Monday, February 24, 2003 Gaita Goes All the Way for Win at USA LAKELAND, Fla. (Feb. 24, 2003) - Although his team had to wait three months to return to the track, Joe Gaita made the wait worthwhile. The Yorktown, VA driver followed up his second-place finish last November with his first career USAR Hooters ProCup Series win Saturday night at USA International Speedway. Gaita took his ACS Systems & Engineering Ford to victory lane ahead of a hard-charging Toby Porter. Steven Christian was third, with Stacy Puryear and Shane Huffman completing the top-five. "What a great feeling," said an ecstatic Gaita in victory lane. "It has been a long day with the rain but we felt, after our strong finish here last November, we could have a chance tonight and it worked out for us." The start time of the race was delayed nearly three hours due to rain. The field started the race with a green/yellow flag start to finish drying the track and a green flag was given to the field on lap 16 with Puryear leading the field. Gaita felt the strongest part of the race for him was a pit strategy to save his tires for late in the race. "We waited as late we could to pit for tires," Gaita said. "I was glad to see the caution [flag] come out on lap 135 so we could come in to pit." Gaita, Shane Wallace, Porter, and Mike Laughlin, Jr. were the lead lap cars to pit under the caution giving, the lead to Michael Ritch on lap 139. Wallace, who ran up front all night and led a total of 60 laps, had a mechanical problem in the pits and was forced to park one lap after making his pit stop. Gosselin, the 1997 USAR Hooters ProCup Series National Champion, took the lead from Ritch on lap 145 and remained out front until Danny Sammons passed for the lead on lap 153. Sammons, who will compete full-time in the Northern Division in 2003, took his Ford Taurus to the front and held the lead until lap 160 when Gosselin edged by for one lap. Sammons regained the top spot and stayed there until lap 191. After debris on the backstretch brought out the caution flag on lap 186 the field was given a restart on lap 191. On the restart, as Sammons led the field down the backstretch, Christian went to the outside of Sammons and Sean Studer dove to the inside to attempt a pass to regain a lap. All three cars made contact and sent Studer into the inside retaining wall and knocked Sammons out of the lead as Christian passed on the outside. Christian held the top spot before Gaita passed for the final time on lap 219. Puryear won the Advance Auto Parts Pole Award in his first start as owner-driver of his team. The South Boston, VA driver was happy with his finish. "I am tickled to death with our performance today," said Puryear. "To come down here with a new team and win the pole and run strong all night long gives us a lot of confidence heading to Pensacola. I am happy we could give our sponsors such a good showing tonight." Gaita led the race at lap 125 to win the Lucas Oil Products Halfway Leader Award while Matt Carter used his top-10 finish to win the Miller Lite Rookie of the Race Award. Mikie Stafford made his first career start in the Series a success winning the Hard Charger of the Race Award, advancing 16 positions in the race. Hooters ProCup Naturally Fresh Foods 250 Presented by Advance Discount Auto Parts Race Results Location- USA International Speedway Date- 2-22-03 Finish Start Car Driver Sponsor Make/Model Laps Winnings Remarks Pos Pos # Fin 1 4 O6 Joe Gaita Yorktown Va ACS Systems & Engineering/Kimnach Ford/Tidewater Interior Products/Towne Bank Ford Taurus 250 $11,000 Running 2 5 16 Toby Porter Greenville SC Irmo Grading Chev Monte Carlo 250 $6,000 Running 3 7 2 Steve Christian Buford Ga Lucas Oil/Blacks Tire Service Chev Monte Carlo 250 $4,800 Running 4 1 11 Stacy Puryear South Boston Va Bryant Heating & Cooling/Winn Dixie/Golden Corral Chev Monte Carlo 250 $4,800 Running 5 14 84 Shane Huffman Hickory NC Jennie-O Turkey Store/Jamison Inn/Tip Top Poultry Ford Taurus 250 $3,200 Running 6 9 7 Mike Laughlin Jr Simpsonville SC Griffin Thermal Products/Laughlin Racing Products Ford Taurus 250 $3,000 Running 7 20 8 Andrew Medlin Largo Fl Aneco Electrical Construction Ford Taurus 250 $2,800 Running 8 19 9 Chad Mullis Charlotte NC Sponsor needed/Mullis Well Drilling Ford Taurus 250 $2,600 Running 9 12 23 R Matt Carter Denver NC SPEVCO/Exceed The Limits Chev Monte Carlo 250 $3,400 Running 10 17 O2 R Danny O'Quinn Jr Coeburn Va Homesteader Trailers Chev Monte Carlo 250 $2,200 Running 11 21 41 Luke Hill Safety Harbor Fl Sponsor needed Ford Taurus 250 $2,000 Running 12 13 15 Bill Plemons Jr Locust Grove Ga Hooters Ford Taurus 250 $1,900 Running 13 11 92 Mart Nesbitt Fletcher NC Coca Cola Chev Monte Carlo 249 $1,800 Running 14 6 97N Danny Sammons Trenton NJ Freds Trailer Service/Haulmark.com/aarn.com/ABE Fence Ford Taurus 249 $1,700 Running 15 15 28 Michael Ritch High Point, NC Jackaroo Sauces Dodge Intrepid 249 $1,600 Running 16 2 10 Mario Gosselin Lake Wales FL Brooks Automotive Group/New Stanton Auto Body Chev Monte Carlo 246 $1,500 Running 17 27 1 Don Satterfield Spartanburg SC Hawk Saw Blades Chev Monte Carlo 246 $1,400 Running 18 34 72 R Mikie Stafford Ellabell Ga Sponsor needed Chev Monte Carlo 243 $1,850 Running 19 23 O7 R Tony Amico Clearwater Fl Caddys Beach Bar Restaurant/Aeon Records Chev Monte Carlo 242 $1,300 Running 20 28 61 R J P Morgan Ether NC Crew School.com/Phil Morgan Pottery Chev Monte Carlo 241 $1,250 Running 21 24 77 Doug Stevens Lovejoy Ga Jasper Engines & Transmissions Ford Taurus 240 $1,200 Running 22 33 80 Brian Finney Merritt Island Fl Bob Steele Chev/Merritt Island Air & Heating Chev Monte Carlo 239 $1,200 Running 23 35 66 R Royce Johnston Florala Ala R J Motorsports Chev Monte Carlo 234 $1,200 Running 24 22 94 R Keith Roggen Winter Haven Fl Southern Road Builders Chev Monte Carlo 228 $1,150 Mechanical 25 8 71 Sean Studer Charlotte NC Carl Buddig Meats/Old Wisconsin/Pulse/Winners Circle Marketing Chev Monte Carlo 190 $1,150 Accident 26 25 25 R David Stover Tulsa Ok Shaw Industries Chev Monte Carlo 184 $1,150 Mechanical 27 29 73 R Korey Ruble Dothan Al Sponsor needed Chev Monte Carlo 164 $1,100 Mechanical 28 3 4 Shane Wallace Mooresville NC Ford Taurus 140 $1,100 Mechanical 29 32 68 R Todd Hirschfeld Charlottesville Va NEXTIP/ 1-800-petmeds Ford Taurus 110 $1,100 Mechanical 30 37 3 Michael Strother Thomasville NC Lone Star Motorsports Chev Monte Carlo 104 $1,100 Mechanical 31 18 21N Derrick Kelley Auburndale Fl Advance Auto Parts/Discount Auto Parts/Frasier Contracting Chev Monte Carlo 81 $1,050 Mechanical 32 10 33 Billy Mowery Pinellas Park Fl Precision Tool & Mold Inc Chev Monte Carlo 75 $1,050 Mechanical 33 30 31 R Vince Fanello Lavonia Ga Edwards Racing/Fanello Industries/Bulkliner Trailers Chev Monte Carlo 54 $1,050 Mechanical 34 16 51 David Pletcher Mooresville NC Mulbire Motorsports/Pletcher Racing Engines Ford Taurus 48 $1,050 Mechanical 35 26 6 Ronnie Davidson Lenoir NC C & T Classic/Sponsor needed Chev Monte Carlo 35 $1,050 Mechanical 36 31 24 Mike Williams Conover NC World Products/Manley/ARGO Mfg/Cam Motion/ Chev Monte Carlo 13 $1,050 Mechanical R Rookie Advance Auto Parts Pole Award- $1000- Stacy Puryear Lucas Oil Products 1/2 Way Leader-$1000- Joe Gaita Hard Charger - $500- Mikie Stafford Miller Lite Rookie of the Race -$1000- Matt Carter CV Products Engine Builder of the Race - #06 Automotive Specialists Number of caution flags-11 Total laps under caution- 75 Time of race- 2:25:37 Green Flag Average Speed- 118.442 MPH Margin of Win- .491 sec Lap Leaders- 1-22 Stacy Puryear(22); 23-48 Mario Gosselin(35); 49-108 Shane Wallace(60); 109-138 Joe Gaita(62); 139-144 Michael Ritch(6); 145-152 Mario Gosselin; 153-160 Danny Sammons(38); 161 Mario Gosselin; 162-191 Danny Sammons; 192-218 Steve Christian(27); 219-250 Joe Gaita Have an opinion on this story? 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