USAR: Lakeland HCSSportsman results

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Cope Scores Third Hooters Cup Win at USA LAKELAND, FL - Jimmy Cope captured his third straight win in the Hooters Cup Series at the USA International Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Cope’s win ties him with Dick Anderson, the only other driver to win three Hooters Cup Series races in a row. Cope started from the outside of the front row and led the most laps to the win in the Discount Auto Parts 200 while battle a problem with the power steering in his Miller Lite Chevrolet. Bobby Gill, Dick Anderson, Mike Garvey and Scott Wimmer completed the top five at the finish. Pole sitter and fast qualifier Freddie Query led the field down to the green and took early command of the 200 lap event. Cope and Gill gave chase and would swap the lead with Query until Query stopped in the pits while the race was under caution on lap 53. Gill and Cope would exchange turns leading the race until making their visit to pit road during a the lap 97 caution. Dwayne Dempsey stayed out on the track and collected the halfway point bonus before bringing his Chevy in for service. Query saw his chances of winning his third series event for 1997 vanish when Mike Garvey’s car got loose while challenging Query and slid up into Query in turn one. Garvey and Query crashed with Query’s car making hard impact with the outside wall. Garvey continued with only minor damage to the right side of his car and Query lost two laps and eventually made up one of the laps finishing one lap down to Cope. Dick Anderson closed in on Cope and Gill to create a three car battle for a couple of laps but at the end it was Cope pulling away form Gill and Anderson to take the win. Defending Series Champion Billy Bigley Jr. and 1995 Series Champion Mario Gosselin were both involved in an early accident with Jack Cook. Cook’s car was damaged to badly to continue with Gosselin and Bigley completing the race after repairs were made the front of both cars. Scott Wimmer’s fifth place run was the best run for any of the rookies in the field and after starting 32nd on the grid also earned him the hard charger award for the afternoon. 1996 Hooters Cup Rookie of the Year Derrick Kelley finished sixth with Ronnie Sanders seventh, the final car on the lead lap. The next event at the USA International Speedway is May 31 and June 1st, the Top Cop Charity Challenge featuring Joe Diffie. All four USAR series’ return to USA for the July Fourth weekend and the NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series will make their first visit to the high banked ¾ mile oval on October 3rd and 4th. USA International Speedway RACE RESULTS FOR 4/27/97 USAR HOOTERS CUP Discount Auto Parts 200 Car Position Number Driver Name Hometown 1 1 Jimmy Cope St. Petersburg, FL 2 5 Bobby Gill Dalton, GA 3 92 Dick Anderson Wildwood, FL 4 40 Mike Garvey Suwanee, GA 5 25 Scott Wimmer Wausau, WI 6 6 Derrick Kelley Auburndale, FL 7 18 Ronnie Sanders Fayetteville, GA 8 25 Scott Wimmer Wausau, WI 9 15 Bill Plemons Jr. Locust Grove, GA 10 72 Mike Franklin Homestead, FL 11 00 Dave Pletcher Pinellas Park, FL 12 02 Jamie James Asheville, NC 13 81 Tony Walls Albertville, AL 14 01 Tracy Goodson Pensecola, FL 15 28 Billy Bigley Jr. Naples, FL 16 78 Brad Webb Milbrook, FL 17 10 Mario Gosselin Lake Hamilton, FL 18 31 Ronnie Burkett Longwood, FL 19 79 Tim Olson Plymouth, MN 20 70 Dwayne Dempsey St. Petersburg, FL 21 97 Steve Dorer Lakeland, FL 22 2 David Jude Kermit, WV 23 73 Chad Dokken Clearwater, FL 24 19 James Powell Astor, FL 25 39 Mike Hovis N. Fort Meyers, FL 26 71 Harold Fair Jr. Romulus, MI 27 67 Lee Raymond Dayton, OH 28 0 Robert Yoho Pinellas Park, FL 29 96 Jack Cook Daytona Beach, FL 30 3 Nevin Jenkins Homosassa, FL 31 90 Homer Heflin Jackson, MS 32 7 Darrell Shelnut Ft. Lauderdale, FL

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Morris Claims Jackaroo 100 Win at USA LAKELAND, FL - USAR Sportsman rookie Wayne Morris won the USAR Sportsman Jackaroo 100 Sunday afternoon at USA International Speedway. Morris, using a borrowed motor began his march to the front with 25 laps to go in the 100 lap event and passed race leader Bobby Shelton on lap 94 to go on to the win. Morris, who competes at the nearby Auburndale Speedway, blew his only engine a week ago during practice at the flat quarter mile track and was able to borrow an engine for this weekend’s race. Pole sitter Shelton, who led from the drop of the green flag, began to fade in the closing laps and that would setup a five car race for second over the final two laps. Shelton, Ricky Rubin, Troy Hall, Brad May and Jason Bowser swapped paint for the second spot and narrowly escaped crashing in turn four on the last lap when Shelton’s car was turned completely sideways in front of the pack. Rubin would win the second place scramble to the line followed by Shelton, Hall, May and Bowser. The most serious incident of the race occurred on lap 45 involving six cars. Dave Snodgrass and Bill Meyers collided entering turn three. Snodgrass backed into the outside wall and David Christopher spun to avoid the crash but instead slammed into the nose of the Snodgrass car. Dan Crowe, Craig Conway and Bill Ingram all spun and were only slightly damaged and able to continue. Only Snodgrass was eliminated from the event. Sunday’s race was rescheduled from Saturday night after severe weather force the speedway to postpone all activities due the unusual amount of rainfall and a lightning strike which knocked out the main transformers for the track lighting. The next event at the ¾ mile high banked oval is scheduled for May 31 st and June 1st with Top Cop Charity Challenge featuring Joe Diffie. The USAR will visit on the July Fourth weekend with all four touring series schedule for the three day weekend. NASCAR’s Goody’s Dash Series will make it’s debut October 3rd and 4th.

USA International Speedway RACE RESULTS FOR 4/27/97 USAR JACKAROO SPORTSMAN 100 Car Position Number Driver Name Hometown 1 56 Wayne Morris Mulberry, FL 2 13 Ricky "D" Rubin Boca Raton, FL 3 34 Bobby Shelton Delray Beach, FL 4 30 Troy Hall Deerfield Beach, FL 5 70 Brad May Orlando, FL 6 52 Jason Bowser Clearwater, FL 7 16 Bobby Moss Hallandale, FL 8 25 Joe Bowser Clearwater, FL 9 82 Bill Ryan Ft. Lauderdale, FL 10 2 Scott Jackson Davie, FL 11 28 Bill Meyers Winter Haven, FL 12 26 Dan Crowe Lantana, FL 13 48 Johnny Kay Plantation, FL 14 4 Bill Ingram Auburndale, FL 15 09 Rusty Baker Williston, FL 16 3 Tony Cataldi Sunrise, FL 17 77 Craig Conway Daytona Beach, FL 18 57 Jeremy Bowser Clearwater, FL 19 85 Richard Elkins Jr. Haines City, FL 20 22 Dave Snodgrass Melbourne, FL 21 0 David Christopher Inglish, FL 22 75 Robbie Storer Zephyrhills, FL 23 01 Jeff Wogoman Ft. Meyers, FL 24 24 Doug Pilla Jupiter, FL 25 21 Scott Krehling Naples, FL 26 5 Joe Boyd Riverview, FL 27 1 Doug Moff Ft. Meyers, FL 28 98 Mark Childress Clewiston, FL