STARS Racing Series North-South 100: Report, Results, Standings
26 August 1997
Union, KY - Rick Aukland of Fargo, ND captured the win in the STARS Racing Series sanctioned, $20,000-to win, "15th Annual North-South 100" at Florence Speedway in Union, KY. After starting the race in third place in the 100-lap event, Francis, in the Rayburn/Malcuit/E-Z Crusher Chevrolet took the lead on lap 26 and was never headed as he swept to his first STARS win of 1997. Donnie Moran finished in second with pole sitter Skip Arp third, Bart Hartman and Bob Pierce rounding out the top five.Starting on the outside of the front row, Steve Francis took the lead as the cars raced into turn one with Arp, Aukland and Steve Smith trailing him. Mike Jewell passed Eddie Carrier Jr for fifth on the third lap as the front three cars went three wide in the battle for the point. Francis was relegated to third by lap four as both Arp and Aukland slid by.
Following a lap 5 caution Arp and Aukland battled fiercely for the lead with Francis sitting in third taking it all in. As the lead trio began to pull away, Jewell was able to get around Smith for fourth and Hartman came from his 13th starting position to crack the top five on lap 13. On the 14th circuit Hartman passed Jewell and just three laps later John Gill was also able to get around Jewell and take fifth.
The leaders began to encounter lapped traffic on lap 22 and this allowed Aukland to get around him on lap 26. The laps quickly wound down, and the only other caution of the race came on lap 51 for a Rod Conley spin. Aukland was able to take advantage of the clear track on the restart to open a gap on the field. After starting in 15th position, Donnie Moran entered the top five on lap 64 and just 20 laps later he was perched in fourth. Francis picked up the pace slightly and passed Arp for second on lap 88 and two laps later Moran also made the pass on Arp as he moved into third. Moran began to pressure Francis and then on lap 94 the two got together as Moran attempted the pass and Francis suffered a flat left rear tire. Despite the flat, Francis elected to stay on the track for the final five laps and limped home in 12th spot.
There were 58 cars on hand to try and grab a portion of the $66,000 purse and the fastest of them was Carrier who set a fast time of 17.135 seconds in qualifying. Heat race wins went to John Gill, Jack Boggs, Darrell Lanigan and Rick Eckert while Arp won the ISKY Racing Cams Fast Dash and Booper Bare and Jim Curry won the PRO SHOCKS 'B' Mains.
John Kaiser -- The Autochannel
RESULTS 15th ANNUAL North-South 100 Pos Car Driver Laps Purse Status 1. 12 Rick Aukland 100 $20000 Running 2. 99 Donnie Moran 100 10000 " 3. 31 Skip Arp 100 5000 " 4. 75 Bart Hartman 100 3000 " 5. 32P Bob Pierce 100 2500 " 6. 75G John Gill 100 2000 " 7. E1 Mike Balzano 100 1800 " 8. B4 Jack Boggs 100 1700 " 9. 68 Tim Hitt 100 1600 " 10. 29 Darrell Lanigan 100 1500 " 11. 24 Rick Eckert 100 1400 " 12. 15 Steve Francis 99 1300 " 13. 30 Steve Shaver 99 1200 " 14. 3S Steve Smith 98 1100 " 15. 72 John Mason 98 1000 " 16. 00 Booper Bare 98 1040 " 17. 71R Rod Conley 98 1040 " 18. 71 Delmas Conley 98 1040 " 19. 30M Mike McWilliams 97 1000 " 20. 1 Eddie Carrier Jr 96 1000 " 21. 7 Jim Curry 41 1040 Handling 22. 7UP Gary Green 33 1040 Engine 23. 9 Mike Jewell 25 1000 Cooling 24. 1CJ C.J. Rayburn 18 1040 Engine Time of race: 45 min Cautions: 2 Lap Leaders: Francis, Arp, Aukland 1997 STARS Racing Series Points Standings 1. Steve Francis 7510 2. Mike Balzano 6160 3. Tim Hitt 6120 4. Rick Eckert 6090 5. Steve Shaver 5220 6. Rod Conley 5000 7. Bart Hartman 3980 8. Barry Bragdon 3580 9. Delmas Conley 3480 10. Todd Andrews 3300