Busch North Series, NASCAR Touring Race #19 of 19
Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Conn.
FIELD: 36 cars (Fastest 31 through one round of Grand American style qualifying. Two additional positions will be added as provisional starters based on the current 2002 Busch North Series driver point standings, two based on the current 2002 Busch North Series owner point standings, and one reserved for a former Busch North Series champion, if needed)
SCHEDULE:
Friday, October 11
11:30 a.m.-12:00 noon Practice
1:15-1:45 p.m. Practice
3:15-3:45 p.m. Practice
4:35 p.m. Bud Pole Qualifying (pos. 1-31)
Saturday, October 12
2:15 p.m. (approx.) Burnham Boilers 200
NOTES OF INTEREST
* Dale Quarterley scored one of the most memorable victories in Busch North Series history at the 2001 Burnham Boilers 200. Scheduled to start sixth, he reported late to the drivers meeting and dropped to the tail of the 36-car field on the pace lap. With 23 laps to go, he passed international road racing star Boris Said to win by 1.3 seconds. Bud Pole winner Bryan Wall, seeking his third straight Lime Rock victory, finished third after leading the first 22 laps, with Mike Johnson and Mike Olsen completing the top five. Although he actually passed the entire field, Quarterley was officially listed as starting sixth.
* Bryan Wall broke his own track record in Bud Pole Qualifying, leaving the mark at 53.591 seconds, 102.778 miles per hour.
* This will be the tenth annual Busch North Series event at Lime Rock, each serving as the season finale. Winston Cup driver Ken Schrader won the inaugural in 1993, followed by three consecutive victories by road racing specialist Butch Leitzinger. Busch North regulars Ted Christopher and Mike Stefanik won in 1997 and 1998 before Bryan Wall's two-race streak. Leitzinger and Wall share the record for Busch North Series road course wins with four.
* Mike Stefanik, in 1998, is the only driver to win at Lime Rock during a championship season. One year later, Brad Leighton clinched his first title in 1999 by finishing last at Lime Rock.
* Lime Rock Park was built in 1957 by local contractor Jim Vaill, who changed the course of the Salmon Kill River (the stream outside the front straight) to do it. The track was purchased by current owner Skip Barber in 1984. It is the only Busch North Series track with no grandstands, as spectators are accommodated in the natural amphitheater created by the hills in the infield and outside the front straight. It is also the only Busch North track which cannot race on Sunday, due to a local ordinance in effect since the 1950's.
STAT OF THE WEEK
This is the first time since 1997 the Busch North Series title has
actually been open to be settled on the track at Lime Rock. Mike Stefanik
(1998) and Brad Leighton (1999) merely had to start the race to clinch
the title, while Leighton in 2000 and Mike Olsen in 2001 had wrapped up
the crown at the next-to-last race.
-nascar-
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