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2001
NEWS ARCHIVE
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| Moyer, Smith, Haseleu Dominate at Putnam County | 
by John Harney
Putnam County Speedway dropped the green flag on its 2002 season with an exciting weekend of racing action. Some of the brightest stars of dirt Super Late Model racing descended on the 3/8-mile track to battle it out in 50-lap features on Friday and Saturday. Participating drivers included Billy Moyer, Steve Smith, Chub Frank, Rick Aukland, Ray Cook, and Matt Miller. Open Wheel Modifieds also provided thrills over the weekend.
Friday night thirty-six Late Models vied for 24 starting spots in the main event. Four heats entertained the fans with Steve Smith, Terry Eaglin, Rick Aukland, and Chub Frank winning their respective 10-lappers. Twenty spots in the main were determined by the heats with the last four positions coming from the finish of the consolation race which was won by Bobby Alexander Jr.
Steve Smith was the polesitter and wasted no time charging to the lead. The field did a fantastic job of staying out of trouble despite the numerous side-by-side wars going on as only two cautions interrupted the race. Eaglin held onto the runner-up position until being overtaken by Frank. Smith quickly lost the field in traffic and nobody had a chance of keeping up. Lap 20 saw Danny Cox in a precarious position as his car parked itself on the main straight on the racing groove. Fortunately all drivers took evasive action and no damage occured. Smith resumed his assault when the green dropped. While he effortlessly weaved through traffic, Frank and Miller fought tooth and nail for second. Miller would get his break on the final lap and sneak past Frank for second as Smith easily took the checkers. Following the lead trio to the line was Eaglin, Cook, Timmy Yeager, Terry English, Rick Hedrick, Steve Lucas, and Ed Dixin.
Twenty-three Modifieds started their 30-lap feature. Randy Hall had the pole but Jerry Haseleu had the holeshot on the start and beat the field to the first turn. Haseleu would never relinquish his lead and went on to win in dominating fashion. Hall and Marion Sizemore fought nose-to-tail and side-by-side for many laps before Hall proved stronger and seized second. Sizemore held on to third with Jeff Mathews fourth and Chris Hammond fifth.
Cooler temperatures Saturday evening along with higher winds and drier track conditions tested the adaptability of the drivers and teams. While some teams failed to adapt successfully, others had no problems finding traction in slicker track conditions and continued their winning ways. Heat winners for the Late Models were Moyer, David Smith, Eaglin, and Aukland. Brian Birkhoffer won the last-chance consolation race.
Moyer had never seen this track in its modern configuration before, but that didn't stop the veteran as he jetted to the lead in the feature with David Smith in tow. Steve Smith went from riches to rags as a rear gear failure knocked out the previous night's winner. The slippery track assisted in bringing out more cautions this evening and the race took its toll ont he field. David Smith was hanging with Moyer until his car gave up at the midway point. Steve Lucas charged from his 15th starting spot to pass Eaglin for second on lap 29 and was able to run down Moyer on the open field. A late race caution allowed the cars to bunch up one more time, but Moyer turned up the wick on the final ten laps and took the win going away. Lucas was the best of the rest with the rest of the top ten consisting of Aukland, Frank, Birkhoffer, Rob Blair, Miller, Joe Morris, Bill Cunningham, and English.
Modifieds got off to a rocky start as the frontrunners knocked each other out of shape on the opening lap. Kyle Owen used momentum and good reflexes to weave his way into the lead. He did all he could to maintain that advantage, but Haseleu was just too strong and soon took the point. This race was an absolute cautionfest as the same few cars couldn't get a handle on the surface. Sizemore and Dave Pries spun early on which sent two of the frontrunners to the rear of a long line of cars. Haseleu had some competition this evening as Hall stayed glued to his tail. Hall had an edge through the corners, however, Haseleu had more than enough coming off the turns to deny his rival. The duo battled to the final checker with Haseleu pulling off his second win in a row. Sizemore recovered from the earlier mishap to finish third over Tony Roland and Don Gumke.
Racing will resume Wednesday February 6 with the winged All Star 410 Sprints flying into town. The DIRT Modifieds will arrive in force on the weekend of February 8th and 9th. The gates will open at 4 PM and racing will start at 7 PM each night.
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