| Huffman Gets Win at USA Hooters ProCup Event May 31 | LAKELAND, Fla. – Shane Huffman knew going into the Lucas Oil 250 presented by Advance Discount Auto Parts that he would have to find a way to conquer USA International Speedway if he wanted to be considered a contender for the 2003 USAR Hooters ProCup Series national championship. Huffman proved Saturday night he is ready for the challenge.
Huffman led 241 of 250 laps to easily win his second race of the season and sixth overall in the Series. Mardy Lindley finished second and Clay Rogers made his first start of the year in the Naturally Fresh Foods Ford a success with a podium finish. Benny Gordon finished fourth and Bobby Gill completed the top-five.
"I can´t believe how good this car was tonight," said Huffman. "This might have been one of the best cars I have ever driven. We know winning the championship comes through Lakeland and we have never really run well here. We decided to try something different for this race and it worked."
Huffman was one of the fastest all day in practice and almost set a new mark in qualifying to win the Advance Auto Parts pole award. Huffman quickly jumped to the lead and was never really challenged for the win the entire race.
Lindley, who has a win and consecutive runner-up finishes in his last three starts, was just happy to get his finish.
"I didn´t have any brakes at the end of the race," said Lindley. "I would have to let off the gas near the middle of the straightaway and let the car coast into the turns. We will take this finish and it will help us move up in the points."
The race was slowed 11 times by caution with caution flag given to the field on lap 72 when a small dog wondered onto the track from one of the motor homes parked in the infield. The dog was rescued safely.
The only time Huffman was not in the lead was when he brought his Jennie-O Turkey Store Ford into the pits for fuel and tires on lap 113. Gill stayed out and led laps 114-122 before Huffman took over the top spot and never looked back. Huffman added the Lucas Oil Products Halfway Leader Award to his winnings and with the pole award collected a total payout of $12,000 with the win.
Gordon used his fourth-place finish to collect Miller Lite Rookie of the Race honors and Luke Hill rebounded from a slow start to win the Hard Charger Award.
Huffman was able to pad his lead in the USAR Hooters ProCup Series point standings to 120 points over Joe Gaita (856-736). Steven Christian is third with 722 and Stacy Puryear is fourth with 702. Andrew Medlin moved into the top five with 701 points.
The USAR Hooters ProCup Series Southern Division returns to action on Saturday, June 14th for the running of the Bryant Heating & Cooling 250 presented by Black´s Tire Service at Myrtle Beach Speedway.
2003 SOUTHERN PROCUP POINTS THRU 5/31/2003 TOTAL POS. CAR# DRIVER RK POINTS 1 84 Shane Huffman 856 2 06 Joe Gaita 736 3 2 Steven Christian 722 4 11 Stacy Puryear 702 5 8 Andrew Medlin 701 6 15 Mardy Lindley 692 7 28 Michael Ritch 690 8 02 Danny O'Quinn Jr R 683 9 7 Mike Laughlin Jr 681 10 92 Mart Nesbitt 673 11 4 Shane Wallace 664 12 94 Keith Roggen R 640 13 16 Toby Porter 637 14 22 Jason Sarvis 635 15 51 David Pletcher 627 16 5 Bobby Gill 618 17 5 David Stover R 599 18 1 Don Satterfield 595 19 9 Chad Mullis 552 20 41 Luke Hill 535 21 10 Mario Gosselin 487 22 68 Todd Hirschfeld 467 23 3 Michael Strother 453 24 16 Clay Rogers 432 25 44 Benny Gordon 415 26 33 Billy Mowery 408 27 73 Korey Ruble R 381 28 19 Mike Wieczoreck 377 29 31 Vince Fanello R 374 30 27 Scott Sutherland 317 31 72 Mikie Stafford 290 32 07 Tony Amico 288 33 18 Jason York 270 34 71 Sean Studer 250 35 85 Calvin Redwine 231 36 61 JP Morgan 228 37 6 Ronnie Davidson 220 38 66 Royce Johnston R 190 39 48 Jimbo Mann JR. 187 40 24 Michael Williams 177 41 08 John Kinder 175 42 23 Matt Carter 159 43 43 Brandon Collins 139 44 04 Larry Barrett 127 45 15 Bill Plemons Jr 113 46 77 Doug Stevens 99 47 80 Brian Finney 98 48 86 Kevin Sasser 95 49 50 Larry Wilcox R 94 50 60 Kevin Love 92 51 12 Timothy Edwards 90 52 20 George Brunnhoelzl 90 53 38 Jimmy McClain 89 54 88 Adam Dean R 85 55 92 Jimbo Mann 84 56 56 Daniel Johnson 83 57 49 Carl Williford 40 58 96 Brent Moore 40 59 45 Tim Corbett 40
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