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Southern National Speedway race report

B. J. MACKEY MAKES IT TWO IN-A-ROW ON GOODY'S DASH SERIES By Bill Desmond KENLEY, N. C. (July 29 2000) B. J. Mackey dominated the field at Southern National Speedway, Saturday evening, leading 97 laps, to win the Carolina Pre-Cast ...

B. J. MACKEY MAKES IT TWO IN-A-ROW ON GOODY'S DASH SERIES
By Bill Desmond

KENLEY, N. C. (July 29 2000) B. J. Mackey dominated the field at Southern National Speedway, Saturday evening, leading 97 laps, to win the Carolina Pre-Cast Concrete 125 for the Goody's Dash Series, NASCAR Touring in Kenly, N. C. . This win was his second consecutive in 2000 and gave the Rock Hill, S. C. driver four career wins. "Our win at Greenville-Pickens earlier this month was great but winning two in-a-row on this series is even greater. I knew our car was fast off the trailer and it worked well the entire race. But when they told me that Robert (Huffman) was in second I got a little nervous." "Those last two cautions didn't help either," continued Mackey. "So much can happen on a restart that I just tried to pick out a good line and hold it. I am glad for my car owner, Jeff Daly. The win at Greenville was his first as a crew chief and car owner and now he has two. Jeff is from Goldsboro, N. C. and had many friends in the stands tonight." Rounding out the top five behind Mackey's Van Camp's/Horton Homes Pontiac was Huffman in his White House Apple Juice Pontiac, Bud Pole winner Cam Strader with his Wesson Cooking Oil/Children's Miracle Network Mercury, Jake Hobgood in his Wynn's/Precision Engine Service Pontiac and 1999 NAPA Filter Rookie of the Year Jimmy Britts with his NAPA Autoparts/Horsepower by Hedricks Pontiac. The night started out well for Strader, whose hometown is in nearby Wilson, N. C. He garnered his second Bud Pole Award of 2000 when he turned the 4/10 mile oval with a time of 15.694 Secs/91.755 mph. However after the pre-race qualifier draw, Strader moved to third with Johnny Chapman moving up to the point for the start. Chapman took the point when the green flag waved with Strader, Scott Weaver, Mackey, and Ricky Bryant in tow. Seven caution periods for 27 laps in the first 48 circuits kept the field pretty well in check except for defending race winner Huffman trying to move into the top five until the third race caution kept him in sixth position. Up front, Strader took the top spot from Chapman on lap nine with Weaver taking second and Mackey taking third. Chapman attempted to get back inline in fourth but his car got loose giving Ricky Bryant the fourth spot with Chapman dropping back to fifth. There was little doubt that Mackey had his sights set on the top spot as he continued to press Weaver for second finally making the pass just prior to the fourth caution waving on lap 26. When the field went back to green flag racing, Mackey put his Pontiac to the lowside on the backstretch challenging Strader then taking the point as the two young drivers came out of turn four. "We had a horrible miss in the motor," said Strader after the event. "The engine was losing oil pressure and I just couldn't push it that hard. We knew B. J. was strong and we just tried to stay with him once he made the pass for the lead." When the field finally settled in for green flag racing, Mackey set sail and at times opened a 10 car lead on Strader, running second. With the field trying to catch Mackey, Huffman was moving his White House Apple Juice Pontiac toward the front moving around Weaver in turns three and four on lap 71. When the eighth race caution waved for debris on the track in turn four, all cars who had not fulfilled the mandatory pit stop requirement between laps 50 and 100 came to the pits led by Mackey, Strader and Huffman. Huffman beat Strader out to take second and appeared to be ready to make the charge toward his third consecutive victory at Southern National Speedway. When racing resumed the top five were Mackey, Huffman, Strader, Jake Hobgood and Jimmy Britts. Mackey had a good restart but seven laps later the yellow waved again when the car of Steven Barfield spun directly in front of the leaders in turn four. Again Mackey, Huffman and Strader regrouped for a seven-lap shootout. But again the caution waved on lap 124 when Keith Roggen spun in turn four. Mackey was able to hold off Huffman one final time taking the green-white-checkered condition and his second consecutive victory. "We hadn't been competitive all month," said Huffman after the race. "We felt good about moving up but we couldn't get the car to hook up on those final laps. I tried to pick out a good line to run but B. J. was strong. One positive thing is that we increased out point lead over Ricky (Bryant) to 87 points and really that is what we are concerned about, the big picture. We want to win another championship to make it three in-a-row." Rounding out the top ten positions were Justin Hobgood, Bryant, Weaver, Joey Miller and Roggen. Mackey won the Gatorade "Frontrunner" Award with Strader once again being the top finishing NAPA Filter Rookie of the Year contender. The next event for the Goody's Dash Series, NASCAR Touring is the Van Camps/Piggly Wiggly Goody's Dash 100 on August 12 at Myrtle Beach (SC) Speedway. <pre> OFFICIAL FINISH AND LAPS COMPLETED: 1. B. J. Mackey, 128; 2. Robert Huffman, 128; 3. Cam Strader, 128; Jake Hobgood, 128; 5. Jimmy Britts, 128; 6. Justin Hobgood, 128; 7. Ricky Bryant, 128; 8. Scott Weaver, 128; 9. Joey Miller, 128; 10. Keith Roggen, 128;. 11. Bobby Dayton, 127; 12. Greg Goodell, 127; 13. Ricky Woodward, 127; 14. Gary Moore, 126; 15. Randy Humphrey, 125; 16. Tony Hargraves, 124; 17. Roger Sawyer, 124; 18. Steven Barfield, 122; 19. Doug Gainey, 119; 20. James Earley, 117; 21. Eric Van Cleef, 84, Brakes; 22. Angie Wilson, 73; 23. Johnny Chapman, 46, Fuel Pump; 24. Ned Combs, 34, Engine; 25. Chris Phipps, 4, Accident; 26. Mike Conover, 0, Engine; 27. Shane Hmiel, 0, Accident. TIME OF RACE: 55 Mins. 41 Secs. AVERAGE SPEED: 53.876 mph MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1 Sec. CAUTION PERIODS: 10 Cautions for 41 Laps; LAP LEADERS: Johnny Chapman, Grid - 8; Cam Strader, 9 - 31; B. J. Mackey, 32 - 128.

GOODY'S DASH SERIES, NASCAR TOURING TOP TEN IN POINTS: As Of July 29 2000 (Unofficial) 1. Robert Huffman, 1901; 2. Ricky Bryant, 1814; 3. B. J. Mackey, 1757; 4. Johnny Chapman, 1667; 5. Cam Strader, 1660; 6. Roger Sawyer, 1651; 7. Keith Roggen, 1596; 8. Ned Combs, 1571; 9. Jake Hobgood, 1499; 10. Justin Hobgood, 1489.

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