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| DQ GIVES YATES WIN AND POINTS LEAD IN SOUTH 40 CLASSICS ACTION AT OCALA | By Dave Westerman
Orlando's Eddie Thornton thrilled the large crowd with some gutsy driving Saturday night as the South 40 Motorsports Classic Auto Racing Series visited Ocala Speedway, but his elation of getting his first win of the year turned to bitter disappointment as his car did not pass tech thus handing the win and the points lead to fellow Orlandoan Ed Yates.
Second heat winner David "Fudd" Nunes had the pole for the 20-lap feature and set the early pace with Jim Rahman's Romac Lumber machine battling with him side by side in crowd-pleasing fashion.
Thornton quickly worked his way up from his seventh starting spot with Yates right behind him. On lap seven, Rahman slid up the track slightly in turn three and Thornton did the impossible by driving between leader Nunes and Rahman to make a three-wide pass and take the lead. Nunes lost control and spun off the track on the backstretch and into the infield the next lap around but was far enough off the track to prevent need of a caution flag.
Yates was able to get around Rahman for second and took up the chase of Thornton. Try as he could, Yates could not make a move on Thornton's AMSOIL/Hugh Cotton Insurance coupe as Thornton took the checker to a huge ovation from the crowd.
However, Thornton's car did not pass the weight check, comming in with over the required 55% for left side weight on four seperate attempts over the scales. Yates was awarded the victory, his third in six starts, and he re-took the points lead from Dan Hammerbeck who was out of the country on business and missed the race.
Mark Emberson drove Hammerbeck's back-up car to earn last-place points for Hammerbeck per South 40 Classics rules, finishing the feature in 10th. Rahman moved up to second in the final rundown followed by first heat winner Bud Spencer who got his best finish of the season with third.
Danny Shearer had another solid performance taking fourth and E.B. Carr got his first top five finish of the year using an engine borrowed from Frank Conrad. Rounding out the top ten were Al Hagan, Conrad, George Hall, Jr., George Hall III, and Mark Emberson.
"I hate to win a race this way, but I'll take it," said Yates. "I've been the first loser three years running (referring to his second place finish in points for three consecutive years) and I hope I can just be consistent and take the championship this year... but it's a long season," he said. Hagan took the Fastwax Rookie of the Race honors and also won the Action Performance Hard Charger Award coming from 12th on the grid to finish sixth. The South 40 Motorsports Classic Auto Racing Series now heads for the ultra-fast half-mile at Columbia Motorsports Park near Lake City for racing action next Saturday night.
OFFICIAL FINISH:
1. Ed Yates, Orlando #74
2. Jim Rahman, Clermont #5
3. Bud Spencer, Palm Harbor #7
4. Danny Shearer, Melbourne #77
5. E.B. Carr, Okeechobee #90
6. Al Hagan, Merritt Island #6
7. Frank Conrad, Ft. Pierce #3
8. George Hall, Jr., St. Pete #32
9. George Hall III, St. Pete #9
10. Mark Emberson, Minneola #2X
11. David Nunes, Orlando #54
12. Mike Albert, Winter Springs #24
DQ. Eddie Thornton, Orlando #4
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