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NASCAR SJAPS: Anderson Flies To Third Consecutive Victory at Greenville-Pickens

14 August 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Greenville, S.C. - Second-generation driver Wayne Anderson, added his name to the Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring record books once again, this time at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. The Wildwood, Fla. driver, by overwhelming the 32-car field enroute to his third consecutive win of the year, became the only driver, along with his father Dick Anderson, to both win series races at the 0.500-mile oval. Anderson wheeled the Jani-King Chevrolet Monte Carlo to a $9,775 payday in the $48,350 Cintas 200.

His father's lone Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring victory came on May 10, 1997 when Dick Anderson subbed for his son, who could not return for the race's rain date, due to a previously scheduled run in a NASCAR Busch North Series race in Loudon, N.H.

In victory lane Anderson commented on his mid-season resurgence, "Billy (Bigley) had us all covered at the beginning of the season and we've all been playing catch up. The crew has been working hard on this Grand American Race Cars team. It just shows how hard work pays off tonight. The car was great from the time we unloaded this afternoon, set fast time, and pulled off the win" he added.

When asked what his tire strategy was going to be Anderson responded, "I didn't really know. After I got out in the lead I felt like we were going to be the ones who made the call, which would dictate what the others would do. I felt like they were going to pit when we pitted. I went as far as I thought we could go on our first set of tires and we pitted on lap 118we still had a lot of tire left at the end of the race so we made a good call."

Anderson earned the annual award for most Bud Poles in a season in 1996, winning five poles that year. He was shut out from a pole start for the next three years but at Greenville-Pickens he earned his third Bud Pole Award of 2000, and his third in three tries. He outpaced 31 other drivers when he registered a time of 19.599 seconds equating to an average speed of 91.841 mph. Anderson now leads Mooresville, N.C.'s Brian Smith in the chase for this year's annual Bud Pole Award. Smith has earned two pole starts this season.

When the green flag waved to start the 200 lap race Anderson and outside front row starter Jeff Fultz sped around the track side-by-side, with Anderson edging ahead as the duo crossed the start/finish line to complete lap one. By the time they got to turn one Fultz settled in behind the leader, appearing content to let Anderson set the early pace.

On lap 15 Statesville, N.C.'s Scott Kilby attempted to pass Fultz on the low side, heading into turn three. The two made contact with Fultz spinning in turn four. This brought out the race's first caution. There were three more cautions, all for single car incidents, that interrupted green flag racing during the first half of the race. On each subsequent restart Anderson continued to lead, while Kilby, Billy Bigley, Jr., Smith and Lee Tissot gave chase.

When the race's fifth caution occurred on lap 128, after debris was spotted in turn two, all of the leaders pitted, with the exception of Fultz and A.J. Frank who had pitted during an earlier caution. The green flag was waved to restart the race on lap 137 and Anderson pounced on the two leaders, regaining the top spot on lap 141 when he pulled past Fultz with an outside pass coming out of turn two. Kilby was likewise marching to the front and had moved into the third position on lap 148. On lap 150 he attempted to pass Fultz on the outside but ended up making contact with the outside wall, ending his night in the process. As the cars checked up to avoid Kilby's car Casey Yunick, Kevin Prince and Ryan Crane wound up in a pile, forcing a six minute, four second red flag period to untangle the mess.

Green flag racing resumed on lap 158 with Anderson leading Fultz, David Reutimann, Bigley and Smith. One more brief caution interrupted Anderson's victory march and when the checkered flag waved he outpaced Bigley, Smith, Fultz and Reutimann to capture his 13th career Slim Jim All Pro Series victory. Anderson is now tied with Hal Goodson for third on the all time series wins list. Rounding out the top 10 were Robert Powell, Gary Terry, Tissot, Steven Howard and Frank.

The race was run in one hour 38 minutes and 19 seconds and Anderson's winning average speed was 61.027 seconds. He got to the checkered flag 1.862 seconds sooner than runnerup Bigley. There were a total of eight caution flags for 55 laps and two lead changes amongst two drivers.

The top nine positions in the point standings remain unchanged, while Anderson cracked the top 10 for the first time in 2000. Fultz leads Bigley by a narrow 14 point margin while Reutimann trails Bigley by 41 points. Tissot trails Reutimann by 45 points while Smith edged closer to Tissot, now trailing the Arden, N.C. driver by 11 points.

Anderson led a total of 189 laps, thus earning the $500 Gatorade Front Runner Award, his third such honor in 2000. Anderson closes to within five points of leader Bigley in the run for the $4,000 award that goes to the category winner at the end of the season.

Birmingham, Ala.'s Augie Grill, Anderson's crew chief, earned his third consecutive $300 Jasper Engines and Transmissions Crew Chief Challenge award after the Jani-King team executed a flawless four tire pit stop to propel their driver to victory. Bigley's crew chief Adam Heckelman extended his lead in the chase for the $2,500 award at year's end by virtue of his driver's second place finish. Heckelman now leads Fultz's crew chief by 12 points.

Fairhope, Ala.'s Billy Mills raced to a 13th place finish to earn the $250 Moroso Performance Parts Rookie-of-the-Race award. Finishing just behind him in 14th was fellow first year driver Greg Pope. Yunick still leads in the Rookie-of-the-Year points chase with a seven point lead over Pope. Crane is just four points behind Pope in third.

A rare mid-week race is the next event on the 17-race Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring schedule. On August 23, the teams head to the challenging Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for the Reel Saver 250, the 12th race of the season. Also running at Bristol that night will be the Goody's Dash Series, NASCAR Touring.

Text provided by James F. Noltimier

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