Weekend results 97-07-21

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: July 17-20 results (published July 21) STARS: Bloomquist rallies from 13th to win at Volunteer CAPSULES: Weekend results from various sanctioning bodies =================================== SHORT TRACK AUTO RACING STARS (STARS) Mello Yello 100

BULLS GAP, Tenn. (Friday and Saturday) Scott Bloomquist, taking the lead from former teammate Ronnie Johnson on the 84th lap, rallied from his 13th starting spot to capture his first STARS victory of 1997 in the first series event at high-banked Volunteer Speedway. Bloomquist's home-racetrack win in the Mello Yello 100 was worth $10,000.

"Man, this was a tough one tonight," said Bloomquist, who picked up his first STARS victory since winning the Blue-Gray 100 at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C., on Nov. 17, 1996. "We had a very good car tonight. I knew that it would be tough to come through the field after starting 13th, but I was just hoping that my tires would still be good in the latter stages. I've won many races her over the years, but I really had to work for this one tonight."

Johnson, who led twice for a total of 59 laps, settled for second place ahead of three Steves: STARS points leader Steve Francis, Steve Shaver, and Steve Smith. H.E. Vineyard, Mike Balzano and Delmas Conley finished sixth through eighth as the only other drivers on the lead lap, while Booper Bare and Rick Eckert rounded out the top 10 at the 4/10-mile oval in eastern Tennessee.

Polesitter Randle Chupp led the first six laps until leaving with a broken magneto, giving up the point to Johnson as Francis moved around Scott Sexton for second place in the early going.

Tim Hitt, running fifth, slowed with a flat tire to bring out the first of two cautions on the 14th lap, and on the restart Johnson led Francis, Sexton, Shaver and Eckert, while Bloomquist had already moved up to the ninth position.

Francis soon began challenging Johnson as they raced side-by-side for several laps, with Francis eventually taking the lead on the 27th lap and staying on top until the 41st lap, when Johnson regained the advantage. By that time, Bloomquist had worked his way up to fourth.

The race's final caution appeared on the 46th lap when Roger Best spun coming off Turn 2, and Sexton spun trying to avoid him. On the restart, Bloomquist quickly shot past Shaver into the third spot and began tracking down Johnson and Francis.

As the leaders diced among lapped cars, Bloomquist took the runner-up spot from Francis on the 67th lap, and began hounding Johnson for the lead. Bloomquist tried Johnson exiting Turns 2 and 4, methodically setting up his moves beginning on the 75th lap.

Eventually, Bloomquist grabbed the lead on the 84th lap, and smoothly worked slower traffic the rest of the way to keep Johnson in check and win by four car lengths.

CAR COUNT: 38 late models.

FAST QUALIFIER: Scott Sexton, 13.467 seconds (4/10-mile oval).

FAST DASH (six laps; sets first three rows of feature): Randle Chupp, Ronnie Johnson, Scott Sexton, H.E. Vineyard, Steve Francis, Tim Hitt.

HEAT WINNERS: Steve Shaver, Rick Eckert, Steve Smith.

CONSOLATION WINNER: Wade Knowles.

FEATURE (Pos, driver, car no., hometown, laps, winnings, reason out) 1. Scott Bloomquist (0), Mooresburg, Tenn., 100, $10,000 2. Ronnie Johnson (5), Chattanooga, Tenn.., 100, $6,000 3. Steve Francis (15), Ashland, Ky., 100, $4,000 4. Steve Shaver (30), Parkersburg, W.Va., 100, $3,000 5. Steve Smith (3), Powell, Tenn., 100, $2,500 6. H.E. Vineyard (24), Powell, Tenn., 100, $2,100 7. Mike Balzano (E1), Parkersburg, W.Va., 100, $1,850 8. Delmas Conley (71), Wheelersburg, Ohio, 100, $1,600 9. Booper Bare (00), Rockbridge Baths, Va., 99, $1,500 10. Rick Eckert (24), York, Pa., 99, $1,400 11. Gusty Christenberry (C3), Knoxville, Tenn., 99, $1,300 12. Rodney Combs (5), Harrisburg, N.C., 99, $1,250 13. Steve Lucas (2), Charleston, W.Va., 99, $1,100 14. Wade Knowles (66), Tyrone, Ga., 99, $1,100 15. Roger Best (84), Maryville, Tenn., 99, $1,000 16. Kerry Jones (6J), Bristol, Tenn., 98, $950 17. Clayton Christenberry (cv3), Knoxville, Tenn., 98, $950 18. Barry Bragdon (77), Wheelersburg, Ohio, 98, $900 19. Tim Hitt (68), Weston, W.Va., 98, $900 20. Rod Conley (71r), Wheelersburg, Ohio, 98, $950 21. Vic Hill (1), Knoxville, Tenn., 98, $900 22. Butch Brown (38), Blountville, Tenn., 97, $950 23. Scott Sexton (52), Pigeon Forge, Tenn., 83, $900, handling 24. Randle Chupp (114), Knoxville, Tenn., 6, $900, magneto

NOTES: Mike Balzano and Rod Conley used STARS provisional starting spots in the feature .... among drivers failing to make the feature field were Jeff Treece and Dave Burks .... the feature lasted less than an hour.

STARS POINT STANDINGS (through July 19): Steve Francis 6,160; Tim Hitt 4,790; Mike Balzano 4,730; Rick Eckert 4,710; Steve Shaver 4,060; Rod Conley 3,970; Bart Hartman 3,080; Barry Bragdon 2,930; Delmas Conley 2,750; Gary Stuhler 2,350.

NEXT STARS WEEKEND: July 25, Ace High Speedway, Conneaut, Ohio, $10,000 to win; July 26, Buckeye Raceway, Orrville, Ohio, $6,000 to win.

CREDIT: Bret Emrick of STARS and Robert Walden of Volunteer Speedway. ------------------------------------------------------------- THURSDAY'S RACE CAPSULE

WILDUNG GETS WISSOTA VICTORY AT BROWN COUNTY: Jeff Wildung worked the low side to pass Joel Cryderman on the 27th lap and went on to a 50-lap WISSOTA victory worth $2,000 at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, S.D. Cryderman was the fastest qualifier among 40 late models entered. FEATURE: (1) Jeff Wildung, (2) Joel Cryderman, (3) Mitch Johnson, (4) Lance Matthees, (5) Curt Gelling, (6) Steve Laurson, (7) Steve Egersdorf, (8) Pat Doar, (9) Loren Johnson, (10) John Corell. ------------------------------------------------------------- FRIDAY'S RACE CAPSULES

LAURSON WINS WISSOTA 50-LAPPER AT BROWN COUNTY: Polesitter Steve Laurson led all 50 laps for a WISSOTA victory worth $3,000 at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, S.D. Pat Doar was the fastest qualifier among 40 late models. FEATURE: (1) Steve Laurson, (2) Pat Doar, (3) Steve Egersdorf, (4) Jeff Wildung, (5) John Hinklemeyer, (6) Mitch Johnson, (7) John Schoegl, (8) Kevin Thompson, (9) Loren Johnson, (10) Rick Thoennes.

BEDFORD LOSES MACS RACE TO RAIN: The third leg on the Mid-Atlantic Championship Series Thunder on the Mountains tour was rained out at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway. The race isn't rescheduled but tickets and pit passes will be honored at the Aug. 31 MACS race at Bedford. ------------------------------------------------------------- SATURDAY'S RACE CAPSULES

FRYE WINS FOURTH STRAIGHT MLRA RACE: Bill Frye of Greenbrier, Ark., stayed perfect on the Midwest LateModel Racing Association this year, winning a 40-lap feature worth $2,500 at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. The polesitting Frye took the lead from Terry Phillips on the third lap and rolled to his fourth consecutive MLRA victory. Frye's series win streak is second only to Phillips' five-race win streak on Aug. 7-31, 1996. FEATURE (40 laps): (1) Bill Frye, (2) Terry Phillips, (3) Donnie Barnhart, (4) Leslie Essary, (5) Mike Sellers, (6) Ronny Adams, (7) Mike Bowers, (8) Terry Muskrat, (9) Alan Vaughn, (10) David Turner, (11) Tony Cardin, (12) Brian Holliway, (13) Al Purkey, (14) Tommy Surritte, (15) Rusty Frisinger, (16) Travis Mears, (17) Dewaine Hottinger, (18) Kenny Shelton Jr., (19) Greg Herron, (20) Kenny Merchant, (21) Jason Bodenhammer, (22) Duke Whiseant., (23) Robert Dunn.

PATTERSON WINS THIRD ALMS RACE AT OAKSHADE: Kris Patterson of St. Johns, Mich., won his third UMP-sanctioned American Late Model Series race of the year at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio. Patterson, who also won May 23 and 24 at Oakshade, started in the third row. There were 42 late models on hand. FEATURE: (1) Kris Patterson, (2) Matt Miller, (3) Shane Yoder, (4) Rick DeLong, (5) Troy VanderVeen, (6) Jerry Bowersock, (7) Bob Miller, (8) Tony Marks, (9) Justin Paxton, (10) Ron Miller, (11) Dennis Potridge, (12) Glenn Bradley, (13) Hillard Miller, (14) Rob Mitchell, (15) Brian Stinson, (16) Greg Martin, (17) Dan Brown, (18) Greg Megale, (19) George Lindsey, (20) Jeff Schnabel, (21) Chuck Noonan, (22) Bill Hahn.

McDANIEL WINS NLMS RACE AT COCHRAN (GA.) SPEEDWAY: Dennis McDaniel of Macon, Ga., held off unrelenting challenges over the final laps from Billy Godowns Jr. to win a 75-lap feature on the National Late Model Sportsman Series at Cochran (Ga.) Speedway. In winning in front of 4,000 people at his home track, McDaniel became the 30th winner in the last 37 races on the NLMS tour. "We only got the setup figured out for this car last week here, and we used the same settings tonight," McDaniel said. "We could not have held on much longer, the right rear is gone." Jim Fordham was fast qualifier among 30 cars in attendance. FEATURE (75 laps): (1) Dennis McDaniel, (2) Billy Godowns Jr., (3) Andy Stewart, (4) Steve Jones, (5) Jimmy Grantham, (6) Everett Phillips, (7) Dennis Smith, (8) Henry Carter Jr., (9) Joe Kump, (10) Ricky Brant.

RICK'S TWIN 30s IN FLORIDA RAINED OUT: Rick's Late Models Series Twin 30s scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Southern Raceway in Milton, Fla., were rained out. The races, paying $2,000 to win each, have been rescheduled for July 15-16.

WISSOTA RACE RAINED OUT: The $3,000-to-win WISSOTA feature at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S.D., was rained out and rescheduled for Sunday. ------------------------------------------------------------- CAPSULE CREDITS: John Kaiser <71623.762@compuserve.com> of NLMS and Larry Olson <lwolson@mtnhome.com> of MLRA. ------------------------------------------------------------- EDITOR'S NOTE: Because of transmission problems, some subscribers may not have received results on the final two UMP Summernationals races at Cresco, Iowa, and Owatonna, Minn. If you request a retransmission of the story, put <UMP Summernationals> in the subject heading. -------------------------------------------------------------