NASCAR SJAPS: 1998 NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series Race Facts
29 June 1998
WHAT: Gerber Foods 200WHERE: Lanier National Speedway, Braselton, Ga., 0.375 mi. oval
WHEN: Wednesday, July 1, 1998, 8:00 p.m.
DISTANCE: 200 laps (75 miles)
POSTED AWARDS: $44,360
TV/RADIO: Tape delayed - The Sunshine Network, Home Team Sports, Fox Sports South, Air Dates & Times to be announced.
FIELD: 30 cars. Starting positions 1-26 will be determined by time trials (2 laps), positions 27-30 will be available to any of the top 30 eligible drivers in the current 1998 NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series Championship point standings, who have entered the event, but have not qualified for one of the original 26 starting spots. If a starting position(s) remains unfilled, then that starting position(s) will become available to the next eligible car from the qualifying procedure for the event.
SANCTION: National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR)
PROMOTER: SMFP, Inc.
CONTACTS: Jim Noltimier, NASCAR, (770) 486-3591
Dave Liniger, Jr., Lanier National Speedway, (770) 967-8600
SCHEDULE: Team Hauler Parking 8:00 a.m.
Registration & Inspection 9:00 a.m.
Practice 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Time Trials (2 laps, all positions) 6:00 p.m.
Gerber Foods 200 8:00 p.m.
THE RACE: The Gerber Foods 200 is the ninth of 19 races on the 1998 Slim Jim All Pro Series schedule. This race represents the 12th time that the Slim Jim All Pro Series will compete at the 0.375 mile oval.
RECORDS: Track Qual. Record: John Crow, Concord, N.C.,
Chevrolet, 13.696
secs., 98.569 mph, 7/3/97
Fastest Avg. Speed: Mike Garvey, Suwanee, Ga., Chevrolet, 1 hour, 4
mins.,
11 secs., 70.11 mph, 6/20/92
1997 REVIEW: Wildwood, Fla.'s Wayne Anderson drove his Porter Cable Professional Power Tools Chevrolet Monte Carlo to his second of three 1997 wins in the Slim Jim All Pro Series, part of NASCAR's Touring Division. Derrick Gilchrist trailed Anderson across the stripe by 0.41 seconds with Featherlite Southwest Tour regular John Metcalf in third. Rounding out the top five were eventual 1997 Slim Jim All Pro Series Champion Hal Goodson and Mike Harmon. Cornelia, Ga.'s Gary McCoy grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag from Bud Pole sitter John Crow and led the first 99 laps before he was sidelined with a broken rear end. Nipper Alsup then assumed the lead, ultimately yielding to Gilchrist on lap 154 with Anderson taking over the top spot on lap 159 and never relinquishing it.
NOTES OF INTEREST
Mike Miller, Donnie Bishop, Mike Garvey, Freddie Query, Toby Porter,
Wayne
Willard, Gary Jones, Mike Cope, Steven Christian, Wayne Anderson and
Derrick
Gilchrist have each earned a Slim Jim All Pro Series victory at Lanier.
After 11 series events at the 0.375 mile oval there has never been a
repeat
winner.Query, Porter, Willard, Christian and Gilchrist are the only
previous
winners expected to enter the Gerber Foods 200.
Steve Holzhausen, Randy Porter, the late Casey Elliott, Scott Sutherland, Bobby Gill, Shane Hall, Mike Garvey, Tammy Jo Kirk, John Crow and Jimmy Garmon have all earned Bud Pole Awards at Lanier, with Kirk the only one to win more than one. Dalton, Ga.'s Kirk swept Bud Pole qualifying in 1996 by earning two pole awards.
Lanier's Super Late Model Division will be well represented in the Gerber Foods 200. Expected entries include Jimmy Garmon, Ricky Turner, Brian Smith, while many Georgia based drivers who don't run a full Slim Jim All Pro Series schedule are expected as well including Wayne Willard, Michael Britt and Gary McCoy.
STAT OF THE WEEK: In last year's event 47 cars attempted to earn one of 30 starting positions. Seventeen cars were forced to load up and go home!
HEADQUARTERS MOTEL: Jamison Inn, 3780 Merchants Way (near Hwy. 53), Oakwood, GA 30566, contact: Bob Mount, (770) 533-9400, 35 rooms, singles & doubles, $65 per night.
