Saturday, May 18, 2002 - Park Jefferson Speedway
Heat - John's strong finish on opening night put him at the rear for the start of his heat race. He laid back for a few laps and let the field sort itself out. On about the 3rd lap John really had the car come to him, and he started to pick off cars one by one, by the drop of the flag he was up to 2nd. The car was a rocket, and John really drove a great race. John proclaimed that he thought it was as fast as he's ever gone in a mod at Park Jefferson!
A Feature - John was slated to start 11th in the 24 car field, but would start 10th after Mike Jensen scratched for the A-main. From the drop of the flag John was behind the #1 car of Paul Hemmingson. He had a nose on Hemmingson several times only to have his line taken away and be forced to back off. John and Jason Edwardson traded the 9th position behind Hemmingson for much of the race. The two had several side by side battles over the course of the feature. The track was much drier than we had anticipated and accordingly we didn't have the car set up for a severely dryslicked track. John tried several grooves to get by Hemmingson but was unable to. John had made it up to 8th at one point but, gave up a couple positions to Edwardson and Derek Smith attempting a high-side pass on Hemmingson as the laps wound down. Neither Edwardson or Smith was able to get by Paul and John would finish 10th behind them. The feature was won by Rich Hesse for the 2nd straight week. He passed Chuck Clark who had led most of the race on the final lap.
Standings - John will fall from 2nd to 4th in the points behind Hesse, Kyle Koster, and Paul Hemmingson, Chuck Clark is just 2 points behind John. |
