HAV-A-TAMPA Triple Header: Mason-Dixon Summer Tour Reports and Results
5 August 1997
Little Rock, AR - Wendell Wallace picked up his tenth career HAV-A-TAMPA Dirt Racing Series victory at I-30 Speedway in the opening race of a nine day/six race swing across the Midwest known as the "Mason-Dixon Summer Tour". Wallace held off fellow Batesville, AR driver Billy Moyer during the final laps to take his fifth win of the 1997 season and pocketed over $10,000 in winning the "GRT Race Cars 100". The win keeps Wallace and Moyer close together in the continuing battle for the National Points Championship."It was really tough out there tonight," said Wallace as he crawled from his GRT chassied Chevrolet Camaro in the Winner's Circle. "I don't even want to see what the right side of my car looks like. We are lucky to make the 100 laps, we took a couple of hard hits out there tonight."
The action on the track allowed many of the competitors an opportunity to get "up close and Personal" with each other as the 24 car field beat and banged its way around the tight 1/4 mile race track. Donnie Barnhart followed Wallace and Moyer to the finish for third, while Bill Frye and Dale McDowell rounded out the top five.
Sixth place finisher Johnny Virden scored his second ISKY Racing Cams Fast Gun award of the season with a 14.460 second time at an average speed of 62.240 mph.
John Kaiser -- The Autochannel
Paducah, KY - Skip Arp methodically worked his way to the front to pick up his second win in the last four races in the "Rebel 100" at Paducah International Raceway. The win, worth over $10,000, was the seventh for the Georgetown, TN driver in his HAV-A-TAMPA career.
Arp, who started back in the pack after a poor qualifying effort, slowly but surely worked his way towards the front. Picking of one and two cars a lap on the 3/8 mile oval Arp closed on leader Billy Moyer and on lap 58, Arp slid by the points leader and took the lead. Moyer held on to finish in second with Johnny Virden third. Donnie Moran and Wendell Wallace crossed the line fourth and fifth respectively.
Moyer arrived at the race track with a cast on his left hand following a crash in Little Rock that resulted in a thumb being broken in two places. The injury did not slow him down as he took the ISKY Racing Cams Fast Gun Award with a time of 16.813 secs at an average speed of 80.295 mph.
John Kaiser -- The Autochannel
Haubstadt, IN - The third leg of the "Mason-Dixon Summer Tour" for the HAV-A-TAMPA Dirt Racing Series produced the third different winner as the series visited Tri-State Speedway for the "Tri-State 100". Marshall Green of Dalton, GA roared past Tim Hitt in the second half of the 100-lap event to take the win and the check for over $10,000. The win was the first ever for the Georgia driver on the cigar sponsored circuit. Finishing in second spot was Rick Eckert with Bill Frye third.
I just felt like I could win and knew the car was right," Green commented from Victory Lane. "My mom and dad have been behind me from day one, and I'm just thrilled that they are here to see this, I'm glad that we got what we were looking for. I knew if I took care of my tires and ran my own line it was going to be hard for Billy (Moyer) to to get around me. I didn't know that he cut down a tire, but when I saw the white flag, I started breathing again. "
The race saw Green work his way to the front and take the lead from Hitt on lap 54. Moyer, who started in 17th spot, came through the field to mount a challenge that ended on the final lap when he cut a tire and faded to tenth before he could reach the finish line. After being passed by Green, Hitt also faded to finish outside the top ten. Rick Eckert made a determined run to the front and was rewarded with a second place finish. Third went to Frye, Steve Francis, the winner of the ISKY Racing Cams Fast Gun Award with a clocking of 13.186 seconds at an average speed of 68.254 mph, ended up fourth and Donnie Barnhart was fifth.
John Kaiser -- The Autochannel
RESULT "GRT RACE CARS 100" pos Driver Hometown laps Money 1. Wendell Wallace Batesville, AR 100 $10850 2. Billy Moyer Batesville, AR 100 6400 3. Donnie Barnhart N Little Rock, AR 100 3200 4. Bill Frye Greenbrier, AR 100 2600 5. Dale McDowell Rossville, GA 100 2300 6. Johnny Virden Russellville, AR 100 1950 7. Ronnie Poche Natchitoches, LA 100 1600 8. Donnie Moran Dresden, OH 100 1800 9. Clint Smith Griffin, GA 100 1500 10. David Gibson Ash Flat, AR 100 1400 11. Marshall Green Dalton, GA 100 1450 12. Earl Pearson Jr Jacksonville, FL 100 950 13. Ray Cook Murphy, NC 99 1200 14. Rex Richey Ringgold, GA 99 875 15. Freddy Smith Knoxville, TN 98 1400 16. Kenny Merchant Ruston, LA 98 825 17. Stacy Taylor Jacksonville, AR 97 800 18. Skip Arp Georgetown, TN 97 1050 19. Robbie Starnes Houston, TX 69 700 20. Duke Whiseant Texarkana, AR 56 700 21. Mike Bowers Sherwood, AR 47 700 22. Ronnie Adams Greenwood, LA 47 700 23. Ricky Ingalls Longview, TX 30 700 24. Bub McCool Vicksburg, MS 25 700 ISKY Racing Cams Fast Gun Award: Johnny Virden 14.460 secs/62.240 mph RESULTS "REBEL 100" pos Driver Hometown Laps Money 1. Skip Arp Georgetown, TN 100 $10900 2. Billy Moyer Batesville, AR 100 6600 3. Johnny Virden Russellville, AR 100 3400 4. Donnie Moran Dresden, OH 100 3000 5. Wendell Wallace Batesville, AR 100 2750 6. Freddy Smith Knoxville, TN 100 2550 7. Bill Frye Greenbrier, AR 100 1650 8. David Gibson Ash Flat, AR 100 1900 9. Mark Miner Stockbridge, GA 100 1200 10. Marshall Green Dalton, GA 99 1750 11. Robbie Starnes Houston, TX 99 1000 12. Ronnie Poche Natchitoches, LA 98 950 13. Randy Sellars Mayfield, KY 97 900 14. Donnie Barnhart N Little Rock, AR 97 875 15. Pete Broughton Wimauma, FL 96 850 16. John Tindal Fancy Farm. KY 96 825 17. Ray Cook Murphy, NC 80 1300 18. Clint Smith Griffin, GA 58 1250 19. Bob Pierce Danville, IL 28 700 20. Rex Richey Ringgold, GA 28 700 21. Dale McDowell Rossville, GA 23 1200 22. Kevin Claycomb Vincennes, IN 15 700 23. Earl Pearson Jr Jacksonville, FL 15 700 24. Buster Goss Rome, GA 2 700 ISKY Racing Cams Fast Gun Award: Billy Moyer 16.813 secs/80.295 mph RESULTS "TRI-CITY 100" pos Driver Hometown Laps Money 1. Marshall Green Dalton, GA 100 $10750 2. Rick Eckert York, PA 100 6500 3. Bill Frye Greenbrier, AR 100 3350 4. Steve Francis Ashland, KY 100 2600 5. Donnie Barnhart N Little Rock, AR 100 2150 6. Doug McCammon Palestine, IN 100 1800 7. Dale McDowell Rossville, GA 100 2150 8. Skip Arp Georgetown, TN 100 2000 9. John Gill Mitchell, IN 100 1200 10. Billy Moyer Batesville, AR 100 1100 11. Tim Hitt Weston, WV 100 1000 12. Johnny Virden Russellville, AR 100 1100 13. Clint Smith Griffin, GA 100 1450 14. Ray Cook Murphy, NC 99 1375 15. Wendell Wallace Batesville, AR 95 1450 16. Dennis Erb Jr Carpentersville, IL 74 825 17. Freddy Smith Knoxville, TN 74 1550 18. Earl Pearson Jr Jacksonville, FL 73 750 19. Rick Aukland Fargo, ND 59 700 20. Kevin Claycomb Vincennes, IN 55 700 21. Bob Pierce Danville, IL 48 700 22. Mark Miner Stockbridge, GA 10 700 23. Rex Richey Ringgold, GA 1 700 24. Ronnie Poche Natchitoches, LA 0 700 ISKY Racing Cams Fast Gun Award: Steve Francis 13.816 secs/68.254 mph HAV-A-TAMPA Dirt Racing Series National Points Standings after 26 of 32 events. 1. Billy Moyer 4030 11. Johnny Virden 2829 2. Wendell Wallace 3926 12. Bill Frye 2510 3. Freddy Smith 3709 13. Mark Miner 2282 4. Donnie Moran 3617 14. Earl Pearson Jr 2090 5. Dale McDowell 3524 15. Ronnie Johnson 1810 6. Clint Smith 3476 16. Steve Russell 1743 7. Skip Arp 3448 17. Rex Richey 1552 8. Marshall Green 3251 18. Robbie Starnes 1541 9. Ray Cook 3038 19. Gar Dickson 1403 10.David Gibson 3022 20. Bob Pierce 1358
