BOB McCREADIE WINS HIS SIXTH CARQUEST 200, COMFORT TOPS SPORTSMAN

ELBRIDGE, NY..6/22/97...The second day of the CarQuest World Series

of DIRT Track Racing dawned much brighter and a whole lot cooler.

Bob Mccreadie took his sixth 200 lap victory at Rolling Wheels in

the last eleven years. Karl Comfort topped the 30-lap Sportsman

main event. McCreadie's win earned him the 1997 Rolling Wheels

track title. Jim Gabriel Jr., finishing second in the sportsman

feature, took home the 1997 Rolling Wheels Sportsman track

championship.

The 200-lap main event started off with Bobby Varin taking

the lead with Jeff Heotzler, Doug Hoffman, McCreadie and Vic

Coffey in tow. On lap four, Heotzler took the lead and began to

pull away to a ten car advantage over Varin. On lap 12 the yellow

flew when Mitch Gibbs car's front end broke while going through

the second turn.

Heotzler continued to look like he had things well in hand

on the restart. Danny Johnson began his long charge towards the

lead moving into fifth behind McCreadie. The second yellow flag

came on lap 18 when Pierre Dagenais slowed on the back stretch.

His right front suspension broke sending his wheel back into the

body works of his car. He pitted, later returning to the race

some 43 laps down to the leaders.

On lap 26, Dave Camara spun in the third turn to bring out

the third yellow of the race. He was able to rebound from his

spin, but lost a lap to the leaders. McCreadie had now moved into

second, passing Varin. He challenged Heotzler for the lead,

finally securing the front spot on lap 44. But Danny Johnson now

had the hot shoes, passing Heotzler for second on lap 51. He then

set his sights on McCreadie. Both Johnson and McCreadie crossed

the start-finish line in a dead heat on lap 55. Johnson then

nudged his way into first, using the lapped car of Bryon Turner

as a pick.

During this time Kenny Tremont pitted, to change drivers.

Tremont, who was suffering from a severe bout with the flu,

turned over the driving cores to his crew chief, and Albany-

Saratoga sportsman driver, Lance Harding. Harding just had to

stay out and pit up valuable points towards the overall title.

The team, who could officially pit only after lap 30, were

looking for a yellow. But the last time the yellow flag flew was

between laps 26 and 28. Johnson would lead the pack well past the

halfway marker as all of the teams needed to change tires.

Finally on lap 123 Jimmy Phelps slowed forcing starter Dave

Farney to throw the yellow. the teams had traveled almost 100

green flag laps. The entire field took this time to pit, except

Billy Decker who stayed out to try and get back a lap he had

earlier lost.

Danny Johnson returned to the track behind Decker, but still

the leader of the race. Decker's hope to regain his lap came only

if he could stay ahead of Johnson until another yellow flew. That

yellow came on lap 144 when Bryon Turner slowed to a stop on the

back stretch. This allowed Decker to pit and return to the back

of the lead lap.

Jeff Heotzler, running third, saw his great run end on lap

162 when his left rear suspension broke allowing the wheel well

to fall onto the rear tire. On lap 167 Danny Johnson slide high

in the second turn allowing McCreadie to pas him for the lead.

Johnson fought back but McCreadie completed his pass.

Brett Hearn brought out the next yellow, lap 178 when a

broken front shock caused his car to slide towards the top of the

speedway and slow. He pitted but lost two laps in his team's

efforts to repair the broken piece. Combining this with two laps

lost on the track ended Hearn's possible chances of taking the

1997 track championship.

The top five were now McCreadie, Johnson, Varin, Joe Plazek

and Jack Johnson. On lap 192 Danny Johnson slowed dramatically in

the second turn causing the third place back cars all to play

bumper tag. Unfortunately for Plazek this game of tag saw him

come up short, flattening his right front tire. Johnson, who's

panhard bar broke, forced his out of the race. He had lead 113

laps during his run at the front.

McCreadie cruised home the winner of the $10,000 first place

prize. Hoffman finished second followed by Varin, Tim McCreadie

and Steve Paine. Jack Johnson, and Billy Decker rounded out the

cars finishing on the lead lap.

The 30-lap sportsman main event ran much smoother then any

of the sportsman qualifying races. It took nearly an hour to run

the sportsman heat races as each was crash filled. The biggest

accident of the day came in the first of two sportsman consis

when a seven car pile up took place on the main straight away.

Chris Schultz took the early lead in the feature event. He

was followed by Greg Sleight and Todd Stewart. However Stewart

slipped backwards allowing Jim Gabriel Jr. and then Karl Comfort

to take second and third.

Greg Sleight took over the lead on lap nine as Schultz faded

back into the pack. With the majority of cars still running,

Gabriel took over the front spot on lap 22. It looked as if

Gabriel would win yet another main event at Rolling Wheels. On

lap 27 the yellow flew as the leaders were approaching the spun

out car of Garry Moreash in the third turn. Gabriel went high to

avoid contact, while Comfort chose the low road under the

spinning car. Comfort was recorded as the leader when the yellow

flew much to Gabriel's dismay.

With just two laps remaining Gabriel tried to hang on to the

rear bumper of the Comfort car and had to settle for second

place. Sleight finished third followed in fourth by Greg Doust.

Fifth went to Jim Spano.

The CarQuest World Series of DIRT Tracking Racing weekend

proved to be another success, with over 200 cars in the pits over

the two day period. Forty-four modifieds and 52 sportsman upped

the number nearly to 100 cars on the day.

CARQUEST WORLD SERIES OF DIRT TRACK RACING-DAY 2 SUMMARY

SPORTSMAN

HEAT 1: C. Schultz, J. Gabriel Jr., H. Albrecht, G. Moreash.

HEAT 2: T. Stewart, C. Brachmann, R. Galloway, M. Potter.

HEAT 3: G. Sleight, K. Comfort, G. Stage, Ti. Sears.

HEAT 4: G. Doust, T. Paes Jr., S. Hall, B. Krull.

HEAT 5: J. Spano, J. Barney, L. Atkins, T. Jones.

CONSI 1: M. VanPelt, R. Holden, R. Miller.

CONSI 2: M. Button, B. Rouse, C. Graham.

ADDED: M. Clark, L. Lampman Jr., V. Vitale, R. Hall

FEATURE (30-laps): KARL COMFORT, Jim Gabriel Jr., Greg Sleight,

Greg Doust, Jim Spano, Rick Miller, Mike Button, Chris Schultz,

Randy Holden, Steve Hall, Chad Brachmann, Jason Barney, Gary

Stage, Brad Rouse, Tim Sears, Tony Paes Jr., Todd Stewart, Vince

Vitale, Alton Palmer, Billy Krull, Mike Clark, Rob Galloway, Lem

Atkins, Chuck Graham, Mike VanPelt, Howie Albrecht, Garry

Moreash, Mark Potter, Larry Lampman Jr., Rich Hall, Tim Jones.

MODIFIED

HEAT 1: V. Coffey, B. McCreadie, T. McCreadie, D. wetmore, S.

Prentice.

HEAT 2: D. Hoffman, J. Heotzler, J. Plazek, D. Planck, G.

Tomkins.

HEAT 3: B. Varin, J. Johnson, D. Johnson, K. Tremont, A. Johnson.

HEAT 4: A.J. Romano, B. Decker, B. Hearn, R. Eurich, M. Gibbs.

CONSI 1: J. Phelps, D. Camara, B. Turner, C. Bower, C. Jackson.

CONSI 2: J. Horton, S. Paine, A. Boisvert, P. Dagenais, T.

Fuller, G. Button.

FEATURE (200-laps): BOB McCREADIE, Doug Hoffman, Bobby Varin, Tim

McCreadie, Steve Paine, Jack Johnson, Billy Decker, Alan Johnson,

Dale Planck, Jimmy Horton, Gary Tomkins, Pat Ward, Richie Eurich,

Vic Coffey, Joe Plazek, Craig Jackson, Brett Hearn, Bryon Turner,

Dave Camara, Danny Johnson, Alain Boisvert, Kenny Tremont, Jeff

Heotzler, Pierre Dagenais, Scott Prentice, Jimmy Phelps, Donnie

Wetmore, Chuck Bower, A.J. Romano, Tim Fuller, Mitch Gibbs,

Gordie Button.