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| And The Winner Is: Dick Anderson Again! | by Marty Little
Dick Anderson cemented his 2001 Florida Pro Series championship in grand style Sunday afternoon with a strong victory in the Suwannee Truss 200 at Columbia Motorsports Park. Pole sitter Shane Sawyer paced the 28 car field for only a single lap before the yellow flag waved for a three car tangle involving Rich Pratt, Jonny Kay and Rick Carlton. Pratt was the only one of the three able to continue. Sawyer's bright red mount continued out front until Anderson had picked his way through traffic and took command for the first time on lap 23. On lap 100 the leaders hit pit road with Anderson still in command.
With the field back to full speed Anderson's car seemed to slow at the lap 120 mark with Jimmy Cope the new leader as Anderson struggled with a handling problem. The field came under yellow on lap 178 for a two car tangle involving Brian Finney and Kevin Dicks. Six laps later the green flag waved again with Cope having engine problems, a cylinder gone bad. Jeff Scofield had worked his way to third by this point and he pressured Cope who had given way to Anderson on lap 187. Try as they might no one could advance and the leaders crossed the stripe in the same order. Finney and Sawyer completed the top five runners.
The companion 50 lap Tommy Parker Memorial for Florida Modifieds saw Roger Webb lead from the pole but it only took veteran Larry Martin four laps to find the lead and he never looked back enroute to the victory. John Gerstner claimed the runner-up money over fast qualifier Dwayne Dempsey, Steve Christian and Brian Campbell.
Complete results of Florida Pro Series 200 at Columbia Motorsports Park 12-2-01 showing position and driver.
1. Dick Anderson, 2. Jimmy Cope, 3. Jeff Scofield, 4. Brian Finney, 5. Shane Sawyer, 6. Eddie Gainey, 7. Jonathan Brown, 8. Rich Pratt, 9. Rob Elting, 10. David Logan, 11. David Hodges, Jr, 12. Doyle Boatwright, 13. Kevin Dicks, 14. Michael Faulk, 15. Mike Fritts, 16. Mike Bresnahan, 17. Billy Bigley, Jr, 18. Kent Bissell, 19. David Hussey, 20. Stephen Leicht, 21. David Browning, 22. Jay Middleton, 23. Hubert Simmons, 24. Kenny Vaughn, 25. Scott Grossenbacher, 26. Mac Johnson, 27. Rick Carlton, 28. Jonny Kay.
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