Saturday, September 7, 2002 - Park Jefferson Speedway
Heat - John would start 4th in a stacked 5 car heat race. The race included 3 of the top 4 in modified points along with the #77t of Rick Schau. The race held little value as all 5 cars would transfer to the A-main. John would follow Schau and Rich Hesse to the finish beating Chuck Clark and Brad Te Grotenhuis. John didn't use the car at all and coasted easily to a 3rd place finish.
A Feature - John would set out from the 9th spot in the A-main. How quickly you move to the back of the pack with some strong runs. Jimmy Cole would be at the IMCA Supernationals in Boone tonight, so the points race was left to Hesse, Koster, John & Clark. John didn't get a great start, but the caution would come out on the first lap and he would restart in 8th. The car was awesome when the green flag fell. John steadily moved through the field at times taking several cars per lap. The car went high and low and other places it didn't look like it should have gone! On Lap 12 John passed for the lead...at least he thought he had. The #77t of Rick Schau had gone from a 2nd row start to the early lead and had opened up a huge margin. The caution gave John a shot at the win on lap 14. The green fell with 3 to go, and we were feeling very good about our chances. Schau got a good start and John spent the first lap under green reeling him back in. On the 16th lap John made a move under Schau out of turn two and the two would drag race down the back stretch, having the lower line John scrubbed off a little more speed entering the corner than Schau did and Rick crowded John low, taking away his line coming out of turn 4. John had the option of holding his ground and knocking Rick out of the way for the win, but instead backed off giving up his chance for the win. On the final circuit John was unable to again mount a challenge for the win, but we were thrilled with the solid 2nd place finish. We told John we'd take a clean 2nd place finish to a bump and run win every time.
Standings - Rich Hesse again struggled tonigh, spinning twice the final time on the last lap, but was still scored in 9th place. Kyle Koster would come home 5th with Charlie Clark coming home 4th. John is in 3rd place, just 4 points ahead of Clark, 38 behind Hesse and 34 behind Koster. We've got a good old fashioned points battle going into the final night of the season! We need a full field of cars and to have Koster and Hesse struggle to claim the title. But the good news is we can't possibly fall lower than 4th in the standings, so we are guaranteed our best career points finish at Park Jefferson. Saturday is a night you can't miss! |
