Lonnie Wheatley - LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 26, 2002) - Paul McMahan slipped around Garry Lee Maier for the lead on the fourth round then held off the challenges of Daryn Pittman and Terry Gray to win Saturday night's 40-lap 15th Annual Team Affiliated Short Track Nationals presented by American Racer feature at Little Rock's I-30 Speedway. McMahan earned $15,000 for his winning effort.
Maier earned the pole position for the main event by topping ASCS champion Tim Crawley, Gary Wright and McMahan in the Pack Dash for Cash, which earned Maier an extra $500. Maier led the feature field into the first turn but it was outside front row starter Crawley who slid into the lead as the field raced off turn two, only to see the start waved off when Mike Ward spun in turn three.
On the ensuing restart, Maier and Crawley made slight contact entering turn one, with Maier taking command and Crawley suffering a broken torsion stop. The race's final caution then flew after one round when All-Stars champion Chad Kemenah spun in turn two. Crawley went to the pit area and made quick repairs on his mount during the caution and rejoined the field at the rear.
Maier took off on the restart with McMahan, Wright, sixth-starter Pittman and eighth-starter Gray in tow. With Maier running the cushion, McMahan quickly began challenging on the low side and took command when Maier got loose exiting turn four on the fourth circuit. With McMahan and Maier showing the way, Pittman passed Wright for third one lap later, with Gray and Shane Stewart also getting by Wright on the seventh round.
With the transplanted Californian McMahan leading the way, Maier held second until the 12th lap when Pittman got by him, with Gray and Stewart making their way past Maier over the next three laps. McMahan held an eight car-length lead after 15 rounds, but Pittman began cutting into his lead at that point as lapped traffic became a factor on the quarter-mile oval.
Working the bottom of the track to perfection in the Cooper Racing Enterprises J&J, McMahan found himself fighting off Pittman's rim-riding challenges at the midway point. While McMahan was fending off Pittman's challenges, Gray closed the gap and stayed within striking distance throughout.
McMahan, who also topped Friday night's preliminary feature, was up to all challenges though, holding off Pittman over the final rounds and earning a two car-length victory at the checkered flag. Gray finished a close third, while Stewart survived a Jason Sides slide-job to claim fourth. Maier completed a strong weekend by rounding out the top five, with defending race winner Sides in sixth. Former STN winner Wayne Johnson crossed the stripe seventh, with two-time STN champion and Thursday preliminary winner Wright in eighth. Dale Howard finished a solid ninth, with rookie pilot Billy Alley rounding out the top ten.
Heat race victories for the 88-car field were claimed by Stewart, Pete Butler, Micah Schliemann, Sammy Swindell, Alley, Jake Peters, Jesse Hockett, Garry Bell, Gray and Johnson. Mitchell Moore, Ryan Jamison and Roger Rager were victorious in C Feature action, with Kemenah, Schliemann and Swindell topping the 15-lap B Features.
There were three flip victims during heat race action, including Skip Wilson, Kevin Ramey and A.G. Rains. Ramey got the worst of it, as his car was destroyed after contact with another car sent him flipping into the frontstretch wall exiting the fourth turn in the ninth heat. Wilson and Rains were able to return to action.
Results:
Pre-Qualified from Thursday and Friday's Preliminary Events: Gary Wright, Paul McMahan, Tim Crawley, Garry Lee Maier.
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. Shane Stewart, 2. Travis Rilat, 3. Zach Chappell, 4. Ronny Howard, 5. John Howard, 6. Tim Newman, 7. Sonny Sayre, 8. Greg Wilson. DNS: Ryan Anderson.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. Pete Butler, 2. Eric Schrock, 3. Eddie Gallagher, 4. Clint Garner, 5. Claud Estes, 6. Jim Davies, 7. Jamie Passmore, 8. Charles Chapmond, 9. Billy Foster.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. Micah Schliemann, 2. Paul Sides, 3. Wade Oliver, 4. Mike Ward, 5. Marvin Lough, 6. Phillip Heavelow, 7. Jerry Bell, 8. John Carney II, 9. Mark Huddleston.
Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Chad Kemenah, 3. Jan Howard, 4. Raymond Stull, 5. Joe Bustillos, 6. Mark Harrison, 7. Greg Rilat, 8. Josh Baker, 9. Brian Bell.
Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. Billy Alley, 2. Johnny Anderson, 3. Tim Montgomery, 4. Darren Stewart, 5. Mitchell Moore, 6. Marshall Skinner, 7. Joe Young, 8. Skip Wilson.
Sixth Heat (10 Laps): 1. Jake Peters, 2. Robbie Standridge, 3. Jason Johnson, 4. Roy Larkin, 5. Henry Gustavus, 6. Roger Rager, 7. Corey Herring, 8. Robert Bell.
Seventh Heat (10 Laps): 1. Jesse Hockett, 2. Daryn Pittman, 3. Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 4. Joey Montgomery, 5. Jerry Kamer, 6. Buddy Bodden, 7. George Prosser, 8. Michael Craddock.
Eighth Heat (10 Laps): 1. Garry Bell, 2. Ray Lee Goodwin, Jr., 3. Wally Henson, 4. John Carney, Sr., 5. Kirby Hagans, 6. Dewayne Prince, 7. Ernie Ainsworth, 8. Jody Roland.
Ninth Heat (10 Laps): 1. Terry Gray, 2. Jason Sides, 3. Larry Ball, Jr., 4. Toby Brown, 5. Ryan Jamison, 6. Ricky Stenhouse, 7. Kevin Ramey. DNS: Marce Kronk.
Tenth Heat (10 Laps): 1. Wayne Johnson, 2. Dale Howard, 3. A.G. Rains, 4. Jeff Buckner, 5. Cody Branchcomb, 6. Sammy Stuart, 7. D.J. Masner, 8. Bryce Vowan.
First C Feature (12 Laps): 1. Mitchell Moore, 2. Ernie Ainsworth, 3. Greg Rilat, 4. Jerry Kamer, 5. Dewayne Prince, 6. Tim Newman, 7. Joe Young, 8. Charles Chapmond, 9. Michael Craddock, 10. Sonny Sayre, 11. Josh Baker, 12. Billy Foster.
Second C Feature (12 Laps): 1. Ryan Jamison, 2. Marshall Skinner, 3. Henry Gustavus, 4. Greg Wilson, 5. Jim Davies, 6. Jamie Passmore, 7. Corey Herring, 8. Skip Wilson, 9. Mark Huddleston. DNS: Ricky Stenhouse, Jody Roland, Kevin Ramey.
Third C Feature (12 Laps): 1. Roger Rager, 2. D.J. Masner, 3. Sammy Stuart, 4. Mark Harrison, 5. George Prosser, 6. Robert Bell, 7. Phillip Heavelow, 8. John Carney II, 9. Jerry Bell. DNS: Buddy Bodden, Bryce Vowan, Brian Bell.
First B Feature (15 Laps): 1. Chad Kemenah, 2. Darren Stewart, 3. Zach Chappell, 4. Robbie Standridge, 5. Pete Butler, 6. Claud Estes, 7. Tim Montgomery, 8. Larry Ball, Jr., 9. Toby Brown, 10. Kirby Hagans, 11. Wade Oliver, 12. Mitchell Moore, 13. Ernie Ainsworth, 14. Raymond Stull.
Second B Feature (15 Laps): 1. Micah Schliemann, 2. Mike Ward, 3. Jason Johnson, 4. Garry Bell, 5. A.G. Rains, 6. Eddie Gallagher, 7. Jeff Buckner, 8. Roy Larkin, 9. Marshall Skinner, 10. Ryan Jamison, 11. Eric Schrock, 12. Wally Henson, 13. John Howard, 14. Cody Branchcomb.
Third B Feature (15 Laps): 1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Jan Howard, 3. Marvin Lough, 4. Paul Sides, 5. Ronny Howard, 6. Mitchell Moore, 7. Johnny Anderson, 8. D.J. Masner, 9. John Carney, Sr., 10. Clint Garner, 11. Roger Rager, 12. Joe Bustillos, 13. Joey Montgomery, 14. Lewis Jenkins, Jr.
Pack Dash for Cash (6 Laps): 1. Garry Lee Maier, 2. Tim Crawley, 3. Gary Wright, 4. Paul McMahan.
Short Track Nationals A Feature (40 Laps): 1. Paul McMahan, 2. Daryn Pittman, 3. Terry Gray, 4. Shane Stewart, 5. Garry Lee Maier, 6. Jason Sides, 7. Wayne Johnson, 8. Gary Wright, 9. Dale Howard, 10. Billy Alley, 11. Sammy Swindell, 12. Darren Stewart, 13. Mike Ward, 14. Jake Peters, 15. Jesse Hockett, 16. Jan Howard, 17. Travis Rilat, 18. Tim Crawley, 19. Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 20. Micah Schliemann, 21. Chad Kemenah.
Maier earned the pole position for the main event by topping ASCS champion Tim Crawley, Gary Wright and McMahan in the Pack Dash for Cash, which earned Maier an extra $500. Maier led the feature field into the first turn but it was outside front row starter Crawley who slid into the lead as the field raced off turn two, only to see the start waved off when Mike Ward spun in turn three.
On the ensuing restart, Maier and Crawley made slight contact entering turn one, with Maier taking command and Crawley suffering a broken torsion stop. The race's final caution then flew after one round when All-Stars champion Chad Kemenah spun in turn two. Crawley went to the pit area and made quick repairs on his mount during the caution and rejoined the field at the rear.
Maier took off on the restart with McMahan, Wright, sixth-starter Pittman and eighth-starter Gray in tow. With Maier running the cushion, McMahan quickly began challenging on the low side and took command when Maier got loose exiting turn four on the fourth circuit. With McMahan and Maier showing the way, Pittman passed Wright for third one lap later, with Gray and Shane Stewart also getting by Wright on the seventh round.
With the transplanted Californian McMahan leading the way, Maier held second until the 12th lap when Pittman got by him, with Gray and Stewart making their way past Maier over the next three laps. McMahan held an eight car-length lead after 15 rounds, but Pittman began cutting into his lead at that point as lapped traffic became a factor on the quarter-mile oval.
Working the bottom of the track to perfection in the Cooper Racing Enterprises J&J, McMahan found himself fighting off Pittman's rim-riding challenges at the midway point. While McMahan was fending off Pittman's challenges, Gray closed the gap and stayed within striking distance throughout.
McMahan, who also topped Friday night's preliminary feature, was up to all challenges though, holding off Pittman over the final rounds and earning a two car-length victory at the checkered flag. Gray finished a close third, while Stewart survived a Jason Sides slide-job to claim fourth. Maier completed a strong weekend by rounding out the top five, with defending race winner Sides in sixth. Former STN winner Wayne Johnson crossed the stripe seventh, with two-time STN champion and Thursday preliminary winner Wright in eighth. Dale Howard finished a solid ninth, with rookie pilot Billy Alley rounding out the top ten.
Heat race victories for the 88-car field were claimed by Stewart, Pete Butler, Micah Schliemann, Sammy Swindell, Alley, Jake Peters, Jesse Hockett, Garry Bell, Gray and Johnson. Mitchell Moore, Ryan Jamison and Roger Rager were victorious in C Feature action, with Kemenah, Schliemann and Swindell topping the 15-lap B Features.
There were three flip victims during heat race action, including Skip Wilson, Kevin Ramey and A.G. Rains. Ramey got the worst of it, as his car was destroyed after contact with another car sent him flipping into the frontstretch wall exiting the fourth turn in the ninth heat. Wilson and Rains were able to return to action.
Results:
Pre-Qualified from Thursday and Friday's Preliminary Events: Gary Wright, Paul McMahan, Tim Crawley, Garry Lee Maier.
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. Shane Stewart, 2. Travis Rilat, 3. Zach Chappell, 4. Ronny Howard, 5. John Howard, 6. Tim Newman, 7. Sonny Sayre, 8. Greg Wilson. DNS: Ryan Anderson.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. Pete Butler, 2. Eric Schrock, 3. Eddie Gallagher, 4. Clint Garner, 5. Claud Estes, 6. Jim Davies, 7. Jamie Passmore, 8. Charles Chapmond, 9. Billy Foster.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. Micah Schliemann, 2. Paul Sides, 3. Wade Oliver, 4. Mike Ward, 5. Marvin Lough, 6. Phillip Heavelow, 7. Jerry Bell, 8. John Carney II, 9. Mark Huddleston.
Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Chad Kemenah, 3. Jan Howard, 4. Raymond Stull, 5. Joe Bustillos, 6. Mark Harrison, 7. Greg Rilat, 8. Josh Baker, 9. Brian Bell.
Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. Billy Alley, 2. Johnny Anderson, 3. Tim Montgomery, 4. Darren Stewart, 5. Mitchell Moore, 6. Marshall Skinner, 7. Joe Young, 8. Skip Wilson.
Sixth Heat (10 Laps): 1. Jake Peters, 2. Robbie Standridge, 3. Jason Johnson, 4. Roy Larkin, 5. Henry Gustavus, 6. Roger Rager, 7. Corey Herring, 8. Robert Bell.
Seventh Heat (10 Laps): 1. Jesse Hockett, 2. Daryn Pittman, 3. Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 4. Joey Montgomery, 5. Jerry Kamer, 6. Buddy Bodden, 7. George Prosser, 8. Michael Craddock.
Eighth Heat (10 Laps): 1. Garry Bell, 2. Ray Lee Goodwin, Jr., 3. Wally Henson, 4. John Carney, Sr., 5. Kirby Hagans, 6. Dewayne Prince, 7. Ernie Ainsworth, 8. Jody Roland.
Ninth Heat (10 Laps): 1. Terry Gray, 2. Jason Sides, 3. Larry Ball, Jr., 4. Toby Brown, 5. Ryan Jamison, 6. Ricky Stenhouse, 7. Kevin Ramey. DNS: Marce Kronk.
Tenth Heat (10 Laps): 1. Wayne Johnson, 2. Dale Howard, 3. A.G. Rains, 4. Jeff Buckner, 5. Cody Branchcomb, 6. Sammy Stuart, 7. D.J. Masner, 8. Bryce Vowan.
First C Feature (12 Laps): 1. Mitchell Moore, 2. Ernie Ainsworth, 3. Greg Rilat, 4. Jerry Kamer, 5. Dewayne Prince, 6. Tim Newman, 7. Joe Young, 8. Charles Chapmond, 9. Michael Craddock, 10. Sonny Sayre, 11. Josh Baker, 12. Billy Foster.
Second C Feature (12 Laps): 1. Ryan Jamison, 2. Marshall Skinner, 3. Henry Gustavus, 4. Greg Wilson, 5. Jim Davies, 6. Jamie Passmore, 7. Corey Herring, 8. Skip Wilson, 9. Mark Huddleston. DNS: Ricky Stenhouse, Jody Roland, Kevin Ramey.
Third C Feature (12 Laps): 1. Roger Rager, 2. D.J. Masner, 3. Sammy Stuart, 4. Mark Harrison, 5. George Prosser, 6. Robert Bell, 7. Phillip Heavelow, 8. John Carney II, 9. Jerry Bell. DNS: Buddy Bodden, Bryce Vowan, Brian Bell.
First B Feature (15 Laps): 1. Chad Kemenah, 2. Darren Stewart, 3. Zach Chappell, 4. Robbie Standridge, 5. Pete Butler, 6. Claud Estes, 7. Tim Montgomery, 8. Larry Ball, Jr., 9. Toby Brown, 10. Kirby Hagans, 11. Wade Oliver, 12. Mitchell Moore, 13. Ernie Ainsworth, 14. Raymond Stull.
Second B Feature (15 Laps): 1. Micah Schliemann, 2. Mike Ward, 3. Jason Johnson, 4. Garry Bell, 5. A.G. Rains, 6. Eddie Gallagher, 7. Jeff Buckner, 8. Roy Larkin, 9. Marshall Skinner, 10. Ryan Jamison, 11. Eric Schrock, 12. Wally Henson, 13. John Howard, 14. Cody Branchcomb.
Third B Feature (15 Laps): 1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Jan Howard, 3. Marvin Lough, 4. Paul Sides, 5. Ronny Howard, 6. Mitchell Moore, 7. Johnny Anderson, 8. D.J. Masner, 9. John Carney, Sr., 10. Clint Garner, 11. Roger Rager, 12. Joe Bustillos, 13. Joey Montgomery, 14. Lewis Jenkins, Jr.
Pack Dash for Cash (6 Laps): 1. Garry Lee Maier, 2. Tim Crawley, 3. Gary Wright, 4. Paul McMahan.
Short Track Nationals A Feature (40 Laps): 1. Paul McMahan, 2. Daryn Pittman, 3. Terry Gray, 4. Shane Stewart, 5. Garry Lee Maier, 6. Jason Sides, 7. Wayne Johnson, 8. Gary Wright, 9. Dale Howard, 10. Billy Alley, 11. Sammy Swindell, 12. Darren Stewart, 13. Mike Ward, 14. Jake Peters, 15. Jesse Hockett, 16. Jan Howard, 17. Travis Rilat, 18. Tim Crawley, 19. Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 20. Micah Schliemann, 21. Chad Kemenah.
