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| TENNESSEE DRIVERS DOMINATE SOUTH 40 CLASSICS FINAL WEEKEND | By Dave Westerman
Florida and Tennessee have a great rivalry when it comes to SEC college football and race drivers from both states have a big rivalry in the South 40 Motorsports Classic Auto Racing Series as well. This year it was Tennessee prevailing in both ends of the season-ending events at Orlando Speedworld and New Smyrna Speedway.
Larry Gibson of Maryville, TN started 19th in the 29 car field and slowly worked his way to the front to duplicate his Thanksgiving weekend win of a year ago at Orlando.
The race almost didn't happen as a steady rain fell for nearly two hours and quit just before race time. With the scheduled time trials and consolation race cancelled due to the late hour, six of the 35 drivers in attendance, including South 40 Classics point leaders Ed Yates and Eddie Thornton, chose not to compete citing a large field and a damp race track as reasons to watch rather than race. Yates and Thornton agreed to sit out and not take the chance of getting involved in a crash and to simply decide the championship in a one-race shootout the following night at New Smyrna Speedway.
E.T. McGhee sat on the pole for the 30-lap feature and took the lead at the drop of the green. He would be just one of six different drivers to lead the race. Dan Hammerbeck took charge on lap four only to be passed by Newport TN's George Mooneyham. Mooneyham spun out a couple of laps later handing the lead to Robbie Sands who promptly spun out two laps later in turn four. Gary Kelley took over at that point but was no match for Gibson, who charged past near the halfway mark and survived several more caution flags and swarms of lapped cars to secure the win.
Despite a lot of bumping and grinding, only two cars were definitely eliminated from the following night's competition as Frank Conrad blew his engine and George Murphy tagged the backstretch wall damaging the front-end of his South 40 Motorsports sedan.
Gibson took the win followed by Kelley and Florida's Jim Rahman who drove a fantastic race to finish third. Tennessee drivers Fred MacArthur and Brett Baer rounded out the top five. FASTWAX Rookie of the Year point leader Al Hagan drove his best race of the year coming home sixth with Bud Spencer, Tom Rudder, Robbie Sands, and E.T. McGhee rounding out the top ten. George Hall III took the Action Performance Hard Charger Award.
Saturday's weather was perfect as the drivers headed to the high-banked half-mile New Smyrna Speedway for the grand finale to the season - a 50-lap affair. Gibson again looked like the driver to beat as his set fast time of 21.66 seconds over a 30-car field, shattering the old track record of 21.91.
The top four in qualifications were inverted giving the Speedworld runner-up Gary Kelley the pole with Gibson starting fourth. Outside pole sitter Brian Ball of Newport, TN took the measure of the field at the drop of the green, with Kelley dropping into second and Gibson to third.
The two drivers battling for the South 40 Classics point championship, Yates and Thornton settled into fifth and sixth with Thornton knowing he only had to keep Yates in sight to claim the championship.
Only one major incident occurred, and that was on the second lap as George Mooneyham spun, collecting Russ Antonucci and Wayne Ashton. Antonucci was the only driver unable to continue.
Four more cautions for minor incidents took place in the first half of the race as Ball continued to set the pace. On lap 24, just before the halfway signal, Kelley blew by Ball for the lead. On lap 26 the red flag was thrown for a mandatory fuel stop.
Gibson, who had been biding his time in third spot waiting for the fuel stop before making his charge, saw his bid for a weekend sweep go up in smoke a lap after the green flag came out as his engine blew in turn three to bring out the final caution.
Kelley took charge for the remainder of the race, holding off Ball and Robbie Sands as they threaded their way through lapped traffic to claim the win for his Moonshine Trippers.com team. Ball held off Sands for second, while Yates finished fourth. Thornton rounded out the top five and earned the 2001 South 40 Motorsports Classic Auto Racing Series points title for his Mike List AMSOIL sponsored race team.
"I want to thank Mike List from AMSOIL and my crew chief Rodney Eary for making this championship possible," said Thornton. "But the real credit has to go to my wife and Rodney's wife for putting up with me the last couple of weeks while we worked to get ready for this weekend," he said.
Tennessee driver Brett Baer was sixth with Al Hagan seventh. Hagan's finish clinched the 2001 FASTWAX Rookie of the Year crown.
"Man, this is great," said Hagan. "After investing in the car and a new trailer, my goal was to just run steady, not lose an engine and win Rookie of the Year. We accomplished all our goals and now we plan on getting a top five in points next year," he said.
Bud Spencer came home eighth for his second top ten of the weekend while Patrick Sanders and Dan Hammerbeck rounded out the top ten.
George Hall, Jr. started dead -last in the 30-car field and finished 13th to earn the Action Performance Hard Charger Award.
The season concludes with the South 40 Classics Awards Banquet at the Adams Mark Hotel in Orlando on December 8th.
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