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Midgets: Gene Lee Gibson Holds on for First NAMARS Win

21 June 1998

By LES MESZAROS

SOUTH BEND, IN: Friday night at the South Bend Motor Speedway Gene Lee Gibson of Richwood, OH managed to thread his way through traffic and bring home his first NAMARS Auto Value midget feature win of 1998. Gibson was driving the familiar purple 0 using a Beast chassis and Autocraft engine. At times during the 30 lap feature things got pretty exciting in the corners but Gibson kept his cool and held on for the win.

At the drop of the green, it was Gibson shooting into the lead followed by A.J. Davis, and Nick Fornoro. Gibson pulled away from Davis for a comfortable lead but cautions in the first half of the race kept putting Davis on Gibson's rear bumper. The top four of Gibson, Davis, Fornoro and Jim Hettinger were close but no one could make happen to make a pass.

The second half of the race was a completely different story. With no cautions over the last 17 laps of the race, traffic became a real factor. At each corner the front cars ran nose to tail and side by side, as they carefully threaded their way through traffic. The large crowd on hand saw a fine display of close quarter driving as everyone was just inches apart. Despite all obstacles Gibson, held on to the lead and hit the finish line first closely followed by A.J. Davis, Nick Fornoro, Jim Hettinger and Mel Kenyon.

Jim Hettinger set fast time with a lap of 11.752 seconds. Heat race victories went to Kevin Besecker, Jim Sawyer and Ronnie Johncox. Dave Ray, Jr. won the last chance race. This was really amazing as this was only Ray's second race ever on asphalt.

NAMARS NOTES: 28 midgets in the pits. Another excellent show at South Bend Motor Speedway.....three time NAMARS champion Mel Kenyon had mechanical problems early and didn't get to qualify. Don and Mel got things straightened out and Mel finished second in the third heat. Starting dead last in the feature Mel put on a terrific show as he charged through the field and placed fifth at the checkered flag.

The summary:

Qualifications: 1. Jim Hettinger, Don Smith, 71, 11.752; 2. Mark Boice, Team Boice Racing, 4, 11.859; 3. Ronnie Johncox, Jim Welty, 60, 11.875; 4. Matt Westfall, Jack Hammons, 54, 11.896; 5. Wayne Chinn, Chinn Motorsports, 71, 11.951; 6. Nick Fornoro, McClellan Motorsports, 2, 11.951; 7. A.J. Davis, Margaret Owen, 28, 11.963; 8. Gene Lee Gibson, Gibson, 0, 12.068; 9. A.J. Fike, Fike Motorsports, 69, 12.072; 10. Kevin Besecker, McClellan Motorsports, 3, 12.132; 11. Dave Ray, Jr., Chuck Rencurrel, 56, 12.188; 12. Randy Dailey, Dailey, 78, 12.336; 13. Mark Buonomo, Buonomo, 76, 12.361; 14. Ken Drangmeister, Drangmeister, 76, 12.459; 15. Don Moore, Moore Family, 55, 12.482; 16. Mike Astrauskas, Astrauskas, 3, 12.487; 17. Lee King, King, 88, 12.509; 18. Dennis Mller, Miller Motorsports, 88, 12.582; 19. Brian Martin, Martin, 93, 12.584; 20. John Lucas, Sam Isenhower, 16, 12.595; 21. Kevin Newton, Steve Newton, 14, 12.602; 22. David Cowing, Megan Shuster, 3, 12.610; 23. Jim Sawyer, Sawyer, 59, 12.611; 24. Mike Schuyler, Mike Schuyler, 10, 12.623; 25. Jason Fuller, Jim Sawyer, 9, 12.935; 26. Pam Drangmeister, Drangmeister, 78, 14.915; 27. Mel Kenyon, 3K Racing, 61, NT; 28. Tom Fedewa, Carol Cowing, 37, NT.

First Heat (8 laps): Besecker, Westfall, Hettinger, Davis, Cowing, Astrauskas, Fuller, Martin.

Second Heat (8 laps): Sawyer, Gibson. Chinn, Boice, K. Drangmeister, Ray, Lucas, King.

Third Heat (8 laps): Johncox, Kenyon, Fike, Fornoro, Newton, Schuyler, Moore, Miller, Dailey.

Semi-feature (10 laps): Ray, K. Drangmeister, Buonomo, Lucas, Moore, Fuller, Cowing, Schuyler, Newton, Martin, P. Drangmeister, King, Miller, Astrauskas.

Feature (30 laps) (Finishing position, starting position, name, hometown): 1. (1) Gene Lee Gibson, Richwood, OH; 2. (2) A.J. Davis, Spartanburg, SC; 3. (3) Nick Fornoro, Straudsburg, PA; 4. (8) Jim Hettinger, Mason, MI; 5. (20) Mel Kenyon, Lebanon, IN; 6. (10) Kevin Besecker, Greenville, OH; 7. (4) Wayne Chinn, Tipp City, OH; 8. (17) Jim Sawyer, Hamilton, OH; 9. (9) A.J. Fike, Galesburg, IL; 10. (6) Ronnie Johncox, Jackson, MI; 11. (5) Matt Westfall, Ludlow Falls, OH; 12. (10) Mark Bounomo, Waltham, MA; 13. (14) Don Moore, Hamilton, OH; 14. (16) Dave Cowing, Leslie, MI; 15. (15) John Lucas, Lebanon, IN; 16. (18) Mike Schuyler, Yorktown, IN; 17. (19) Jason Fuller; Plymouth, IN; 18. (11) Dave Ray, Jr., Davenport, IA; 19. (13) Ken Drangmeister, Crown Point, IN; 20. (7) Mark Boice, Noblesville, IN.