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Results July 8-9

DirtNews Digest Your Online News Source for Late Model Dirt Track Racing "Get Some Dirt On Your Computer!" Todd Turner, editor Email address: DirtNews@aol.com Web site: ...

DirtNews Digest Your Online News Source for Late Model Dirt Track Racing "Get Some Dirt On Your Computer!" Todd Turner, editor

Email address: DirtNews@aol.com Web site: http://members.aol.com/dirtnews/digest =================================== CONTENTS: UMP Summernationals July 8-9 results (published July 10) SPOON RIVER: John Gill breaks 10-month drought with victory 67 RACEWAY PARK: Rick Aukland dominates in Godfrey, Ill. SCHEDULE/RESULTS: Recap of 20-race Summernationals =================================== UNITED MIDWESTERN PROMOTERS UMP Summernationals

BANNER, Ill. (Wednesday) John Gill wasn't too crazy about his gray-speckled beard, mostly because it reminded him of his 10-month losing streak. He won't have a shaggy face any longer.

The former two-time national UMP champion from Mitchell, Ind., captured the 13th leg of the UMP Summernationals, winning at Spoon River Speedway for his first checkered flag since Sept. 1, 1996. It was also his first victory since suffering serious neck and arm injuries last November in an ARCA race at Atlanta.

"It's outta here," Gill said of the facial hair he grew this spring. "It was kind of a bet, and it just kinda ended up being on there longer than I was hoping for, for sure. I was hoping to shave it long before now."

Although he plans on taking a razor to his face, Gill's 50-lap victory wasn't a close shave. Gill rocketed away from the field after a lap-32 caution, one lap after taking the lead from Kevin Weaver. Weaver fell out with brake problems and Gill left everyone else to battle for second as he won by nearly a half lap on the bowl-banked 3/8-mile oval just south of Peoria, Ill.

Billy Moyer, driving an Ed Petroff-owned car, passed Randy Korte with three laps remaining to finish as runner-up to Gill for the second consecutive time at Spoon River as the top two duplicated their Aug. 5, 1996 finish. Illinois drivers Korte, Tony Izzo Jr. and Bob Pierce rounded out the top five, while Bill Frye, Bryan Dunaway, Billy Drake, and Gary Webb finished sixth through ninth.

Rick Aukland, who's running away in the UMP Summernationals points race, finished 10th as the last driver on the lead lap. For Aukland, who has won four of 13 Summernationals races, it was his worst series finish since he was 20th at Tennessee Motor Speedway in Baxter, Tenn., on June 26.

Gill's victory caused him one problem: He had no one to sell souvenirs. But, still wearing his driving suit, Gill was happy to scramble to open the T-shirt trailer, fire up the generator and hunt for change to sell "No. 75" items to dozens of fans and well-wishers in the pits.

"I sure needed this," Gill said. "We've been waiting all summer for a win, and we finally got one here tonight. We made the right choice on tires. We put a new motor in for tonight, and we got qualified good, and ended up second quick ... I think that new motor is what we've been looking for .... We've been having to start from the tail, and you can't do that with these good cars."

Gill's dry spell came after one of his best seasons. In 1996, he swept the three big races at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway, his home track, including the $10,000-to-win Jackson 100. He won a pair of Summernationals races and had two victories over Labor Day weekend as the season drew to a close, winning the Prairie Dirt Classic in Fairbury, Ill., and an American Late Model Series event at Eldora Speedway. But the scary accident in the Atlanta ARCA race -- and subsequent surgeries -- kept him out of action during the early part of 1997.

"We didn't get a start early this spring as we'd like ... being messed up a little bit," Gill said. "And then you get behind the gun there, not getting to go to Florida and down in Tennessee in March. Everybody kinda got the edge on us, and we've had problems with motors, just kinda been behind the eight ball. I ain't putting the blame on nobody -- some of it's probably my fault."

At the outset of Wednesday's race, Gill settled into the third spot behind Weaver and Korte as the 22-car field used a variety of grooves. The eventual winner avoided a scare on the 10th lap when Tony Izzo Jr., inadvertently got into Gill's rear quarterpanel as the third- and fourth-place cars exited Turn 4, but the minor collision slowed Gill only briefly.

Weaver, Korte and Gill held their positions through the first half of the race while Izzo, Moyer, Pierce, Frye, Aukland and Jim Curry often had lively battles for other positions throughout the top 10. Weaver put a little distance on his closest pursuers while dealing with slower traffic on the 25th lap, and Gill used the lapped traffic to blast past Korte on the backstretch of the 29th lap.

Gill, who roared down the backstretch each lap rest of the race, caught Weaver a couple of laps later, sliding into Turn 3 under the leader and coming out of Turn 4 ahead.

A caution appeared on the 32nd lap when sixth-running Jim Curry spun in Turn 4, and Weaver's chances ended on the restart. The rear brakes on the No. B12 failed, making it impossible for him to maneuver through the turns and assuring his second Summernationals defeat in the past four races in which he's led more than half the race.

Gill ran off and hid from Korte, while Moyer and Izzo swapped the third and fourth spots twice between laps 37 and 41, and Pierce held the fifth spot.

By the time Moyer had disposed off Izzo and made a pass on Korte entering Turn 3 on the 47th lap, Gill was nearly half a lap ahead. Moyer's second straight runner-up finish at Spoon River follows five consecutive victories at the track, which he's visited seven times.

CAR COUNT: 35 late models.

FAST QUALIFIER: Gary Webb, 14.574 seconds (3/8-mile oval).

FAST DASH (nine laps; sets first three rows of feature): Randy Korte, Kevin Weaver, John Gill, Gary Webb, Rick Aukland, Tony Izzo Jr., Tom Rients, Bryan Dunaway, Billy Tuckwell.

FIRST HEAT (10 laps; top four advance): Bob Pierce, Jim Curry, Tom Rients, Steve Sheppard Jr., Bob Pohlman Jr., Ron Fisher Jr., Scott Snow, Todd Bennett, Jim Rarick.

SECOND HEAT: Billy Moyer, Bryan Dunaway, Bill Frye, Eddy Shickel, Garrett Slager, Billy Drake, Billy West, Gary Nettleton, Mark Weisnicht.

THIRD HEAT: Gary May, Joe Harlan, Jeff Riblet, Ed Dixon, Eric Kwasigroh, Tim Lance, Billy Tuckwell, Tom Peltonen, Kevin Paul.

CONSOLATION (15 laps; top four advance): Bob Pohlman Jr., Billy Drake, Eric Kwasigroh, Garrett Slager, Todd Bennett, Ron Fisher Jr., Billy Tuckwell, Billy West, Tim Lance, Kevin Paul, Mark Weisnicht, Gary Nettleton, Scott Snow (Jim Rarick scratched).

FEATURE (Pos., driver, car no., hometown, chassis, winnings) 1. John Gill (75), Mitchell, Ind., MasterSbilt, $5,000 2. Billy Moyer (21), Batesville, Ark., Rayburn, $2,000 3. Randy Korte (00), Pierrone, Ill., GRT, $1,200 4. Tony Izzo Jr. (16), Bridgeview, Ill., GRT, $1,100 5. Bob Pierce (32), Danville, Ill., MasterSbilt, $1,000 6. Bill Frye (66), Greenbrier, Ark., GRT, $700 7. Bryan Dunaway (91), Reddick, Ill., MasterSbilt, $600 8. Billy Drake (9), Bloomington, Ill., Shaw, $500 9. Gary Webb (56), Blue Grass, Iowa, GRT, $450 10. Rick Aukland (12), Fargo, N.D., Rayburn, $400 11. Ed Dixon (50), Washington, Mo., Rayburn, $230 12. Bob Pohlman Jr. (27), Oaklawn, Ill., MasterSbilt, $230 13. Garrett Slager (19), Mokena, Ill., Rayburn, $230 14. Jim Curry (7), Norman, Ind., Rayburn, $230 15. Kevin Weaver (B12), Gibson City, Ill., Rayburn, $230 16. Joe Harlan (Z), Flanagan, Ill., Barry Wright, $230 17. Eric Kwasigroh (18k), Metamora, Ill., Warrior, $230 18. Jeff Riblet (16a), Bloomington, Ill., Rayburn, $230 19. Gary May (45), Minonk, Ill., Bullitt, $230 20. Tom Rients (49), Ottawa, Ill., Bullitt, $230 21. Steve Sheppard Jr. (10), Berlin, Ill., Rayburn, $230 22. Eddy Shickel (5), Bloomington, Ill., Bullitt, $230

NOTES: "I want to see a clean face tomorrow!" Rick Aukland yelled to the bearded John Gill as Aukland left the track .... Bryan Dunaway, released from Roger Friedman Racing a couple of weeks ago, now drives a Frank Heckenast-owned MasterSbilt .... Bob Pohlman Jr., at least temporarily, is driving Friedman's MasterSbilt .... the pie ladies had plenty of flavor choices for fans behind the grandstand .... the track also offered miniature golf .... a new go-kart track has been built behind Turns 1 and 2 .... the late models parked on the backstretch pits, while the local divisions pitted in the infield.

SUMMERNATIONALS POINT STANDINGS (through Tuesday): Rick Aukland 740; Tony Izzo Jr. 513; Billy Drake 508; Bob Pierce 337; Billy Moyer 324.

CREDIT: Todd Turner <DirtNews@aol.com> of DirtNews Digest. ------------------------------------------------------------- TUESDAY'S RACE CAPSULE

AUKLAND WINS AT 67 RACEWAY PARK: Rick Aukland of Fargo, N.D., won his fourth Summernationals event, dominating for a victory at 67 Raceway Park in Godfrey, Ill. Aukland won $5,000 in the 40-lap 12th leg of the series at the track near St. Louis, Mo. Dick Taylor started on the pole after winning the fast dash but faded to 10th. Only 24 late models, the fewest of any Summernationals event this year, were in attendance. FEATURE (40 laps): (1) Rick Aukland, (2) Billy Moyer, (3) Kevin Weaver, (4) Joe Ross Jr., (5) Bill Frye, (6) Billy Drake, (7) Jim Rarick, (8) Mike Hammerle, (9) Mark Faust, (10) Dick Taylor. ------------------------------------------------------------- UMP SUMMERNATIONALS SCHEDULE/RESULTS

June 25, Missouri International Racepark, Benton, Mo., $5,000 to win (RANDY SELLARS) June 26, Tennessee Motor Speedway, Baxter, Tenn., $5,000 to win (RAY COOK) June 28, Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway, "Jackson 100," $10,000 to win (RICK AUKLAND) June 29, LaSalle (Ill.) Speedway, $5,000 to win (RAINED OUT; rescheduled for July 13) June 30, Vermilion County Speedway, Danville, Ill., $5,000 to win (KEVIN WEAVER) July 1, K&L Raceway, Mount Vernon, Ill., $5,000 to win (RANDY KORTE) July 2, I-55 Speedway, Pevely, Mo., $5,000 to win (ED DIXON) July 3, Paducah (Ky.) International Speedway, $5,000 to win (TONY IZZO JR.) July 4, Central Park Raceway, McHenry, Ky., $5,000 to win (RICK AUKLAND) July 5, Barren County Speedway, Glasgow, Ky., $5,000 to win (RICK AUKLAND) July 6, Tri-State Speedway, Haubstadt, Ind., $5,000 to win (DONNIE MORAN) July 7, Kankakee (Ill.) Speedway, $5,000 to win (JOE IZZO) July 8, 67 Raceway Park, Godfrey, Ill., $5,000 to win (RICK AUKLAND) July 9, Spoon River Speedway, Banner, Ill., $5,000 to win (JOHN GILL) July 10, Macon (Ill.) Speedway, "Herald & Review 100," $5,000 to win July 11, Farmer City (Ill.) Speedway, $5,000 to win July 12, Fairbury (Ill.) American Legion Speedway, $5,000 to win July 13, LaSalle (Ill.) Speedway, $5,000 to win July 14, Davenport (Iowa) Speedway, $10,000 to win July 15, Cresco (Iowa) Speedway, $10,000 to win July 16, Steele County Fairgrounds, Owatonna, Minn., "Gopher State 50," $10,000 to win -------------------------------------------------------------

From krisc@brickyard.com Thu Jul 10 20:04:48 1997 Received: from www.brickyard.com by omega.metrics.com (8.6.12/1.37) id QAA29617; Thu, 10 Jul 1997 16:04:47 -0400 Received: from isdn1-ind.netdirect.net (isdn1-ind.netdirect.net [204.248.210.31]) by www.brickyard.com (NTMail 3.02.13) with ESMTP id na019825 for <ras-info@motorsport.com>; Thu, 10 Jul 1997 14:46:09 -0500 Message-Id: <1.5.4.16.19970710150050.0dcfdc74@brickyard.com> X-Sender: krisc@brickyard.com X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.4 (16) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: krisc@brickyard.com From: Kris Callfas <krisc@brickyard.com> Subject: 97IRL-23 - July 10 Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 14:46:08 -0500 Status: O X-Status:

For Immediate Release

FOYT, LUYENDYK FINED FOR TEXAS VICTORY LANE CONDUCT

INDIANAPOLIS, July 10, 1997 -- Indy Racing League car owner A.J. Foyt, Jr. has been fined $20,000 and driver Arie Luyendyk has been fined $14,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct in a Victory Lane altercation on June 7 at Texas Motor Speedway following the conclusion of the IRL's Inaugural True Value 500. The fines were announced today by the Indy Racing League. "The IRL must demand and receive discipline and courtesy from our drivers and teams both on and off the track," said IRL Executive Director Leo Mehl.

The money will be donated to the American Red Cross, the IRL's designated charity. Both A.J. Foyt Enterprises and Team Menard have filed appeals with USAC after their protests on the final results of the True Value 500 were denied. The fines imposed by the IRL do not affect the appeal process with USAC.

..IRL97-23..

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