NASCAR All Pro Slim Jim Series Mannheim Auctions All American 400: Report and Results
20 October 1997
TEACHER BEATS CLASS IN NASHVILLE
Nashville, TN - The schoolteacher, Freddy Query of Mooresville, NC gave
everyone a lesson as he drove his W.J. Plemons Chevrolet to the win in the
Manheim Auctions All American 400 today at Nashville Speedway USA and
collected a total of $31,705 for his efforts. Query had the dominant car
but had to come from the tail end of the lead lap when he pitted early
during a caution just 33 laps from the end. Query also survived a
three way battle into turn three that had the crowd on its feet and sent
Ron Young and Wayne Anderson spinning into the turn three wall.
"I had a good car both inside and outside all day," Query stated
after the race. "We have been building this car slowly over the year, with
the plan of running Concord and here. Our pit strategy worked out exactly
as we planned, we just had better tires at the end and that was the
difference. There was a piece of debris in turn 3 that I did not
want to run over. I made a couple of runs on Ron (Young) but backed out to
avoid the debris. I finally decided to go ahead and make the run in there
and when I got there the debris was gone. I had better tires and they were
running their guts out trying to stay in front. I never touched them, but
they got together and spun out."
Query took the lead going into the first corner and proceeded to
quickly open up a large lead over the rest of the field. Jeff Purvis fell
into second with Nipper Alsup running third and Hank Parker Jr and Bobby
Gill rounding out the top five. Query would continue to lead through lap
106 when Tony Walls of Albertville, AL went to the inside in turn three to
take over the lead. Walls would hold the point until all the leaders pitted
under caution on lap 130. Mike Cope, who had taken advantage of an earlier
caution period to make his first stop, took over the lead by staying on the
track as everyone else pitted. For the 1996 Series Champion, this completed
a remarkable last to first run in just
130 laps.
Cope would lead until lap 156 when Ron Young went to the high side
and took over the point on the back straight. Bobby Gill and Mario Gosselin
also followed Young around Cope as they took up positions two and three. On
lap 173 Young and Gosselin would spin in tandem in turn four as they tried
to avoid a slower car that spun to the inside, and once again Query was in
the lead.
Query held the point through the halfway point as he collected
$2,000 in bonus money and it wasn't until he pitted on lap 254 under
caution that he gave up the front spot. David Reutimann stayed on
the track and took over the point as Query came out of the pits running in
fifth. Larry Raines managed to unlap himself from leader Reutimann on lap
266 and Mardy Lindley also made a pass to get one of his laps back. Then on
lap 269 Billy Bigley Jr moved inside Bobby Hamilton to take over third in
turn one and Query made the same pass in turn two. Two laps later Query
moved inside Bigley on the backstretch and on the next
lap he passed Cope on the inside for second. Bigley was able to get around
Cope on lap 273 and Query closed right up on Reutimann's rear deck. On lap
276 Query went to the outside of Reutimann in turns 3 & 4 to retake the
lead.
On the very next lap Bigley tried to pass Reutimann and the two
cars touched, Reutimann sun and collected Tony Walls, Mario Gosselin and
Dan Matthews. Gosselin's car caught on fire and stopped in the inside of
turn three were the flames were quickly extinguished by track safety
workers. Bigley was sent to the rear of the lead lap cars for his efforts.
On the restart on lap 290, Query now led Ron Young, Hamilton, Hal Goodson,
and Hank Parker Jr. Bigley began a run towards the front, picking off cars
on every lap while Parker also moved up to second and began the chase of
Query. Slowly Parker was able to close the once large gap down and then on
lap 342 he went to the outside of Query in turns 3 & 4 and took the lead.
Parker's turn at the front was not a long one as on lap 350 he went to the
inside of Jeff Fultz on the back straight and as the cars went into turn
three there was contact sending Parker hard into the wall. Officials were
about to put Fultz in the "Penalty Box" for taking Parker out, when Parker
contacted an official and stated that it was his fault. Fultz retained his
spot. During the cleanup, and
before the pits were open, Query came down pit road and took on four fresh
tires. This meant that he had to go to the rear of the lead lap cars on the
restart.
When green flag conditions again prevailed on lap 365, Query wasted
little time in beginning his charge to the front. He was up to fifth by lap
367 and moved into fourth on lap 377. Taking his time, Query finally got
around Bigley for third on lap 386 and set off in pursuit of Young and
Wayne Anderson, now engaged in a heated battle for the lead.
As Anderson looked for a way around Young he went high and then
low, getting alongside on several occasions, but never able to complete the
pass. Query caught the two and was trying to find a way around. He tried
the high line and the low line as the laps wound down until with just 4
laps left he made his move to the inside of Anderson, who himself was going
inside Young. Three wide they roared into turn three and then
Anderson and Young touched and spun up into the wall, leaving Query, on the
very bottom, to take the point. As cleanup proceeded the running order at
the front saw Query ahead of Goodson, Bigley, Fultz and Jody Ridley.
All Pro rules dictate that the race can not end under caution so it
would be a green, white, checker finish. Query jumped into a two car length
lead, but behind him it was a battle royal as Fultz went inside Bigley,
Ridley tried to get inside the others and Goodson was challenged by
everyone. As the white flag came out, there was little distance between any
of the four cars battling for second and positions changed with every turn
of the wheels. Back and forth for the entire last lap the four cars fought,
coming out of the final turn 3 wide as they headed for the checkers. Fultz
nosed out Goodson at the line for second behind Query, with Bigley taking
fourth and Ridley ending up fifth. A blanket could have covered the four
cars as they crossed the stripe.
For Query the victory was a sweet one as he collected the bonus for
leading laps 100, 200 and 300 as well as the pole and the winners share of
the purse. It was also a tribute to family racing as his son Alex Query is
the crew chief and his wife Elaine is the spotter. The pit crew is a
pick-up crew from friends at the track, they bring no crew with
them. Query led 272 of the 404 laps and finished in near record time of 2
hours and 53 minutes for an average speed of 83.092 mph.
There were eight cars n the lead lap at the finish, 11 cautions
flew for 68 laps and there were 13 lead changes among 11 drivers. Combined
with the two thrilling battles at the end of the race, Promoter Bob Harmon
could not have scripted it better himself. It was one of the best races of
the year on the series and at the end, Goodson still held a
slim points lead over Fultz as the tour heads to Homestead, FL for its
final race on November 8th.
John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel
Nashville Speedway USA - Provisional results for the
NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series,
All American 400:
Ps.Ql.No. Driver , Car Laps
-- -- ---- ----------------------------------------------------- -----
1 1 8 Freddie Query W.J. Plemons Insurance Chev 404
2 18 30 Jeff Fultz JaniKing Chev 404
3 19 16 Hal Goodson Greased Lightning Degreaser Chev 404
4 11 28 Billy Bigley Jr Budweiser/Royal Purple/Bilstein Chev 404
5 14 90 Jody Ridley El Puente/Pro Line Door Ford 404
6 26 60 Bobby Hamilton Coastal Power Clean Pont 404
7 29 4 Ron Young Southern Pipe & Supply/Wegner Chev 404
8 15 25 Wayne Anderson Porter Cable Power Tools Chev 404
9 30 00 David Reutimann Sunstate Recycling (R) Chev 403
10 40 58 Mike Cope Penrose Meat Snacks/Manheim Chev 403
11 20 14 Larry Raines JaniKing/Schaeffer's Lubricants Chev 403
12 8 64 Garrett Evans Betterall Transport/Evans Cars Ford 403
13 37 66 Gary McCoy Catalina Carpentry/Heber Info Chev 403
14 6 22 Steve Mendenhall CR Racing (R) Chev 402
15 31 0 Steven Christian BellSouth Chev 397
16 25 33 Conrad Burr Burr Construction Chev 397
17 23 2 Jim Inglebright Wunder Bar/Pepsi Chev 396
18 34 54 Scot Carlson Advance Construction/Willie's Chev 389
19 21 36 Rick Roller Roller Racing Pont 381
20 35 43 Robert Powell Regency Olds Pont 380
21 32 88 Scott Sutherland Nortel/Northern Telecom Pont 377
22 4 86 Hank Parker Jr Delco Voyager/Duragloss/NGK Chev 354
23 3 74 Nipper Alsup Lift Services Wire Rope Chev 343
24 38 98 Sean Studer Old El Paso Food/Foodlion (R) Chev 322
25 12 42 Brian Ross Ross Racing & Fabrication Chev 296
26 9 81 Tony Walls Chandler Homes of Boaz,AL Chev 281
27 24 71 Mario Gosselin Paul'e Steakhouse Chev 280
28 33 96 Dan Matthews Lacy Buffaloe Construction Chev 276
29 7 10 Mardy Lindley Palmetto State Transportation Chev 269
30 22 6 Billy Deckman Owens Corning (R) Ford 259
31 39 65 Andy Kirby Bob Williams Grp/Link Automotive Chev 234
32 16 59 Mark Day Scogin Ent/31 W Insulation Pont 228
33 28 99w Joe Walsh Posi-Lock Connectors Chev 226
34 13 27 Derrick Gilchrist Fairfield Inns/Tarheel Wood Chev 190
35 5 51 Bobby Gill Terminal Trucking Chev 188
36 27 20 Ricky Sanders Moody Brothers Jewelers (R) Pont 166
37 10 24 Mike Harmon Lonesome Pine Timber Co. Chev 95
38 2 5 Jeff Purvis RW Motorsports Ford 30
39 17 57 Eddie Mercer Eddie Mercer Auto/Phoenix Const Chev 20
40 36 53 Robert Burroughs Burroughs Motorsports Chev 14
Time of Race : 2 hrs 53 min
Average Speed : 83.092 mph
Margin of Victory : 1.806 seconds
Fastest Lap : 19.015 - Query on lap 21
Cautions : 11 for 68 laps
Track Length : 0.5960 Miles
John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel