Bristol Motor Speedway

Dave Blaxland would be the fastest car during practice until 15 minutes left in the session when Jason Day clocked in the fastest lap of 16.501 seconds good for 116.284 mph. Blaxland would see his 16.564 second lap be bettered by two other drivers in the final minutes. But in qualifying it would the Rocket Dan Searle firmly planting his Monte Carlo on the pole with a wicked 16.632 mph lap making him the only driver to crack the 115mph zone during qualifying. Ralph Colford would flank the Bud car with his Hardees Oldsmobile at 16.718 seconds good for 114.775 mph.

The first victim of the race would be John Agnew in his #42 Maxwell house machine when he got too high and tagged the wall coming off turn 4 resulting in a solo spin on lap 5. Agnew would get it rolling again without bringing out the yellow.

One lap later the yellow would come out as Chuck Plaxton and Peter Seymore would have what appeared to be warp contact. A number of drivers would take the opportunity to pit for some fresh rubber.

The next caution of the night would be for our very own Skoal Bandit Scott Scrimgeour who would simply loop it exiting turn 2 on lap 13. Scrimgeour would keep his chevy off the wall during the spin but would run into John Agnew under caution while waving to fans in the stands. The result would be a stop on pit road to check the rad and change tires.

The race would get back under way on lap 19 with Searle still in the leading and pulling away from the pack. Vince MacDonald and Dave Blaxland would continue to work over second place runner Ralph Colford for a few laps until Colford would get some breathing room when the #7 and #8 began dicing for the third spot.

Lap 32 would see Colford slip up the track and get freight trained by MacDonald, Blaxland and substitute driver Daryl Hayes taking over duties in the #9 Coors Thunderbird for a vacationing Norbey Soontiens.

By lap 40 both MacDonald and Colford are fading as Plaxton and Scrimgeour have cranked it up a notch. Blaxland is beginning to feel the pressure as well as he drifts high on lap 41 allowing both Hayes and Plaxton to pass on the low side in turn 4.

Searle is a quarter lap ahead of Hayes while the battle for 2nd through 5th still rages. Lap 59 and the caution comes out when Blaxland and Plaxton have light contact in turn 4. Searle slows to allow lap cars get their laps back.

Hayes would make a critical mistake and pass the pace resulting in a black flag penalty that removed him from contention of the win. The lead lap cars would make their final pit stop.

The last 30 laps would be good old fashioned Saturday night short track action with lots of fender rubbing and wall slapping. The save of the night would occur on lap 72 when Blaxland and Colford would get together coming off turn 4. Some how Colford would hold onto his Olds running into turn 1 without spinning out.

On lap 84 the caution flag was nearly required as Colford got a fender under MacDonald heading into turn 3 resulting in contact sending the Zerex car hard into the wall but MacDonald would recover and continue driving on.

One lap later it is Dave Blaxland who gets a little help coming around from the Hardees car while entering turn 2. This time however the caution flag would wave setting up a sprint to the end.

But the race would not get the end under green. A final caution flag would have to waved on lap 96 for a hard charging Ralph Colford who again spin out a driver trying to force himself under. This time the victim would be none other than RCMP officier Chuck Plaxton. The good news for Colford is that Plaxton won't be filing any charges, however Colford will be called to the red trailer for a talk with NASCAR.

Dan Searle would secure the win under the checkers trailed by Scott Scrimgeour in second and Ralph Colford in third. Searle would lead a commanding 97 laps with Daryl Hayes being the only other driver to lead laps. Scott Scrimgeour would clock in the fastest circuit on lap 73 with a 16.479 second run at 116.439 mph. Returning driver Carman Schwartz would have a good night being the most consistent driver and the highest climber. Heroes drivers now take a break