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FREMONT, OH, AUGUST 8, 2002 - Arizona's J.J. Yeley continued his recent
success at Fremont Speedway Thursday with a convincing 50-lap Non-Winged World
Championship (NWWC) main event win worth $4,500.
Still sore from a nasty midget flip at Belleville seven days ago, Yeley
returned to Fremont Speedway with great confidence after having won both the
midget and sprint portions of the Buckeye Nationals earlier in the
year.
"This track is a lot of fun, but it's tough mentally. There is such a
fine line around the top, and if you fall off you're going to slide off and hit
those soft walls they've got out there," Yeley said. "My car was
really hooked-up tonight. I was afraid that I was going to be too tight
early because I knew that it was a long race and you had to be there at the
end."
Starting from the outside of the second row, Yeley got a tremendous jump on the
initial start moving into second place behind leader Tony Jones entering turn
one. Just as Yeley was positioned to make a move for the lead in turn
four, when the red light flashed for Rodney Argo, who tipped on his side exiting
turn two.
The following start proved less favorable for Yeley and his GT Racing / ABC Sand
& Rock No. 76 Twister which was relegated to fourth behind JE Pistons Dash
winner Damion Gardner, Jones and Rip Williams. Yeley had just passed Jones
and Williams on lap five when he was snake-bitten for a second time by a caution
flag. This particular incident involved Charlie Davis, Jr., Mike Kirby and
Rob Chaney.
Unphased by his negated passes, Yeley drove around the outside of the Sharon
Jory / Tomarco Fasteners No. 3 Gambler driven by Williams on the restart.
Coming down to complete the lap, Jones bobbled giving Yeley and Williams all the
help they needed to move ahead of him.
Running the bottom, Gardner held the lead until Yeley swooped around the outside
of his Coy Construction No. 20 Eagle on lap ten exiting turn four. Even
though there were times when it looked like Gardner might be able to challenge
Yeley, Yeley's car seemed to be able to run various lines, which proved
advantageous in lapped traffic.
Yeley moved to the bottom briefly after a lap 33 restart, and Gardner tried to
shoot around him. After a slight bump on the back straight, Yeley was able
to withstand what would be Gardner's best challenge of the race.
"The top was the way to go, but I almost blew over the cushion getting into
three on that last restart," Yeley confessed. "It feels good to
win tonight because I didn't get run many of the Non-Wing World Championship
deals last year, so this year I want to win everything."
Jones, who spent the majority of the race pestering Williams for third, brought
out the final yellow flag of the race on lap 48 after he slid off the turn three
banking. After the restart, Yeley went on to score his second NAPA Auto
Parts / Auto Trader Magazines SCRA win of the season which helped extend his
early NWWC point lead over Gardner, who finished second despite suffering power
steering problems.
Williams came home in the third spot ahead of the BK Motorsports / High Five
Pizza No. 29K driven by Bud Kaeding and the Arizona Race Mart No. 50
driven by Richard
Griffin.
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SCRA RACE #23 - FREMONT SPEEDWAY, FREMONT, OH
Date of Race: 8/8/02
SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS
1. J.J. Yeley, GT Racing 76, 14.165 (NTR)
2. Cory Kruseman, Willis 1, 14.405
3. Damion Gardner, Gardner 20, 14.434
4. Rip Williams, Jory 3, 14.490
5. Rickie Gaunt, Alexander 4, 14.500
6. Tony Jones, Vermeer/Jones 87, 14.543
7. Richard Griffin, Chaffin 50, 14.560
8. Adam Mitchell, Mitchell 99, 14.568
9. Levi Jones, Crossno 138, 14.592
10. Bud Kaeding, BK Motorsports 29K, 14.598
11. Rob Chaney, Courtad 9X, 14.650
12. A.J. Anderson, Anderson 34, 14.685
13. Tony Elliott, Walker 39, 14.715
14. John Scott, Scott Mtrsprts 83, 14.728
15. Mike English, Jory 6, 14.822
16. Bobby Graham, Crossno 38, 14.852
17. Mike Kirby, Geurin 5, 14.855
18. Rodney Argo, Argo 19, 14.864
19. Lance Gremett, Gremett 85, 14.866
20. Troy Rutherford, Witherill 61, 14.867
21. Tony Beaber, Beaberbuilt 66, 14.925
22. Bobby Cody (R), Cody 41, 14.985
23. Charles Davis, Jr., Davis 94, 15.020
24. Mike Linder, James 3L, 15.040
25. Scott Bonnell, Bonnell 3B, 15.217
26. Mike Spencer, Engstrom 44 , 15.340
27. Jack DeArmond, Jr., DeArmond, Jr. 24, 15.374
28. Andy James, James 72, 15.395
29. Mike Lauterborn, Lauterborn 41M, 15.749
30. Tracy Hines, Dooling 6X, 16.482
31. Jeremiah Keegan, Keegan Y, 16.725
32. Doug Berryman, Berryman 1B, No Time
HEDMAN HEDDERS HEAT 1
1. Kirby, 2. Yeley, 3. Elliott, 4. Gaunt, 5. Beaber, 6. L. Jones, 7. Bonnell, 8.
Lauterborn,
SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2
1. Argo, 2. Kaeding, 3. T. Jones, 4. Kruseman, 5. Spencer, 6. Cody, 7. Scott,
SPIN TECH MUFFLERS / STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 3
1. Griffin, 2. English, 3. Gardner, 4. Chaney, 5. Davis, 6. Gremett, 7. Keegan,
8. DeArmond,
STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 4
1. Anderson, 2. Graham, 3. Williams, 4. Linder, 5. Mitchell, 6. James, 7.
Rutherford,
JE PISTONS DASH
1. Gardner. 2. T. Jones. 3. Williams. 4. Yeley. 5. Kruseman. 6. Kaeding, 7.
Griffin. 8. Gaunt.
B FEATURE
1. Rutherford. 2. Davis. 3. L. Jones. 4. Spencer. 5. Mitchell. 6. Beaber. 7.
Cody. 8. DeArmond. 9. Keegan. 10. Lauterborn. 11. Gremett. 12. Bonnell. 13.
James. 14. Scott.
A FEATURE (50 Laps)
1. Yeley. 2. Gardner. 3. Williams. 4. Kaeding. 5. Griffin. 6.
Kruseman. 7. Gaunt. 8. English. 9. T. Jones. 10. Chaney. 11. Anderson. 12.
Rutherford. 13. Mitchell. 14. Linder. 15. Graham. 16. L. Jones. 17. Spencer. 18.
Beaber. 19. Elliott. 20. Argo. 21. Davis. 22. Kirby
Laps Led: Gardner 1-9, Yeley 10-50
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