| Race 7 - 8-27 - HICKORY II Over the Mountain - Hickory Motor Speedway - Hickory, NC |
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| Ryan Lawler Gets First PASS South Win with Crate Engine Car Point Leader Mike Rowe Second, NASCAR Cup Star Mayfield Falls Out With Problems Just before qualifying for Sunday’s “Over the Mountain 150 presented by The Big Dawg 92.1” at Hickory Motor Speedway (NC), Ryan Lawler’s shot at a PASS South championship looked to be going down the drain. His #31 Hamke Racing Chevrolet blew a motor just as practice ended and that forced the team to scramble. After unsuccessfully trying to find a backup car from another team to use during the race, the decision was made to drive an hour back to their shop in Mooresville, NC, to pick up their Crate Engine Late Model (ASA & GAS equivalent). The car rolled into the track on the back of an open trailer just moments before the start of the heat races. Later, the same car would roll into Victory Lane, earning the 19-year-old Texas-native his first-career PASS South victory. “Finally,” said Lawler after the win. “We lost the motor about two hours before qualifying. It turned into a pretty frantic situation. We were running up and down to different pits seeing if I could rent someone’s car, but no one had anything for me. We decided to get the ASA Late Model (that we run with that series) and bring it here. We were skeptical about bringing that car out because the motor in the ASA car has a lot less power, but I think that was the ticket here (at Hickory) I guess. “We’ve bee fighting too much horsepower in the orange car. We’ve been messing with carburetors and all. We just can’t get it down low enough. I think we have something figured out now.” It wasn’t as easy as it sounded for Lawler. With no qualifying time, he had to start his heat race in the back with a car that had yet to see laps at Hickory. He finished fifth in his heat and that placed him 18th in the starting lineup for the 150-lap main event. It didn’t take Lawler long to get to the front. He moved into the top-five early and into second-place by lap 65. On lap 79, Lawler took the lead from PASS South points leader Mike Rowe for the first time. The two would end up trading the lead back and forth multiple times after that the rest of the night. “You don’t even understand how upset I was. I was worried sick. I was worried about our shot to win at a great track and worried about our championship hopes. We actually ended up gaining some points,” added Lawler. “I backed the car out of the pits as the second heat race was already a half lap into the pace laps. It was close, that’s for sure. I didn’t even get to run the car through tech before the heat race; I had to run it through afterwards, but the PASS officials were nice enough to allow us to do that.” Lawler took the lead back from Rowe on lap 122 and was able to cruise to the victory. Now, unofficially, Lawler trails Rowe by just 12 points in the PASS South standings. “I guess we are on a role,” added Lawler. “We got an ASA Late Model Series win with the same car last week, but that isn’t nearly as prestigious as the PASS South Series. This is a big deal here with the quality of drivers out here and the competition. I’m just pumped up; there is nothing more I can say about it.” Rowe was the only one that was able to hang with Lawler in the end. The two traded the Lawler (#31) came storming up from the back of the pack to win Sunday's Over The Mountain 150. lead several times, with Rowe leading the most laps all night long. Rowe took the lead on lap 39, then traded it with Preston Peltier several times. Once Lawler made his way to the front, it was the Lawler-Rowe show. “Ryan had problems with his primary car I guess,” said Rowe. “They went home and got this one. They did their homework and it showed. Ryan did an awesome job. You have to give the kid a lot of credit. I was hoping for a restart there at the end. I thought I could get him right there and hold him off, but that is the way it goes. “The outside was the way to go on restarts. I know I had good luck and Preston was good out there. I’d go 20 laps, though, and my tires would go away and I just had to ride it out.” For Rowe, it was almost two wins in a row at the historic track. He won the Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory earlier this year when the PASS South cars visited the track. “This is a great track,” added Rowe. “There is a lot of history here. We actually lucked out into the first win here. Chuck (Barnes Jr.) should have won that one. We’ve been a second-place car each time here. “I wanted to dedicate this win to a buddy of mine that was killed in a motorcycle accident last week. I really wanted to win this race for him, but second was the best we had.” Much like the PASS South point standings, Peltier, who is third in points, came home third with his first podium finish of the year. “We really worked hard on the car all weekend long,” said Peltier. “I struggled with it in the center and off. The car was better in the race, but toward the end, with the fuel burnt off, the car started shoving in the center and I was having to use the throttle to get the car to turn. “I’ll tell you what, my sponsors ARP and Corporate Image have stuck with me through some tough times. My guys have stuck with me. I don’t have much help, but they are always right there by my side. Now, all of that is starting to pay off. Maybe I’ll get me one of these sometime.” Visiting NASCAR Nextel Cup Series star Jeremy Mayfield ran competitively all night long, but fell out of the event with 40 laps to go with mechanical problems while running in the top-10. “It was a lot of fun, but we just had issues with the car all weekend long,” said Mayfield. “You can’t expect to come here and run with some of these guys on such short notice. These racers take this stuff very seriously and are very dedicated to what they do. They have their stuff together and you can’t just come in and expect to beat them up. I had a lot of fun and we put in a lot of work on these cars this weekend. I’m sure I’ll be back to do it again. Hopefully, we’ll have more time to prepare next time and we can compete for the win.” |
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| Race Results - PASS South - Over the Mountain 150 presented by The Big
Dawg 92.1 August 27, 2006 - Hickory Motor Speedway, Hickory, NC Finish Position, Start Position, Driver, Laps Completed 1. (18) Ryan Lawler, 150 2. (3) Mike Rowe, 150 3. (4) Preston Peltier, 150 4. (2) Brian Scott, 150 5. (13) Lee Tissot, 150 6. (6) Ryan Sieg, 150 7. (10)Jeremie Whorff, 150 8. (15) Larry Pollard, 150 9. (7)Chris Gabehart, 149 10. (11) Tim Nooner, 149 11. (1) Wade Day, 149 12. (23) Chip Brendle, 149 13. (21) Mark Reedy, 149 14. (24) Billy Wheeler, 149 15. (8) Chris Dunn, 138 16. (19) Tom McCann, 131 17. (9) Cassius Clark, 116 18. (5) Dean Clattenburg, 116 19. (12) Jeremy Mayfield, 110 20. (22) Brandon Johnson, 94 21. (25) Mike McIntosh, 80 22. (20) Chase Austin, 20 23. (16) Bobby Macarthur, 17 24. (17) Dennis Schoenfeld, 15 25. (14) Matt Brooks, 15 Caution Flags: 7 Lead Changes: 10 among 5 drivers Lap Leaders: Scott 1-7, Day 8-21, Peltier 22-38, Rowe 39-40, Peltier 41-53, Rowe 54-78, Lawler 79-81, Rowe 82-88, Lawler 89-92, Rowe 93-121, Lawler 122-150 Pole winner: Scott Heat winners: Clark, Whorff Dash winner: Day |
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| NEXTEL Cup’s Jeremy Mayfield Is Racing This Weekend –
at Hickory When the PASS South Super Late Models opened their inaugural season at Hickory Motor Speedway (NC) back in April for the Easter Bunny 150, the 30-plus cars in attendance and hoards of fans in the stands proved that Super Late Model racing was back and here to stay in the Carolinas. Now, six races into the PASS South season, the interest in the series is at an all-time high and some high-profile names are coming out to compete as the series heads back to Hickory for the “Over the Mountain 150 Presented by The Big Dawg 92.1” on Sunday, August 27th. NASCAR Nextel Cup Series veteran Jeremy Mayfield headlines several key players that will compete in the “Over the Mountain 150 Presented by The Big Dawg 92.1” on Sunday. Mayfield, a native of Owensboro, KY, and former ARCA RE/MAX Series Rookie of the Year, has competed in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series since 1993. He’s earned five career wins, 48 top-fives and 96 top-10s during his Nextel Cup career. The past two years, he made the NASCAR’s “Chase for the Nextel Cup.” “I just want to race,” said Mayfield. “I’ll be at Bristol (Motor Speedway) on Friday to appear on Trackside Live on SPEED Channel and make an announcement about my Cup career. Then, I’m heading over to Hickory Motor Speedway to have some fun and hopefully run real well in the PASS South Super Late Model race on Sunday. The Whorffs are giving me a great car and I’m even going to have my brand new Nextel Cup Series number on it for this weekend. I’m just real excited because Super Late Models are what I grew up with.” Mayfield will compete in a car furnished by Whorff Motorsports and Bill and Jeremie Whorff, the father and son combination that finished one-two in this year’s running of the prestigious Oxford 250 at Oxford-Plains Speedway (ME). Jeremie will now make the long trip down from Maine to race at Hickory on Sunday. “At this point in time, after winning the 250, I’ve really thought about furthering my career and there is no better place to do that than down south,” said Whorff. “I am going to make an attempt to go down there and win the thing and by doing that, I know I’d help further my career. I spoke with Mike Rowe and a couple of the New England guys and they say it’s a lot of fun to race down there and the competition is excellent. That makes it good for everyone when the competition is that good. Everyone says they’ve gone down there and learned a lot of stuff. “I’m excited to have Jeremy Mayfield as my teammate,” added Whorff. “On the racetrack, though, he is just another driver out there. He is a great racecar driver and I’m pretty excited to get to work with him. It’s a pretty big deal for the crew to run down there with me and have a chance to communicate with Jeremy Mayfield, one of the big Nextel Cup guys. For the whole series it’s a big deal and it gets a ton of exposure. I’ve learned a lot from those Cup and Busch guys. Jeremy has probably run that track before, too, so we can probably even pick up a few pointers from him.” Hickory-native Andy Houston will also make his PASS South debut during the “Over the Mountain 150.” Houston is a veteran of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he scored three career wins. Houston, the son of legendary Busch Driver Tommy Houston, was the Hickory Motor Speedway Late Model track champion in 1994 and has spent time in both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series. “I grew up at Hickory and it’s going to be a lot of fun to get back there,” said Houston. “I haven’t raced there since 1997, but it’s always been a great place for me. It’s just a few miles from the house. We were fortunate to win a championship in 1994 and a bunch of features along the way. “I haven’t raced in almost a year and I miss it a lot, so I’m just ready to get back going. Any opportunity I can get to drive a car I’m going to look at it, and I know this one is going to be a lot of fun. A lot of friends and family are excited about it. I just hope I can go out there and have some fun myself and be competitive. It’s a whole new deal for me. I went up to the track the other day and tested the car and it was real good. I really liked the way the car handled and I’m really looking forward to this race.” |
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