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| ARRC DRIVERS DOMINATE SOUTH 40 CLASSICS EVENTS AT JAX RACEWAYS | by Dave Westerman
Drivers from the Appalachicola River Racing Club from the Florida Panhandle had raced against the South 40 Motorsports Classic Auto Racing Series racers on numerous occasions over the past few years but had never been able to find victory lane. That all changed Saturday night at Jax Raceways as ARRC drivers won both ends of the twin 25-lap features.
Melvin Nachtsheim, who races under the name "Captain Melvin," nearly pulled off a clean sweep of the weekend. Nachtsheim, who hails from Port St. Joe, set a new track record in qualifying Friday evening over a 25-car field with a lap of 22.923 sec. around the slick half-mile oiled dirt track. Fellow ARRC driver Randy McClendon of Blountstown was second quick at 23.399 while Orlando's Ed Yates was fastest of the South 40 Classics at 23.767.
Nachtscheim then went out and dominated his heat race proving that the 350 cubic inch ARRC cars were going to be a tough challenge for the 305's of the South 40 Classics drivers.
Eddie Thornton, South 40 Classics point leader going into the weekend, got a measure of revenge by outrunning McClendon to the checker in heat two. Thornton then won the coin toss and got the pole for Saturday night's opening 25-lap feature.
Thirty cars took the green flag in the opening feature with Nachtscheim getting the early jump from the outside pole. He would never be headed from that point and his only worry was having enough gas to finish as a rash of yellow flags marred the race forcing it to be cut short at 13 laps as the time limit expired.
The slick, bumpy track took its toll on drivers and machines, including point leader Thornton who was involved in a late-race incident in turn one and was forced out while Yates, just three points back of Thornton going into the weekend, finished eighth and took over the points lead. Attrition was high as only 12 of the 30 starters finished.
Nachtscheim dominated the race finishing well ahead of Westminster, MD visitor Martin Graybeal. Clermont's Jim Rahman drove a solid race to finish third with ARRC driver Phillip Pooler coming back from an early-race altercation to grab fourth. FASTWAX Rookie of the Year point leader Al Hagan got his best finish of the year with fifth and earned the Rookie of the Race trophy.
Clinton Mears, Don Kirk, Yates, Bud Spencer, and E.B. Carr rounded out the top ten with Carr earning the Action Performance Hard Charger Award by advancing from 24th of the grid to tenth at the finish.
With numerous cars needing a variety of repairs to make the start of the second 25-lapper, track officials moved up the scheduled 100-lapper for the National Late Model Sportsman Series Late Models to allow the Classic Car drivers more time to prepare for the next race.
The 100 laps of Late Model racing made the track a little more "workable" for the Classics as the second feature was much more competitive than the first. To add to that was the fact that the entire field was inverted from the first race putting first race winner Nachtscheim back in 21st for the start.
Randy McClendon, who had dropped out early in the first 25 lapper, had the pole and made the best of it leading every lap but not in as dominant a fashion as Nachtscheim had won the first.
Behind McClendon, action was hot and heavy. Thornton and his teammate Rodney Eary had both moved up to challenge McClendon along with ARRC driver Clinton Mears. Thornton hit the wall on lap 19 after hitting some water on the track and was done for the night. Eary and Mears bumped coming out of turn four on the restart with Eary spinning out of contention while Mears spun on his own a lap later and was sent to the rear of the field.
Through all this, Nachtsheim was slowly working his way to the front but was unable to catch McClendon before the checkered flag fell and settled for second this time. Danny Shearer, who worked feverishly to get his car back in running order after a crash in race one including replacing a radiator, took third followed by Rahman who took his second top five finish of the night and also grabbed the Action Performance Hard Charger Award for race two. Mears roared back through the field to get fifth with Dan Hammerbeck, Bud Spencer, Don Kirk, Russ Antonucci, and Ed Yates rounding out the top ten. Antonucci was the FASTWAX Rookie of the Race.
The evening's feature events were sponsored by Speedway Graphics & Design of Jacksonville. Ed Yates finished ahead of Eddie Thornton in both races and took over the points lead going into the final two races of the year at Orlando Speedworld November 23rd and the 50-lap championship race Saturday, November 24th.
OFFICIAL RESULTS - JAX RACEWAYS - 11/10/01:
FIRST FEATURE:
1. Melvin Nachtsheim, Port St. Joe #43N
2. Martin Graybeal, Westminster, MD #13
3. Jim Rahman, Clermont #5
4. Phillip Pooler, Lynn Haven #11H
5. Al Hagan, Merritt Island #6
6. Clinton Mears, Blountstown #57
7. Don Kirk, Baltimore, MD #112
8. Ed Yates, Orlando #74
9. Bud Spencer, Palm Harbor #7
10. E.B. Carr, Okeechobee #90
11. Eddie Thornton, Orlando #4
12. Rodney Eary, Orlando #4X
13. George Hall III, St. Petersburg #9
14. Tim Peavy, Blountstown #55
15. Derek Autman, Blountstown #9H
16. Patrick Sanders, Orlando #30
17. Brian Ball, Newport, TN #33
18. Russ Antonucci, Jacksonville #46
19. E.T. McGhee, Deland #1
20. Mac McWaters, Clarksville #1X
21. Harvey Ewing, Brooksville #17
22. Danny Shearer, Melbourne #77
23. Frank Conrad, Ft. Pierce #11
24. George Hall, Jr., St. Petersburg #32
25. Dan Hammerbeck, Clermont #2
26. Ronnie Rohn, Jacksonville #2X
27. Buckshot Whittington, Blountstown #101
28. Randy McClendon, Blountstown #5H
29. David Nunes, Orlando #54
30. T.K. Grief, Deland #1Y
31. Ray Frazee, Oak Hill #43 (DNS)
SECOND FEATURE:
1. McClendon
2. Nachtscheim
3. Shearer
4. Rahman
5. Mears
6. Hammerbeck
7. Spencer
8. Kirk
9. Antonucci
10. Yates
11. McGhee
12. Carr
13. Sanders
14. Hall III
15. Eary
16. Graybeal
17. Hagan
18. Thornton
19. Whittington (driving 1X for McWaters)
20. Hall, Jr.
21. Pooler
22. Grief
23. Ewing (driving 2X for Rohn)
24. Peavy
25. Conrad
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