USAR Hooters Cup Late Model Series Report and Results
6 November 1997
Lakeland, FL - The United Speed Alliance Racing Hooters Cup Late Model Series held their final hurrah at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, FL and Freddie Query won the battle but Bobby Gill won the war. Query, from Mooresville, NC led the final three laps of the Discount Auto Parts 250 in his W.J. Plemons Insurance Chevrolet to win the race, but had only to look in his mirror to see the 1997 USAR Hooters Cup Championship disappearing as Bobby Gill finished second and captured the title by one point, 2517 to 2516. Gill, the veteran Dalton, GA driver was able to take his Terminal Trucking Chevrolet around the Miller Lite Chevrolet of Jimmy Cope of Pinellas Park, FL on the final lap to wrap up the title. Query won $12,000 for his victory, and Gill and his Concord, NC based team will take home $50,000 for winning the championship. Billy Bigley Jr of Naples, FL also passed the ailing car of Cope on the final lap to nail down the third finishing position in the race and in the process the defending Champion wrapped up third in the 1997 points battle. Cope was able to hang on and finish fourth while Dick Anderson of Wildwood, FL rounded out the top five. Anderson won the Hard Charger Award. Mike Garvey of Suwanee, GA took the pole in qualifying with a lap of 20.750 seconds around the 3/4 mile high banked oval for an average speed of 123.094 mph. Garvey led the first 142 laps before giving way to Cope who led for 99 laps. Garvey collected the $1,000 Royal Purple Halfway Leader money while the Miller Beer Top Rookie of the race was Harold Fair Jr who finished in sixth spot. This was the final event for the USAR Hooters Cup Late Models as the series will be dropped by USAR in favor of the larger and slower ProCup cars in 1998. USAR also announced earlier that they will drop their Modified and Sportsman series as well. In its three years of existence, the Hooters Cup provided the opportunity for many Late Model drivers to test their skills against their peers while at the same time providing a decent payout for those who made the races. The departure of the series will leave a void in Late Model racing that hopefully will be filled by someone prior to the start of the 1998 season. John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel RESULTS DISCOUNT AUTO PARTS 250 1. Freddie Query 255 2. Bobby Gill 255 3. Billy Bigley Jr 255 4. Jimmy Cope 255 5. Dick Anderson 255 6. Harold Fair jr 255 7. Glen Gault 255 8. David Jude 255 9. Mario Gosselin 255 10. Darrell Brown 254 11. Tom Nikla 245 12. Tom Free 234 13. Dwayne Dempsey 233 14. Homer Heflin 219 15. Dan Mabry 212 16. Derrick Kelley 211 17. Mike Garvey 197 18. Jack Cook 167 19. Daniel Johnson 155 20. Jimmy mathews 136 21. Steve Avinger 128 22. Tony Walls 111 23. Jim Hennessey 93 24. Claude Plante 25 25. Lee Raymond 22 26. Ronnie Sanders 20 27. Scott Wimmer 20 28. Nevin Jenkins 20 29. Steve Dorer 20 30. Richard brinson 8 31. Dave Mader III 6 32. Bill Plemons Jr 5 Cautions: 10 for 66 laps Time of Race: 2 hrs 26 mins Lap Leaders: Garvey, Cope, Gill, Jude, Query Hooters Pole Award $1,000: Mike garvey Royal Purple Halfway Award $1,000: Mike Garvey Miller Beer Top Rookie $1,000: Harold Fair Jr Hard Charger $500: Dick Anderson