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| Palmer Grasps Lake City Late Model Win | By Jon Harney
Lake City, FL (6/9/02)- Lake City Speedway's Late Model division saw a new face in victory lane as Gary Palmer fended off Eddie Gainey in the closing stages to take the 25-lap feature. Palmer took advantage of his starting spot on the pole by taking the early lead. Rance Phillips reeled in Palmer and challenged until his car broke an axle on lap eight. Palmer ran unchallenged through the mid stages while Gainey made steady progress from the rear of the field to assume second. A caution on lap 17 brought the field together and gave Gainey an opportunity for the win. The next eight laps were white-knuckle time for Palmer as he weathered the best challenges Gainey could dish out to hang on for the upset victory. Eric Platt, Kevin Wheeler, and Wayne Stevens were third through fifth.
As good as the Late Model race was, the Street Stock finale was even better. Dean Sands overtook polesitter Brad Fiene on lap 3 for the lead and looked to have an easy go of things as several members of the pack struggled to get around Fiene. Shane Taylor attempted a pass on Fiene on the backstretch, but both cars made contact and Taylor made hard contact with the wall in turn three. Shane was unhurt, but a resulting broken axle ended his ride.
Fiene would remain in second until spinning at midway. This changed the complexion of the race considerably as now Sands had to contend with Jason Garver and Duane Teckenbrock. The trio fought nose to tail as the laps wound down. Lapped traffic was the key as an unobservant backmarker blocked the leaders. While Sands and Garver were battling for survival Teckenbrock took advantage of the chaos to slip by Garver and come up just a nose short of beating Sands at the checkers. The final order was Sands, Teckenbrock, Garver, Randy Smith, and Fiene.
Derek Crawford had been on a good tear this season as he strung together four wins in a row in Modifieds. While he looked impressive each time, the question in the back of everyone's mind was "How would he do if Marion Sizemore showed up?". Sizemore, a past track champion and arguably the best Modified driver in the region, had already won one feature at Lake City in dominant fashion earlier in the year. Tonight, the question would be answered as both gunslingers rode into town.
Crawford rocketed from the pole in the feature to beat Mark Whitener to the first turn. Whitener showed strength early but problems forced him to drop off the pace. Sizemore, meanwhile, was not at 100% and appeared to be fighting his car throughout the event. No such problem for Crawford, though, as he rodemon a rail for all twenty circuits and took the win by half the length of the track. This was a rare instance where Sizemore came, saw, and didn't conquer. However, he had more than enough to put away the rest of the field and take second. Kyle Owen, Jason Garver, and Shane Nichols rounded out the top five.
Twenty-six Pure Stocks took each other on in wheel-to-wheel combat. As per the norm there was plenty of beating, bashing, and banging. The Yellow Sea of Cautions prevented the drivers from doing much passing and the top five finishers came from the front three rows. When the time-shortened race ended, Coleman Jandle III took the win courtesy of a pass he made on Brad Paulsen during a restart on lap five. Paulsen was second followed by Joey Rolling, Jonathan Davis, and Billy Brock.
In the Florida Mini Sprint Association main event, Ryan Thomas took the measure of the 14-car field to earn the win. The remainder of the top five was Doug Craig, Tom Wilson, Allen Craig, and T. J. Knowles. This was an entertaining race that saw many position changes and few cautions. The Mini Sprints are welcome back any time.
In Mini Stock action, a Stalnaker Triumvirate bested the 11-car field. Jeff Stalnaker Sr. beat out Jeff Stalnaker Jr. and Bill Stalnaker at the line in that order. Curtis Clark tried to prevent a Stalnaker sweep and held off Bill for third until the late stages of the race. Clark finished fourth ahead of Ed Roberts.
Racing on Saturday June 15 will be highlighted by a 40 lap race for the Late Model Sportsman cars that pays $1500 to win. The next Saturday June 22nd will see the arrival of the Super Late Models tackling the 3/8-mile facility for a 40 lap event that pays $3000 to the winner. All regular Lake City Speedway divisions will run on both nights. Racing starts at 7:30 PM. For more details, call 229-891-2886 or 229-873-0812.
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