De
Graff, Ohio (June 1, 2002) -
Completing a late-race pass on J.R.
Roahrig, series veteran Jeff Lane wheeled his number 11 Tom True Auto /
Ed Martin Auto / Thompson Agricultural Service / Turf Pro Pontiac into
the first position on lap 134. Lane then pulled away at the checkered
flag to win at Shady Bowl Speedway in the Stapleton Buick GMC 150
Presented By Lucas Oil Products. The Knightstown, Ind., driver collected
$3,540 for his second career victory in the Sunoco Super Series.
"We had
high hopes coming into this event and luckily it worked out," said race
winner Jeff Lane. "After qualifying, we didn't think we had the good of
a car, but it started to really come in the second half of the race,"
added Lane.
At
the drop of the green flag, first-timer Dick Dunlevy Jr. got the jump on
Bobby Parsley and dove into the early lead. Dunlevy paced the field for
much of the early stages with Brent Downey, Bobby Parsley, Matt Hagans
and Joel Kauffman all chasing the race leader. On lap 16, Parsley
dropped off the pace with motor failure.
Downey closed the gap on the race leader and wheeled his blue number 25
underneath Dunlevy on lap 28 and the duo touched and both spun in the
fourth corner. This allowed Hagans to take the point for the first time
in the event. Kauffman was second with Andy Ponstein, J.R. Roahrig and
Jeff Lane rounding out the top-five runners.
Roahrig
began to charge to the front, passing Ponstein on lap 59 for third and
two laps later going around Kauffman. Roahrig of South Bend, Ind., then
began to close the gap on Hagans, who was running on seven cylinders.
On
lap 70, Roahrig turned underneath Hagans and was scored as the race
leader. Kauffman and Hanley also edged past Hagans with Jeff Lane
getting around the number 9 on lap 80. At the 85-lap mark, Roahrig
showed the way, chased closely by Kauffman, Hanley, Lane and 17th-place
starter Scott Hantz.
On the 98
th go around, Lane dove underneath Hanley going
into turn one and grabbed the third spot. The seventh yellow of the
event waved on lap 122 when Eddie Van Meter stalled. On the restart,
Lane got a superb restart diving under Kauffman entering turn one. On
the 129th lap, Hantz passed Kauffman for third
place honors.
Coming
off the fourth corner on lap 133, Roahrig slipped and Lane was there to
dive underneath and he completed the pass in turn one. Hantz also passed
Roahrig for second place. The final caution waved on lap 137 when Todd
Oliver lost an engine and was involved in a front stretch accident that
also collected Evan Jackson.
Racing
resumed with five laps remaining, with Lane jumping into a conformable
lead over second place Hantz. Roahrig then got under Hantz for second
place with Kauffman also following Roahrig. Hantz and Hanley made
contact down the backstretch with Hantz spinning widely in the infield
drilling a tire. At the checkers, Lane scored his second ever win in the
series with Roahrig in second. Kauffman finished third with Hanley and
Hagans filling out the top five.
J.R. Roahrig was the fastest of 24 competitors and established a track record
with a lap of 13.420 seconds / 80.477 mph. Rick Turner was the winner of
the Lane Automotive/K&N Performance Filters Hard Charger, finishing in
seventh position after starting in 18
th slot. Todd
Currier was the Hubler Group/Blake Carburetion Rookie of the Race. Jeff
Lane and Rick Turner were the winners of the Goodyear Performance
Awards. Jeff Lane was the winner of the Sweet Move the Race.