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| Norris take Southern All-Stars at Pensacola | by Gordon Paulus
PENSACOLA, Fla. (April 26, 2002) - Second-fastest in qualifying, the victory and the points lead.
It almost was a perfect night for driver J.R. Norris, who won the Southern All Star 150-lap feature late Friday at Five Flags Speedway.
The Birmingham, Ala., driver passed John Wilkinson and led the final 51 laps to earn his first win of the season. He also took over the points lead (364-362) from Charlie Bradberry, who finished 14th.
"We had a good car," he said. "It was perfect after that competition caution."
In practice, however, the engine was not so perfect. He and his crew discovered water in the oil in one of the heads. Norris said he wasn't sure if the motor would last the entire race.
But he was never out of the top five as he raced behind Wilkinson, the fastest qualifier, for most of the first 94 laps.
That's when the competition yellow came out. The series allows drivers five laps to put on fresh tires and make adjustments without losing their position on the track.
When racing resumed, it took only five laps for Norris to pass Wilkinson, making a move on the outside.
"I was trying to hang on to a top-three until the competition caution came out," Norris said. "I tried to pass John Boy a couple of times. I couldn't get off the corner real good, so I backed off.
"We got our tires and I knew I would have to go strong. I really made a bonzai move to the outside, and it paid off and I got by him."
Wilkinson faded to sixth. Johnny Henderson took second, followed by Wayne Willard, Pensacola's Scott Carlson and Billy Barton.
Henderson moved from seventh to second in the last 50 laps.
"He was way too far ahead," Henderson said of Norris. "I was just trying to save the tires until the end."
Willard and Carlson were hampered by slow qualifying positions. Willard started 22nd and Carlson 16th.
"Starting that far back, you use your tires up trying to gain position," Carlson said. "When we did get up there, we had used our tires up."
Various problems cost other drivers a chance to win.
Ronnie Sanders started on the outside front row because of the inverted start. But during the warmup laps, he had to change a flat tire, forcing him to start from the rear.
He worked his way up to a seventh-place finish.
Cantonment's Donald Long was running fourth on lap 102 when mechanical problems and a brief fire forced him to quit. He finished 20th.
Pensacola's Jeremy Pate was strong on new tires, running second after the start of the race. After the restart following the competition yellow, he moved toward the front until a flat tire slowed him and he finished 22nd.
Former Gulf Breeze resident Clay Brown, of Concord, N.C., finished ninth, Gary McMorrow was 12th and Keith Thorpe finished 23rd when he was spun out, then was hit by another car.
The series returns to Five Flags Speedway on July 19.
RESULTS
1. J.R. Norris
2. Johnny Henderson
3. Wayne Willard
4. Scott Carlson
5. Billy Barton
6. John Wilkinson III
7. Ronnie Sanders
8. Clay Brown
9. J.R. Dudley
10. Brain Smith
11. William Wambles
12. Gary McMorrow
13. Dennis Schoenfeld
14. Charlie Bradberry
15. Dale Little
16. Shane Chapman
17. Bubba Naumann
18. Jonathan Shields
19. Jeremy Pate
20. Doanld Long
21. Chad Brawn
22. Andy Antinoro
23. Keith Thorpe
24. Wes Loyd
25. Ken Weaver
26. Terry Mason Jr.
27. Jimmy Henderson
28. Jeremy Rice
29. David Hutton
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