By Smash
60+ cars rolled through town tonight and stopped off at the FLORENCE Speedway for the inaugural NARA event, the newest sanctioning body on the block, with the running of the 50 lap Landon Joseph Spence Memorial Weekend activities.
Brian Birkhoffer began the evening by touring the track with a lap time of 17.504.
The first heat was topped by Mike Balzano over Don O'Neal, Birkhoffer, Rick Corbin and Scott James.
The second heat was won by Scott Bloomquist over Greg Johnson, Freddy Smith, Matt Miller and Joey Kramer.
The third heat was captured by Earl Pearson, Jr., over Steve Landrum, Darren Miller, Billy Moyer, Jr. and Josh Willliams.
The fourth heat honors went to R.J. Conley over Rick Eckert, Darrel Lanigan, Davey Johnson and Kevin Weaver.
The fifth heat was won by John Gill over John Blankenship, Donnie Moran, Jerry Rice and Steve Barnett.
The sixth and final heat was won by Steve Francis over Shane Clanton, Rod Conley, Jesse Lay and Tony Trafficant.
The first of two consis would see Matt Miller take the checkers ahead of Rick Corbin.
The second consi was won by Kevin Weaver over Davey Johnson.
The feature would get under way with ESPN taping the evenings event for a later replay with Earl Pearson taking the point over Scott Bloomquist as the two checked out to a sizeable early lead. When they encountered lapped traffic Bloomquist would overtake Pearson for the lead and was never headed again as he took the checkered flag to bank the $10,000 top prize and earn the lifelong distinction of being the first ever winner of a NARA DirtCar Series event.
Following Bloomquist at the stripe were Earl Pearson, Steve Francis, Don O'Neal, Rick Eckert, Mike Balzano, Shane Clanton, R.J. Conley, Davey Johnson and Brian Birkhofer rounding out the top 10.
All in all a great opening for what appears to be a fan friendly series that will be sure to provide some great racing with the fan favorable format of inverting the top 4 qualifiers in each heat!
Congrats to Jerry and Josh King on being named the Muddslinger Magazine 2003 Promoters of the Year for their efforts toward the Hall of Fame Induction weekend North/South 100 events!
The next NARA DirtCar Series event is next weekend when the series invades the Jackson County Fairgrounds Brownstown Speedwayfor the HOOSIER Dirt Classic.
Feature: (finish, start, car #, driver's name)
1. (1) 0 Scott Bloomquist
2. (2) 1 Earl Pearson
3. (4) 15 Steve Francis
4. (7) 71 Don O'Neal
5. (10) 24 Rick Eckert
6. (5) E1 Mike Balzano
7. (12) 25 Shane Clanton
8. (6) 71C RJ Conley
9. (22) 19 Davey Johnson
10. (13) 15 Brian Birkhofer
11. (16) 29 Darrell Lanigan
12. (17) 99 Donnie Moran
13. (14) 00 Freddy Smith
14. (10) 23 John Blankenship
15. (24) 157 Mike Marler
16. (21) 9 Rick Corbin
17. (20) B12 Kevin Weaver
18. (18) 71R Rod Conley
19. (9) 18 Steve Landrum
20. (15) 32D Darren Miller
21. (3) IND1ANA John Gill
22. (8) 19 Greg Johnson
23. (19) 7 Matt Miller
24. (23) 71 Delmas Conley
60+ cars rolled through town tonight and stopped off at the FLORENCE Speedway for the inaugural NARA event, the newest sanctioning body on the block, with the running of the 50 lap Landon Joseph Spence Memorial Weekend activities.
Brian Birkhoffer began the evening by touring the track with a lap time of 17.504.
The first heat was topped by Mike Balzano over Don O'Neal, Birkhoffer, Rick Corbin and Scott James.
The second heat was won by Scott Bloomquist over Greg Johnson, Freddy Smith, Matt Miller and Joey Kramer.
The third heat was captured by Earl Pearson, Jr., over Steve Landrum, Darren Miller, Billy Moyer, Jr. and Josh Willliams.
The fourth heat honors went to R.J. Conley over Rick Eckert, Darrel Lanigan, Davey Johnson and Kevin Weaver.
The fifth heat was won by John Gill over John Blankenship, Donnie Moran, Jerry Rice and Steve Barnett.
The sixth and final heat was won by Steve Francis over Shane Clanton, Rod Conley, Jesse Lay and Tony Trafficant.
The first of two consis would see Matt Miller take the checkers ahead of Rick Corbin.
The second consi was won by Kevin Weaver over Davey Johnson.
The feature would get under way with ESPN taping the evenings event for a later replay with Earl Pearson taking the point over Scott Bloomquist as the two checked out to a sizeable early lead. When they encountered lapped traffic Bloomquist would overtake Pearson for the lead and was never headed again as he took the checkered flag to bank the $10,000 top prize and earn the lifelong distinction of being the first ever winner of a NARA DirtCar Series event.
Following Bloomquist at the stripe were Earl Pearson, Steve Francis, Don O'Neal, Rick Eckert, Mike Balzano, Shane Clanton, R.J. Conley, Davey Johnson and Brian Birkhofer rounding out the top 10.
All in all a great opening for what appears to be a fan friendly series that will be sure to provide some great racing with the fan favorable format of inverting the top 4 qualifiers in each heat!
Congrats to Jerry and Josh King on being named the Muddslinger Magazine 2003 Promoters of the Year for their efforts toward the Hall of Fame Induction weekend North/South 100 events!
The next NARA DirtCar Series event is next weekend when the series invades the Jackson County Fairgrounds Brownstown Speedwayfor the HOOSIER Dirt Classic.
Feature: (finish, start, car #, driver's name)
1. (1) 0 Scott Bloomquist
2. (2) 1 Earl Pearson
3. (4) 15 Steve Francis
4. (7) 71 Don O'Neal
5. (10) 24 Rick Eckert
6. (5) E1 Mike Balzano
7. (12) 25 Shane Clanton
8. (6) 71C RJ Conley
9. (22) 19 Davey Johnson
10. (13) 15 Brian Birkhofer
11. (16) 29 Darrell Lanigan
12. (17) 99 Donnie Moran
13. (14) 00 Freddy Smith
14. (10) 23 John Blankenship
15. (24) 157 Mike Marler
16. (21) 9 Rick Corbin
17. (20) B12 Kevin Weaver
18. (18) 71R Rod Conley
19. (9) 18 Steve Landrum
20. (15) 32D Darren Miller
21. (3) IND1ANA John Gill
22. (8) 19 Greg Johnson
23. (19) 7 Matt Miller
24. (23) 71 Delmas Conley
