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NASCAR SJAPS: Slim Jim All Pro Series Returns to Alabama After Four Year Absence

7 July 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
Daytona Beach, Fla.- The last time that the Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring raced in the state of Alabama it was 1996 and the battleground was Mobile International Speedway near Mobile, Ala. It's been even longer since the series has run at Montgomery Motor Speedway in Montgomery...six years to be exact. All that changes this Saturday night when the series returns to Montgomery for the $48,350 Jasper Engines & Transmissions 200.

Leading the charge will be series points leader Billy Bigley, Jr. The Naples, Fla. driver has been mowing down the competition this year, having garnered four wins in seven starts this season. The Peerless Woodworking/Nevamar Decorative Surfaces Chevrolet driver is also the only active driver on the series to have scored a top five finish at Montgomery.

Five races were run from 1991 through 1994 at the 0.500-mile oval and Bigley notched four top five finishes in those five races, with his best finish being a second place run on April 3, 1993. His other top fives include two third place finishes along with a fourth place finish.

Despite Bigley's four wins he has certainly not run away with the points lead. Arden, N.C.'s Lee Tissot, driver of the Brinkley Racing Pontiac Grand Prix, sits just 61 points back and has been pressuring Bigley at every race. The second-generation driver certainly appears poised to break into victory lane at any time for his second career series win. A.J. Frank, David Reutimann and Jeff Fultz complete the top five in points and are separated be a mere 16 points after seven races.

Tina Gordon and Billy Mills, from Centre and Fairhope, Ala. respectively, will carry the Alabama State flag into the battle. Gordon is currently 15th in series points, and has captured her first two top 10 finishes in the last two races. Mills trails Gordon by just eight points, having earned one top five finish this season, along with being fourth in the Moroso Performance Parts Rookie-of-the-Year standings.

The Slim Jim All Pro Series drivers and teams will get things rolling on Saturday with a two-hour practice session beginning at 1:00 p.m. Bud Pole qualifying gets underway at 6:00 p.m. to set the 32-car starting field. Prior to the Jasper Engines & Transmissions 200 an on-track autograph session will be held.

Nine NASCAR Touring Series blanket the United States, bringing special events to many NASCAR Weekly Racing Series tracks and some NASCAR superspeedways and road courses. NASCAR Touring Series are extremely popular with fans and competitors. NASCAR Touring Series can provide a competitor with an entire career, or they can provide valuable experience to competitors moving through the NASCAR ranks. Corporate sponsors make significant contributions to NASCAR Touring Series point funds. These sponsors include Anheuser-Busch, Featherlite, Goody's Headache Powders, Raybestos Brakes, RE/MAX International, Inc., Slim Jim, and RJ Reynolds brand, Winston.

Text provided by James F. Noltimier

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