PRA: South Georgia summary

NEWMAN RETURNS TO BIG CARS, SCORES WIN AT SGMP

Cecil, Georgia - Nascar Nextel Cup driver Ryan Newman took time off from his stock car duties Wednesday to compete in the Premier Racing Association's Big Car race at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil, Georgia. He's glad he did. Newman took the lead from Marc Jessup three-quarters of the way through the 100 lap event and went on to record the win. Newman and Jessup staged a thrilling duel, swapping the lead several times for two laps, before Ryan took command. Jessup would go on on to finish 14th.

A.J. Fike held off PRA points leader Chet Fillip for second position, while Tracy Hines and Eric Gordon rounded out the top five finishers.

Nascar Nextel cup stars Ken Schrader and Dave Blaney were also in the 18-car starting field, but Blaney was involved in a tangle with Justin Barger on the 27th lap and damage to his car prevented him from restarting. Schrader started 10th and finished 10th.

Besides the Blaney-Barger tangle other separate incidents involved Alex Pruett and Teddy Beach, but there were no driver injuries.

Newman was driving the D.D.K of Illinois, Hoerner-Jacobs Racing Chevy Beast, the same team for which Carl Edwards recorded a win at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis when the Big Car Series visited there in July.

The PRA's unique way of determining the top 6 starting positions saw fast qualifier Fillip draw the 6th starting spot, while 4th fastest qualifier A.J. Fike was lucky enough to draw the pole position.

Next up for the Big Cars will be at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, Florida December 13th.

Results of South Georgia Motorsports Park 100 - October 25, 2006
starting positions in parenthesis

Feature 100 laps: 1. Ryan Newman (3) 2. A.J. Fike (1) 3. Chet Fillip (6) 4. Tracy Hines (8) 5. Eric Gordon (9) 6. Dave Darland (11) 7. Ron Gregory (16) 8. Johnny Heydenreich (7) 9. Kyle Nicholas (17) 10. Ken Schrader (10) 11. Justin Barger (2) 12. Michael Roselli (18) 13. Russ Gamester (12) 14. Marc Jessup (4) 15. Teddy Beach (13) 16. Alex Pruett (14) 17. Dave Steele (15) 18. Dave Blaney (5) 19. Wayne Reutimann, Jr. (DNS)

-credit: pra