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The first night of the Volusia Speedway Park 2002 Points Season kicked off Saturday night with full fields of cars and lots of Drivers looking to make their "debut" in the points a good one! Caution-filled races, time-ended races and rain put a damper on the evening.
In DeLand Truck Center Late Model action, #53 John Rankin took the first points race of the new season after a slight rain delayed the feature race.
A caution involving #11 Roho Sims and #6 Scott Singler on the back stretch as they got loose and spun, the #57 E.J. Wise spun and hit Singler. Wise attempted to pull away but as he got clear of the wreck fire ignited under his car, Wise climbed free while the safety crew put the fire out and cleaned up the debris.
A light rain began to fall and the cars were stopped on the front stretch for a brief stay and it was Rankin winning the feature with #88v Chris Vogel, #9 Rod Burton, defending champ #88 Paul George and #22 Brent Carlton in the top 5.
Time was running out as they tried to make it past lap 2 in the OB's Restaurant and Lounge Hobby Stock B-Main, but couldn't do it before the clock ran down and the race was run to half way. #18 Richard Price got the win after it was determined that #26 Tim Hogan was involved in a spin with the leader #64 Trevor Gamble on the last lap and Hogan's win was "revoked". Caution after caution plagued this feature race as the checker was ready to fall, strong running #12 Christina Davidson spun and lost her second place spot to 03x Driver unknown giving her a 13th place finish.
In the A-Main, after a constant battle, #88 Dennis North won the first race of the 2002 Points Season.
A first lap caution took out several top contenders, #19 Kory Bush, #54 Tommy Murphy, #22 Mickey Burns and #7s James Strehle all exited to the pits after spinning in turns 1 and 2.
#57 Heinz Haas suffered engine problems and limped past the entrance into the pits bringing out the caution so he could get safely into the pits.
#52 Chris Waldron had the lead and what seemed to be the car to beat until a caution was thrown on lap 6 and on the restart Waldron had a flat losing his lead to #88 Dennis North. #72 Lawrence Ednie was close behind North and #01 Jimmy Heffner was bearing down on #46 Travis Gamble as Heffner and Gamble battled each other #96 Bill Littell stuck his car in the spot and took third from both of them. #15 Alan Peacock was the next driver to attempt to take 4th from Gamble but #29 Tom Hughes kept Peacock in his place and went on to finish 5th with Peacock finishing in 6th.
On lap 16 Littell went high and low taking 2nd from Ednie, Ednie didn't just let it happen he was able to stay with the leaders and finished 3rd. #29 Tom Hughes went high and came down to rest between #46 Travis Gamble and #15 Alan Peacock but as the checker fell Littell slammed the outside wall on the front stretch but not before he picked up a second place finish.
Two wins in a row for #11 Pat Varieka and a first win of the new season to help in the points race for 2002.
It was caution after caution in the Action Performance Street Stocks as 20 cars started the race and only 5 took the checker. #5 Kevin Zahnen and #54 Terry Hallock got together and gathered up #4 James Peters when he had no where to go. Peters suffered the most damage but was able to re-enter the race and finish the feature.
As the battle for first place raged between #66 Frank Sharp, #23 Wray Shaffer, #54 Tim Hughes, Varieka shot past them all to get the lead on lap 7 and never relinquish it to anyone for the remainder of the feature race.
#54 Tim Hughes was fast and then slipped up the track slowing but Hughes seemed to pull it together and make his way up the field until the last lap when he drifted high on the track and lost positions. #24 Randy Strehle had engine problems as he started smoking and pulled into the pits. #23 Wray Shaffer was fast and furious and it looked like he could have pulled off a first time dirt win until his car caught on fire in turn 2 and had to go to the pits after the fire was put out.
It was #48 Deric Smith all the way as he took the first Pure Stock feature win of the 2002 points season. Smith celebrated a birthday on the 28th of March and celebrated a win Saturday night at Volusia Speedway Park.
As the field raced into turn 4 on lap 1 #75 Shawn Pawlak spun and caught the guardrail sending his car around and taking a hard hit in the driver's door. Pawlak was ok and the guardrail was checked for safety, the race resumed only to go yellow again as the #5 Chris Mark and #8 Chris Heane got together. The race only remained green 3 more laps and #30 Rodney Alexander spun in turn 4 avoiding a car exiting the track.
Lap traffic was a problem but Smith was able to make it past the cars to take the win. The top 4 were Smith, #43 Joey Froelich, #23 Mark Reiter and #8 John Blood.
Bad luck, good luck, #k9 Mike Cawood won the first Mini-Stock points race of the 2002 season and his brother #6 Matt Cawood ended his night in the pits after his car started smoking with only 4 laps to go. The brothers were leading the feature race but car trouble ended their chance at one and two place finishes.
On lap #1 #90 William Creech had the fans on their feet and holding their breath as he lost control on the front stretch and his car ended up on it's roof only feet from the flagstand. Creech was able to get out of his racecar and ride the roof as it was "slung" between two tow trucks on it's final trip around the track and back to the pits.
Teamwork seemed to be a winning combination as two teams held the top 4 spots for several laps. #97 Jackie Rhames and teammate #9b Mike Quick battled #k9 Mike Cawood and #6 Matt Cawood. Mike Cawood took the lead from Rhames and never let go of the lead in the 20 lap feature.
The battle heated up for 4th position as #29 Drew Smith shot past Rhames to take the spot on lap 8. #66 Donnie Ashford got past Smith but it was last week's winner #22 Mark Eldridge taking 4th from all of them.
Smoke began pouring out of the #6 Matt Cawood and #9b Mike Quick was able to take the second spot to the end with #66 Donnie Ashford and Eldridge finishing 3rd and 4th.
Saturday, April 6, Volusia Speedway Park resumes stock car racing with Late Models, Hobby Stocks, Street Stocks, Mini-Stocks and Pure Stocks. Grandstands open at 5 p.m. Racing starts at 7:30. For more information call (386) 985-4402 or log on to www.volusiaspeedwaypark.com. Go-Karts are also racing every Saturday through April 27. Gates for Go-Karts open at 3 p.m., practice is at 4 and heats are at 6.
RESULTS
DeLand Truck Center Late Models
A-Main: 1. 53 John Rankin, 2. 88v Chris Vogel, 3. 9 Rod Burton, 4. 88 Paul George, 5. 22 Brent Carlton, 6. j17 Joe Kump, 7. 23 Lawton Minchew, 8. 33 Bill Kopka, 9. 14 Gary Flynn, 10. 99 Brent Chilson, 11. 57 Chuck Julien, 12. 4 Rick Singler, 13. 7c Kent Corbin, 14. 15 Joe Grubb, 15. 6 Scott Singler, 16. 66 Jeff Kopka, 17. 20 John Trammell, 18. 89 Jeff Choquette, 19. 11 Roho Sims, 20. 57 E.J. Wise, 21. rp1 Bud Rose, 22. 44 Ronnie Grubb.
OB's Restaurant and Lounge Hobby Stocks
B-Main: 1. 18 Richard Price, 2. 03x, 3. 64 Trevor Gamble, 4. 26l George Lane, 5. 51 Steve Oldaker, 6. 38 Doug Fisher, 7. 55 Al Sanville, 8. 30k Sheldon Kinser, 9. 80 Paul Cutcher, 10. 77 Craig Sutton, 11. 15c Cindy Grubb, 12. 26 Tim Hogan, 13. 12d Christina Davidson, 14. 30 Nick Salerno, 15. 17 Bill Martin, 16. 17 Jeff Varieka, 17. 10j Chuck Jackson, 18. 69 T.J. Morris DNS 7s James Strehle.
A-Main: 1. 88 Dennis North, 2. 96 Bill Littell, 3. 72 Lawrence Ednie, 4. 46 Travis Gamble, 5. 29 Tom Hughes, 6. 15 Alan Peacock, 7. 01 Jimmy Heffner, 8. 50 Pat Taulbee, 9. 3 Kenny Waters, 10. 19k Kory Bush, 11. 7a John Apgar, 12. 33 Grady Christian, 13. 30k Sheldon Kinser, 14. 13 Jack Hackney, 15. 31 Donnie Birdwell, 16. 91k Kirk Bush, 17. 52 Chris Waldron, 18. 50v Robert Vigh, 19. 12f Rick Friend, 20. 57 Heinz Haas, 21. 19b Joe Belkey, 22. 22 Mickey Burns, 23. 54 Tommy Murphy, 24. 44 Rosenfield.
Action Performance Street Stocks
A-Main: 1. 11 Pat Varieka, 2. 66 Frank Sharp, 3. 57 Wall Schneider, 4. 54 Tim Hughes, 5. 07 Landon Lungren, 6. 17 Kathy Gainey, 7. 4p James Peters, 8. 23 Wray Shaffer, 9. 22 Joe Baker, 10. 03 Mike Snyder, 11. 74 Mike Lanich, 12. 73 Rick Swank, 13. 24 Randy Strehle, 14. 77 Dale Shade, 15. 5 Kevin Sahnen, 16. 54 Terry Hallock, 17. 27 Steve Edmunds, 18. 00 John Ripley DNS-39 Bob Shook, 75 Mark Dixon.
Pure Stocks
A-Main: 1. 48 Deric Smith, 2. 43 Joey Froelich, 3. 23 Mark Reiter, 4. 77 Shannon Cleveland, 5. 8 John Blood, 6. 69 Brad Fender, 7. 9 Rick Picard, 8. 73 Mike Salerno, 9. 27 Marsha Edmunds, 10. 5 Chris Mark, 11. 21 Joe Epton, 12. 72 Dave Taulbee, 13. 09 Richard Wilson, 14. 21 Alli Owens, 15. 30 Rodney Alexander, 16. 8 Chris Heane, 17. 64 Charles Thacker, 18. 17 Marvin Prentice, 19. 75 Shawn Pawlak, 20. 37 Steve Buker, 21. 78 Shane O'Quinn DNS 07 Craig Lungren, 38 Bruce Burk.
Mini-Stocks
A-Main: 1. k9 Mike Cawood, 2. 9b Mike Quick, 3. 66 Donnie Ashford, 4. 22 Joe Baker, 5. 27 Joey Haslauer, 6. 29 Drew Smith, 7. 97 Jackie Rhames, 8. 17 Doug White, 9. 888 James McCaque, 10. 8 Mickey Leth, 11. 16 Paul McAtee, 12. 6c, 13. 6 Matt Cawood, 14. 60 Robert Temple, 15. 15 Gary Bell, 16. 00 Mark Paterniti, 17. 77 Paul Sheppard, 18. 7, 19. 90 William Creech DNS-45 Colt Taylor, 79 Ray Hunter, 00 Lance Lee, 12 Rick Riedel.
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