NASCAR SJAPS: Upper State Fair 200 Race Fact Sheet
12 August 1999
1999 Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring Race Facts WHAT: Upper State Fair 200 WHERE: Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Greenville, SC, 0.500-mile oval WHEN: Saturday, August 14, 1999, 8:00 p.m. DISTANCE: 200 laps (100 miles) POSTED AWARDS: $44,900 (including $2,800 Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring Championship point fund money.) TV/RADIO: None FIELD: 34 cars. Starting positions 1-29 will be determined by time trials (2 laps), positions 30-33 will be available to any of the top 30 eligible drivers in the 1999 Slim Jim All Pro Series, National Touring Championship point standings, who have entered the event, but have not qualified for one of the original 29 starting positions. The 34th starting position will be assigned to any Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring champion driver who participated as a driver in the 1998 Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring and who did not qualify for one of the original 29 starting positions. 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: Greenville Auto Racing, Inc. CONTACTS: Jim Noltimier, NASCAR, (770) 486-3591 Pete Blackwell, Greenville-Pickens Speedway, (864) 269-0852 SCHEDULE: Team Hauler Parking 8:00 a.m. Registration & Inspection 9:00 a.m. Mandatory Rookie Drivers' Meeting 12:00 p.m. Practice 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Time Trials (2 laps, all positions) 6:00 p.m. Upper State Fair 200 Racing Program 8:00 p.m. THE RACE: The Upper State Fair 200 is the 13th of 16 races on the 1999 Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring schedule. This race represents the 18th time that the Series will run at Greenville-Pickens, more than any other track on the schedule. This event is also the second series event to be run at Greenville-Pickens in 1999. RECORDS: Track Qual. Record: Rick Crawford, Mobile, Ala., Ford, 19.325 seconds, 93.144 mph, 8/5/95 Fastest Avg. Speed: Mike Cope, Pinellas Park, Fla., Oldsmobile, 1 hour, 20 minutes, 57 seconds, 74.11 mph, 8/7/93 1998 REVIEW: When the Slim Jim All Pro Series visited Greenville-Pickens for this race last August, local fan favorite Toby Porter bested the series regulars to earn his ninth career series win. The race was run on Sunday afternoon when rains washed out the race the night before. Raleigh, N.C.'s Derrick Gilchrist led the first 68 laps after earning the Bud Pole Award then relinquished the lead to Hal Goodson. Greer, S.C.'s Steven Howard, eventual 1998 Slim Jim All Pro Series Champion Freddie Query and Mike Cope all took turns at the front. Cope's Chevrolet was black-flagged after heavy smoke was spewing from his Chevrolet and this handed the lead to Porter who went on to a 0.26-second victory over Goodson. Gilchrist, Bobby Gill and Steven Christian rounded out the top five. NOTES OF INTEREST: · Over the span of 17 Slim Jim All Pro Series events contested at Greenville-Pickens 13 different drivers have earned Bud Pole Awards. Only Mike Cope, Billy Bigley, Jr. and Derrick Gilchrist have won more than one pole award. Each has won two. · In the wins category 13 different drivers have each scored victories at the 0.500-mile oval. Only Hal Goodson, Mike Cope and Jody Ridley have multiple wins. Cope has visited victory lane three times and Goodson and Ridley have each landed in the top spot twice. · 37 entries have been received for this race which will produce a starting field of 34 drivers. STAT OF THE WEEK: Easley, S.C.'s Randy Gentry, driver of Bud Gillespie's Carolina Painting/Milliken Cleaners Chevrolet, is coming off his career-best finish. Gentry finished in the runner-up spot in the Don Hill Pontiac 200 at Kingsport (Tenn.) Speedway this past Saturday night. Gentry also picked up the Bud Pole Award in the last Slim Jim All Pro Series race at Greenville-Pickens on April 24 of this year. HEADQUARTERS MOTEL: Comfort Inn, 1804 Highway 123 South, Easley, S.C., (864) 859-7520, Steve Alexander or Sandy Boggs, $38.00 single or double.