FMS: Nevin George Waterford race notes

WATERFORD, CT, MAY 15, 2004. NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series driver, Nevin George, would parlay a good qualifying effort into a top-ten finish in the XTRAMart 150 presented by Big Y World Class Food Markets at the Waterford Speedbowl. Ralph Solhem and his crew overcame many problems in practice, including an overheating condition. The #0 Chevrolet was fitted with a new, larger capacity radiator and Solhem corrected a handling problem with his extensive knowledge of shocks and chassis adjustments. Bruce George, the car's sponsor and driver's Dad, was right beside the crew turning wrenches and fine tuning the black and gold Chevrolet.

George qualified 11th fastest with a time of 13.8 seconds for a speed of 97.826 mph. Chuck Hossfeld took the Bud Pole Award with a time of 13.643 and a speed of 98.952. George said after qualifying he was pleased with the car. "The crew has worked hard all day to give me a competitive racecar and I am comfortable with car. I expect we will be real competitive tonight."

After outside introductions of the FMS starting line up, the field was place in the hands of the starter. As the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series paraded for the near capacity crowd, the fans rose with eager anticipation of the start, waiving the competitors to the green flag.

Nevin would quickly move to ninth place by the third lap. George drove a smart and tactically sound race avoiding a couple of mishaps, including what could have been a race-ending melee when Ted Christopher spun on the front stretch on a lap 79 restart attempt. The race leader, Chuck Hossfeld, was sent to the back of the field for rough riding. Mike Stefanik would inherit the lead on the restart on lap 88. Nevin had progressed to 5th place and would battle with Jerry Marquis and John Blewett over the next 33 laps, maintaining his position.

Caution would fly on lap 141 when the #51 of Kevin Konopka hit the turn 3 wall setting up green-white-checker finish. The race restarted with Nevin in fifth place. On lap 150 the white flag flew, and just then, #28 spun into the grass sending a cloud of dust into the air as the leaders headed for the checkers. Stefanik slipped high allowing Flemke to get by on the inside to win. George also had to lift slightly to avoid any possible collision, and Todd Szegedy dove to the inside to wrestle a top-five finish from George. George is currently in 14th in the points standings.

George was quite happy with his six place finish, and stated that he looks forward to running at Nazareth for the final time next week. George's first win on the FMS came at Nazareth in May 2002. George said he would love to win the final FMS race at Nazareth Speedway. "I could not think of a better way for me to enjoy the final race days of my hometown speedway than winning. I have to thank Ralph and the crew for all the hard work today, especially my Dad."

The Service Electric 100 at Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth, PA, on May 23rd is next on the FMS Schedule. George qualified 5th and finished 4th last May at the famed one-mile facility.

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