SYRACUSE 200-NYS Fairgrounds-RACE RESULT STORY - 5/21/00

DAVE CAMARA MAKES HISTORY, WINNING FIRST USNA SYRACUSE 200

SYRACUSE, NY…..Dave Camara had just enough fuel in his tank to hold off Jeff Trombley and record his name in the history books as the first ever winner of a United Speedways of North America (USNA) racing event as he captured the victory in the Syracuse 200. Camara, of Poultney, VT, was the first driver to register for USNA competition, and shook off bad luck that has plagued him at the Syracuse mile for many seasons.

Pole sitter Brett Hearn had some last minute problems just as the 200-lap, $30,000 to win event was preparing to grid. Hearn broke a panhard bar on the rear end of his Budweiser sponsored entry, and his crew scrambled to get Hearn ready to take the green flag. Hearn shared the front row with Billy Decker, with Jack Johnson and Dave Camara filling in the second row. The quartet took off and pulled away at the drop of Gary Watson’s green flag, and by the lap twelve mark were working traffic.

Hearn built a big lead in the first 25 laps of the event, with Decker and Camara fighting for second through lapped traffic. Frank Cozze and Jimmy Horton were fighting for position further back in the top ten. Hearn continued to hold a sizeable lead until lap 35, when he encountered heavy traffic which allowed Decker to close in. Decker moved into the lead with Camara hot on Hearn’s heels from third.

Decker appeared to be very strong, but misfortune struck Decker as he was collected in a heavy crash into the first turn wall with Seth Gano. With the yellow flag out, most drivers elected to make their first pit stops, with Hearn leading the charge back out of the pits, followed by Mitch Gibbs. Kenny Brightbill’s team also performed a good stop that placed him firmly in the top six for the restart and Jeff Trombley also benefited from good pit work.

On the ensuing restart, Bill Tanner’s car faltered on the front row, which sent many drivers scrambling. The end result of the melee was Todd Wilkinson sitting sideways in the fourth turn. As quickly as the green flag came out, the yellow was out again as Jim Weller got turned sideways in turn two and made contact with the wall.

Hearn had retaken the lead at this point in the event, and once again worked on building a lead of a straightaway plus over Camara under green. Brightbill and Trombley moved up as well, joined by Gibbs and Cozze. Jack Johnson, who had run up front early in the event, was working his way through traffic after his first pit stop, and was closing in on the lead group. Randy Sherlock’s team elected to stay on the track, forgoing a pit stop, and was running strongly in the top five until mechanical problems eliminated him on lap 94.

After dominating most of the first half of the race, Hearn’s engine slowly began to sour. This allowed Camara to move in as the leaders moved into traffic again. Bad luck struck Gibbs and Brightbill just past the halfway point, as mechanical problems sidelined them both. Jimmy Horton also had trouble, as he had a tire shred just a few laps after a pit stop. Horton was able to get to the pit area and change the tire without losing a lap.

With Hearn’s engine not developing enough power, Camara moved past him and into the lead on a restart. Jack Johnson also moved up into contention as well. Hearn tried to hang on, but his engine finally gave out and he was forced to the pits, leaving Johnson to chase Camara. At times, Jack was able to close in on Camara, but was not able to get close enough to him to make a move. Camara, meanwhile, was trying to conserve as much fuel as possible, as they gambled that they could make the distance on two pit stops.

Jack Johnson’s bid for the Syracuse 200 win ended with a blown engine on the Nice ‘N’ Easy Grocery Shops car, forcing him behind pit wall. Craig Von Dohren also succumbed to engine failure. In the waining laps, Camara had built up a lead on Jeff Trombley, who had paced himself for a sprint to the finish and an attempt to catch the leader.

As the race moved into the final ten laps, Camara encountered some slower traffic, which allowed Trombley to close in briefly. Camara dodged his way through and appeared to have the race well in hand, until the caution flew with three laps to go for Eddie Marshall, who had run out of fuel. This set up a one lap shootout to the finish.

Camara took off at the drop of the green and held Trombley by an eight car length margin to pass under the checkers and score the win. Trombley took second, with Jimmy Horton coming back through the pack and taking advantage of some late race attrition to finish third. Bucky Kell also had a solid run, pacing himself to a fourth place finish, one lap down to the lead pace. Roger Laureno was close behind Kell in the fifth spot. Rick Laubach, Rich Eurich, Marshall, Jeff Hoffman, and Jack Cottrell completed the top five.

Brett Hearn was given the first M2 Race Systems Pole Award, earning $750 for posting the fastest time in Saturday’s time trials. Heat races were won by Hearn, Decker, Johnson, and Camara, with the consolation race taken by Jeff Heotzler.

The next race on the USNA schedule takes place at Bridgeport Speedway in Bridgeport, NJ on Saturday, June 10.