Louisville race report

CHAPMAN SCORES CAREER WIN NUMBER 11
By Bill Desmond

LOUISVILLE, KY. (June 24 2000) - It took Johnny Chapman seven years to win a Goody's Dash Series, NASCAR Touring event and now he has won two of the last three races with the series and is back in the top five in points. Chapman left no doubt as to who was in charge Saturday night at Louisville (KY) Motor Speedway when he set a new qualifying mark, led 106 of 125 laps and set a new race record in winning the Pronto Auto Parts 125 in his Old Milwaukee Non Alcoholic Pontiac to record his 12th career series win. "This was a great night for our team," said Chapman in victory lane. "I want to dedicate this win to the father of my crew chief Buddy Barker. His father known to all of us as F.L. was a great supporter of my racing. He passed away in January." "I also want to thank Old Milwaukee Non Alcoholic for coming on board with us for this race. They normally support Zach Brewer who couldn't make it to this event tonight. We have worked pretty hard this week getting the car painted in their colors. In fact that is a brand new body after our last race at Orange County Speedway last week." "This is a tough race track and certainly is unique compared to others. No doubt my running here with the Craftsman Truck Series gave me some help because I was able to hold the car to the inside and not drift up. But what about this Golden Shamrock engine built by Don Miller. This is the same engine we won with at South Boston. It didn't miss a beat all night. I certainly want to thank Louisville Speedway for having our series here." Finishing behind Chapman with his best run of the year was Jake Hobbled in his Wynn's/Precision Engine Service Pontiac, B. J. Mackey in his Van Camp's Beans/Horton Homes Pontiac and Roger Sawyer with his Orlando Orange County Auto Auction Pontiac, all on the lead lap. Finishing in fifth position, one lap off the pace, was Ricky Bryant with his Washington Apple Pontiac. Chapman led the 22 car field in qualifying turning the 7/16-mile track in a time of 15.126 Secs (104.125 mph) besting the previous mark held by Robert Huffman at 103.828 mph. He also established a new race record with a speed of 78.342 mph. By virtue of a series qualifying draw Chapman actually started third on the grid with Jake Hobgood moving to the point for the green flag. Jimmy Britts started strong from his outside front row spot challenging Hobgood for the top spot and actually takes the lead on lap three. However his night came to a screaching halt when the cars of Doug Gainey and Trab Crews got together coming off turn four and made contact with the outside retaining wall. Britts, with no where to hide, tried to split the two stalled cars but also ended up in the wall. This gave the point back to Jake Hobgood for 16 laps until Chapman went to the front with an inside move on Hobgood in turn four. Once Chapman moved to the front he was virtually uncontested for the rest of the race. But some tough racing was behind him with B. J. Mackey moving up very well from his ninth starting spot while Chapman was working slower traffic and taking cars off the lead lap. Mackey had worked his way to third by the half-way point as he and Jake Hobgood waged a great battle for the runner-up spot. These young drivers swapped positions numerous times much to the delight of some 3,000 race fans. With Chapman working slower traffic, Mackey closed on his back bumper on lap 108 but couldn't maintain his position when the rear end started locking up on his machine in the last five laps of the race. This event marked the halfway point in the season for Goody's Dash Series, NASCAR Touring competitors. Even though he finished fourth in the race, Roger Sawyer had a huge smile on his face after winning the Goody's Pharmaceuticals top award of $5,000 for completing the most laps out of the 1030 run in 2000. Sawyer completed 1028 of the possible 1030 laps. The total amount of the Goody's Pharmaceuticals Consistency Award Program, $15,000, will divide the remaining $10,000 among the next nine drivers completing the most laps. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Robert Huffman and Justin Hobbled, one lap off the pace, Eric Van Clef with his second consecutive top ten finish, Ned Combs, and Bobby Dayton, all two laps off the pace. Johnny Chapman led the most laps and secured his first Gatorade "FrontRunner" Award while Eric Van Cleef was the highest NAPA Filter Rookie of the Year finisher. The next event for the Goody's Dash Series, NASCAR Touring will be the Sky Fire presented by WCSC TV 5/Bumper to Bumper 100 at Summerville (SC) Speedway.

OFFICIAL FINISH AND LAPS COMPLETED: 1. Johnny Chapman, 125; 2. Jake Hobgood, 125; 3. B. J. Mackey, 125; 4. Roger Sawyer, 125; 5. Ricky Bryant, 124; 6. Robert Huffman, 124; 7. Justin Hobgood, 124; 8. Eric Van Cleef, 123; 9. Ned Combs, 123; 10. Bobby Dayton, 123; 11. Keith Roggen, 122; 12. Cam Strader, 120; 13. Angie Wilson, 120; 14. Gary Moore, 119; 15. Scott Weaver, 118; 16. Greg Goodell, 116; 17. Ernest Winslow, 73, Engine; 18. Tommy Ballard, 28, Mechanical; 19. Randy Humphrey, 14, Mechanical; 20. Doug Gainey, 10, Accident; 21. Jimmy Britts, 3, Accident; 22. Trab Crews, 2, Accident. TIME OF RACE: 41 Mins. 53 Secs. AVERAGE SPEED: 78.342 mph (NRR) MARGIN OF VICTORY: .2 Secs. CAUTION PERIODS: Five Cautions for 24 Laps; LAP LEADERS: Jake Hobgood, Grid - 2; Jimmy Britts, 3; Jake Hobgood, 4-19; Johnny Chapman, 20-125.

GOODY'S DASH SERIES, NASCAR TOURING TOP TEN IN POINTS: (As Of June 24 2000) Unofficial: 1. Robert Huffman, 1411; 2. Ricky Bryant, 1369; 3. Roger Sawyer, 1306; 4. Johnny Chapman, 1243; 5. B. J. Mackey, 1232; 6. Ned Combs, 1222; 7. Keith Roggen, 1186; 8. Cam Strader, 1180; 9. Scott Weaver, 1164; 10. Jake Hobgood, 1084.