Brian Hoppe Wins Patriot 200 at Nashville

Nashville,  Tenn.  (October  18,  2003)  -  Wisconsin  driver  Brian  Hoppe  brought
home the colors for the north in holding off Georgia's Ricky Turner late rush to
win the first ever Patriot 200 at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Saturday.

The Patriot 200 featured regulars with the Sunoco Super Series and Southern All
Stars in a north-south challenge. Drivers from the north took seven of the top ten
positions.

Hoppe  led  the  final  51  laps,  but  had  to  hang  on  for  the  win  off  a  fast  closing
Turner  over  the  final  ten  laps.  Turner  stopped  twice  for  tires  and  was  running
fourth after 169 laps when he made a late charge to the front.

Following the final restart on lap 181, Hoppe built up a lead over Charlie Menard
as Turner  sped  past  Russell  Fleeman  for  third  and  passed  Menard  for  second
with 12 laps remaining.

With one lap remaining Turner got to the outside of Hoppe coming off of Turn 2
and inched ahead for the lead. Entering Turn 3, Hoppe held to the bottom line
and was able to pull even coming off the fourth corner.

Hoppe had just enough grip and horsepower to edge Turner at the checkers by
0.018 seconds for the victory. Georgia driver Freeman finished third followed by
Wisconsin's Menard and Kentucky driver Chuck Barnes came home in fifth.

Fleeman won the second of two qualifying races and started 34th in the 40-car
field working his way to the front and make a late attempt to take the lead when
his tires went away.

"I thought he had me passed," said Hoppe. " Ricky (Turner) had better tires, but I
concentrated on holding my line. He raced me clean coming off the fourth corner
or I wouldn't have won."

Turner  said  he  couldn't  make  a  move  to  the  inside  of  Hoppe  with  ten  laps
remaining, but was blocked by a lapped car.

"Once I got the line on him, I thought I had him," said Turner. "He just beat me
coming off the corner."

Outside pole sitter J.R. Norris led the first 27 laps when he broke a shifter on a
restart and was finished for the night.


Georgia  driver  Wayne  Willard  dominated  from  lap  68  through  119  building  up
more than a six-second lead. Following a pit stop his Chevrolet came to a stop in
Turn two with an electrical problem.

Hoppe  led  early  in  the  race  but  was  passed  on  lap  52  by  Erik  Darnell  with  an
inside  move  going  down  the  front  straight.  He  retook  the  lead  on  lap  159  by
moving  to  the  outside  of  Menard  going  down  the  back  straight  to  lead  to  the
finish.

The race was slowed for a total of 62 laps by eight caution periods. There were
eight lead changes among six drivers.


Patriot 200 Finish

  FN    #      Driver           Laps      Status
   1   51n     Brian Hoppe       200     Running
   2   28s     Ricky Turner      200     Running
   3   98s     Russell Fleeman   200     Running
   4   13n     Charlie Menard    200     Running
   5   55n     Chuck Barnes Jr.  200     Running
   6   8n      Eddie Hoffman     200     Running
   7   48n     Bobby Murany      200     Running
   8   49s     Stanley Smith     200     Running
   9   01n     Ron Breese Jr.    200     Running
  10   11n     Jeff Lane         200     Running
   11  89n     Brad Mueller      200     Running
  12   38s     Scott Carlson     200     Running
  13   80n     Tom Hernly Jr.    200     Running
  14   00n     Andy Ponstein     200     Running
  15   87n     Erik Darnell      200     Running
  16   24n     Brett Sontag      199     Running
  17   53n     Boris Jurkovic    199     Running
  18   33n     Billy Barton      199     Running
  19   82s     Donnie Wilson     199     Running
  20   71s     Johnny Brazier    199     Running
  21   63n     Jim Crabtree Jr.  199     Running
  22   129s    Jeff Lettson      198     Running
  23   21n     Ryan Matthews     198     Running
  24   91s     Heath Hindman     196     Running
  25   23n     Eddie Van Meter   168     Rear End
  26   60n     Ryan Hanson       161      Brakes
 


  27   0s      David  Hole       157     Running
  28   29s     Reed Sorenson     140     Handling
  29   78s     Charlie Bradberry 128      Engine
  30   01s     Wayne Willard     122    Mechanical
  31   110n    Jack Landis       108    Mechanical
  32   5s      Eddie Mercer      89     Mechanical
  33   11s     John Wilkerson III74      Accident
  34   10n     Chris Gabehart    60     Mechanical
  35   45n     Dave Jackson      56     Mechanical
  36   911s    Walt Brannen      40      Accident
  37   1s      J.R. Norris       28       Shifter
  38   72n     Scott  Hantz       9       Axle
  39   94n     Tim Sibila         4      Radiator
  40   05s     Nathan Davis       3     Mechanical

 Race Stats
 Cautions: 8 for 62 Laps
 Margin of Victory: 0.018 seconds
 Lead Changes: 9 among 6 drivers
 Lap Leaders: Norris 1-27, Darnell 28-47, Hoppe 48-51, Darnell 52-67, Breese 68-119,
 Hoffman 120-155, Menard 156-158, Hoppe 159-200