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| Ricky Turner Wins SAS Event at Five Flags | PENSACOLA, Fla. (July 20, 2002) - The Southern All Star traveling series played two this past weekend, with races at Pensacola's Five Flags Speedway and Montgomery Motor Speedway. Two-time defending series Champion Ricky Turner was the weekend's All Star, hitting two $5000 home runs.
Friday at Five Flags, J.R. Norris led eighteen cars in Crown-Spray Power Qualifying with a time of 16.922 in the Bobby Ray Jones Monte Carlo, but lined up outside of Tim Fryar after the inversion roll. Fryar got the jump on the start and led the first 19 laps.
Norris followed in second with Billy Barton showing some early muscle in third. David Hole made his first All Star start of 2002 and spent the early part of the race swapping the fourth and fifth positions with John Wilkinson III. Wayne Willard had an unusually slow qualifying time, but quickly made his way into the top five once the green was waved.
Turner, who has already won two of the track's Snowball Challenge Series 150-lap races, settled in just out of the top five. Turner made passes when the opportunity presented itself, but more importantly, saved his tires for later.
Norris moved into the top spot on lap 20 while Turner moved past Willard and Hole into third six laps later. Turner seemed to be able to go when he wanted as he picked his pace up and passed Fryar for second on lap 48 and then moved under Norris to take the lead two laps later. The top five at the fifty-lap mark was Turner, Norris, Fryar, Wilkinson, and Duwayne Middlebrooks.
Once in the lead, Turner used the tires he had conserved to cut down on his competition. One by one, Turner put cars a lap down. By the time the competition yellow flew on lap 100, only Fryar and Donald Long were on the same lap with Turner.
Turner used the same strategy in the last portion of the race. When the green flew to restart the race, Willard and Wilkinson charged ahead and back on the lead lap. Turner even surrendered the lead back to Fryar on lap 104. But when Turner decided to go, he was gone, retaking the lead on lap 128.
Turner pulled away for an impressive win. Long, who started fifteenth, was able to get by Fryar for second. Norris finished fourth ahead of Wilkinson. Sixth through tenth went to Jimmy Henderson, Willard, Jeremy Rice, Dennis Schoenfeld, and Keith Thorpe.
Saturday, the series moved north to Montgomery Motor Speedway for another 150-lap event. Once again, Norris was the fastest qualifier of the 24 cars, this time in his own Dodge Intrepid.
Wilkinson lined up on the pole, but Dave Mader III took the lead from the outside. Wilkinson fought back and took the lead on the second circuit. Norris followed in third with Keith Cahela fourth and MMS veteran Duwayne Middlebrooks fifth. Turner started seventh and used the same game plan as the night before, not pushing the issue early.
Although Wilkinson continued to lead, there was plenty of passing back in the field as the drivers tried to position themselves for the halfway point and planned time out period. Turner decided to make his move up around the lap 30 mark, moving into fourth and then into third ten laps later. Willard also worked his way forward, eventually taking third from Turner on lap 57. A yellow flag on lap 69 brought the field in for tires and fuel a few laps early with Wilkinson leading Norris, Willard, Turner, and Fryar.
When the race resumed, Wilkinson continued to show the way around the half-mile. Turner lingered around the top five until turning up the heat on lap 92. By lap 100, he had disposed of Johnny Henderson and Willard and was sitting in third behind Wilkinson and Norris. The race was red flagged on lap 110 for a crash that ended the nights of Johnny Brazier and Ken Weaver.
After the restart, it was time for Turner to go, and he moved past Norris for second on lap 119 and set out after Wilkinson. Turner worked on Wilkinson for several laps, looking for a way past the race long leader. On lap 137, Turner made the inside move coming off turn four to take the lead. Wilkinson wasn't going to give the lead away, however. As Turner made a deep run into turn one to complete the pass, Wilkinson dove back under Turner and briefly got his nose back ahead of Turner's Taurus. But as the pair came off turn two, Turner shot back into the lead for good.
Turner led the remaining 13 laps to complete his weekend sweep. Wilkinson held off Norris for second with Henderson fourth and Mader fifth. Sixth through tenth went to Willard, Ted Musgrave Jr., Keith Rankin, Jimmy Henderson, and Billy Barton.
Norris maintained his 36-point lead over Wilkinson as the series heads to its next event, scheduled for August 2-3 at Lanier National Speedway. For more information contact the series at (256) 539-4484 or visit the series web site at www.southern-allstars.com.
RESULTS
Five Flags Speedway
1. Ricky Turner
2. Donald Long
3. Tim Fryar
4. J.R. Norris
5. John Wilkinson III
6. Jimmy Henderson
7. Wayne Willard
8. Jeremy Rice
9. Dennis Schoenfeld
10. Keith Thorpe
11. David Hole
12. Ken McFarland
13. Billy Barton
14. Bill Little
15. Johnny Henderson
16. Mark Chrudimsky
17. Ken Weaver
18. Gary McMorrow
DNS A.J. Ganino
Crown Spray Power Fast Qualifier- J. R. Norris 16.922
Last Car on lead lap- Tim Fryar
Lap Leaders- Tim Fryar- laps 1-19, 19 laps
J.R. Norris- laps 20-49, 30 laps
Ricky Turner- laps 50-103, 54 laps
Fryar- laps 104-127, 24 laps
Turner- laps 128-150, 23 laps
Cautions 3 for 16 laps
Montgomery Motor Speedway
1. Ricky Turner
2. John Wilkinson
3. J.R. Norris
4. Johnny Henderson
5. Dave Mader III
6. Wayne Willard
7. Ted Musgrave Jr.
8. Keith Rankin
9. Jimmy Henderson
10. Billy Barton
11. Jackie McGuire
12. Rocky Rogers
13. Brian Farley
14. Dennis Schoenfeld
15. Doug Reid III
16. Dennis Reno Jr.
17. Johnny Brazier
18. Ken Weaver
19. Tim Fryar
20. Keith Cahela
21. Joe Hornsby
22. Duwayne Middlebrooks
23. Stuart Dunn
24. Andy Antinoro
Crown Spray Power fast Qualifier- J.R. Norris 18.993
Last Car on Lead Lap- Jimmy Henderson
Laps Leaders- Dave Mader III- laps 1 to 1, 1 lap
John Wilkinson III- laps 2-136, 135 laps
Ricky Turner- laps 137-150, 14 laps
Cautions- 8 for 30 laps
UPCOMING SAS ASPHALT RACING SERIES EVENTS:
AUG 2-3 FRI-SAT LANIER NATIONAL SPEEDWAY—GAINESVILLE, GA
AUG 10 SAT BIRMINGHAM INT’L RACEWAY—BIRMINGHAM, AL
AUG 31 SAT SENOIA RACEWAY—SENOIA, GA
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