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HOBGOODS’ DOMINATE GOODYS DASH SERIES AT USA INTERNATIONAL
by Thom Watson
LAKELAND, FL: Jake Hobgood led the final 42 laps to win the Discount Auto Parts 150 Presented by Mobil 1. Younger brother, Justin Hobgood, dominated the race before giving up the lead on lap 108 to Jake. Justin led 96 of the first 107 laps as he looked to be the easy winner, often having leads of six car lengths. The older Hobgood, Jake, sponsored by Cedar Creek Auto, was never too far behind and also had the fast qualifying time.
Shane Hmiel drew the lucky pole position, with Justin drawing the outside pole, while Jake unfortunately drew the eighth starting position in the pill draw for the starting assignments. The first eight positions were drawn from qualifying times. Hmiel, in his was unable to lead the first lap as Justin Hobgood shot out to the lead and would not relinquish it until the leaders pitted on lap 72. Justin was able to build a quick 4 car lead as Hmiel, Keith Roggen and Robert Huffman were battling each other for the second position. On lap 17, Huffman was able to finally take possession of 2nd place for good, with Roggen in 3rd.
By lap 30, 2001 points leader, Cam Strader, had moved his Wesson Oil/ Albertsons Mercury Cougar, into the 3rd slot. But on lap 37, under the caution flag, Strader went down pit road and gave up a ton of track position. On the restart, it was Justin, Huffman, Roggen, Jake and Scott Weaver in the top 5. Justin and Huffman were able to pull away somewhat from the rest of the crowd until Jason Roche brought out a caution for a spin on the front stretch on lap 52. After the restart, the top 4 of Justin Huffman, Jake and Roggen were able to pull away until a lap 69 caution.
During the caution the leaders hit pit road and the new top 3 was Randy Humphrey, Hmiel and Eric Van Cleef. This didn’t last long as the former leaders’ tires started to get a little heat in them. On lap 84 Justin was able to dive low in turn 3 and take the lead and brought Huffman with him. Meanwhile the elder Huffman, Jake, had moved into 3rd place. On lap 88, the Hobgoods were running 1st and 2nd. This being a NASCAR event, a yellow flag was thrown for debris on the track on lap 103. This not being a Winston Cup or Busch series event and none of NASCAR’S self-proclaimed golden boys (i.e., Jeff Gordon or Kevin Harvick) on the track, there really was debris coming on turn 3. On a lap 105 restart, the top 4 of Justin, Jake, Strader and Huffman cleared the inside lapped traffic and separated from the pack.
On lap 108 the Hobgoods were side-by-side with Jake able to take the lead at the stripe. Strader followed Jake and was able to take over 2nd place. A wreck in turn 2 on lap 109 brought out a yellow, then a red flag, as an inside barrier needed attention. The top 3 stood until the final lap, when Justin was unable to dive down low on the backstretch to take over the runner-up spot. Strader finished 3rd, followed by Chuck Gafrarer, Roggen and Auburndale’s Derrick Kelley in his Discount Auto Parts Pontiac.
MORRIS WINS AT LAKELAND IN SARA LATE MODEL 100
LAKELAND, FL: Wayne Morris started in the 8th position and steadily moved through the pack, took the lead on lap 83 and went on to win the SARA Late Model 100 at USA International Saturday night. It was the 3rd victory this year in the Holley Chevrolet, Crenshaw Motorsports ride for Morris. Brad Barkis started in the pole position and quickly took the lead and was able to lead until lap 42, when Bobby Beauchemin was able to get by him on a restart. A 6-car pileup, on lap 46, on the front stretch had brought out the caution and also eliminated several front-runners. Beauchemin was able to hold on to the point position, with Morris in 2nd, until lap 83. After a caution for Edward Howell spinning in turn 3, the restart saw Morris take the low groove in turns 3 and 4 to take the lead. From there he took a 2-car length lead and in the last 3 laps, lapped cars came into play. Morris was able to maneuver around and through the slower cars and won by a car length over Beauchemin. Joe Boyd was 3rd, followed by Marty Pierce and Joe Sumasky who rounded out the top 5.
AARON DREHER WINS INAGURAL EROCK SERIES RACE AT USA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
LAKELAND, FL: A new racing series, to be based at USA International Speedway, out of the Cale Yarborough Executive Racing School made its debut Saturday night. If the action from the debut is any indication, this series has a chance to stick around. If you like lots of lead changes, this series is for you. The EROCK (Executive Race of Champion Kings) is similar to the IROC series and has identically prepared late model series cars. The driver makes the difference in this series, as the driver is the unknown in this equation, since the cars are indistinguishable. “Many of our students have risen from the beginning levels of instruction past our school series and are ready for the real thing” said Lee Faulk, Senior Instructor at CYERS.
Some of the drivers besides Dreher was former NASCAR Winston Cup driver Rick White and current NASCAR Gatorade All Pro driver David Reutimann. In the 10-car field, six of the cars took time in the lead position and in the 35 laps, there were at least dozen lead changes. Dreher, who is a 20 year old resident of Palm Harbor, Florida, took the lead for good on lap 27 and was able to hold on for the win. “This was great, I think this series can really be a good stepping stone for bigger things”, said Dreher from victory lane, after finally getting there as he originally drove down pit road, then having to get back on the track and driving down to the front stretch victory lane.
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