NASCAR Slim Jim Series, Coastal Plains Story, Results
26 March 2000
Bigley Bolts to Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring Win at Coastal Plains Jacksonville, N.C. - In the $48,350 New Century Homes 200 at Coastal Plains Raceway, Naples, Fla.'s Billy Bigley, Jr. exercised a wise tire-management strategy enroute to his eighth career victory in Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring competition. "Patience was the key," said Bigley, who had to deal with five caution flags in the opening 88 laps. "I was real good on Wayne (Anderson) on restarts. Especially down in one and two. I could see he was having a hard time so I just bided my time. The car was really so good all day," said Bigley. "I mean we were a little loose, but we were trying to learn how to drive this place, we'd never seen it before." Once Bigley disposed of Anderson his troubles were not yet over. "I kept yelling on the radio to my crew 'how close is he?" said Bigley of Lee Tissot. 'You've got six or seven car lengths' they'd say. But I'd look and he was right behind me." Bluffton, S.C.'s A.J. Frank not only established the track record during Bud Pole Qualifying but he also earned his first career pole position in Slim Jim All Pro Series competition. The second-year driver wheeled his Coastal Medical Associates Chevrolet Monte Carlo around the 0.400-mile oval in a time of 15.161 seconds resulting in a lap speed of 94.981 mph. When the green flag waved signaling the start of the 200-lap race Frank and outside polesitter Randy Gentry raced side-by-side for the first two circuits, with Gentry leading the first lap, and Frank seizing sole possession of the lead coming out of turn two on lap three. By the time the field sprinted down the backstretch Cincinnati, Oh.'s Jeff Fultz used the low line to grab the runnerup spot from Gentry. The two made contact and Gentry wound up spinning into the turn four wall, bringing out the first caution of the race. On the restart on lap nine Frank again maintained the top spot, ultimately setting the pace until lap 31 when 1999 Slim Jim All Pro Series champion Anderson swooped by the fleet youngster. Tucker, Ga.'s Shane Sieg followed Anderson by Frank and he raced into the lead on the 35th circuit. The S&W Automotive Chevrolet driver set the pace until Anderson regained control on lap 52. Anderson kept his Jani King Chevrolet out front through the race's halfway point. Just after a caution period that straddled the halfway point, brought out by a crash that involved Jeremy Thompson and Kevin Prince, the green flag was again displayed to leader Anderson on lap 105. Two laps later Bigley overhauled the Wildwood, Fla. driver and was then intent on putting as many cars a lap down as his fleet Chevrolet would allow. While he was quite effective in lapping cars, and maneuvering through lapped traffic, Asheville, N.C.'s Tissot was equally effective, keeping right up with Bigley. The race's final caution ended on lap 133 and just after the restart Tissot dove low coming out of turn four, edged alongside Bigley, but could not make the pass. He kept the heat on Bigley throughout the latter stages of the race but ultimately could not catch the veteran. At the finish Bigley pulled away to a 3.07 second win. Tissot held on to second, polesitter Frank earned a career-best third place finish and Fairhope, Ala.'s Billy Mills also grabbed a career-best fourth place finish. Greer, S.C.'s Steven Howard rounded out the top five. The sixth through 10th positions went to David Reutimann, Gregory Pope, Benny Gordon, Wayne Anderson and George Ingole. Nineteen of 28 starters were running when the checkered flag waved and Bigley's victory run was executed in one hour, 22 minutes and one second to establish the initial race record at the 0.400-mile track. Bigley's winning average speed was 58.170 mph in a race that was slowed by seven caution flags consuming 63 laps. There were six lead changes amongst five drivers. After two points races in 2000 Bigley takes over the top spot with 330 points while Tissot trails by 14 points. Gordon is just four points behind Tissot while Reutimann and Jeff Fultz round out the top five. Rookie David Stremme, Frank, Howard, Brian Smith and Pope complete the top 10 points positions with 15 races left in the season. By virtue of leading the most laps Bigley picked up the $500 Gatorade Front Runner Award and moved into a tie with Scott Hansen for the early points lead in that category. Frank, Gentry, Anderson and Sieg each also earned one point for leading laps. Bigley's crew chief Adam Heckelman nabbed the $300 Jasper Engines & Transmissions Crew-Chief-of-the-Race Award for leading his team's march to victory. Heckelman is now tied with Hansen's crew chief Craig Smokstad for the points lead in the category. The Moroso Performance Products Rookie-of-the-Year standings are quite tight after two races. With Mills earning the $250 Rookie-of-the-Race honors and Pope winding up as runnerup four points separates the top four drivers. David Stremme and Pope are tied for the lead with John Gerstner and Mills just two points behind. Next up for the drivers in the Slim Jim All Pro Series is the B&B Pools 200 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. The race will be held on Saturday, April 22 and represents the 19th time that the series' competitors will have raced at the flat and challenging 0.500-mile oval. Race #2 of 17 $48,350 New Century Homes 200 Coastal Plains Raceway - 0.400-mile oval March 25, 2000 Jacksonville, N.C. Finish Start # Driver Sponsor/Make/Model Laps Points Earnings Status 1 9 28 Billy Bigley, Jr. Peerless Woodworking/Newmar Decorative Services Chevrolet 200 180 $9,475 running 2 7 01 Lee Tissot Brinkley Racing Pontiac Grand Prix 200 170 4150 running 3 1 11 A.J. Frank Coastal Medical Associates Chevrolet Monte Carlo 199 165 3250 running 4 23 75 #Billy Mills Mills Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo 198 160 1950 running 5 26 19 Steven Howard Dick Brooks Automotive/Aloe Luya Chevrolet Monte Carlo 198 155 2225 running 6 11 00 David Reutimann Pennzoil Chevrolet Monte Carlo 198 150 1900 running 7 22 63 #Gregory Pope Galloway Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo 198 146 1200 running 8 12 72 Benny Gordon Johnny's Haulmark Trailers Chevrolet Monte Carlo 198 142 1500 running 9 5 86 Wayne Anderson Jani-King Chevrolet Monte Carlo 198 138 2100 running 10 24 18 George Ingole Freezer Radiator Cooling Agent Chevrolet Monte Carlo 197 134 825 running 11 15 98 #Kevin Bryant Brinkley Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo 197 130 750 running 12 6 39 Shane Sieg S&W Automotive Chevrolet Monte Carlo 197 127 1100 running 13 25 10 #Ryan Crane Fresh Frozen Foods Chevrolet Monte Carlo 195 124 675 running 14 16 62 #John Gerstner Alderman Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo 192 121 650 running 15 19 34 Ken Weaver Square D/Low Bob's Discount Tobacco Chevrolet Monte Carlo 191 118 1125 running 16 3 54 Jeff Fultz Cleaver Brooks/C&C Boilers/Honeywell Chevrolet 183 115 1205 running 17 2 09 Randy Gentry Carolina Painting/Milliken Cleaners Chevrolet Monte Carlo 175 112 1095 running 18 28 35 #David Stremme Industrial Safety & Industrial Services Chevrolet 172 109 585 rear end 19 10 2 Slick Yoemans USA Staffing Chevrolet Monte Carlo 168 106 575 handling 20 8 24 Shane Sawyer Quality Concrete Chevrolet Monte Carlo 130 103 565 rear end 21 20 32 Robbie Ferguson Race Scan Chevrolet Monte Carlo 128 100 555 trans. 22 14 20 Brian Smith Juba Glass Chevrolet Monte Carlo 116 97 945 running 23 17 1 Steve Mendenhall Interstate Batteries Chevrolet Monte Carlo 107 94 935 rear end 24 27 66 Tina Gordon InLand Buildings/Line-X/Phillips 66 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 105 91 1025 accident 25 4 87 Kevin Prince Mega Power Chevrolet Monte Carlo 87 88 515 accident 26 18 96 Jeremy Thompson Thompson Performance Chevrolet Monte Carlo 86 85 515 accident 27 13 3 Gary Terry Quality First Diecast Chevrolet Monte Carlo 20 82 515 running 28 21 8 #Casey Yunick LuAna Cooking Oil/Orlando Action Auto Chevrolet Monte Carlo 10 79 515 accident Time of Race: 1 hr., 22 mins., 1 sec. (NRR) Winner's Average Speed: 58.170 mph Margin of Victory: 3.07 seconds Bud Pole Award: A.J. Frank, Bluffton, S.C., Chevrolet, 15.161 seconds, 94.981 mph (NTR) Gatorade Front Runner Award: Billy Bigley, Jr. Caution Periods: 7 cautions for 63 laps, 3-8, 11-27, 45-49, 60-64, 67-73, 88-104, 128-133 Lead Changes: 6 changes among 5 drivers Lap Leaders: Frank (grid), Gentry 1, Frank 2-30, Anderson 31-34, Sieg 35-51, Anderson 52-106, Bigley 107-200 Moroso Performance Products Rookie of the Race: Billy Mills # signifies Rookie Contender Jasper Engines & Transmissions Crew Chief of the Race: Adam Heckelman Next Race: April 22, 2000, B&B Pools 200, Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Greenville, S.C. NOTE: The above figures are based on team winnings, and include racing purse and cash contingency awards from participating manufacturers. 2000 Point Standings (thru 3/25/00) Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring Car Pos # Driver Points Starts Poles Wins Top 5 Top 10 1 28 Billy Bigley, Jr. 330 2 0 1 1 2 2 01 Lee Tissot 316 2 0 0 1 2 3 72 Benny Gordon 312 2 0 0 1 2 4 00 David Reutimann 292 2 0 0 0 2 5 54 Jeff Fultz 270 2 0 0 1 1 6 35 #David Stremme 269 2 0 0 1 1 7 11 A.J. Frank 268 2 1 0 1 1 8 19 Steven Howard 267 2 0 0 1 1 9 20 Brian Smith 262 2 0 0 1 1 10 63 #Gregory Pope 255 2 0 0 0 1 11 86 Wayne Anderson 253 2 0 0 0 1 12 75 #Billy Mills 251 2 0 0 1 1 13 09 Randy Gentry 242 2 0 0 0 0 14 62 #John Gerstner 239 2 0 0 0 0 15 18 George Ingole 231 2 0 0 0 1 16 10 #Ryan Crane 230 2 0 0 0 0 17 98 #Kevin Bryant 224 2 0 0 0 0 18 34 Ken Weaver 206 2 0 0 0 0 19 38 Shane Sieg 206 2 0 0 0 0 20 8 #Casey Yunick 203 2 0 0 0 0 21 3 Gary Terry 203 2 0 0 0 0 22 66 Tina Gordon 191 2 0 0 0 0 23 52 Scott Hansen 180 1 1 1 1 1 24 33 Conrad Burr 138 1 0 0 0 1 25 57 #Scott Carlson 134 1 0 0 0 1 26 7 Mike Franklin, Jr. 127 1 0 0 0 0 27 2 Slick Yoemans 106 1 0 0 0 0 28 24 Shane Sawyer 103 1 0 0 0 0 29 32 Robbie Ferguson 100 1 0 0 0 0 30 1 Steve Mendenhall 94 1 0 0 0 0 31 87 Kevin Prince 88 1 0 0 0 0 32 96 Jeremy Thompson 85 1 0 0 0 0 33 31 Ronnie Burkett 85 1 0 0 0 0 34 77 Chad Bland 82 1 0 0 0 0 35 9 Patrick Lawler 76 1 0 0 0 0 36 64 #Bobby Newling 73 1 0 0 0 0 37 71 Ray Skillman 70 0 0 0 0 0 # denotes Rookie of the Year candidate. Jasper Engines & Transmissions Crew Chief Challenge Standings Craig Smokstad (Scott Hansen) 10 Adam Heckelman (Billy Bigley, Jr.) 10 Todd Gordon (Benny Gordon) 8 Jim Brinkley, Jr. (Lee Tissot) 8 Gary Crooks (Brian Smith) 6 Jason McDowell (A.J. Frank) 6 Brian Ross (David Stremme) 4 James Mills (Billy Mills) 4 Jon Craig (Jeff Fultz) 2 Danny Howard (Steven Howard) 2 Moroso Rookie Standings David Stremme 15 Gregory Pope 15 John Gerstner 13 Billy Mills 13 Casey Yunick 12 Ryan Crane 12 Kevin Bryant 12 Scott Carlson 9 Bobby Newling 2 Gatorade Front Runner Award Scott Hansen 3 Billy Bigley, Jr. 3 Scott Carlson 1 Benny Gordon 1 Steven Howard 1 A.J. Frank 1 Randy Gentry 1 Wayne Anderson 1 Shane Sieg 1 Bud Pole Awards Scott Hansen 1 A.J. Frank 1 Manufacturer's Wins Ford 1 Chevrolet 1 Pontiac 0