JACK JOHNSON CAPTURES USNA LABOR DAY 100
-Inherits Win After Hearn Fails Post-Race Inspection-
SYRACUSE, NY& ..Jack Johnson was declared the winner of the USNA Labor Day 100 at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, NY after race winner Brett Hearn s car was found to be underweight in a post race inspection. Hearn had come from last to first and run the race without making a pit stop, but his car was found to be light when it crossed the scales after the checkers flew.
Jeff Trombley, M2 Race Systems Pole Award winner, and Hearn were slated to be the front row for the 100-lap event, but Hearn s car did not fire on the original starting grid, and he was forced to start in the rear of the 30-car field. Trombley took the lead at the start of the race, with Jack Johnson and Billy Decker trailing. Johnson moved past Trombley to take the lead on lap 8 while Hearn was storming through the field.
The first yellow flag flew when Matt Quinn spun at the end of the backstretch on lap 13. Under this yellow, many of the leaders, including Johnson and Trombley, made fuel-only pit stops. Trombley got pinned in his pit stall behind Steve Bottcher s car, while Johnson won the race off pit road. Jimmy Horton inherited the lead and held it until the next yellow flag on lap 28, when Bill Tanner and Jeff Hoffman came together on the backstretch. Horton pitted, as did Mitch Gibbs and many others.
Hearn, who had made it to the 15th spot by lap 13, now found himself in the race lead when Horton pitted. Dave Blaney and Jamie Mills trailed Hearn on the restart, and the trio pulled away from the rest of the field while Johnson, Decker, Camara, and the others who were among the first to pit were coming through the pack. Traffic became an issue for Hearn, as he carefully picked his way through the pack, coming close to putting a lap on Johnson, Camara, and the others, who were bottled up in the field. Mills and Blaney traded second back and forth a few times while they worked through the traffic as well.
The next yellow did not fly until lap 57, when Chris Moore s car came to a stop in turn four. Blaney and Mills elected to make their pit stops at this point, but Hearn stayed on the track. When the green came out, Hearn was leading over Johnson and Decker. Meanwhile, Craig Von Dohren, Rich Eurich, Camara, and others on the lead lap battled for position about half a track behind the leaders.
The final yellow of the race flew at lap 78 when Jeff Heotzler ran into trouble and stopped in turn four while trying to get onto pit road. Under this yellow, Jamie Mills was forced to pit with a bad right rear tire, taking him out of the top ten.
In the final run to the finish, Hearn opened up a lead of several seconds on Johnson. Decker moved in from third and battled Jack to the finish. At the line, Hearn crossed first, followed by Johnson, with Decker hot on his heels. However, in the post race weigh-in conducted before teams are allowed to victory lane, Hearn s car was found to be 20 pounds light, causing a disqualification. Johnson was then named the race winner, followed by Decker. Von Dohren had a career best finish at Syracuse with a third, followed by Eurich and Bottcher. Blaney, Trombley, Ron Smoker, Camara, and Horton rounded out the top ten.
Jeff Trombley s lap time of 31.851 earned him $750 for the M2 Race Systems Pole Award. Roger Laureno advanced 11 positions in the main event to earn the Kathy s Bottom Line Hard Charger Award and $500 cash. Qualifying heats were won by Hearn, Johnson, Decker, and Eurich, with the consolation race going to Eddie Marshall.
The next USNA event will be the Delaware 200 on Saturday, September 16 at Delaware International Speedway.
RACE SUMMARY-USNA LABOR DAY 100
NYS FAIRGROUNDS, SYRACUSE, NY-MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2000
HEAT 1-Brett Hearn
HEAT 2-Jack Johnson
HEAT 3-Billy Decker
HEAT 4-Rich Eurich
CONSOLATION-Eddie Marshall
FEATURE (100 LAPS)-JACK JOHNSON, Billy Decker, Craig Von Dohren, Rich Eurich, Steve Bottchers, Dave Blaney, Jeff Trombley, Ron Smoker, Dave Camara, Jimmy Horton, Jamie Mills, Frank Cozze, Eddie Marshall, Jim Weller, Bucky Kell, Roger Laureno, Jack Cottrell, Bud Christmann, Jeff Hoffman, Jeff Heotzler, Seth Gano, Bob Lineman, Mitch Gibbs, Bill Tanner, Bentley Mead, Chris Moore, Brian Weaver, Matt Quinn, David Calaman.