ARCA Truck Tri-City Results, Release, Top-10 Points

In Tri-City ARCA Trucks, Rowe Brothers Battle; Brett Holds Off Brian in Michigan Memorial Weekend Thriller



AUBURN MI (5-30-04)  Rookie Brett Rowe, making his ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series debut in his own unsponsored Chevy S-10, stepped up big by holding off his veteran brother Brian Rowe to win the action-packed Great Lakes 100 Sunday afternoon at Tri-City Motor Speedway. 



"My brother told me not to wear my stuff out," said Brett, the younger of the two. "He's (Brian) run enough of these races and he would know. Toward the end, I had worn it out and he gave me more than enough trouble. But this is great. We just picked up this truck on our way up from West Virginia. I'd say we're off to a solid start."



Runner-up finisher Brian Rowe, in the Pate Manufacturing-Livernois Motorsports Chevrolet, charged from the 10th starting position and worked the eventual winner over lap after lap, but fell short by a length at the final stripe. Former Flat Rock Speedway late model champion Rick Knowles, another making his series debut, finished third in the Rosen Racing Chevrolet. Series veteran Dave Reeb finished fourth in his own unsponsored Ford Ranger over Tully Esterline, who steered the Rupp Seeds Chevrolet to the finish in fifth.



At the onset, defending series champion and outside polesitter Chad Guinn got the jump over Pork Pole Award winner Ron Wells and led early on. However, Guinn's lead was short-lived when he tangled with a lapped truck off turn four coming down to complete the eighth lap. With Guinn at the tail-end for the restart, Wells took control up front and led through lap 23 before mechanical woes ended his strong run.



Then rookie Tim Burkett, who started fourth in only his second series start, paced the field for 40 circuits and looked to be on his way to his first series victory until Guinn, who had charged back through the pack, re-entered the picture. Burkett and Guinn battled for the lead for several laps before contact between the two resulted in both trucks spinning. That put Brett Rowe at the helm, who managed to hold off his brother for the final 37 laps.



In all, 10 of the 18-truck starting grid, finished on the lead lap including John Kasmierski, who finished sixth in the Carpenters Local 1138-KJ Excavating Chevrolet. Burkett, who came from the tail-end after the spin, salvaged a solid seventh place finish in his own unsponsored Chevrolet over former series champion Bill Withers, who finished eighth in the Mannings USA-Hall Electronics Ford Ranger. Guinn finished ninth in the BFI-M&M-Harwood Buick-Northland Collision Chevrolet in front of Norm Weaver, who completed the top-10 finishers in the Dan Cava Toyota World-Nextel Toyota.



Brian Rowe earned the Ed & Company Hard Charger award for advancing the most positions while Burkett picked up the Cloyes Gear Halfway Leader honors.

Next events for the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series are June 12 at Midvale Speedway in Midvale, Ohio before traveling to western Indiana where the versatile series will make its inaugural visit to the Terre Haute Action Track on June 18.

CURRENT TOP-10 ARCA LINCOLN WELDERS TRUCK SERIES POINTS:  1) Brett Rowe 230; 1) Rick Knowles 230; 3) Brian Rowe 220; 4) Tim Burkett 215; 5) Tully Esterline 210; 5) Chad Guinn 210; 5) Dave Reeb 210; 8) John Kasmierski 200; 9) Bill Withers 190; 10) Norm Weaver 180; 10) Ron Wells 180.



       2004 ARCA LINCOLN WELDERS TRUCK SERIES EVENT #1   
       Tri-City Speedway, Auburn MI, 5-30-04   
       Official Results, Great Lakes 100   
           
      FIN STR NO DRIVER/RESIDENCE TEAM & CAR LAPS STATUS 
      1 8 27 Brett Rowe/Barboursville WV Rowe Racing Chevrolet 100 Running 
      2 10 5 Brian Rowe/Barboursville WV Pate Manufacturing Chevrolet 100 Running 
      3 3 31 Rick Knowles/Willis MI Rosen Racing Chevrolet 100 Running 
      4 6 98 Dave Reeb/Pataskala OH Reeb Racing Ford 100 Running 
      5 5 10 Tully Esterline/Pettisville OH Rupp Seeds Chevrolet 100 Running 
      6 9 3 John Kasmierski/Toledo OH Carpenters Local 1138-KJ Excavating Chevrolet 100 Running 
      7 4 8 Tim Burkett/Fort Wayne IN Burkett Racing Chevrolet 100 Running 
      8 11 57 Bill Withers/Columbus OH Mannings USA-Hall Electronics Ford 100 Running 
      9 2 4 Chad Guinn/Erie MI BFI-M&M-Harwood Buick-Northland Collision Ford 100 Running 
      10 12 11 Norm Weaver/Clarksburg WV Dan Cava Toyota World-Nextel-Damons Grill Toyota 100 Running 
      11 14 78 Craig Meyers/Belleville MI Livernois Motorsports Dodge 99 Running 
      12 13 9 Stan Maitlen/Greenville OH Meredith Heating-Trent's Auto Parts Chevrolet 97 Running 
      13 17 15 Duane Bischoff/St. Leon IN Hoosier Foreign Auto Service-Hoosier Lock Ford 96 Running 
      14 16 00 Mark Otting/Plainwell MI Westfalia Surge-Posilac One Step Chevrolet 93 Accident 
      15 7 21 Donnie Porter/Columbus OH Screamin' Eagle Ltd Ford 25 Accident 
      16 15 06 Ron Wells/Riverside OH Pete Fondong-Tanner HVAC-Moore Trucking Ford 24 Handling 
      17 18 89 Tom Baker/Fremont MI DA Auto Body-Muskegon Fury Ford 6 Accident 
      33 Sonny Kendall/Indianapolis IN Mid America Mortgage-Kinght Racing Chevrolet DNS  
      75 Danny Basham/Henryville IN Strutter Signs-Mac Tools Chevrolet DNS  
           
       LAP LEADERS: Guinn 1-7 (7); Wells 8-23 (16); Burkett 24-63 (40); Rowe 64-100 (37)  
           
       SPECIAL AWARDS    
       PORK POLE QUALIFYING AWARD: Ron Wells (19.971 seconds)   
       CLOYES GEAR HALFWAY LEADER: Tim Burkett   
       ED & COMPANY HARD CHARGER: Brian Rowe