Larson wins last lap Sprint thriller, King wins first of 2000 in Sharon Modifieds

by Mike Leone

HARTFORD, OH (July 21, 2000) — Sharon Speedway completed the 12th event of the 2000 season on Friday night. Standing in victory lane were Jarod Larson-Sunburst Environmental 410 Sprint Cars, Rex King-Gibson-Governor Insurance Agency Big-Block Modifieds, Russ Dunn-Coy Bros. E-Mods, and Dan Lewis-Burghill Auto Salvage Stock Cars.

Jarod Larson won a wild 20-lap Sunburst Environmental 410 Sprint Car Feature for his second win with a last lap, final turn pass of Gary Edwards. "I really wanted to win this one," said the happy Rock Creek, Ohio driver. "My throttle was sticking-that's why I was having so much trouble in the turns. I knew I was in trouble, then when Jimmy (Hawley) dropped out I decided to just leave the throttle on the floor! I was either going to win or go through the fence and it worked."

Edwards started on the pole and immediately raced into the lead looking for his first win. Jamie McKinney made a nice move to race from his sixth starting spot into second on the opening lap as Andy McKisson took third. On lap four, Tom Quarterson passed McKisson for third. Quarterson then moved by McKinney on lap five for runner-up.

Daryl Stimeling was making his first regular show start since winning the opener back on April 14. Stimeling, a regular with the All Stars, looked fast passing McKisson, McKinney, and then Quarterson in laps five through eight to take second in lapped traffic. By the halfway point, Stimeling ran down leader Edwards and was all over the point leader on lap 12. Going into turn three on lap 13, Stimeling drove by Edwards on the outside.

Jimmy Hawley, who started 12th, was also making his presence known. Hawley made it to second on lap 15 passing Edwards. Then on lap 17, Stimeling slowed with mechanical problems giving the lead to Hawley. However, Hawley would never lead a lap as Quarterson's car went up in smoke on the restart, and then Hawley dropped from the event with a broken sway bar.

All of these problems gave Edwards the lead back and put McKisson in second and 10th starter, Larson, now up to third. When green replaced yellow, Larson was all over McKisson and finally made the pass for second on lap 19. Larson ran down Edwards and was all over him on the final lap. Going into turn three, Edwards ran the bottom and Larson flew around the top-ide. As the two raced off turn four, Larson came out with the lead and took the checkers first in the Bill Clemson-owned, Clemson Excavating/Thompson Drag Raceway-sponsored #47.

Edwards settled for second over McKisson, Chad Hill, who made his first-ever regular show start, and Tommy Burns, Jr. Sixth through tenth were McKinney, Mike Kekich, Paul White, Jr., Terry Young, and Gary McCollum. Brad Ellenberger, Larson, and Hawley won the heat races over the 27-car field.

Rex King won his first 20-lap Gibson-Governor Big-Block Modified Feature of 2000. "We got a good draw and I got a good jump from the outside," said the Bristolville, Ohio driver. "As long I stayed on the bottom for the restart I knew I'd be all right."

King drew the outside pole and was never threatened over the 20-lap distance. King blasted around Kevin Hoffman on the start for the lead. Andy Priest, who started sixth, passed Pete Simpson and Randy Snider on the start for fourth. On lap four, Priest got under Tim Engles for third. Priest continued his way to the front passing Hoffman for runner-up on the eighth circuit. The first yellow was for debris with eight laps completed, and erased King's straightaway lead over Priest.

When racing resumed, King quickly opened up his lead on Priest, while the battle for third raged between Engles, Tim Doran, John Braymer, Lou Blaney, and Jim Weller. Doran, Braymer, and Blaney all got around Engles for positions three, four, and five on laps 14, 15, and 16 respectively. The final caution was displayed with 19 laps completed when Engles slowed.

A one-lap shoot-out to the checkers saw King pull away for the win in the King Bros. #65. Priest held on to second over Doran, Braymer, and Blaney. Completing the top 10 were Joe Crawford, Weller, Pete Simpson, Engles, and Hoffman. Heat wins over the 18-car field were won by Doran and Weller.

Russ Dunn of Harmony, Pa. scored his second 15-lap Coy Bros. E-Mod Feature of the season. Mark Willison started on the pole and looked good early on searching for his first career win. Two cautions slowed Willison's fine run. On lap three, Jeff Sharp spun to bring out the first caution, and on lap 13, Roger Frost and Scott Stiffler spun to necessitate the second and final caution with 12 laps in the books. Then when racing resumed, Willison spun in turn three, did a 360 to keep going, but it was enough to allow eighth starter, Russ Dunn, to shoot by for the lead. Dunn led the final three laps in his Dunn Trucking-sponsored #47 for the win. Bob McCann came home second, but was disqualified for an illegal left rear wheel. This moved Jim White, Jr. to second for his best career Sharon finish. Scott Jones was credited for third over Richard Stiffler and Willison. Heat winners were Jeff Haefke and Dunn over the 20-car field. Jeff Johnson won the dash over Russ Dunn, Bob McCann, Jeff Haefke, Rick Prosser, Jr., and Scott Jones.

Dan Lewis of Hubbard, Ohio picked up his third 15-lap Burghill Auto Salvage Stock Car Feature. Ron Iorio led the first five laps before Bobby Whitling and Lewis drove by on lap six for the top two spots. Iorio then spun on lap nine bringing out the caution. On the ensuing restart, Whitling came to rest with a flat tire giving the lead to Lewis. The final seven laps saw Lewis hold off Carl Davis for the win in his #64. Gary Robinson came from 11th to finish third after passing Dwayne Clay, who had a flat tire on the final lap. Clay survived for fourth over Gary Norman. Heat victors were Clay, Whitling, and Robinson over the 26-car field.

RESULTS

SUNBURST ENVIRONMENTAL 410 SPRINT CAR

Feature - 1. Jarod Larson 2. Gary Edwards 3. Andy McKisson 4. Chad Hill 5. Tommy Burns, Jr. 6. Jamie McKinney 7. Mike Kekich 8. Paul White, Jr. 9. Terry Young 10. Gary McCollum 11. Buddy Cochran 12. Maria Mayerchak 13. Ed Etzel 14. Doug Anderson 15. Jim Brauer 16. Leo O'Malley 17. Daryl Stimeling 18. Jimmy Hawley 19. Tom Quarterson 20. Mike Marano II 21. Tony Stebel, Jr. 22. Donny Minor 23. Brad Ellenberger 24. C.W. Harshman 25. Larry Clay 26. Goob Schuller 27. Doug Kekich.

GIBSON-GOVERNOR INSURANCE AGENCY BIG-BLOCK MODIFIED

Feature - 1. Rex King 2. Andy Priest 3. Tim Doran 4. John Braymer 5. Lou Blaney 6. Joe Crawford 7. Jim Weller 8. Pete Simpson 9. Tim Engles 10. Kevin Hoffman 11. Rob McClimans 12. Randy Snider 13. Jason Longwell 14. Randy Chronister 15. Rob Kristyak 16. Jason Engles 17. Rob Curtis 18. Howard Duff-DNS.

COY BROS. E-MOD

Feature - 1. Russ Dunn 2. Jim White, Jr. 3. Scott Jones 4. Richard Stiffler 5. Mark Willison 6. Jeff Haefke 7. Jeff Johnson 8. John Strickler 9. Larry Walters 10. Paul Phillips 11. Ron Jaeger 12. Scott Stiffler 13. Rick Prosser, Jr. 14. Roger Frost 15. Jeff Sharp 16. Steve Haefke 17. Jeff Rudrick 18. Bob McCann-DSQ 19. Dave Clawson-DSQ 20. Chuck Schell-DNS.

BURGHILL AUTO SALVAGE STOCK CAR

Feature - 1. Dan Lewis 2. Carl Davis 3. Gary Robinson 4. Dwayne Clay 5. Gary Norman 6. Shaun Hooks 7. Dave Willoughby 8. Steve D'Apolito 9. John Beniston 10. Ron Iorio 11. Doug Iorio 12. Jeff Webber 13. Jerry Flavell 14. Steve Babos 15. Eric Gibson 16. Chris Seamen 17. Greg Pesa 18. Tom Moore 19. Brian Carothers 20. Jim Davis 21. Jeff Buccella 22. Joe Porter 23. Tom Miller 24. Bobby Whitling 25. Rich Allen-DNS 26. Jim Moyers-DNS.