CRA: Shady Bowl race report

Jeff Lane makes late race pass to win at Shady Bowl.

Mr. Personality Becomes Fifth Winner in Five Races De Graff, Ohio (June 1, 2002) -- Completing a late- race pass on J.R. Roahrig, series veteran Jeff Lane wheeled his number 11 Tom True Auto / Ed Martin Auto / Thompson Agricultural Service / Turf Pro Pontiac into the first position on lap 134. Lane then pulled away at the checkered flag to win at Shady Bowl Speedway in the Stapleton Buick GMC 150 Presented By Lucas Oil Products. The Knightstown, Ind., driver collected $3,540 for his second career victory in the Sunoco Super Series.

"We had high hopes coming into this event and luckily it worked out," said race winner Jeff Lane. "After qualifying, we didn't think we had the good of a car, but it started to really come in the second half of the race," added Lane.

At the drop of the green flag, first-timer Dick Dunlevy Jr. got the jump on Bobby Parsley and dove into the early lead. Dunlevy paced the field for much of the early stages with Brent Downey, Bobby Parsley, Matt Hagans and Joel Kauffman all chasing the race leader. On lap 16, Parsley dropped off the pace with motor failure.

Downey closed the gap on the race leader and wheeled his blue number 25 underneath Dunlevy on lap 28 and the duo touched and both spun in the fourth corner. This allowed Hagans to take the point for the first time in the event. Kauffman was second with Andy Ponstein, J.R. Roahrig and Jeff Lane rounding out the top-five runners.

Roahrig began to charge to the front, passing Ponstein on lap 59 for third and two laps later going around Kauffman. Roahrig of South Bend, Ind., then began to close the gap on Hagans, who was running on seven cylinders.

On lap 70, Roahrig turned underneath Hagans and was scored as the race leader. Kauffman and Hanley also edged past Hagans with Jeff Lane getting around the number 9 on lap 80. At the 85-lap mark, Roahrig showed the way, chased closely by Kauffman, Hanley, Lane and 17th-place starter Scott Hantz.

On the 98th go around, Lane dove underneath Hanley going into turn one and grabbed the third spot. The seventh yellow of the event waved on lap 122 when Eddie Van Meter stalled. On the restart, Lane got a superb restart diving under Kauffman entering turn one. On the 129th lap, Hantz passed Kauffman for third place honors.

Coming off the fourth corner on lap 133, Roahrig slipped and Lane was there to dive underneath and he completed the pass in turn one. Hantz also passed Roahrig for second place. The final caution waved on lap 137 when Todd Oliver lost an engine and was involved in a front stretch accident that also collected Evan Jackson.

Racing resumed with five laps remaining, with Lane jumping into a conformable lead over second place Hantz. Roahrig then got under Hantz for second place with Kauffman also following Roahrig. Hantz and Hanley made contact down the backstretch with Hantz spinning widely in the infield drilling a tire. At the checkers, Lane scored his second ever win in the series with Roahrig in second. Kauffman finished third with Hanley and Hagans filling out the top five.

J.R. Roahrig was the fastest of 24 competitors and established a track record with a lap of 13.420 seconds / 80.477 mph. Rick Turner was the winner of the Lane Automotive/K&N Performance Filters Hard Charger, finishing in seventh position after starting in 18th slot. Todd Currier was the Hubler Group/Blake Carburetion Rookie of the Race. Jeff Lane and Rick Turner were the winners of the Goodyear Performance Awards. Jeff Lane was the winner of the Sweet Move the Race.

The next Sunoco Super Series event is the Sunoco 150 at Anderson Speedway on Saturday, June 8. For up-to- the-minute coverage, fans can visit the official series website at www.sunocosuperseries.com.

-cra-