(Barberville, FL; 10/28/2000) On the first night of Volusia Speedway Park's Octoberfest 2000, Terry McCarl from Pleasantville, IA defeated a field of 28 United Sprint Car Series (USCS) Saturday night. McCarl's win closed a wild night of racing that included four rollover accidents.

Kenny Adams set fast time for the USCS Sprints with a time of 14.530 around the half mile, D-shaped clay oval. In the first heat race, Adams had mechanical difficulty and did not finish, which allowed McCarl to cruise to victory. Trent Wilson and 2000 Empire Super Sprint Champion Mike Woodring captured the second and third heat races. Adams bounced back from his DNF in his heat race and blew away the B-Main field to transfer to the A-Main.

Sport Allen started on the pole for the 25-lap Sprint feature. Wild action broke out on the first lap. Trent Wilson rolled his car on the backstraight while trying to pass a car bringing out a red flag. On the restart, Allen kept his front spot with McCarl moving up to third. Kenny Adams pitted on this caution and had to line up at the rear of the field.

The most violent accident of the night occurred on lap 6. The #9 car of Harold Smith lost control and flipped several times right in front of the main grandstands. The force of the flips tore the fuel cell off the car. Although shaken, Smith did walk away.

McCarl moved into second, then dove under Allen on lap 9 to assume the point. Aided by cautions on laps 7 and 13, Kenny Adams worked his way up through the field. He moved into second place on lap 22. A caution on lap 23 set up a two-lap dash to the checkers.

On the restart, McCarl opened a small cushion over Adams. Terry McCarl held on from there to win the opening night USCS race of Octoberfest 2000. Kenny Adams finished second, with Mike Woodring, Sport Allen, and Terry Witherspoon rounding out the top five.

Pure Stocks and Mini-Stocks concluded their seasons with race extra distance features Saturday night. Pat Ayles dominated the 20-lap Pure Stock feature. He led every lap of the race after starting on the pole position. Heinz Haas ran strongly for second with Joey Froehlich, Jackie Rhames, and Shannon Cleveland rounding out the top five.

Nineteen Mini-Stocks lined up for their 30-lap feature event. Mark Eldridge jumped for the outside pole to the early lead, with 2000 points champion Donnie Ashford in tow. Eldridge and Ashford would swap the lead several times before Eldridge pulled away for good with a few laps to go. Ryan VanSickle and Paul Sheppard moved into second and third as Ashford faded to fourth. Mark Patterniti finished fifth after spinning twice.

Hobby Stocks and Street Stocks ran heat races to determine the starting lineup for Sunday's features. Steve Oldecker, Dennis North, Strohley, and Charles Kinsey, Jr. won the Hobby Stock heat races. George Richard won the Hobby Stock consolation race.

Kinsey pulled double duty as he and Richard Adams won the Street Stock heat races. Steve Shead won the Street Stock consolation race.

Sunday, October 29 will be the conclusion of VSP's Octoberfest. USCS Sprints will run a complete show capped off with a 30 lap feature. They will be joined by the Florida Mini-Sprints, feature races for Street Stocks and Hobby Stocks, as well as the return of dirt modifieds to VSP.

Volusia Speedway Park is located on State Road 40, 15 miles west of Interstate 95 near Barberville, FL. Call VSP at (904) 985-4402 or visit their web site at www.volusiaspeedwaypark.com for information.

-John Matthews-

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