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USAC: Gary Hieber captures the pole at Nazareth

7 April 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
Local favorite Gary Hieber of Langhorne, Pa. captured the pole starting position for Saturday's 100-mile USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet race at the Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway by posting a track-record speed of 139.524 mph during Friday's qualifying at the 1-mile paved oval.

Hieber ranks third in series points entering Saturday's 100-mile race and erased Jimmy Sills' year-old record of 135.186 mph with his lap of 25.802 second in the Bucks County International Special.

"I'm not the greatest qualifier, so this surprised me," he said after his run, which nosed out defending series champion Ryan Newman. "We have a new car and a Penske shock program and the engine was real good. We're in a groove right now."

The pole was Hieber's first in 106 starts but Newman seemed satisfied with his run too. "We have a top starting spot on a track that's hard to pass on, so we are OK," he said. "We made only a few changes after practice but I'd like to know what Gary did to run so fast."

The top-six finishers from Saturday's 11:45 am "qualifying race" complete the 30-car field for Sunday's 100-miler, which starts at 3 pm and is part of Nazareth's Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix weekend.

Nazareth, Pa. - Results Friday afternoon (April 7) from qualifications for the April 8 Coors Light Silver Bullet Series Race at Nazareth Speedway, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown and speed:

1. (66) Gary Hieber, Langhorne, Pa., 25.802 seconds, 139.524 mph.
2. (1) Ryan Newman, South Bend, Ind., 138.942.
3. (9) Stevie Reeves, Huntersville, N.C., 138.787.
4. (4) Jason McCord, Anderson, Ind., 137.095.
5. (40) Brad Noffsinger, Concord, N.C., 136.949.
6. (37) Tracy Hines, New Castle, Ind., 136.861.
7. (100) Paul White, Temple, Texas, 136.747.
8. (6) Jay Drake, Val Verde, Calif., 136.741.
9. (69) Brian Tyler, Parma, Mich., 136.695.
10. (25) Brian Gerster, Indianapolis, Ind., 136.591.
11. (11) Jimmy Sills, Placerville, Calif., 136.111.
12. (29) Bentley Warren, Kennebunkport, Maine, 135.900.
13. (2) Jimmy McCune, Toledo, Ohio, 135.013.
14. (01) Pat Abold, Pennellville, N.Y., 134.983.
15. (99) John Heydenreich, Bloomsburg, Pa., 134.680.
16. (22) Brian Paulus, Mechanicsburg, Pa., 134.554.
17. (153) Tom Capie, Trevose, Pa., 134.353.
18. (7) Ed Carpenter, Indianapolis, Ind., 134.238.
19. (41) Eric Gordon, Indianapolis, Ind., 133.590
20. (67) Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, Wash., 133.526.
21. (333) Dan Drinan, Indianapolis, Ind., 133.476.
22. (74) Rich Tobias, Jr., Annville, Pa., 133.397.
23. (56) Dave Darland, Kokomo, Ind., 132.812.
24. (80) Robby Flock, Murrieta, Calif., 132.758.
25. Saturday's qualifying race winner.
26. 2nd in Saturday's qualifying race.
27. 3rd in Saturday's qualifying race.
28. 4th in Saturday's qualifying race.
29. 5th in Saturday's qualifying race.
30. 6th in Saturday's qualifying race.

Text provided by Dick Jordan

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