O'Reilly MARS Weekend Results

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O'REILLY AUTO PARTS MID-AMERICA RACING SERIES
Batesville Speedway
Friday, June 13, 2003

by Larry Olson; Mountain Home, AR

LOCUST GROVE AR. Jeff Floyd picked up his first O'Reilly Auto Parts Mid-America Racing Series feature win of the 2003 season, and his third career win. Floyd used the outside front row starting position to take the lead on the start, and went all 40 laps in route to the $3,000 win that was slowed by only 1 caution.

Jerry Buck earned his fourth career O'Reilly M.A.R.S. pole, with Floyd to his outside. Floyd moved to the lead as the green flag came out, with Buck, and Dewaine Hottinger falling in behind. Hottinger drove by Buck on the backstretch on the first lap, taking the second spot behind Floyd. Raymond Merrill set Buck back another spot, taking third in turn two on the second lap. Billy Moyer was running fifth by lap three.

Leslie Essary took the fifth spot from Moyer in turn four on lap five, then Essary and Buck dueled for fourth side by side on the next circuit. Floyd held a five carlength lead on Hottinger by lap seven, and had expanded the margin to ten carlengths by lap 10.

Raymond Merrill worked his way past Hottinger for the second spot in turn two on lap 16. Merrill started cutting into Floyd's lead immeadiatly. Billy Moyer was back in fifth by lap 17.

Jeff Floyd was starting to work traffic by lap 20. Merrill had closed to within five carlengths by lap 22. Floyd cleared his first batch of traffic by lap 23, but Merrill had closed to two carlengths by lap 26.

Floyd was closing on traffic again by lap 29. Floyd had eased past one slower car by lap 32, and opened his five carlength lead back up again. Floyd was behind three cars, racing for position by lap 35, and had worked his way by the first one on the next lap.

The field had closed up on Merrill as he worked traffic behind Floyd, and Merrill and Hottinger made contact, getting Merrill out of shape. Merrill fell back to the fifth position before he got his car squared back up.

Steve Rushin brought out the races's only caution on lap 38 as he had pulled up on the frontstretch. Jerry Buck and Billy Moyer used the restart to their advantage, moving to second and third as the field got back underway.

Jeff Floyd protected his lead, and paced the field for the last two laps, coming home with the win. Jerry Buck, Billy Moyer, Dewaine Hottinger, and Raymond Merrill made up the top five. Wendell Wallace, Terry Phillips, Leslie Essary, Bill Frye, and Jeff Taylor rounded out the top ten.

Entries: 33
Top Qualifier: Jerry Buck
W&W Concrete Hard Charger: Wendell Wallace
Provisionals: Joey Mack (2), Jerry Walker
Lap Leaders: Jeff Floyd 1-40
Cautions: 1

A Feature (40 Laps)

Finish/Driver/Start/Chassis/Motor/Make/Money Won

1) Jeff Floyd, (2) GRT/Kuntz/Taurus; $3,000
2) Jerry Buck, (1) GRT/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $2,000
3) Billy Moyer, (6) MasterSbilt/Dickens/Monte Carlo; $1,250
4) Dewaine Hottinger, (3) GRT/Kuntz/Monte Carlo; $1,100
5) Raymond Merrill, (4) GRT/Kuntz/Grand Prix; $1,000
6) Wendell Wallace, (17) GRT/Craft/Taurus; $750
7) Terry Phillips, (12) GRT/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $700
8) Leslie Essary, (7) GRT/Mike's/Grand Prix; $675
9) Bill Frye, (8) GRT/Kuntz/Mustang; $650
10) Jeff Taylor, (15) Larry Shaw/Kuntz/Taurus; $625
11) David Gibson, (10) Shaw-Rocket/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $600
12) Gary Stolba, (9) GRT/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $575
13) Mike Bowers, (14) GRT/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $550
14) Jack Sullivan, (16) GRT/Dickens/Grand Prix; $525
15) Joey Mack, (21) GRT/Kuntz/Mustang; $500
16) Charlie Randolph, (13) GRT/BMS/Monte Carlo; $500
17) Mike Brown, (19) GRT/Hatfield/Grand Prix; $500
18) Stacy Taylor, (18) GRT/Dickens/Monte Carlo; $500
19) Steve Rushin, (20) GRT/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $500
20) Shane Essary, (11) GRT/Hatfield/Grand Prix; $500
21) Jerry Walker, (22) Larry Shaw/Dynotech/Grand Prix; $500
22) Shane Harris, (5) GRT/Stanton/Intrepid; $500

1st Heat (12 Laps) 1) Dewaine Hottinger, Russellville AR 2) Leslie Essary, Crane MO 3) Charlie Randolph, Muskogee OK 4) Mike Bowers, North Little Rock AR 5) Jack Sullivan, Greenbriar AR 6) Steve Rushin, Poplar Bluff MO 7) John Pafford, Eads TN 8) Shane Diamant, North Little Rock AR 9) Jerry Walker, Southhaven MS

2nd Heat 1) Jeff Floyd, Walnut Ridge AR 2) Jerry Buck, Harviell MO 3) David Gibson, Ash Flat AR 4) Gregg Herron, Little Rock AR 5) Brad Looney, Republic MO 6) Brian Holliway, Sheridan AR 7) Mike Brown, Ft. Gibson OK 8) Jim Greenway, Galena MO

3rd Heat 1) Raymond Merrill, Sallisaw OK 2) Bill Frye, Greenbriar AR 3) Shane Essary, Aurora MO 4) Jeff Taylor, Batesville AR 5) Stacy Taylor, Jacksonville AR 6) Bryan Millican, Cleveland TX 7) Joey Mack, Benton MO 8) Barry Barkley, Jonesboro AR

4th Heat 1) Shane Harris, Sheridan AR 2) Gary Stolba, Willow Springs MO 3) Billy Moyer, Batesville AR 4) Terry Phillips, Springfield MO 5) Wendell Wallace, Batesville AR 6) Brandon Ball, West Plains MO 7) Jason Snodgrass, Mountain Home, AR 8) Dean Carpenter, Coldwater MS

Last Chance Qualifier (15 Laps, four transfer) 1) Wendell Wallace 2) Stacy Taylor 3) Mike Brown 4) Steve Rushin 5) Brad Looney 6) Joey Mack 7) Brian Holliway 8) Shane Diamant 9) Jerry Walker 10) Jason Snodgrass 11) Gregg Herron 12) John Pafford 13) Barry Barkley 14) Brandon Ball 15) Bryan Millican (scratches: Jim Greenway, Dean Carpenter)


O'REILLY AUTO PARTS MID-AMERICA RACING SERIES
West Plains Motor Speedway
Saturday, June 14, 2003

by Larry Olson; Mountain Home, AR

WEST PLAINS MO. Terry Phillips previaled for the fifth time in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Mid-America Racing Series. It didn't come easy however, as Phillips had to battle Bill Frye, Wendell Wallace, and Leslie Essary for the lead in a race that featured four leaders, and pleanty of two and three wide racing.

Billy Moyer was the nights top qualifier, and was on the pole with Leslie Essary to his outside. Essary bolted to the lead as the green came out, with Moyer, Mike Bowers, Mike Brown, and Bill Frye in tow. Frye was on the move quickly, besting Brown for fourth on the second lap, and improved past Bowers in turn four on lap four.

Frye went side by side with Moyer for second on lap eight, then that pair went three wide with Essary for the top spot on lap 10. Frye took the lead on the backstretch. Wendell Wallace took the fourth spot from Mike Bowers in turn two on lap 11. Frye had opened a five carlength advantage on lap 13, and was in traffic on lap 14.

Moyer slipped past Essary for the second spot in turn four on lap 15, then Wallace followed Moyer through, taking over third. Wallace worked past Moyer for second on the next lap.

Terry Phillips came from row six, and was racing three wide with Essary and Bowers for fourth on lap 17, with Phillips taking over the spot, dropping Essary to fifth. Frye and Wallace were working traffic, nose to tail for the top spot on lap 19. Phillips improved past Moyer to third on lap 20.

Bowers was back on the move, and had worked back into fourth, past Moyer on lap 23.

Out front, Frye, Wallace, and Phillips were racing three wide for the lead on lap 24. Wallace moved to the top, while Frye and Phillips dropped to the bottom. Frye and Wallace were then back to nose to tail action in heavy traffic on lap 26. Wallace was able to take the top spot on lap 27.

Once again, the top three went back to three wide action, and Terry Phillips grabbed the top spot in turn four on lap 28.

Disaster struck Wendell Wallace, as he made contact with a slower car, and got turned around on lap 29, bringing out the only caution of the race.

Phillips was able to maintain the top spot on the restart, with Frye grabbing second. Leslie Essary shot to third on the restart ahead of Bowers and Moyer. Phillips and Frye were side by side for the lead again on lap 31, then raced with Phillips just ahead until lap 35 when they were back to side by side racing again. They bumped coming out of four, allowing Phillips to shoot out to a three carlength advantage.

Phillips was working the top, while Frye was hugging the bottom. The white flag unfurled and Leslie Essary made contact with the wall, hard in turn one after dicing with Bowers for the third spot. Terry Phillips came home with the win, with Bill Frye, Mike Bowers, Jeff Floyd, and Billy Moyer making up the top five. Mike Brown, David Gibson, Rex McCroskey, Jeff Taylor, and Steve Rushin rounded out the top ten.

Entries: 28
Top Qualifier: Billy Moyer
W&W Concrete Hard Charger: David Gibson
Provisionals: Charlie Randolph, Shane Essary (2)
Lap Leaders: Leslie Essary 1-10, Bill Frye, 11-26, Wendell Wallace 27, Terry Phillips 28-40
Cautions: 1

A Feature (40 Laps)

Finish/Driver/Start/Chassis/Motor/Make/Money Won

1) Terry Phillips, (11) GRT/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $3,000
2) Bill Frye, (6) GRT/Kuntz/Mustang; $2,000
3) Mike Bowers, (3) GRT/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $1,250
4) Jeff Floyd, (9) GRT/Kuntz/Taurus. $1,100
5) Billy Moyer, (1) MasterSbilt/Dickens/Monte Carlo; $1,000
6) Mike Brown, (4) GRT/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $750
7) David Gibson, (17) Shaw-Rocket/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $700
8) Rex McCroskey, (12) GRT/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $675
9) Jeff Taylor, (10) Larry Shaw/Kuntz/Taurus; $650
10) Steve Rushin, (15) GRT/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $625
11) Wendell Wallace, (8) GRT/Craft/Taurus; $600
12) Joey Mack, (5) GRT/Kuntz/Mustang; $575
13) Stacy Taylor, (14) GRT/Dickens/Monte Carlo; $550
14) Jerry Buck, (19) GRT/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $525
15) Dewaine Hottinger, (20) GRT/Kuntz/Monte Carlo; $500
16) Jack Sullivan, (18) GRT/Dickens/Grand Prix; $500
17) Charlie Randolph, (21) GRT/BMS/Monte Carlo; $500
18) Brandon Ball, (7) GRT/Hatfield/Grand Prix; $500
19) Gary Stolba, (16) GRT/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $500
20) LeRoy Johnson, (13) GRT/Hatfield/Monte Carlo; $500
21) Leslie Essary, (2) GRT/Mike's/Grand Prix; $500
22) Shane Essary, (22) GRT/Hatfield/Grand Prix; $500

1st Heat (12 Laps) 1) Billy Moyer, Batesville AR 2) Leslie Essary, Crane MO 3) Wendell Wallace, Batesville AR 4) Jeff Floyd, Walnut Ridge AR 5) Terry Phillips, Springfield MO 6) Shane Essary, Aurora MO 7) Randy Floyd, Walnut Ridge AR 8) Jason Snodgrass, Mountain Home AR 9) Charlie Randolph, Muskogee OK 10) Gregg Herron, Little Rock AR

2nd Heat 1) Mike Brown, Ft. Gibson OK 2) Bill Frye, Greenbriar AR 3) Jeff Taylor, Batesville AR 4) LeRoy Johnson, Springfield MO 5) Steve Rushin, Poplar Bluff MO 6) David Gibson, Ash Flat AR 7) Jack Sullivan, Greenbriar AR 8) Shane Diamant, North Little Rock AR 9) Dewaine Hottinger, Russellville AR

3rd Heat 1) Joey Mack Benton MO 2) Mike Bowers, North Little Rock AR 3) Brandon Ball, West Plains MO 4) Stacy Taylor, Jacksonville AR 5) Rex McCroskey, Springfield MO 6) Gary Stolba, Willow Springs MO 7) Jerry Buck, Harviell MO 8) Jerry Walker, Southhaven MS 9) Barry Barkley, Jonesboro AR

Last Chance Qualifier (15 Laps, four transfer) 1) David Gibson 2) Jack Sullivan 3) Jerry Buck 4) Dewaine Hottinger 5) Barry Barkley 6) Randy Floyd 7) Shane Diamant 8) Shane Essary 9) Jason Snodgrass 10) Charlie Randolph 11) Jerry Walker (scratch: Gregg Herron)

MARS POINTS AS OF: 06/14/03

1 75P PHILLIPS, TERRY SPRINGFIELD, MO 775
2 5T TAYLOR, JEFF BATESVILLE, AR 735
3 66F FRYE, BILL GREENBRIAR, AR 725
4 5E ESSARY, LESLIE CRANE, MO 713
5 F1 FLOYD, JEFF WALNUT RIDGE, AR 693
6 81B BUCK, JERRY HARVIELL, M0 607
7 427B BROWN, MIKE FT. GIBSON, OK 599
8 65H HOTTINGER, DEWAINE RUSSELLVILLE, AR 593
9 14JR RUSHIN, STEVE POPLAR BLUFF, MO 573
10 9R RANDOLPH II, CHARLIE MUSKOGEE, OK 567
11 60B BOWERS, MIKE NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR 553
12 88W WALLACE, WENDELL BATESVILLE, AR 524
13 97M MACK, JOEY BENTON, MO 475
14 18S SULLIVAN, JACK GREENBRIAR, AR 447
15 15E ESSARY, SHANE AURORA, MO 445
16 33S STOLBA, GARY WILLOW SPRINGS, MO 413
17 12M MERRILL, RAYMOND SALLISAW, OK 406
18 22V VAUGHN, ALAN BELTON, MO 385
19 21M MOYER, BILLY BATESVILLE, AR 373
20 27T TAYLOR, STACY JACKSONVILLE, AR 372
 




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