Shane Huffman at Concord

Concord, N.C. - Shane Huffman and the Galaxy Foods/Johnsonville Bratwurst Racing Team rode into town and stole the show here Saturday night, as the "Hickory Hotshoe" bested the field of Late Model regulars at the Concord Motorsport Park. On a break from the rigors of the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, the race was Huffman's first Late Model start in almost a month. The rust may have shown as Huffman took the green flag from an atypical 11th place starting position. All doubts soon vanished, however, as the driver of the #84 Galaxy Foods Chevrolet was clearly the class of the field. "Yeah, we messed up a little there in qualifying and dug ourselves a hole," admitted Shane, "but that just made the race that much more exciting." Thanks to a late race caution flag while running second, Huffman was able to close up on the leader's rear bumper and, after the ensuing restart, make the pass for the lead on the white flag lap. Huffman then held on for the final circuit, bringing home the win in a race which saw him lead only one lap, the last one. "Nobody said anything about us needing to lead those other 149 laps," quipped a jubilant Huffman in victory lane. "But seriously, we're just trying to use every chance we can to get some laps on these local tracks we're not that familiar with and hopefully that will show up when we come back around for the Pro Cup events." Huffman and Team Johnsonville Racing hope to carry some momentum with them into this weekend's Hooters Pro Cup race, as the USAR Series pays their second visit of the season to Jefferson, Georgia's Peach State Speedway for the Miller Lite 250. Scheduled starting time is 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 5. This weekend will mark a sort of new beginning for Huffman and his team, as Johnsonville Bratwurst has assumed sole primary sponsorship of the #84 Ford Taurus for the remainder of the 2000 season, after sharing this role for the first half of the year.