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April 24, 1999 -John Matthews Singler Sings Victory Song at Volusia Clear skies and light winds greeted race fans at Volusia Speedway Park Saturday night. The full sixteen race program, presented by T.G. Lee Dairy, brought out a large field of cars for great racing action.
Mike Singler started on the pole for the 30 lap Deland Truck Center Late Model feature with Ray Price along side. At the drop of the green flag, Singler jumped into the lead followed by Rod Burton and the rest of the field of eighteen cars. Singler and Burton pulled away from the pack as Roho Simms, Mike Eubanks, Eric Platt, and Lawton Minchew battled for position. Singler had the car to beat tonight as he began to draw away from Burton after a few laps under green. Three cautions bunched the field and on each restart, Burton pressured Singler for a few laps until Singler again established his dominance.
Mike Singler continued to distance himself from the field, winning by almost a full straight to capture his first victory at Volusia Speedway Park. Burton finished second followed by Minchew, Simms and Eubanks rounding out the top five. Point leader Pratt had a rough night, pitting twice under caution because of a smoking engine. Finally, he became involved in a three car wreck in turns three and four that put him out of the event. Eubanks and Burton captured heat race wins.
Twenty cars lined up for the Action Performance Street Stock feature. Terry Lewis jumped out to the early lead in the 20 lap feature. Paul Shead worked his way up into second place and began applying heavy pressure to Lewis. The crowd watched in amazement as Shead stalked Lewis lap after lap until he dove under Lewis in turn two on the final lap taking the lead and holding on for the win. Lewis held on for second place with I. Lloyd, point leader Kathy Gainy, and Wayne Heckle rounding out the top five. Lloyd and Gainy won the Street Stock heat races.
Mike Snyder started fourth and passed early leader Robert Gigon to make it back to back victories in OB's Restaurant Hobby Stock action. An overflow field of cars engaged in wild, unpredictable racing, which led to the feature being shortened to 18 laps. Point leader Jimmy Heffner finished close behind Snyder in second. Pat Vareika moved up from mid-pack to finish third followed by Gigon, and George Richard in fifth. Heat wins went to James Peters, Brian Blevins, and Heffner. Richard Price won the consi.
Johnny Zachary passed his brother Timmy early in the Pure Stock feature and never looked back taking the checkers. This made it a clean sweep on the night as he also capture the heat race.
Bill Peterson picked up the final win of the night in the Sysco Foods Mini Stock feature. He picked up the lead after early leader Mark Paterniti lost control in turn three starting a four car pileup. Paterniti and Schmermund captured heat race victories earlier in the night.
Volusia Speedway Park will be in action again next Saturday night at 8pm with a full race program sponsored by All Quality. It is located on State Road 40, 15 miles west of I-95. Call (904) 985-4402 or visit their revamped web site at www.volusiaspeedwaypark.com for details.
John Matthews |
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