Midgets: Gibson Brothers Split NAMARS Weekend
21 June 1998
By LES MESZAROSJONES, MI: Saturday night it was Larry Gibson's turn to win his first NAMARS Auto Value feature of 1998 as he scrambled past Jason Setser for the exciting win in the 25-lap race. It was a surprising night at the M-40 Motorsports Arena as the night before brother Gene Lee Gibson had won the NAMARS feature at South Bend, IN. This was Larry Gibson's first NAMARS win in 3 years as he last won on July 9, 1995 at Toledo Speedway. Larry Gibson is the eighth different feature winner in 8 races this season. Gibson was driving the Dick Myers Munchkin chassis built by Mike Fedorcak with an Autocraft power plant.
At the start of the feature Jason Setser jumped into the lead and started pulling away from second place Dick St. John. Setser had a comfortable lead but eighth starting Larry Gibson was charging to the front. On lap 7, Gibson roared past St. John into second. Setser held a big lead and things did not look promising for Gibson. Without the benefit of a caution flag Gibson closed in on Setser and pulled up behind on lap 12.
When Setser came up on traffic on lap 15 he chose to stay low but the veteran Gibson took the high side and scrambled past Setser and into the lead. Setser finally cleared the traffic and closed back up on Gibson but it was too late as Gibson saw the checkered flag first. Finishing behind Gibson and Setser were Robbie Parish, Matt Westfall and Jim Sawyer.
Jim Hettinger set fast time for the second straight night as he circled the track in 12.057 seconds. Heat race winners were Jason Setser, Wayne Chinn and A.J. Davis. Sarah McCune won the Semi-feature. NAMARS NOTES^27 midgets were at M-40 Speedway^Next Saturday night the NAMARS midgets return to Columbus Motor Speedway in Columbus, OH^Despite some very hot and humid weather the large crowd on hand saw some terrific racing^Rookies Matt Westfall and A.J. Fike are really going at it for the rookie title. They were tied at the start of the weekend and continue to be tied for the after the two weekend races^It night was quite unusual, as two of the top 3 qualifiers failed to make the feature. Jim Hettinger broke a rod in the Semi-feature and Nick Fornoro's car would not start as it was later found a battery wire had pulled loose.
The summary:
Qualifications: 1. Jim Hettinger, Don Smith, 71, 12.057; 2. Sarah McCune, Richard McCune, 58, 12.122; 3. Nick Fornoro, McClellan Motorsports, 2, 12.200; 4. Larry Gibson, Dick Myers, 5, 12.238; 5. Robbie Parish, Parish, 3, 12.312; 6. Matt Westfall, Jack Hammons, 54, 12.356; 7. Kevin Besecker, McClellan Motorsports, 3, 12.359; 8. Jim Sawyer, Sawyer Motorsports, 59, 12.438; 9. Mel Kenyon, 3K Racing, 61, 12.497; 10. Jason Setser, Don Johnson, 16, 12.543; 11. Dick St. John, Gary Mullins, 12, 12.568; 12. Randy Dailey, Dailey, 78, 12.606; 13. A.J. Fike, Fike Motorsports, 69, 12.615; 14. Chad Davenport, Chad Davenport, 43, 12.649; 15. A.J. Davis, Margaret Owen, 28, 12.728; 16. Mark Buonomo, Buonomo Racing, 76X, 12.774; 17. Wayne Chinn, Chinn Motorsports, 71, 12.803; 18. Mike Schuyler, Schuyler, 10, 12.806; 19. Barry Walkup, B&B Motorsports, 29, 12.821; 20. Don Moore, Moore Family, 55, 12.912; 21. David Gass, Gass, 17, 12.912; 22. Robert Bohn, Bohn, 0, 13.679; 23. Kevin Newton, Steve Newton, 14, NT; 24. David Ward, Ward, 88, NT; 25. Tom Fedewa, Carol Cowing, 37, NT; 26. David Cowing, Megan Shuster, 3, NT, Bob Nock, Bob Nock, NT.
First Heat (8 laps): Setser, Buonomo, Walkup, Gibson, Fike, Hettinger, Besecker, Bohn.
Second Heat (8 laps): Chinn, St. John, Parish, Davenport, McCune, Moore, Sawyer.
Third Heat (8 laps): Davis, Fornoro, Kenyon, Westfall, Dailey, Schuyler, Newton.
Semi-feature (10 laps): McCune, Westfall, Gibson, Sawyer, Fike, Dailey, Schuyler, Davenport, Besecker, Moore, Newton, Bohn, Hettinger, Gass.
Feature (25 laps) (Finishing position, starting position, name, hometown): 1. (8) Larry Gibson, Richwood, OH; 2. (2) Jason Setser, Columbus, IN; 3. (7) Robbie Parish, Knightstown, IN; 4. (6) Matt Westfall, Ludlow Falls, OH; 5. (4) Jim Sawyer, Hamilton, OH; 6. (3) Mel Kenyon, Lebanon, IN; 7. (12) A.J. Fike, Galesburg, IL; 8. (1) Dick St. John, Milwaukee, WI; 9. (10) Sarah McCune, Perrysburg, OH; 10. (5) Kevin Besecker, Greenville, OH; 11. (12) A.J. Davis, Spartanburg, SC; 12. (9) Randy Dailey, Kalamazoo, MI; 13. (16) Wayne Chinn, Tipp City, OH; 14. (17) Don Moore, Hamilton, OH; 15. (11) Chad Davenport, Crawfordsville, IN; 16. (13) Mark Buonomo, Waltham, MA; 17. (20) Kevin Newton; Terre Haute, IN; 18. (15) Mike Schuyler, Yorktown, IN; 19. (18) Barry Walkup, Sullivan, IN; 20. (19) Robert Bohn, Grand Rapids, MI
