ARCA Truck REEB RACES TO CAREER-FIRST ARCA TRUCK TRIUMPH AT LAKE ERIE

 

NORTH EAST PA (8-2-03)  Kevin Reeb, in the #98 family-owned Reeb Racing Ford Ranger, steered his way to his career-first ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series victory Saturday night at Lake Erie Speedway.

 

After losing the lead late in the race, Reeb, unwilling to let it go for good, took it back with 15 laps remaining to win the exciting Lincoln Welders 100 presented by Canfield Radiator.

 

Reeb, who started third, lost the lead in lapped traffic on lap 84 of the 100-lap race when he and the second-place truck of Steve Christman came upon Paul Hahn who was fighting to stay on the lead-lap. As they steered for turn one, Reeb went low while Christman went high making it three-wide with Hahn in the middle. However, it was Christman who got the better bite off the corner and raced into the lead. Undaunted, Reeb maintained his composure and raced right back to challenge. The challenge did not last long as Reeb took the lead back just one lap later. Once cleared of the lapped traffic, Reeb drove away from the competition winning by three-lengths over Christman who finished second in the Witwer Racing Engines Chevy S-10.

 

Old Milwaukee polesitter Hahn led at the onset until fourth-place starter Brian Rowe took control of the top-spot on lap 12. Rowe continued to show the way up through lap 43 before his front hub failed sending the Barboursville, West Virginia driver to the pits for service. Reeb then took over as leader while Christman, who started ninth, had worked his way into second with Hahn, Chad Guinn and Robbin Slaughter battling for the remaining top-five positions. Christman went nose-to-tail with the leader until the opportunity in lapped traffic presented itself. But while Christman was credited with leading the 84th lap, it was Reeb who controlled most of the race with a convincing 56 laps-led overall. In addition to the winner's purse, Reeb also picked up the Cloyes Gear Halfway Leader Award.

 

Defending Lincoln Welders Truck Series champion Guinn recovered from ignition troubles throughout the race and finished a solid third in the BFI-M&M Heating-Northland Collision Ford Ranger. As a result, Guinn, who had lost the championship points lead to Rowe one week earlier, regained the lead over Rowe who was not able to return to competition. Rowe, after leading 32 laps, would be credited with the 12th place finishing position. Hahn held on for fourth in the Hahn's Collision-Certified First Network Chevrolet with two-time series champion Slaughter trailing in fifth in his own Carmensvacuum.com Ford.

 

Grove City, Ohio veteran Jack Weethee finished sixth in the Weethee Builders-Den's Automotive Ford with '99 series champion Bill Withers trailing in seventh in the Mannings USA-Hall Electronics Ford. Gregg Vasko, in the McArdles Pub & Restaurant Ford, raced from the 14th starting position to finish eighth thereby earning the Ed & Company Hard Charger Award for advancing the most positions. Norman Weaver, in the WalMart-Nextel Toyota Tacoma, finished ninth with Brandon Knupp, in the Mark Knupp Mufflers & Tires Ford, completing the top-ten finishers. 

 

The next event for the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series will be at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in DuQuoin, Illinois when the versatile tour takes to the one-mile dirt oval on August 23rd for its first-ever appearance on the "Magic Mile".



       2003 ARCA LINCOLN WELDERS TRUCK SERIES EVENT #7   
       Lake Erie Speedway, North East PA, 8-2-03   
       Official Results, Lincoln Welders 100 presented by Canfield Radiator   
           
      FIN STR NO DRIVER/RESIDENCE TEAM & CAR LAPS STATUS 
      1 3 98 Kevin Reeb/N Baltimore OH Reeb Racing Ford 100 Running 
      2 9 16 Steve Christman/Fort Wayne IN Witwer Racing Engines Chevrolet 100 Running 
      3 2 4 Chad Guinn/Erie MI BFI-M&M Heating-Northland Cllisn-Coastal Coating Ford 99 Running 
      4 1 7 Paul Hahn/Canton MI Hahn's Collision-Certified First Network-Fox Auto Chevy 99 Running 
      5 7 6 Robbin Slaughter/Columbus OH Carmensvacuum.com Ford 99 Running 
      6 10 55 Jack Weethee/Grove City OH Weethee Builders-Den's Automotive Ford 99 Running 
      7 11 57 Bill Withers/Columbus OH Mannings USA-Hall Electronics Ford 97 Running 
      8 17 14 Gregg Vasko/McKeesport PA McArdles Pub & Restaurant-Mon Ave Motors Ford 96 Running 
      9 14 11 Norman Weaver/Clarksburg WV WalMart-Nextel Toyota 91 Running 
      10 8 1 Brandon Knupp/Sidney OH Mark Knupp Mufflers & Tires Ford 78 Carburetor 
      11 16 00 Mark Otting/Plainwell MI Kalmbach Feeds-Westfalia-Surge Ford 49 Brakes 
      12 4 5 Brian Rowe/Barboursville WV Pate Manufacturing Ford 44 Front Hub 
      13 12 30 Brad Yunker/Maumee OH Ohio Cat Rental Services-Champion Credit Union Ford 41 Engine 
      14 5 06 Ron Wells/Riverside OH Tanner HVAC-Main Auto Parts Ford 29 Engine 
      15 6 2 Jeff Speakman/Piqua OH Pennzoil-National Auto Lube-Dick's Paint & Body Ford 11 Oil Leak 
      16 15 9 Stan Maitlen/Greenville OH Meredith Heating-Trents Auto Parts Chevrolet 11 Axle 
      17 13 3 John Kasmierski/Toledo OH Carpenters Local 1138-Top Notch Seamless Gutters Ford 0 Engine 
      18 18 24 Jeff Smith/Greenville OH TSM Motorsports Ford 0 Engine 
           
       LAP LEADERS: Hahn 1-11, (11); Rowe 12-43 (32); Reeb 44-83, 85-100 (56); Christman 84 (1)  
           
       SPECIAL AWARDS    
       Old Milwaukee Pole:  Paul Hahn    
       Cloyes Gear Halfway Leader:  Kevin Reeb   
       Ed & Company Hard Charger:  Gregg Vasko