NASCAR SJAPS: It's Bigley for second weekend in a row
16 August 1999
Greenville, S.C. - August 15, 1999 - For the second week in a row, and the fourth time this season, Naples, Fla.'s Billy Bigley, Jr. deposited his Peerless Woodworking Chevrolet Monte Carlo in victory lane in Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring competition. This time the series veteran earned the winning laurels by besting 33 other drivers to win the $44,900 Upper State Fair 200 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. The win was worth $7,900 to the 37-year-old driver. Bigley had to dodge several on-track incidents before seeing the checkered flag. "We were in amongst a couple of lead lap cars and they got together and spun right in front of me. I mean my dad did a fabulous job of spotting on the radio for us, the guys did a great job in the pits. I don't know…two in a row is like a dream come true," stated the winner in victory lane. "Greenville's been good to me, we've been fast we've just never had any luck here, maybe we've broken the streak," he added. Thirty-six cars were on hand to vie for the 34 available starting spots and Greer, S.C.'s Steven Howard came away with the Bud Pole Award. The driver of the Dick Brooks Automotive/Greer Flooring Center Chevrolet, and the 1996 NASCAR Winston Racing Series Blue Ridge Region Champion, turned a lap of 19.920 seconds at an average speed of 90.361 mph to grab the top starting position. It was his second career pole position as well as second of the year for the 1996 Greenville-Pickens Speedway track champion. Narrowly missing the pole position was outside front row starter Scott Kilby. He missed the top qualifying position by 0.088 seconds and earned the opportunity to start on the outside of the front row. Howard took off at the drop of the green flag as if he was shot out of a rocket. A few early cautions kept the drivers from getting a good rhythm going. After being involved in a six-car get together in turn two on lap 10, Kilby shredded a right rear tire on the lap 21 restart and crippled his hold on the fifth place points position, after going down several laps for repairs. It seemed that the competitors just couldn't seem to produce any long green flag runs. During the first half of the race there were six caution periods. When the fourth caution period occurred on lap 71, as a result of George Ingole's Chevrolet coming to rest on the backstretch, most of the leaders, except Howard, Wayne Anderson and Robert Burroughs, all barreled into the pit area to complete the race's mandatory pit stop and tire change requirements. Green flag racing resumed on lap 78 only to be interrupted again on lap 92, and again on lap 100. Howard stayed on the track, and in the lead, from lap one to 100, finally pitting when the caution was again displayed after Tina Gordon spun in turn two and collected Hal Goodson and Lee Tissot. Howard, Anderson and Burroughs pitted at this point handing the lead to rookie Brian Smith. Smith made the most of his first time at the front in Slim Jim All Pro Series competition by capturing the $400 Gatorade Front Runner Award on lap 109, for leading the fifth consecutive green flag lap after the race's halfway point, lap 100, was under caution. The Mooresville, N.C. driver continued to set the pace until lap 116 when he was spun out of the top spot after Colleyville, Tex.'s Patrick Lawler made contact with the leader while the duo were racing side-by-side on a lap 116 restart. Cincinnati, Oh.'s Jeff Fultz blazed to the front in his Multiple Tool Chevrolet and appeared to be headed to his first victory of the year. But Bigley, being fortunate and patient, dodging the various accidents that never seemed to go away, ran down Fultz and overtook the leader on lap 174. From that point forward Bigley had to survive one restart, and point leader Wayne Anderson on his rear bumper, to record his seventh career win. Bigley pulled away during the final green flag stretch to win by 2.169 seconds while Anderson recorded his 12th top five finish in 14 starts as he settled for second. Fultz held on for third while David Reutimann and Ron Young rounded out the top five. Howard rallied to take the sixth position, and the balance of the top 10 went to rookie drivers, Rodney Childers, Ken Weaver, Mike Franklin and Shane Sieg. The top 10 finishers were the only cars to complete all 200 laps. With the 14 caution periods consuming 80 laps the race was run in one hour, 52 minutes and 38 seconds with Bigley's winning average speed being a slow 53.270 mph. There were three lead changes among four drivers. With his win Bigley closed to within 112 points of leader Anderson with two races left on the 1999 Slim Jim All Pro Series schedule. After making repairs to his Nortel Networks Chevrolet Goodson returned to the track many laps down and wound up 22nd. The Darlington, S.C. driver remains in the third points position while Howard moves from sixth to fourth in the points after his sixth place finish. Ronnie Burkett dropped from fourth to fifth in the point standings. Bigley's father Bill, Sr. earned the $300 Jasper Engines & Transmissions Crew Chief-of-the-Race Award and moved to within 12 points of Anderson's team leader Augie Grill for the annual award. With Smith grabbing the Gatorade Front Runner Award, and being followed at the time by Fultz and Weaver, nothing changed amongst the leaders for the annual Gatorade payoff. Goodson continues to lead Howard by three points with Anderson three behind Howard. The best point race in the series is in the Rookie-of-the-Year category. Childers takes over the top spot from Coy Gibbs after he wheeled his Cleaver Brooks/C&C Boilers/Honeywell Chevrolet to Rookie-of-the-Race honors. The Mooresville, N.C. resident now leads Gibbs by two points while Lawler trails Gibbs by three points. For the second time in 1999 Slim Jim All Pro Series teams will race at Lanier National Speedway in Braselton, Ga. on Saturday, September 4. The Oral B 200 represents the 15th of 16 races on the 1999 series schedule. Bud Pole qualifying will get underway at 6:00 p.m. with the racing program getting the green flag at 8:00 p.m. On June 19, Naples, Fla.'s Billy Bigley, Jr. grabbed the victory at Lanier. -30- For further information contact NASCAR Public Relations at (770) 486-3591. jn 1999 Point Standings (thru 8/14/99) Car Pos # Driver Points Starts Poles Wins Top 5 Top 10 Earnings 1 86 Wayne Anderson 2313 14 0 4 12 14 $59,520.00 2 28 Billy Bigley, Jr. 2201 14 0 4 10 12 $59,250.00 3 16 Hal Goodson 2072 14 1 3 7 10 $57,860.00 4 19 Steven Howard 1942 14 2 2 4 8 $38,090.00 5 31 Ronnie Burkett 1892 13 0 0 5 10 $34,135.00 6 45 Scott Kilby 1890 14 3 0 4 10 $24,280.00 7 00 David Reutimann 1890 14 0 0 3 9 $22,445.00 8 30 Jeff Fultz 1879 14 0 0 4 10 $23,565.00 9 54 #Rodney Childers 1675 14 2 0 4 5 $17,655.00 10 09 Randy Gentry 1671 14 1 0 3 3 $21,285.00 11 53 Robert Burroughs 1668 14 0 0 0 4 $16,670.00 12 44 #Coy Gibbs 1664 14 2 0 0 3 $16,595.00 13 9 #Patrick Lawler 1615 13 0 0 0 4 $12,690.00 14 4 Ron Young 1595 12 0 0 4 4 $20,250.00 15 34 #Ken Weaver 1492 14 0 0 0 2 $12,310.00 16 72 #Benny Gordon 1487 13 0 0 0 3 $12,470.00 17 26 Keith White 1454 14 0 0 0 0 $13,735.00 18 11 #A.J. Frank 1322 12 0 0 0 0 $8,810.00 19 33 Conrad Burr 1251 11 0 1 1 2 $19,980.00 20 1 Eddie Mercer 1220 11 0 0 2 2 $16,370.00 21 83 #Tina Gordon 1220 9 0 0 0 0 $6,025.00 22 3 David Bonnett 1162 12 0 0 0 0 $9,795.00 23 77 #Chad Bland 1046 10 0 0 0 0 $6,005.00 24 14 Josh Clemons 868 9 0 0 0 1 $6,670.00 25 38 #Shane Sieg 839 6 0 0 0 1 $3,815.00 26 20 #Brian Smith 834 7 0 0 0 0 $4,040.00 27 1 Lee Tissot 740 6 0 0 1 4 $4,865.00 28 61 #Mike Franklin, Jr. 658 5 0 0 0 4 $4,290.00 29 04 Mardy Lindley 621 6 0 0 0 0 $5,050.00 30 25 Mike Cope 617 5 1 0 1 2 $7,880.00 31 10 Steve Mendenhall 559 4 0 0 2 2 $5,095.00 32 87 Kevin Prince 534 6 0 0 0 0 $2,835.00 33 18 #Strom Altman 500 4 0 0 0 0 $2,340.00 34 96 Jeremy Thompson 492 4 0 0 0 0 $1,775.00 35 6 #Robbie Pyle 485 5 0 0 0 0 $3,345.00 36 23 #Lance Goodson 484 4 0 0 0 1 $3,055.00 37 2 Robbie Ferguson 416 2 0 0 0 0 $1,145.00 38 36 Rick Roller 355 3 0 0 0 0 $1,445.00 39 05 Chip Rutherford 347 3 0 0 0 0 $1,495.00 40 07 Greg Harrison 340 3 0 0 0 0 $1,475.00 41 20 Jim Inglebright 312 3 0 0 0 0 $2,425.00 42 98 Sean Studer 289 2 0 0 1 2 $3,675.00 43 94 Scott Riggs 279 3 0 0 0 0 $2,585.00 44 18 George Ingole 240 3 0 0 0 0 $1,245.00 45 37 Larry Raines 216 2 0 0 0 1 $1,620.00 46 88 Ricky Turner 207 2 0 0 0 1 $1,285.00 47 89 Tony Ponkauskus 189 1 0 0 0 0 $400.00 48 97 Philip Duffie 179 2 0 0 0 0 $1,040.00 49 85 Robby Marhefka 176 1 0 0 0 0 $525.00 50 75 Keith Brack 173 1 0 0 0 0 $625.00 51 80 Toby Porter 165 1 0 0 1 1 $2,725.00 52 90 Keith Gardner 155 1 0 0 1 1 $1,950.00 53 07 Jimmy Garmon 142 1 0 0 0 1 $835.00 54 7 Jason Schuler 142 1 0 0 0 1 $1,050.00 55 8 Freddie Query 138 1 1 0 0 1 $1,415.00 56 29 Jason Hogan 138 1 0 0 0 1 $785.00 57 5 Jesse Harris 130 1 0 0 0 0 $925.00 58 66 Gary McCoy 127 1 0 0 0 0 $635.00 59 51 Brian Hoppe 124 1 0 0 0 0 $650.00 60 62 John Gerstner 109 1 0 0 0 0 $700.00 61 12 Bobby Parsley 106 1 0 0 0 0 $615.00 62 0 Steven Christian 100 1 0 0 0 0 $875.00 63 26 Jimmy Cope 94 1 0 0 0 0 $895.00 64 10 Doug Klein 91 1 0 0 0 0 $775.00 65 5 Jerry Awbrey 88 1 1 0 0 0 $800.00 66 01 Derrick Kelley 88 1 0 0 0 0 $575.00 67 1 Scott Sands 85 1 0 0 0 0 $545.00 68 8 Chuck Winders 82 1 0 0 0 0 $535.00 69 6 Jerry Russell 79 1 0 0 0 0 $480.00 70 70 Kevin Gingrich 79 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00 71 82 Donnie Wilson 76 1 0 0 0 0 $675.00 72 72 Dennis Southerlin 73 1 0 0 0 0 $485.00 73 48 David Probst 67 1 0 0 0 0 $520.00 74 15 Dwayne Buggay 64 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00 75 76 Earl Bergeron 58 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00 76 18 Debris Brown 52 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00 77 71 Ray Skillman 52 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00 78 91 Richard Noda 46 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00 79 75 #Billy Mills 40 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00 80 39 Carl Hedin, Jr. 34 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00 # denotes Rookie of the Year candidate. $625,275.00 1999 NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series Statistics Lap Leaders (2590 total laps) Hal Goodson 459 Wayne Anderson 354 Billy Bigley, Jr. 345 Steven Howard 249 Scott Kilby 217 Coy Gibbs 124 Toby Porter 112 Mike Cope 106 Rodney Childers 105 Lee Tissot 93 Jerry Awbrey 81 Conrad Burr 75 Eddie Mercer 62 Jeff Fultz 58 Randy Gentry 38 Patrick Lawler 33 Shane Sieg 30 Brian Smith 15 Ronnie Burkett 14 Rick Roller 10 Jim Inglebright 5 Freddie Query 5 22 Different Lap Leaders Wins Wayne Anderson 4 Billy Bigley, Jr. 4 Hal Goodson 3 Steven Howard 2 Conrad Burr 1 Laps Completed Percentage Top 20 (2590 Possible) 1 Wayne Anderson 2590 100.00% 2 Steven Howard 2539 98.03% 3 Scott Kilby 2534 97.84% 4 Billy Bigley, Jr. 2522 97.37% 5 Hal Goodson 2508 96.83% 6 #Coy Gibbs 2449 94.56% 7 David Reutimann 2444 94.36% 8 #Ken Weaver 2323 89.69% 9 Randy Gentry 2300 88.80% 10 Robert Burroughs 2262 87.34% 11 #Patrick Lawler 2261 87.30% 12 Jeff Fultz 2236 86.33% 13 #Rodney Childers 2178 84.09% 14 Ronnie Burkett 2176 84.02% 15 Keith White 2122 81.93% 16 #Benny Gordon 1940 74.90% 17 Ron Young 1881 72.63% 18 #A.J. Frank 1700 65.64% 19 #Tina Gordon 1568 60.54% 20 Eddie Mercer 1502 57.99% 1991 - 1999 NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series Statistics Career Bud Pole Positions Mike Cope 13 Toby Porter 9 Jeff Purvis 9 Hal Goodson 8 Mike Garvey 7 Freddie Query 6 Derrick Gilchrist 6 Bobby Gill 6 Billy Bigley, Jr. 5 Wayne Anderson 5 Tony Walls 5 Shane Hall 5 Randy Porter 5 Steve Holzhausen 4 Eddie Mercer 4 Robert Powell 4 Gary Balough 3 Ron Barfield, Jr. 3 Rick Crawford 3 Casey Elliott 3 Hank Parker, Jr. 3 Jody Ridley 3 Jeff Fultz 3 Scott Kilby 3 Nipper Alsup 2 Rich Bickle 2 Steven Christian 2 Matt Hutter 2 Bob Senneker 2 Jack Sprague 2 Sean Studer 2 Tammy Jo Kirk 2 Ron Young 2 Mardy Lindley 2 Conrad Burr 2 Coy Gibbs 2 Rodney Childers 2 Steven Howard 2 Bobby Hamilton, Sr. 1 Bubba Gale 1 Clay Brown 1 Daniel Keene 1 Dick Anderson 1 Donnie Bishop 1 Eddie Goodson 1 Jamie Prell 1 Jason Keller 1 Jimmy Garmon 1 John Crow 1 Ken Schrader 1 Kevin Evans 1 Marty Ward 1 Mike Harmon 1 Pete Orr 1 Randy Gentry 1 Scot Walters 1 Scott Hansen 1 Scott Sutherland 1 Terry Harris 1 Jerry Awbrey 1 Career Wins Freddie Query 17 Mike Cope 14 Hal Goodson 13 Jody Ridley 12 Bobby Gill 10 Mike Garvey 9 Toby Porter 9 Wayne Anderson 9 Jeff Purvis 7 Billy Bigley, Jr. 7 Ron Young 6 Steven Christian 6 Rick Crawford 5 Jason Keller 5 Derrick Gilchrist 4 Scott Hansen 4 Ron Barfield, Jr. 3 Hank Parker, Jr. 3 Rich Bickle 2 Jeff Fultz 2 Gary Balough 2 Donnie Bishop 2 Scott Sutherland 2 Scot Walters 2 Steven Howard 2 Brian Rievley 1 Carl Long 1 Clay Brown 1 Conrad Burr 1 David Green 1 Dick Anderson 1 Gary Bradberry 1 Gary Jones 1 Gary St. Amant 1 Lee Tissot 1 Mike Miller 1 Nipper Alsup 1 Randy Porter 1 Shane Hall 1 Steve Holzhausen 1 Terry Brooks 1 Tim Sauter 1 Tim Steele 1 Wayne Willard 1