collision-Coastal Coating Ford 100 Running 
      3 5 6 Robbin Slaughter/Columbus OH Carmensvacuum.com Ford 99 Running 
      4 13 3 John Kasmierski/Toledo OH Carpenters Local 1138-Top Notch Seamless Gutters Ford 99 Running 
      5 3 06 Ron Wells/Riverside OH Tanner HVAC-Main Auto Parts Ford 99 Running 
      6 4 98 Kevin Reeb/N Baltimore OH Accurate Logistics Ford 99 Running 
      7 2 15 John VanHorn/Tucson AZ VanHorn Carpet Srvc-Patricks Motorsports Ford 98 Running 
      8 7 33 Sonny Kendall/Indianapolis IN Mid-America Mortgage-Knight Racing Chevrolet 98 Running 
      9 6 1 Brandon Knupp/Sidney OH Mark Knupp Mufflers & Tires Ford 98 Running 
      10 15 75 Eddy Adams/Sheffield Village OH Nemire Enterprises-Lake Side Auto Parts Ford 97 Running 
      11 8 00 Mark Otting/Plainwell MI Kalmbach Feeds-Westfalia-Surge Ford 97 Running 
      12 14 14 Gregg Vasko/McKeesport PA McArdles Pub & Restaurant-Mon Ave Motors Ford 95 Running 
      13 10 57 Bill Withers/Columbus OH Mannings USA-Hall Electronics Ford 94 Running 
      14 17 24 Jeff Smith/Greenville OH TSM Motorsports Ford 90 Running 
      15 9 7 Paul Hahn/Canton MI Hahn's Collision-Certified first Network-Fox Auto Chevy 88 Running 
      16 16 11 Norman Weaver/Clarksburg WV WalMart-Nextel Toyota 70 Running 
      17 12 55 Jack Weethee/Grove City OH Weethee Builders-Amerihost Inns-Den's Automotive Ford 33 Trans 
           
       LAP LEADERS: Guinn 1-76 (76); Rowe 77-100 (24)    
           
       Old Milwaukee Pole Award: Chad Guinn (12.386 seconds)   
       Cloyes Gear Halfway Leader: Chad Guinn   
       Ed & Company Hard Charger: Brian Rowe   
       Brooks Racing Tire: Bill Withers   
       Diamond Wheels: Jeff Smith    
       Bart Wheels: Chad Guinn    
       Revenge Pole-Win: None    
       RJS Safety: Brian Rowe