| Partelo On Top of FASCAR ProMods At Columbia County | By Rick Warren
 The drivers of the FASCAR Pro Modified Series rolled into North FL. Saturday night, to do battle on the fast ½ mile of Columbia Motorsports Park. Threatening skies, a stiff breeze and chilly temperatures greeted the racers and fans, but despite the darkening skies, the fans were treated to a great night of racing.
The Promods had 23 racers lined up for qualifying, and the times were quick. When all the racers had taken a run at the clock, Lee Collins had set fast time with a lap of 17.083 seconds. Jimmy Britts was just a tick slower at 17.117 seconds, followed by Patrick Williams, Alan McCafferty, and Rob Partelo. After the fast Qualifiers had cleared tech, Collins drew for the starting inversion, and pulled a number 6.
When the field lined up for the start of the 75 lap feature, J.F. McClellan had the pole position, while Rob Partelo was on the outside of the front row. The second row held Williams and McCafferty, followed by Britts, Collins, Chuck Burkhalter, Kevyn Terry, Jeremy Gerstner and Jason Garver completing the top ten starters.
The green flag waved to start the race, and McClellan and Partelo raced side by side, battling for the top spot. After a couple of laps of tight, two wide racing, Partelo managed to get a good run off turn 4 and claim sole possession of the lead. The field stayed tightly grouped as the racers all tried to move up in the running order. The caution was displayed on lap 10, as several cars got together entering turn 3, with Dave Barber Jr. getting turned around and backing into the outside wall. Also involved were Len Stapleton, Jason Garver and Chris Escott. The line up for the restart was set with Partelo, McClellan, Williams, Britts, McCafferty, Collins, Burkhalter, Terry and Jerry Lee Yarborough making up the top ten. The race had very few cautions after that, for minor incidents, and the racing was very competitive. Williams managed to get by McClellan into second spot, and went on the chase to try to catch Partelo for the lead. McCafferty and Britts also managed to work by McClellan and were having quite a race of their own.
Williams gave it a good run, and was able to close on Partelo in traffic, but Partelo’s racer was rolling through the turns like it was on rails, and Partelo appeared to have the race under control. When the checkered flag waved, Partelo claimed a strong win, with Williams running a close second. Just when everyone thought the excitement was finished, the finish line turned into a junkyard. Yarborough exited turn 4 heading for the finish, in heavy traffic, and had to slow momentarily for a lapped car, and was tagged from the rear by Burkhalter. This started a chain reaction that involved several cars, and saw John Gerstner get airborne and into the wall, causing heavy damage to his racer. Fortunately, all the drivers were uninjured.
Be sure to mark your calendars for the next race of the FASCAR Pro Modified series, on May 14 at Ocala Speedway. See You There.
Final Results
FASCAR Pro Modifieds
Columbia Motorsports Park
Lake City, Fla.
75 Laps
1. #93 Rob Partelo
2. #17 Patrick Williams
3. #32m Alan McCafferty
4. # 9 Jimmy Britts
5. #01 J.F. McClellan
6. #89 Lee Collins
7. #66 Jerry Symonds
8. #51 Chuck Burkhalter
9. #77 John Gerstner
10. #13 Kevyn Terrry
11. # 2 Mickey Kempgens
12. #12 Corey Freed
13. #14 Buddy Hughes
14. #70 Jeremy Gerstner
15. #98 Jerry Lee Yarborough
16. #56 Dave Barber Jr.
17. #29 Chris Fadling
18. #06 Greg Nordstrom
19. #21 Len Stapleton
20. #2r Skip Honaker
21. # 8 Chris Escott
22. #32v Red Vann
23. #27 Jason Garver
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