NASCAR SJAPS: Gilchrist Leads The Lap that Counts at Southern National
3 May 1998
Kenly, N.C. - Raleigh, N.C.'s Derrick Gilchrist picked up his third career Slim Jim All Pro Series win, and first of 1998, with a strong late race run to capture top honors in the Southern National 200 at Southern National Speedway on Saturday night. The NASCAR Touring Division event was dominated for many laps by points leader Freddie Query who elected to not pit during the 200 lap race. The decision proved to be costly as Gilchrist, who pitted during the third caution on lap 91, was able to run down the Mooresville, N.C. resident and overtake the leader on the final lap."We had a chance to win this race last year but not pitting proved to be our undoing," Gilchrist stated in victory lane. The driver of the Hamke Race Cars & Parts Chevrolet went on to say, "This year we planned before the race started that we were going to pit and it certainly helped us in the latter stages of the race."
Query notched his third career Bud Pole Award during time trials after turning a lap of 14.909 seconds at an average speed of 96.586 mph. His lap bested 32 other drivers who were vying for one of 30 starting positions. It was the W.J. Plemons Insurance Chevrolet driver's second pole of the year and moves him into a tie with Billy Bigley, Jr. for the season long battle for most Bud Poles.
Query outgunned outside polesitter Hal Goodson at the start of the race and moved out into the lead with many of the frontrunners quickly falling into single file line on the quick 0.400 mile oval. Goodson, Bigley and Steve Mendenhall maintained their single file formation as a battle arose behind them with rookie David Moyer leading a pack of cars early on. On lap seven Bigley drove his Bilstein Shocks/Team ASE Chevrolet underneath Goodson's Nortel/Northern Telecom Chevrolet and took over the runner-up spot from the 1997 Slim Jim All Pro Series Champion. Bigley then quickly tracked down Query and the race was taking on the appearance of the South Boston Speedway event held earlier this year with Bigley glued to Query's bumper.
Gilchrist meanwhile was passing cars after starting eighth and quickly cracked the top five. Also moving up quickly was David Reutimann and Steven Christian. When Gilchrist pitted just prior to the halfway point he restarted the race in the 11th position. By the completion of the race's fourth caution period on lap 128 Gilchrist had moved into sixth through the benefit of new tires and several other front runners pitting during the caution period.
With 50 laps to go Gilchrist was back into the top five and on lap 164 he powered by rookie David Jude to assume the fourth position. On lap 172 Bigley was trying to hold off Christian who in turn had a mirror full of Gilchrist. Gilchrist elected to pass both drivers with a bold outside pass and he made it stick. With 28 laps to go he then set his sights on leader Query.
The seventh and final caution flag waved on lap 178 when Higginsville, Mo.'s Keith White spun his Bayer Agricultural Chevrolet in turn four. This bunched the field up one more time and gave Gilchrist the shot he needed to close on Query's bumper. In the final laps the lead duo raced each other hard, with Query attempting to defend his lead and Gilchrist fighting to wrest it away. As the two came down the front straightaway on the white flag lap Gilchrist dove low and charged hard into turn one. The two cars made contact and Query executed a smoke-filled slide between turns one and two. Gilchrist managed to keep his car going in the right direction and drove on unchallenged to the checkered flag. Christian, who managed to get by Bigley late in the race, also with an outside pass, finished second for the second week in a row while Bigley held on for third. Reutimann continued his string of lead lap finishes with a fourth while Kermit, W.V.'s Jude notched a career best fifth place finish. Goodson finished sixth while Query regrouped to take seventh over Sean Studer who wound up eighth and the last car on the lead lap. Ron Young and Scott Kilby rounded out the top 10.
Gilchrist's margin of victory over Christian was 0.75 seconds and although the race was punctuated by seven cautions consuming 40 laps a new race record was established. The race was run in one hour, seven minutes and 49 seconds with Gilchrist's winning average speed equating to 70.777 mph.
Points leader Freddie Query saw his points lead shrink for the second week in a row to 49 points. Christian now has sole command of second place but Gilchrist moves to third just eight points behind Christian.. Rounding out the top five are Bigley and Reutimann. The second through fifth positions are separated by just 16 points. Goodson, Ronnie Burkett, Kilby, Mardy Lindley and Randy Gentry round out the top 10.
Jude's career best fifth place finish earned him rookie of the race honors while Burkett continues to lead the rookie chase over Kilby, now by just four points.
Gilchrist's car owner and crew chief Robert Hamke picked up $300 from Jasper Engines & Transmissions to earn the Crew Chief Challenge award. Hamke is now tied with Bill Bigley, Sr. with 24 points in the season long crew chief chase. The duo trails Alex Query by eight points.
For the third time this season Query picked up the $300 from Gatorade for leading at the race's halfway point and leads Bigley by seven points in the season long battle for year end Gatorade dollars.
The next event for the Slim Jim All Pro Series is Friday night, May 22 at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo. The Price Chopper 250 will be the seventh event on the 19-race Slim Jim All Pro Series schedule and is a companion event with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams who will compete at the same 0.500 mile high banked oval on May 23.
Race #6 of 19
$46,500 - Southern National 200 - May 2, 1998
Southern National Speedway
0.400 mile oval, Kenly, NC
1 8 27 Derrick Gilchrist
2 15 0 Steven Christian
3 4 28 Billy Bigley, Jr.
4 10 00 David Reutimann
5 11 92 #David Jude
6 2 50 Hal Goodson
7 1 8 Freddie Query
8 7 98 Sean Studer
9 12 4 Ron Young
10 21 45 #Scott Kilby
11 19 09 Randy Gentry
12 22 08 #Nevin Jenkins
13 6 25 #David Moyer
14 23 33 Conrad Burr
15 5 54 #Brian Sockwell
16 29 26 Keith White
17 14 1 Eddie Massengill
18 26 32 #Trent Owens
19 25 71 Jim Kelley
20 30 96 Dan Matthews
21 9 86 Mardy Lindley
22 28 03 Ken Alexander
23 18 24 Mike Harmon
24 17 95 Randy Renfrow
25 3 21 Steve Mendenhall
26 20 94 Scott Riggs
27 24 15 Carl Long
28 16 31 #Ronnie Burkett
29 27 06 Bobby Hamilton, Jr.
30 13 22 Bob Ward
Failed to Qualify: Lee Raymond, David Boyd, Chip Rutherford
Time of Race: 1 hr., 7 mins., 49 secs. (NTR) Winner's Average Speed:
70.77 mph Margin of Victory: 0.75 secs.
Bud Pole Award: Freddie Query, Mooresville, NC, Chevrolet, 14.909 secs.,
96.586 mph
Gatorade Front Runner Award: Freddie Query
Caution Periods: 7 for 40 laps Lead Changes: 1 lead change among 2
drivers
Lap Leaders: Query 1-199, Gilchrist 200
Rookie of the Race: David Jude # signifies Rookie Contender
Jasper Engines & Transmissions Crew Chief of the Race: Robert Hamke
1998 Point Standings (thru 5/2/98)
Car
Pos # Driver Points Starts Poles Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 8 Freddie Query 927 6 2 2 4 5
2 0 S Christian 878 6 0 0 3 4
3 27 D Gilchrist 870 6 1 1 3 5
4 00 David Reutimann 868 6 0 0 3 5
5 28 B Bigley, Jr. 862 5 2 1 3 5
6 50 Hal Goodson 829 6 0 0 2 4
7 31 #Ronnie Burkett 751 6 0 0 1 3
8 45 #Scott Kilby 730 5 0 0 1 2
9 86 Mardy Lindley 723 5 1 0 1 3
10 09 Randy Gentry 709 6 0 0 0 2
11 4 Ron Young 688 6 0 0 0 2
12 98 Sean Studer 687 6 0 0 0 1
13 08 #Nevin Jenkins 674 5 0 0 0 2
14 25 #David Moyer 644 5 0 0 0 1
15 92 #David Jude 616 6 0 0 1 2
16 54 #Brian Sockwell 609 6 0 0 0 0
17 06 B Hamilton, Jr. 603 6 0 0 0 0
18 03 Ken Alexander 603 6 0 0 0 0
19 33 Conrad Burr 603 6 0 0 0 0
20 61 Jimmy Cope 523 4 0 0 1 2
21 24 Mike Harmon 494 5 0 0 0 0
22 32 #Trent Owens 477 4 0 0 0 0
23 26 Keith White 470 4 0 0 0 0
24 84 #Josh Clemons 458 4 0 0 0 0
25 21 S Mendenhall 438 4 0 0 0 1
26 80 Toby Porter 403 3 0 0 2 2
27 53 R Burroughs 400 4 0 0 0 0
28 95 Steven Howard 374 4 0 0 0 0
29 94 Scott Riggs 352 3 0 0 0 1
30 7 Lee Raymond 329 1 0 0 0 0
31 40 #Bobby Newling 299 2 0 0 1 1
32 04 Bobby Gill 265 2 0 0 1 1
33 96 Dan Matthews 237 2 0 0 0 1
34 1 E Massengill 200 2 0 0 0 0
35 14 Larry Raines 191 2 0 0 0 0
36 20 Steve Smith 185 2 0 0 0 0
37 67 Wayne Anderson 180 1 0 1 1 1
38 94 Lee Tissot 180 1 0 1 1 1
39 20 Jim Inglebright 160 1 0 0 1 1
40 22 Pete Orr 155 1 0 0 0 0
41 18 Robert Powell 150 1 0 0 0 1
42 15 Carl Long 146 1 0 0 0 0
43 37 Bobby Coyle 143 1 0 0 0 0
44 22 Bob Ward 143 2 0 0 0 0
45 68 Mike Garvey 138 1 0 0 0 1
46 74 A.J. Alsup 130 1 0 0 0 0
47 01 Derrick Kelley 130 1 0 0 0 0
48 12 David Boyd 128 0 0 0 0 0
49 22 #Scott Bramlett 124 1 0 0 0 0
50 30 Jeff Fultz 121 1 0 0 0 0
51 72 M Franklin, Jr. 121 1 0 0 0 0
52 18 Donnie Bishop 109 1 0 0 0 0
53 52 Jeep Pflum 107 1 0 0 0 0
54 71 Jim Kelley 106 1 0 0 0 0
55 39 #C Hedin, Jr. 104 0 0 0 0 0
56 95 Randy Renfrow 91 1 0 0 0 0
57 66 Gary McCoy 88 1 0 0 0 0
58 71 Ray Skillman 88 1 0 0 0 0
59 13 John Acunto 73 1 0 0 0 0
60 99 Brad Creger 70 1 0 0 0 0
61 72 D Southerlin 70 1 0 0 0 0
62 72 Scott Hantz 64 0 0 0 0 0
63 05 Chip Rutherford 64 0 0 0 0 0
64 36 Jerry Russell 61 0 0 0 0 0
65 10 Chad Nolting 58 0 0 0 0 0
66 11 Bill Holt 55 0 0 0 0 0
67 67 Larry Wilcox 55 0 0 0 0 0
68 3 #Jeff Dawkins 52 0 0 0 0 0
69 77 Tony Williams 52 0 0 0 0 0
70 34 Ken Weaver 49 0 0 0 0 0
71 60 Lance Norick 49 0 0 0 0 0
72 13 #Buddy Ball 46 0 0 0 0 0
73 79 Spanks Overbeck 37 0 0 0 0 0
74 22 Michael Britt 25 0 0 0 0 0
# denotes Rookie of the Year candidate.
