|
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
| MOYER OUTGUNS FRANCIS AND O'NEAL FOR EAST BAY UDTRA WIN | 
TAMPA, FL - Billy Moyer of Batesville, AR gunned his Petroff Towing Rayburn/Dickens Taurus to the front of the pack on lap 37 and then held off a late race charge from Steve Francis of Ashland, KY and Don O'Neal of Martinsville, IN to win the 50-lap main event Wednesday night for the United Dirt Track Racing Association Pro DirtCar Series at East Bay Raceway.
Moyer spent two-thirds of the race chasing down O'Neal in the Petroff Towing Rayburn/Pro Power Monte Carlo using the high side of the track. Moyer caught O'Neal in lapped traffic to make an outside move going down the backstretch on lap 37 to take the lead.
O'Neal then stayed with Moyer and passed him back for the lead on lap 43, but then got caught in lapped traffic, and Moyer reclaimed the point on the same lap. Francis came up to make it a three car battle to the checkered flag.
Moyer was able to stay out front for the $5,000 top prize, as O'Neal got bogged down in lapped traffic, and Francis was able to claim second in the Valvoline/Mopar Parts Rocket/Stanton Intrepid. O'Neal had to settle for the third spot.
"Don O'Neal has got this place figured out, and he was hard to beat tonight," Moyer said. "We swapped the lead a couple of times, and every time I looked over to my left, he was there. The lapped cars were keeping me from pulling away, but I guess O'Neal had more trouble with them than I did."
"Our car worked good both high and low, but I thought we were better than Billy on the bottom," O'Neal said. "Every time it seemed like I could get a run at him, the lapped cars held me up."
"We had some bad luck at the first race of the season, so second spot isn't that bad for us because it's better than third," Francis said. "We got our Rocket up there between those two Rayburns, so at least they know we're here."
Terry English of Benton, KY took the fourth spot in the Rayburn Race Cars Rayburn/Rayburn Monte Carlo, and 1999 UDTRA Champion Dale McDowell of Rossville, GA finished fifth in the Larry Shaw Race Cars Rocket/Custom Grand Prix. McDowell's second straight top five finish puts him on top of the UDTRA point standings.
Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, IL claimed the sixth position in the B&K Sportswear Rayburn/Bullock Monte Carlo, and Steve Shaver of Parkersburg, WV finished seventh in the Richard Construction/Poske's Performance Rocket/Malcuit Monte Carlo. Defending UDTRA Champion Rick Eckert of York, PA was eighth in the Raye Vest Rocket/Cornett Mustang.
Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, IA finished ninth in the Seubert Calf Ranches Mastersbilt/Pro Power Grand Prix from the 21st starting spot, and Darrell Lanigan of Union, KY rounded out the top ten in the Arizona Sports Shirts Rocket/Cornett Mustang. Lanigan won the $150 Advance Hard Charger of the Race Award after starting 24th.
O'Neal took the lead at the start of the race from the pole position followed by McDowell, Tim Dohm of Charleston, WV in the Dohm Cycle Rocket/Russell Baker Monte Carlo, Moyer, and Davey Johnson of Greensburg, PA.
On lap two, Moyer passed McDowell for second, and Eckert charged from the seventh starting spot into third. Johnson moved his Reliable Painting Rocket/Leggett Grand Prix into the fourth spot, and McDowell reclaimed the second spot from Moyer on lap four.
By lap seven, O'Neal had checked out to a full straightaway lead over Moyer and McDowell, who were racing side-by-side for second. The first of four caution flags came out on lap 7 when four-time UDTRA Champion Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN stalled his Miller Brothers Coal Warrior/Custom Mustang on the backstretch.
The restart saw Moyer work inside McDowell in turn one to take over the second spot. As the field worked turn one on lap eight, a multi-car pile-up brought out the yellow flag, and then the red flag, as Randy Korte flipped his Mid-Continental Fuel Rocket/Pro Power Grand Prix and collected several other cars.
Korte was unhurt, but Mike Balzano of Parkersburg, WV hurt his right hand driving the Eddie's Auto Parts Rocket/Russell Baker Monte Carlo. Balzano left the track on his own to have the hand checked out at a local hospital. Also involved in the crash were Jimmy Mars of Elk Mound, WI, Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, FL, and R.J. Conley of Wheelersburg, OH.
Several cars went to the pit area after the caution flag came back out, including Eckert, who cut down a right-rear tire. Dohm brought out the next caution flag on lap ten, and during the caution period, Johnson dropped out while running in the fourth spot.
Donnie Moran of Dresden, OH was the man on the move when the field went back to green, as he moved his QPI Tools Dirt Ripper Rayburn/Fisher Monte Carlo from eighth to fourth in just two laps. The final caution flag came out on lap 13 when the cars of Scott Cross of Stevensville, MD, Delmas Conley of Wheelersburg, OH, Pearson, and Lanigan tangled in turn two.
The restart saw English pass Moran for the fourth spot, and Francis moved up to fifth on lap 19. Moyer began to close the gap on O'Neal on lap 23, and on lap 25, O'Neal jumped the cushion in turn two. That enabled Moyer to pull along side O'Neal, but the "Real Deal" pulled back in front down the backstretch.
Moyer jumped the cushion on the high side of turn four on lap 32, and O'Neal pulled away. Francis was able to get by McDowell for the third spot on lap 35, as Moyer once began to chase down O'Neal. When O'Neal got caught in lapped traffic, Moyer moved up and went by O'Neal for the lead coming off the second turn on the high side.
The last ten laps of the race saw Moyer, O'Neal and Francis battle for the point, but when the dust cleared on lap 50, it was Moyer, Francis and O'Neal.
O'Neal was the fast qualifier among the 80 entrants turning the 1/3-mile clay oval in 14.603 seconds for an average speed of 82.175 miles per hour, and then he went on to win the first 12-lap heat race. McDowell won the second heat race, and Dohm won the $50 Scott Performance Wire Bonus Award with a third heat race victory.
Moyer won the fourth heat race, and Johnson picked up the JE Pistons $100 Bonus Award after winning the fifth heat race. English won the sixth heat race. R.J. Conley won the first 15-lap Consolation Race in the Conley Trucking Rocket/Draime Grand Prix.
Pearson came from the 14th starting spot to win the Polaris ATVs second 15-lap Consolation Race in the Lucas Oil/Dunn-Benson Ford Rocket/Eatmon Taurus. Birkhofer charged from the 16th starting spot to win the third 15-lap Consolation Race.
The next round for the UDTRA Pro DirtCar Series will be Thursday night at East Bay Raceway with a $7,000-to-win 50-lap main event. Hot laps are scheduled for 5 p.m. For ticket and race day information call (813) 677-RACE (7223).
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 2 AT EAST BAY RACEWAY IN TAMPA, FL ON 2/6/02:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN CAR LAPS $ WON
1. 4 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR Ford 50 $5,000
2. 8 1 Steve Francis Ashland, KY Dodge 50 $3,000
3. 1 71 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN Chev. 50 $2,000
4. 6 96 Terry English Benton, KY Chev. 50 $1,750
5. 2 17m Dale McDowell Rossville, GA Pont. 50 $1,500
6. 12 28 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville, IL Chev. 50 $1,250
7. 13 30 Steve Shaver Parkersburg, WV Chev. 50 $1,000
8. 7 24 Rick Eckert York, PA Ford 50 $900
9. 21 15b Brian Birkhofer Muscatine, IA Pont. 50 $800
10. 24 29 Darrell Lanigan Union, KY Ford 50 $850
11. 20 1p Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville, FL Ford 50 $600
12. 15 4b Jackie Boggs Grayson, KY Chev. 50 $575
13. 9 w11 Rob Blair Titusville, PA Chev. 49 $550
14. 17 28m Jimmy Mars Elk Mound, WI Chev. 49 $525
15. 18 99 Donnie Moran Dresden, OH Chev. 49 $500
16. 23 7 Matt Miller Waterville, OH Pont. 49 $475
17. 27 71d Delmas Conley Wheelersburg, OH Chev. 49 $450
18. 26 6m Wendell Wallace Batesville, AR Pont. 49 $425
19. 14 18 Shannon Babb Decatur, IL Ford 32 $400
20. 28 07 Scott Cross Stevensville, MD Pont. 14 $400
21. 11 1* Chub Frank Sugar Grove, PA Chev. 12 $400
22. 5 19 Davey Johnson Greensburg, PA Pont. 9 $500
23. 3 6t Tim Dohm Charleston, WV Chev. 9 $450
24. 22 00k Randy Korte Highland, IL Pont. 7 $400
25. 19 71c R.J. Conley Wheelersburg, OH Pont. 7 $400
26. 10 E1 Mike Balzano Parkersburg, WV Chev. 7 $400
27. 16 1d Billy Drake Bloomington, IL Chev. 7 $400
28. 25 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN Ford 7 $400
ENTRIES: 80
PROVISIONALS: Bloomquist and Wallace
PROMOTER'S CHOICES: D. Conley and Cross
LEAD CHANGES: 1
LAP LEADERS: O'Neal, 1-36; Moyer, 37-50
LAPS LED: O'Neal, 36; Moyer, 14
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS HARD CHARGER: Lanigan (started 24th and finished 10th)
CAUTIONS: 4
TIME OF THE RACE: 39 Minutes and 33.460 Seconds
UDTRA DIXIE SHOOTOUT INVITEES: Francis, O'Neal, English, Erb, and Shaver (Promoter's Choice TBA)
HEAT RACES (12 Laps - Top 3 Transfer To Main Event):
1ST HEAT: 1. O'Neal; 2. Eckert; 3. Shaver; 4. R.J. Conley; 5. Korte; 6. Kohn; 7. Dixon; 8. Cunningham; 9. A. Anderson; 10. Nobles; 11. Patterson.
2ND HEAT: 1. McDowell; 2. Francis; 3. Babb; 4. Deece; 5. Schlieper; 6. Coffey; 7. Wallace; 8. Troutman; 9. Harper; 10. Hedrick; 11. Douglas; 12. Clewell.
SCOTT PERFORMANCE WIRE 3RD HEAT: 1. Dohm; 2. Blair; 3. Boggs; 4. Rod Conley; 5. Scheffler; 6. S. Smith; 7. Stone; 8. Cross; 9. Cook; 10. Alexander; 11. Doss; 12. Durig; 13. Autullo; 14. Setser.
4TH HEAT: 1. Moyer; 2. Balzano; 3. Drake; 4. Miller; 5. Wildung; 6. Montgomery; 7. Spiers; 8. Kuster; 9. Frank Smith; 10. Pearson; 11. White (R); 12. Aukland; 13. Lucas.
JE PISTONS 5TH HEAT: 1. D. Johnson; 2. Frank; 3. Mars; 4. Lanigan; 5. J. Anderson (R); 6. Russell; 7. Mason; 8. Dauber; 9. Austin; 10. Jones; 11. Bloomquist; 12. Zidar.
6TH HEAT: 1. English; 2. Erb; 3. Moran; 4. D. Conley; 5. Myers; 6. Freddy Smith; 7. Ogle (R); 8. Banal; 9. Peck; 10. Kraus (R); 11. Birkhofer; 12. Tankersley (R); 13. Daugherty.
CONSOLATION RACES (15 Laps - Top 2 Finishers Transfer To Main Event):
1ST CONSY: 1. R.J. Conley; 2. Korte; 3. Schlieper; 4. Deece; 5. Harper; 6. Coffey; 7. Wallace; 8. Gault; 9. Hedrick; 10. Troutman; 11. Cunningham; 12. Clewell; 13. Nobles; 14. Yeager; 15. Kohn; 16. Dixon.
POLARIS ATVs 2ND CONSY: 1. Pearson; 2. Miller; 3. Scheffler; 4. Stone; 5. Wildung; 6. Alexander; 7. Durig; 8. S. Smith; 9. Cook; 10. Cross; 11. Montgomery; 12. Lucas; 13. Doss; 14. Setser; 15. Frank Smith; 16. Spiers; 17. Kuster; 18. Autullo; 19. Rod Conley; 20. White (R).
3RD CONSY: 1. Birkhofer; 2. Lanigan; 3. Myers; 4. Mason; 5. Dauber; 6. Douglas; 7. Austin; 8. Freddy Smith; 9. Tankersley (R); 10. Anderson (R); 11. Ogle (R); 12. Banal; 13. Kraus (R); 14. Daugherty; 15. D. Conley; 16. Russell.
UDTRA POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 2/6/02:
1. Dale McDowell - 320
2. Rick Eckert - 302
3. Darrell Lanigan - 289
4. Steve Francis - 281
5. Jimmy Mars - 271
6. Scott Bloomquist - 265
7. Donnie Moran - 264
8. Freddy Smith - 260
9. Dennis Erb Jr. - 253
10. Steve Shaver - 251
11. Shannon Babb - 245
12. Wendell Wallace - 240
13. Mike Balzano - 237
14. Earl Pearson Jr. - 229
15. Dan Schlieper - 222
16. Randy Korte - 221
17. Billy Moyer - 215
18. Ray Cook - 204
19. Mark Kraus (R) - 193
20. Shane Tankersley (R) - 191
R - Denotes Lucas Oil Rookie of the Year Candidate
Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board!
news@karnac.orgor send a letter to the editor!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
