disguise for Dawsonville's Ricky Turner as track position propelled him to victory in the Southern All Super Late Model 150 segment of the Slack Auto Parts 280 Saturday night at Lanier National Speedway.
Dacula's Wayne Willard came from the rear of the field twice but had to settle for second as a late attempt to pass Turner's Ford fell just short. Dave Mader III, Tim Fryar, and Billy McGinnis rounded out the top five.
"This is a great place to win," said Turner. "We wanted to pit. But, we
had some confusion on whether we could pit under the red flag or not. Not stopping actually won us the race."
"We got out front and our car was really good. I could not get a good rhythm. But, our tires were getting really old at the end. We took care of them most of the race."
On the feature's final restart, Willard quickly went from third to second after passing Mader. Turner's advantage, however, was too much to overcome in the event's closing stages.
"My crew said we were catching him two-tenths a lap," said Willard who padded his points lead in the Southern All Star Super Late Model Series. "I think we were better than Turner. It's just unfortunate we had to go to the
back a couple of times."
"We had a pretty good car, but we went from one extreme to the other. We were too tight then we were too loose at the end. But we salvaged a second place finish, so that's pretty good."
The race was slowed by 10 cautions and one red flag which flew when Heath Hindman's No. 91 flipped on the frontstretch. Hindman walked away from the crash uninjured.
Rookie sensation Richey Etheridge of Flowery Branch proved he is no fluke sitting atop the point standings in the Budweiser Pro Late Model division.
The freshman driver put his No. 5 Dodge atop the leaderboard to stay after getting around veteran competitor Fredrick Moore on lap 48.
Pepsi Fast Qualifier Peter Petropolous edged Moore to post a career-best second place finish. Clay Dale and Scott Sutherland finished fourth and fifth respectively.
"We wanted this bad," said Etheridge. "The car was awesome tonight. Those guys at Port City South put a good car under me. There's no telling what you can do with a good car."
Buster Thrasher won the Longhorn Steakhouse Modified Ministock feature after holding off Henry Vaughn.
Willard's pit crew won the Atlanta Area Dodge Dealers pit stop contest. His team donated the $500 prize to Southern All Star chaplain Eddie Burton.
Omni Cable presents the NASCAR Dodge Racing Series at Lanier National Speedway on Saturday May 31. Gates open at 5 p.m. with Legends heat racing beginning at 5:30 p.m. Pepsi Qualifying starts at 6 p.m. followed by
features at 7 p.m
Round three of the Akins Five Star challenge comes to Lanier National Speedway on Saturday June 7. Go to www.akinsford.com for details on how a lucky fan can win $1,500 that evening.
Dodge presents the Independence Day celebration on Friday July 4 at Lanier
National Speedway. The evening will include north Georgia's best fireworks program.
For more information on events at Lanier National Speedway, call 770-967-8600 or visit www.lanierspeedway.com.
Complete racing results.
Southern All Star Super Late Model - 150 Laps
1. No. 28 Ricky Turner
2. No. 01 Wayne Willard
3. No. 118 Dave Mader III
4. No. 16 Tim Fryar
5. No. 83 Billy McGinnis
6. No. 92 Jason Hogan
7. No. 10 Paul Kelley
8. No. 97 Jason Hogan
9. No. 29 Jeff Letson
10. No. 20 Joe Click
11. No. 83 A.J. Ganino
12. No. 12 Chris Whorton
13. No. 79 Todd Trinkle
14. No. 76 Chad Brawn
15. No. 92 Jonathan Shields
16. No. 89 Lee Hansard
17. No. 91 Heath Hindman
18. No. 90 Michael Britt
19. No. 35 Steve Holt
20. No. 22 Eric Wallace
21. No. 0 David Hole
DNS - No. 49 Debbie Lunsford-Love
Lap Leaders: David Hole (1-18); Paul Kelley (19-96); Ricky Turner (97-150).
Pepsi Fast Qualifier: Ricky Turner 13.868 seconds.
10 Cautions for 43 Laps.
Budweiser Pro Late Model - 100 Laps
1. No. 5 Richey Etheridge
2. No. 28 Peter Petropolous
3. No. 19 Fredrick Moore
4. No. 1 Clay Dale
5. No. 23 Scott Sutherland
6. No. 3 Shane Chastain
7. No. 9 Jimmy Garmon
8. No. 45 Dwayne Buggay
9. No. 14 Michelle Theriault
10. No. 98 Russell Fleeman
11. No. 52 Kevin Stephens
12. No. 55 Debris Brown
13. No. 01 Mickey Thomas
14. No. 75 Bobby East
15. No. 43 David Watters
16. No. 27 Les Law
17. No. 99 Joey Perry
18. No. 10 Greg Simpson
19. No. 15 Chase Miller
20. No. 22 Kevin Herbert
21. No. 42 Tony Bennett
22. No. 17 Jamie Stephens
Pepsi Fast Qualifier: Peter Petropolous 14.200 seconds
Longhorn Steakhouse Modified Ministock - 30 Laps
1. No. 19 Buster Thrasher
2. No. 17 Henry Vaughn
3. No. 18 Mitchell Roberts
4. No. 42 Donny Duncan
5. No. 25 Scotty Beck
6. No. 55 James Bishop
7. No. 6 Bill George
8. No. 39 Gary Baker
9. No. 12 Richard Hill
10. No. 07 Gary Amos
Atlanta Area Dodge Dealers Pit Stop Contest - Wayne Willard 21.234 seconds
Next Event: Omni Cable presents the NASCAR Dodge Racing Series Saturday May
31 at 6 p.m.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/5/178490