Columbia (Batesburg),SC 3-20-04
By Brett Emrick
Darren “The Thriller” Miller of Chadwick,IL led every lap of the Stacker2® Xtreme DirtCar Series sanctioned/Southern Xtreme DirtCar Series co-sanctioned “Spring Fling 50” at I-20 Speedway in Batesburg,SC Saturday pocketing the $10,000 prize for his first career Stacker2® Xtreme DirtCar Series victory. Driving the Seubert Calf Ranches No. 32D Miller Racing Rocket Chassis/Pro Power Racing/Taurus, the 2004 LUCAS OIL “Rookie of the Year” contender beat Donnie Moran into turn one at the drop of the green flag keeping his car ahead of Moran and the rest of the field and never looked back. Moran held on for second with Jimmy Mars third, Brian Birkhofer fourth and Earl Pearson Jr. fifth. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Don O’Neal in sixth trailed by Matt Miller, Shane Clanton, Doug Sanders and Ray Cook.
“This is a real thrill!”, stated the very happy winner. “We got the jump on Donnie at the drop of the green flag and that pretty much was the race. I knew Donnie was back there and I just had to tell myself to stay calm, hit my marks and run my line. I don’t want to say the track rubbered up but it did get somewhat black and then about the halfway mark the black started to go away and the red clay started to show again. There was no way I was giving up the bottom because I knew if I did Donnie would blow right by me. The Goodyear Eagles performed flawlessly. Man, the tires worked great. We ran the X-300 all the way through the program but did put a X-400 on the right rear for the feature. The tires never gave up and they can be used again. 50 laps didn’t hurt ‘em a bit”.
When asked how it felt to win his career first Stacker2® Xtreme DirtCar Series victory the personable driver said, “Awesome! I mean we ran like a dog at East Bay in February. We didn’t make any of the main events down there. Then to lead all the way….I’ve never led one of these races. Lead all 50 and win. Man, it doesn’t get any better than this!”.
Moran and Miller brought the 27 car field to the green flag with Miller using the outside groove of the semi-banked 4/10ths mile speedway to pull ahead of Moran as the pair exited turn two. That basically was the race as once Miller had the point and dropped to the low groove he felt no challenges the rest of the way. Mars settled into third at the end of the first lap with Birkhofer fourth and Pearson Jr. fifth.
By lap 10 Miller had opened up a nearly 12 car advantage on Moran but that was quickly whittled down to four car lengths as Miller looked for a way to put Bill Elliott a lap down. Miller worked his way past Elliott on lap 13 and quickly opened up distance on Moran. The field continued to race hard and fast as the laps quickly clicked off. By the halfway point of the event, Miller held a six car length lead over Moran with Mars, Birkhofer and Pearson Jr. occupying third through fifth. O’neal sat sixth with M. Miller seventh, Cook eighth, Sanders ninth and Eddie Carrier Jr. tenth.
Miller saw the track clear ahead of him on lap 37 when the races first caution flew as Jack Pennington slowed to a stop in turn three and then headed pitside. Miller used the clear track to again open a healthy margin over Moran but that all changed on lap 44 when Steve Shaver and Shane Tankersley tangled exiting turn four locking their cars together momentarily until separating. Tanksersley stalled his car bringing out the caution.
The final six laps was all Miller as he quickly assumed his advantage over Moran and kept it taking the checkered flag with a five car margin of victory.
The $42,000 event attracted 51 drivers to the Wendy Hall promoted facility with Birkhofer earning the RINGERS GLOVES Time Trials Fast Qualifier award with a fast lap of 16.936 seconds. Heat race wins fell to Birkhofer, Mars, Pearson Jr., Cook, Moran and D. Miller. Moran copped the YJ STINGER EXTREME ENERGY DRINK Heat Race Winners Dash while the “B” Mains went to Dan Breuer and David Smith.
Stacker 2 Xtreme DirtCar Series Race Report For 3-20-04
Round 4-2004 Season-"Spring Fling 50”"
I-20 Speedway-Columbia (Batesburg),SC-4/10ths Mile Oval
$42,000 Purse-$10,000 To Win-50 Lap Feature
Showing Finish Pos.,Start Pos.,Car #,Driver,Laps Completed,Reason Out (if any) and Purse
1. (2) #32D Darren Miller® 50 Running $10,100
2. (1) #99 Donnie Moran 50 Running $ 6,100
3. (3) #28M Jimmy Mars 50 Running $ 3,100
4. (5) #15B Brian Birkhofer 50 Running $ 2,600
5. (4) # 1 Earl Pearson Jr. 50 Running $ 2,100
6. (8) #71 Don O’Neal 50 Running $ 1,800
7. (7) # 7 Matt Miller 50 Running $ 1,600
8. (13) #25 Shane Clanton® 50 Running $ 1,400
9. (12) #42 Doug Sanders 50 Running $ 1,200
10. (6) #53 Ray Cook 50 Running $ 1,100
11. (10) #28 Eddie Carrier Jr.® 50 Running $ 1,000
12. (11) #88 Deano Long 50 Running $ 950
13. (16) # 9 Billy Drake® 50 Running $ 900
14. (15) # 2 Dennis Franklin 50 Running $ 875
15. (18) #28X Gerald Mintz 50 Running $ 850
16. (17) #72 John Mason 50 Running $ 825
17. (19) #20 Dan Breuer 50 Running $ 800
18. (21) #19J Davey Johnson 50 Running $ 750
19. (20) #11 David Smith 50 Running $ 700
20. (24) #32 Larry Blankenship 50 Running $ 700
21. (22) #88i Petey Ivey 50 Running $ 700
22. (27) #9E Bill Elliott 49 Running $ 700
23. (9) #95 Buckshot Miles 44 Mechanical $ 700
24. (25) #T31 Shane Tankersley 44 Accident $ 700
25. (23) # 0 Steve Shaver 44 Accident $ 700
26. (14) #01 Jack Pennington 37 Mechanical $ 700
27. (26) #23 Patrick Sheltra 26 Mechanical $ 700
Time Of Race: 25 Mins. 17 Secs.
Yellow Flags: Two-Laps 37,44
Red Flags: None
Lap Leaders: One-D. Miller 1-50
GEMINI AUTO CARE CENTERS "Hard Charger of the Race": Clanton (advanced 5 positions)
LUCAS OIL "Rookie of the Race": D. Miller
Provisional Starters: Shaver,Blanksenship,Tanksersley,Sheltra,Elliott
Car Count: 51
RINGERS GLOVES "Fast Time Award": Brian Birkhofer 16.936 secs.
Heat Race Winners: Birkhofer,Mars,Pearson Jr.,Cook,Moran,D. Miller
"B" Main Winners: Breuer, Smith
YJ STINGER EXTREME ENERGY DRINKS Dash Winner: Moran
Heat # 1 (10 Laps-Top 3 Advance To Feature): Birkhofer,M. Miller,Clanton,Shaver,Gibbons,Autry,Duncan,Sheltra,R. Smith
Heat # 2 (10 Laps-Top 3 Advance To Feature): Mars,O’Neal,Pennington,Breuer,Shirey,Blankenship,Collins,Schiltz
Heat # 3 (10 Laps-Top 3 Advance To Feature): Pearson Jr.,Miles,Franklin,Johnson,Whiseant,Van Wormer,Arnett,Parker,Simon
Heat # 4 (10 Laps-Top 3 Advance To Feature): Cook,Carrier Jr.,Drake,D. Smith,Doar,Lucas,Elliott,Corley,B. Bullard
Heat # 5 (10 Laps-Top 3 Advance To Feature): Moran,Long,Mason,Ivey,Conley,Dedwylder,T. Bullard,NS-Williams
Heat # 6 (10 Laps-Top 3 Advance To Feature): D. Miller,Sanders,Mintz,Curry,Tankersley,Cosgrove,Gann,Wilson
"B" Main # 1 (15 Laps-Top 2 Advance To Feature): Breuer,Johnson,Whiseant,Gibbons,Autry,Van Wormer,Shirey,Blankenship, Duncan,Sheltra,Collins,R. Smith,Arnett,Parker,Shaver,NS-Schiltz,Simon
"B" Main # 2 (15 Laps-Top 2 Advance To Feature): D. Smith,Ivey,Curry,Doar,Dedwylder,Tankersley,Lucas,Cosgrove,Gann,Conley,Corley,T. Bullard,Wilson,B. Bullard,Elliott,NS-Williams
YJ STINGER EXTREME ENERGY DRINK Heat Winners Dash (6 Laps-Finish Determines First Three Rows Of Feature): Moran,
D. Miller,Mars,Pearson Jr.,Birkhofer,NS-Cook
By Brett Emrick
Darren “The Thriller” Miller of Chadwick,IL led every lap of the Stacker2® Xtreme DirtCar Series sanctioned/Southern Xtreme DirtCar Series co-sanctioned “Spring Fling 50” at I-20 Speedway in Batesburg,SC Saturday pocketing the $10,000 prize for his first career Stacker2® Xtreme DirtCar Series victory. Driving the Seubert Calf Ranches No. 32D Miller Racing Rocket Chassis/Pro Power Racing/Taurus, the 2004 LUCAS OIL “Rookie of the Year” contender beat Donnie Moran into turn one at the drop of the green flag keeping his car ahead of Moran and the rest of the field and never looked back. Moran held on for second with Jimmy Mars third, Brian Birkhofer fourth and Earl Pearson Jr. fifth. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Don O’Neal in sixth trailed by Matt Miller, Shane Clanton, Doug Sanders and Ray Cook.
“This is a real thrill!”, stated the very happy winner. “We got the jump on Donnie at the drop of the green flag and that pretty much was the race. I knew Donnie was back there and I just had to tell myself to stay calm, hit my marks and run my line. I don’t want to say the track rubbered up but it did get somewhat black and then about the halfway mark the black started to go away and the red clay started to show again. There was no way I was giving up the bottom because I knew if I did Donnie would blow right by me. The Goodyear Eagles performed flawlessly. Man, the tires worked great. We ran the X-300 all the way through the program but did put a X-400 on the right rear for the feature. The tires never gave up and they can be used again. 50 laps didn’t hurt ‘em a bit”.
When asked how it felt to win his career first Stacker2® Xtreme DirtCar Series victory the personable driver said, “Awesome! I mean we ran like a dog at East Bay in February. We didn’t make any of the main events down there. Then to lead all the way….I’ve never led one of these races. Lead all 50 and win. Man, it doesn’t get any better than this!”.
Moran and Miller brought the 27 car field to the green flag with Miller using the outside groove of the semi-banked 4/10ths mile speedway to pull ahead of Moran as the pair exited turn two. That basically was the race as once Miller had the point and dropped to the low groove he felt no challenges the rest of the way. Mars settled into third at the end of the first lap with Birkhofer fourth and Pearson Jr. fifth.
By lap 10 Miller had opened up a nearly 12 car advantage on Moran but that was quickly whittled down to four car lengths as Miller looked for a way to put Bill Elliott a lap down. Miller worked his way past Elliott on lap 13 and quickly opened up distance on Moran. The field continued to race hard and fast as the laps quickly clicked off. By the halfway point of the event, Miller held a six car length lead over Moran with Mars, Birkhofer and Pearson Jr. occupying third through fifth. O’neal sat sixth with M. Miller seventh, Cook eighth, Sanders ninth and Eddie Carrier Jr. tenth.
Miller saw the track clear ahead of him on lap 37 when the races first caution flew as Jack Pennington slowed to a stop in turn three and then headed pitside. Miller used the clear track to again open a healthy margin over Moran but that all changed on lap 44 when Steve Shaver and Shane Tankersley tangled exiting turn four locking their cars together momentarily until separating. Tanksersley stalled his car bringing out the caution.
The final six laps was all Miller as he quickly assumed his advantage over Moran and kept it taking the checkered flag with a five car margin of victory.
The $42,000 event attracted 51 drivers to the Wendy Hall promoted facility with Birkhofer earning the RINGERS GLOVES Time Trials Fast Qualifier award with a fast lap of 16.936 seconds. Heat race wins fell to Birkhofer, Mars, Pearson Jr., Cook, Moran and D. Miller. Moran copped the YJ STINGER EXTREME ENERGY DRINK Heat Race Winners Dash while the “B” Mains went to Dan Breuer and David Smith.
Stacker 2 Xtreme DirtCar Series Race Report For 3-20-04
Round 4-2004 Season-"Spring Fling 50”"
I-20 Speedway-Columbia (Batesburg),SC-4/10ths Mile Oval
$42,000 Purse-$10,000 To Win-50 Lap Feature
Showing Finish Pos.,Start Pos.,Car #,Driver,Laps Completed,Reason Out (if any) and Purse
1. (2) #32D Darren Miller® 50 Running $10,100
2. (1) #99 Donnie Moran 50 Running $ 6,100
3. (3) #28M Jimmy Mars 50 Running $ 3,100
4. (5) #15B Brian Birkhofer 50 Running $ 2,600
5. (4) # 1 Earl Pearson Jr. 50 Running $ 2,100
6. (8) #71 Don O’Neal 50 Running $ 1,800
7. (7) # 7 Matt Miller 50 Running $ 1,600
8. (13) #25 Shane Clanton® 50 Running $ 1,400
9. (12) #42 Doug Sanders 50 Running $ 1,200
10. (6) #53 Ray Cook 50 Running $ 1,100
11. (10) #28 Eddie Carrier Jr.® 50 Running $ 1,000
12. (11) #88 Deano Long 50 Running $ 950
13. (16) # 9 Billy Drake® 50 Running $ 900
14. (15) # 2 Dennis Franklin 50 Running $ 875
15. (18) #28X Gerald Mintz 50 Running $ 850
16. (17) #72 John Mason 50 Running $ 825
17. (19) #20 Dan Breuer 50 Running $ 800
18. (21) #19J Davey Johnson 50 Running $ 750
19. (20) #11 David Smith 50 Running $ 700
20. (24) #32 Larry Blankenship 50 Running $ 700
21. (22) #88i Petey Ivey 50 Running $ 700
22. (27) #9E Bill Elliott 49 Running $ 700
23. (9) #95 Buckshot Miles 44 Mechanical $ 700
24. (25) #T31 Shane Tankersley 44 Accident $ 700
25. (23) # 0 Steve Shaver 44 Accident $ 700
26. (14) #01 Jack Pennington 37 Mechanical $ 700
27. (26) #23 Patrick Sheltra 26 Mechanical $ 700
Time Of Race: 25 Mins. 17 Secs.
Yellow Flags: Two-Laps 37,44
Red Flags: None
Lap Leaders: One-D. Miller 1-50
GEMINI AUTO CARE CENTERS "Hard Charger of the Race": Clanton (advanced 5 positions)
LUCAS OIL "Rookie of the Race": D. Miller
Provisional Starters: Shaver,Blanksenship,Tanksersley,Sheltra,Elliott
Car Count: 51
RINGERS GLOVES "Fast Time Award": Brian Birkhofer 16.936 secs.
Heat Race Winners: Birkhofer,Mars,Pearson Jr.,Cook,Moran,D. Miller
"B" Main Winners: Breuer, Smith
YJ STINGER EXTREME ENERGY DRINKS Dash Winner: Moran
Heat # 1 (10 Laps-Top 3 Advance To Feature): Birkhofer,M. Miller,Clanton,Shaver,Gibbons,Autry,Duncan,Sheltra,R. Smith
Heat # 2 (10 Laps-Top 3 Advance To Feature): Mars,O’Neal,Pennington,Breuer,Shirey,Blankenship,Collins,Schiltz
Heat # 3 (10 Laps-Top 3 Advance To Feature): Pearson Jr.,Miles,Franklin,Johnson,Whiseant,Van Wormer,Arnett,Parker,Simon
Heat # 4 (10 Laps-Top 3 Advance To Feature): Cook,Carrier Jr.,Drake,D. Smith,Doar,Lucas,Elliott,Corley,B. Bullard
Heat # 5 (10 Laps-Top 3 Advance To Feature): Moran,Long,Mason,Ivey,Conley,Dedwylder,T. Bullard,NS-Williams
Heat # 6 (10 Laps-Top 3 Advance To Feature): D. Miller,Sanders,Mintz,Curry,Tankersley,Cosgrove,Gann,Wilson
"B" Main # 1 (15 Laps-Top 2 Advance To Feature): Breuer,Johnson,Whiseant,Gibbons,Autry,Van Wormer,Shirey,Blankenship, Duncan,Sheltra,Collins,R. Smith,Arnett,Parker,Shaver,NS-Schiltz,Simon
"B" Main # 2 (15 Laps-Top 2 Advance To Feature): D. Smith,Ivey,Curry,Doar,Dedwylder,Tankersley,Lucas,Cosgrove,Gann,Conley,Corley,T. Bullard,Wilson,B. Bullard,Elliott,NS-Williams
YJ STINGER EXTREME ENERGY DRINK Heat Winners Dash (6 Laps-Finish Determines First Three Rows Of Feature): Moran,
D. Miller,Mars,Pearson Jr.,Birkhofer,NS-Cook
