DASH: Kentucky Speedway Fall Classic summary

KYS Crowns Tripleheader Fall Classic Champions
Garvey, Smith and Ward Take Wins

SPARTA, KY. - Mike Garvey won the American Speed Association National Tour "BFGoodrich Tires 225," Stanley Smith struck gold in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division Southeast Series "Kentucky 150," and Brandon Ward was victorious in the IPOWER DASH Series "Kentucky 100" today at Kentucky Speedway.

All races were part of the first "Tripleheader Fall Classic" which closed out the 2004 track race schedule by attracting 26,590 fans.

ASA "BFGoodrich Tires 225"

Garvey and his No. 17 Jani-King Chevrolet executed a dominating move on race leader Bryan Reffner and his No. 80 Menards Chevrolet at the entrance of the backstretch to gain the race lead on Lap 147 of 150 and drove away to a 2.221-second win over the second-place Butch Miller and his No. 52 Timber Wolf Chevrolet. Reed Sorenson (No. 29 Target Chevrolet), Jason Dietsch (No. 5 Dietsch Sales Ford) and Jay Middleton (No. 74 North Florida Medical Sales & Pharmacy Dodge) rounded out the top five.

Garvey earns his fourth win and ninth top-five finish of the season. He credited the win to a four-tire pit stop on Lap 121.

"We had just pitted 20 laps before that, but for some reason, the car got tight on that set of tires," he said. "We could follow him (Reffner) and push him, but I didn't think we could pass him. We came to win. Our only shot was to change tires.

"Bryan had a problem. We had caught him and the car went back to where it was getting tight when I was behind him trying to make the pass. His motor sputtered. We were right there and got by him. We had our guts hanging out there. That's all we had. Luckily, tonight it was enough."

NAEDSS "KENTUCKY 150"

Cincinnati native Jeff Fultz's quest to become the first four-race winner in Kentucky Speedway history ended on Lap 77 of 100 when lead from the No. 5 Victor Ford / UPI Painting Chevrolet of J.R. Norris pierced the front of Fultz's No. 54 C&C Boilers Chevrolet causing severe engine damage. He would wind up with a 15th-place finish, but will maintain the lead in the series standings after his closest pursuer, Erik Darnell, finished 17th.

Fultz's misfortune opened the door for veteran driver Stanley Smith to earn his first career series victory. Smith entered the race 25th in the series standings with only one top-10 finish to his credit through four starts this season. He beat Norris to the finish line by 0.620 seconds. Bradley Riethmeyer (No. 3 North Texas Pipe Chevrolet), Joey Miller (No. 17 Great Clips / Country Joe Homes Chevrolet) and Kevin Clark (No. 7 Kenwood Car Audio Chevrolet) completed the top five.

"I just kept thinking what might happen with 15 or 10 laps to go," Smith said. "Right there at the end I was using every lap car I could before I jumped by them using the draft. That's the stuff I learned in the 90s at Talladega and Daytona and stuff. It's good to run these tracks like you run those tracks because you have to outfox everybody."

IPOWER DASH SERIES "Kentucky 100"

Brandon Ward gained ground on IPOWER DASH series leaders Johnny Chapman and Danny Bagwell with a win in "The Kentucky 100." Ward led the final 16 of 67 laps to earn his second win and fifth top-five finish of the season along with a 3.586-second victory over Chapman. Eric Wilson (No. 4 Alarm South Pontiac), Bagwell (No. 10 Five Bros. Produce Mercury) and Allan Powell (No. 7 Powell Racing Pontiac) closed out the top five.

Ward entered the day third in the series standings. He trailed the second-place Chapman by 88 points and first-place Bagwell by 90 points. Chapman becomes the new series leader entering the final two races of the season.

"After the halfway break, we knew that unless something happened we had to go to the end," Ward said. "The first few laps there, we weren't getting good restarts. We really don't know why or what the problem was. When we fell back and we just kind of rode to try to save our tires for the end of the race. We kind of let them get a little bit of a lead on us and then tried to make a run at it at the end. We felt what we learned from the first half of the race worked. Luckily it did."

- Kentucky Speedway -