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| 2002 Race Results |
| Saturday, July 6, 2002 - Park Jefferson Speedway Heat - After our great runs over the past several weeks, John had the top point average in the class averaging a 3rd place finish over the last 4 weeks. Unfortunately the payback for that good performance is a rear starting position for the heats. John started 7th of 8 cars in the first heat race. John was right behind the #55 of Jimmy Cole at the start, Jimmy would fly through the field in the first lap to the lead, Jimmy's car was definitely hooked up! John sorted his way through the field a bit more patiently, moving into 2nd on the...2nd lap. :o) John didn't push the car in the race and ran comfortably in 2nd for the remainder of the race. As a heat race side note, Rich Hesse would also start at the rear of his heat and flew through the field to the front of his heat in a couple laps. As they were coming to the white flag, Rich's rear-end broke and took out his tranny also. There was a brief moment where we thought there'd be a big points gain for the OK One Stop team, until we remembered who we were talking about. Hesse's crew is among the best in the region and replaced the necessary rear-end parts and transmission with time to spare, although he would start 18th in the A. A Feature - Again, John's strong runs hurt in starting position as he would start from the 12th position. John didn't get a great start at the drop of the green, but Jimmy Cole would as he moved into the top-4 from a 7th place start in the first lap. But Cole would lose his car in turn 3 and gather several other cars to bring out the caution on the first lap. Cole would go to the pits for repairs and come out a lap down. John would start 9th on the 2nd attempt to get the race under way. That would be the final opportunity to gather his thoughts as the next 17 laps proceeded caution-free for the first time this season. The track was again very dry as we've not seen significant rainfall in the area for about 3-4 weeks. The car was extremely loose in turns 3 & 4, but John was able to get some good traction running the bottom in 1 & 2. Unfortunately, there was one car that was definitely faster than John and that was the #31H of Hesse who took the lead from his 18th place start on lap 7! John moved into the top 5 on lap 8 and into 2nd on lap 11. He was steadily picking off cars as he moved through the field, positioning himself for every pass in turns 1 & 2. The #77 of Kyle Koster would catch John with 3 to go,and the two traded the 2nd spot over the closing laps with Koster claiming it for good on the white flag lap. Kyle's car was very good and was able to go high or low, John made a great effort at holding him off. John garnered another 3rd place finish. Standings - It was somewhat of a defining night in the points race. Charlie Clark lost an engine on Friday night at Denison and didn't have a backup ready to go. He didn't show up for the night's races. Jimmy Cole who was in 4th position, had a down night in the feature as well. Kyle Koster's 2nd place finish will vault him from 5th to 3rd in the points race, about 26 points behind John who trails the leader, Hesse by 46 points. The points battle takes a week off on July 13 when the World Dirt Racing League visits PJ for a $1,200 to win Modified show. |