MULLINS WINS THIRD OF SEASON IN NEW CAR

By Charlie Brown, Delmar, DE (8/9/03) - Sometimes drivers take a big chance and make a move that will either put them out front or send them to the rear. That was the case on Saturday night as Craig Mullins made a bonsai move on the outside to take the lead on the first lap and to pull away in his new Teo chassis car to win the 25-lap Big Block Modified feature at the Delaware International Speedway. Landis Musser of Laurel, Del. became a two-time winner as he captured the 15-lap Modified Lite feature. Bobby Watkins of Harrington, Del. took the 10-lap Vintage Stock Car main.

When the field took the green flag for the Modified feature, Craig Mullins was in the seventh starting spot. Mullins went to the extreme outside in turn one picking up two spots. Down the back straight he got by up to third and coming off the fourth turn went three wide with Gary Simpson and Adam Jarrell to take the lead on lap one.

As Jarrell watched Mullins drive away in the lead, Norman Short moved into third on lap six with Ricky Johnson locking into a seesaw battle with Simpson for fourth. The first yellow was out on lap 12 when Larry Crouse came to a stop.

The field restarted with the halfway sign as Mullins again sprinted away in the lead. Short made a nice pass off turn two to take second as Johnson battled Jarrell for third. Johnson secured the third spot on lap 17. The caution was out for the second and final time on lap 21 when H.J. Bunting came to a stop.

Short stayed with Mullins on the restart as the new Gene's Auto Sales/Subway/Teo/Feil started to develop a miss in the engine. Mullins was able to ride out the final laps to take his third checkered of the season by just .559 seconds over Short.

"We tried the top down there and it worked really great for us," said Mullins. "It was probably the key to the whole race. Towards the end it started breaking up a little bit but I guess it didn't matter very much."

Short, Johnson, Simpson and Jarrell filled out the top five. Sixth through tenth were invader Rick Laubach, Tim Millman, Rick Bishop, Robert Dutton, and Sparky White. Jarrell and Short won the heats.

George Richardson led the first lap of the Modified Lite main before Matt Hubbard moved on top with Nick Sapp in second. Hubbard and Sapp battled for the top spot until lap seven when the two tangled in the fourth turn with Hubbard hitting the inside wall and injuring his wrist.

Landis Musser inherited the lead at the halfway restart with Danny Martin in second. Herb Tunis flipped hard in the second turn bringing out the yellow on lap ten but he was not injured. On the restart a battle developed for third between Jon Callaway, Andy Hammond, and Bobby Walls. Walls got the spot on lap 13 and took second on the final lap but it was Musser, in the Carey's Towing/Elliott Farms/Pro/ZX12, taking the win by .132 seconds over Walls. Martin, Sapp, and Callaway rounded out the top five. Rounding out the top ten were Mike Stratton, Hammond, Tom Curtis, Glenn Richards, and Richardson. Richardson and Musser won the heats.

The 10 lap Vintage Car feature boiled down to a last lap duel as Bobby Watkins and Morris Tucker swapped the lead twice before Watkins nailed down the win in the Harold Warrington coupe. Tucker, Carl Schirmer, John Calhoun, and Jim Reed (first sportsman) rounded out the top five with Wayne Willing, Herb Stahl, and Randy Delano filling out the finish.

The Modifieds and Late Models will be in action this Wednesday night in the Diamond State 50's. This twin 50 lap features will pay $3000 to win for each of the divisions with the winners share increased to $4000 to win with the payment of a $50 gamblers fee and $5000 with a $100 gamblers fee. Gates open at 5 p.m. with hot laps at 7 p.m.

RESULTS: 25-lap Modified Feature: 1. CRAIG MULLINS; 2. Norman Short; 3. Ricky Johnson; 4. Gary Simpson; 5. Adam Jarrell; 6. Rick Laubach; 7. Tim Millman; 8. Rick Bishop; 9. Robert Dutton; 10. Sparky White; 11. Cliff Foskey; 12. Dana Walker; 13. Beau Wilkins; 14. H.J. Bunting; 15. Scott Smith; 16. Glenn Reed; 17. Jesse Hill; 18. Duane Rust; 19. Larry Crouse; 20. Deron Rust; DNS: Jamie Mills.

15-Lap Modified Lite Feature: 1. LANDIS MUSSER; 2. Bobby Walls; 3. Danny Martin; 4. Nick Sapp; 5. Jon Callaway; 6. Mike Stratton; 7. Andy Hammond; 8. Tom Curtis; 9. Glenn Richards; 10. George Richardson; 11. Porkchop Davis; 12. John Curtis; 13. Lloyd Adkins; 14. Herb Tunis; 15. Joe Warren; 16. Matt Hubbard; 17. Mike Vammino.