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NASCAR Busch North Report and Results from Watkins Glen

11 August 1997

from NASCAR PR


WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Ted Christopher of Plainville, Conn. appeared to be out 
of the Burnham Boilers 150 on the very first lap as he failed to come up to 
speed due to a balky transmission, but he persevered to take the win on a 
bright afternoon in the rolling hills of Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Mike Stefanik of Coventry, R.I. jumped to an early lead, but a broken 
transmission put him behind the wall on lap 2, and heading down the road to 
the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour event at Riverhead, N.Y.

Trans-Am standout Brian Simo of Carlsbad, Calif. took over he lead, but 
suffered his third blown engine of the weekend on Lap 11.

Bobby Dragon of Milton. Vt., the 1993 winner of this event, then took over 
the front position, and held on until all the leaders pitted on Lap 23 during 
a caution flag. Dragon was the first out of the pit area, but was back in the 
field with other drivers choosing to stay out.

When the leaders all pitted, Raybestos Rookie Tom Carey of Orange, Mass. 
inherited the lead, and was put to the test when the green flag came back out 
on lap 24. Carey held his own for a while, but could not hold off a 
hard-charging Kelly Moore from Scarborough, Me. who had pitted a number of 
laps earlier, gaining track position when the leaders all pitted.

Christopher, working without first gear in his transmission, had managed to 
work himself into leadership contention, and he squeezed by Moore as the two 
entered turn one on Lap 38.

Christopher breezed past several caution periods for the victory in the race 
which was forced into the green, white checkered overtime. Kim Baker of 
Wilbraham, Mass. chased Christopher across the line for second with Martin 
Truex of Mayetta, N.J. in third, Andy Santerre of Cherryfield, Me. fourth and 
Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, N.H. in fifth.

Christopher's win was worth $21,525 from the $143,945 purse.



WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Results from Saturday's Burnham Boilers 150 for 
the NASCAR Busch North Series, Grand National Division at Watkins Glen 
International giving starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car 
make, laps completed, winner's average speed, reason out if any, and money 
won.

NASCAR BUSCH NORTH SERIES, Grand National Division
BURNHAM BOILERS 150 - August 9, 1997 - $143,945
Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, N.Y. (2.45 Mile Road Course)

  1.  (3) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 64, $21,525
  2. (30) Kim Baker, Wilbraham, Mass., Chevrolet, 64, $12,155
  3. (21) Martin Truex, Mayetta, N.J., Chevrolet, 64, $8,070
  4. (13) Andy Santerre, Cherryfield, Me., Chevrolet, 64, $5,650
  5.  (9) Brad Leighton, Center Harbor, N.H., Chevrolet, 64, $5,000
  6. (20) Mike Olsen, N. Haverhill, N.H., Pontiac, 64, $4,000
  7. (19) Brett Roubinek, Lakeville, Conn., Chevrolet, 64, $3,250
  8. (11) Paul Spencer, Berwick, Penn., Chevrolet, 64, $3,000
  9. (24) John Preston, Wyalusing, Penn., Ford, 64, $2,750
 10. (22) Dave Dion, Hudson, N.H., Ford, 64, $4,100
 11. (10) Kelly Moore, Scarborough, Me., Pontiac, 64, $2,750
 12. (25) Tracy Gordon, Strong, Me., Pontiac, 64, $3,100
 13.  (7) Bobby Dragon, Milton, Vt., Pontiac, 64, $2,400
 14.  (8) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook, Conn., Chevrolet, 64, $2,300
 15. (26) Dennis Demers, Shelburne, Vt., Chevrolet, 64, $2,575
 16. (33) Billy Penfold, Yarmouth, Me., Chevrolet, 64, $2,100
 17. (12) Jeff Barry, Norwich, Conn., Chevrolet, 64, $2,050
 18. (35) Dennis Doyle, Plymouth, Conn., Chevrolet, 63, $2,000
 19. (32) Bob Brunell, Peru, N.Y, Pontiac, 63, $1,450
 20. (36) Herb Drugg, Troy, N.H., Oldsmobile, 63, $1,650
 21. (34) Stuart Jones, Holyoke, Mass., Chevrolet, 62, $1,350
 22. (14) Rick Bell, Salisbury, Conn., Pontiac, 62, $1,300
 23. (37) Glen Brehio, Worcester, Mass., Chevrolet, 62, $1,775
 24. (15) Brad Bennett, Stamford, Conn., Pontiac, 61, $1,750
 25. (27) Stub Fadden, N. Haverhill, N.H., Chevrolet, 53, $1,750
 26.  (6) Kat Teasdale, Oakville, Ont., Chevrolet, 48, Transmission, $1,200
 27. (29) Tom Bolles, Ellington, Conn., Pontiac, 45, Engine, $1,650
 28. (28) Jamie Aube, Ferrisburg, Vt., Pontiac, 45, Accident, $1,600
 29. (16) Eric Bodine, Chemung, N.Y., Chevrolet, 43, Engine, $1,600
 30. (31) Alan Chapman, Elmira, N.Y., Pontiac, 42, Driver Fatigue, $1,100
 31.  (4) Dale Quarterley, Westfield, Mass., Chevrolet, 40, Brakes, $1,600
 32. (23) Scott Deware, Braintree, Mass., Pontiac, 38, Running, $1,100
 33. (38) Tom Carey, Orange, Mass., Pontiac, 32, Engine, $1,600
 34. (18) Lou Rettenmeier, Sherman, Conn., Chevrolet, 22, Valve Train, $1,100
 35. (17) Russ Brown, Mannsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 18, Transmission, $1,100
 36.  (5) Brian Simo, Carlsbad, Calif., Chevrolet, 11, Engine, $1,100
 37.  (1) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Chevrolet, 4, Transmission, $1,600
 38.  (2) Bryan Wall, Sandown, N.H., Ford, 2, Engine, $1,600

TIME OF RACE: 2 hours, 22 minutes, 9 seconds
WINNER'S AVERAGE SPEED: 66.184 mph
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 2.6 seconds
BUSCH POLE AWARD: Mike Stefanik  112.999 mph (78.054 seconds)
MCI FAST PACE AWARD: Brian Simo, Lap 10, 110.176 mph (79.620 seconds)
RAYBESTOS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Tracy Gordon
AE CLEVITE ENGINE AWARD: Ted Marsh
CAUTION FLAGS: 9 for 29 laps
LEAD CHANGES: 5 among 6 drivers
LAP LEADERS: Mike Stefanik 1-2; Brian Simo 3-11; Bobby Dragon 12-23; Tom 
Carey 24-27; Kelly Moore 28-37; Ted Christopher 38-64