Northern All Stars Report and Results from Lake City Speedway
9 February 1998
Lake City, FL - Leslie Essary of Joplin, MO became the first ever winner on
the newly formed Northern All Stars Late Model Series as he dominated the
second half of the 30 lap race held at Lake City (FL) Speedway. Essary collected $2,000 for
his efforts in weather more suited to Missouri than Florida.
"We did everything right tonight," Essary commented in Victory Lane after
the race. "There are a lot of good cars here and we just hapened to hit it right
tonight."
The race started with a string of cautions but once underway it was Terry
English who held the lead with Essary right behind him. Jeff Wilson was running in third
with Greg Skinner and Fast Qualifier Terry Eaglin rounding out the top five. Following a lap
2 caution when Dave Brickner looped the car in turn 3, the race settled down and the top
five cars were all running in formation as they sped around the 3/8 mile oval. Esssary was
putting steady pressure on English but the lead car was getting off the corners strongly
and was able to fend of the challenges.
On lap 8 Ivedent Lloyd, of Ocala, FL, slipped inside Eaglin in turn 3 and
moved into the top five and the leaders began to encounter lapped traffic.On lap 12 the
field was bunched again when Bryan Koebbe spun in turn 2. By this time English was showing
signs of loosing the handle on his car, and on the restart Essary tried to make the
pass on the low side as the cars came off turn four. English was able to once again hold
him off.
On lap 15 as the cars went through turn four English slipped high and
Essary darted to the inside and grabbed the lead as they roared down the back straight. Once
past English, Essary began to open up a gap with great rapidity, as Englih appeared to
hold up the chasing group.
The handling on English's car continued to worsen, and on lap 20 Wilson
slid by into second followed by Skinner. One lap later Skinner was able to pass Wilson
on the back stretch and move into second and on lap 26 Lloyd moved into fourth as he
made the pass on Wilson. On lap 27 Lloyd went to the inside of English in turn 3 and took
over third while Jimmy Murphy was making a late race charge into the top five as he
got around Wilson.
Two laps from the end Skinner slowed with what proved to be a broken water
pump, and that moved everyone up a notch, but there was no catching the flying Essary
who went on to record the win. Lloyd came home second with Murphy, Wilson and English
rounding out the top five.
"He was running just a hair higher than I was,and that gave me a chance to
get by," Essary said of the pass that gave him the lead."He might of hit some loose stuff."
The fast time in qualifying was set by Terry Eaglin of Versailles, IN who
toured the 3/8 mile oval in a time of 17.405 seconds for an average speed of 77.564 mph.
In the three heat races, English, Wilson and Essary were the winners.
Many of the cars scheduled to compete in this event were caught by the
snowstorm that hit the Kentucky area on Thursday and did not make it to the track. There
were only 18 Late Models on hand for the first ever Northern All Stars event.
In support race action, Buddy Spradley was first across the line in the
Street Stock Feature, but was disqualified in Tech Inspection handing the win to Dan Chancey. In
the Open Wheel Modified Feature Kevin Bayless took home the victory.
John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel
Lake City Speedway - Provisional results for the
Northern All Stars,
Spring Fling 98:
Ps.Ql.No. Driver , Car Laps
-- -- ---- ----------------------------------------------------- -----
1 5 Leslie Essary,Joplin,MO-Hawkins Tire Co. Chev 30
2 11w Ivedent Lloyd,Ocala,FL-M&M Transport/Snow Bros Chev 30
3 68 Jimmy Murphy,Jennings,FL-Cooper Bros Garage Chev 30
4 55 Jeff Wilson,Butlerville,IN-Bright Farms Chev 30
5 111 Terry English,Benton,KY-Barker Mobile Homes Chev 30
6 97 Mike Bechelli,Elizabethtown,IN-Cameron Springs Chev 30
7 35 Rod Miller,Toledo,OH-Hall Transport/MasterSbilt Chev 30
8 69 Terry Eaglin,Versailles,IN-Vigoro Chev 30
9 11 Greg Skinner,Oxford,AL-Skinner Body Shop Chev 30
10 33 Bryan Koebbe,Adrian,MI-Triple A Glass Chev 29
11 91x Danny Ahrens, Davenport,IA-Little Sewing Shop Ford 29
12 4 Lee Gruber,Lewistown,IL-Gustaff Engines Chev 29
13 1s Bob Dumke,Mooresville,IN-Catt Racing Chev 27
14 711 Dave Brickner,AnnArbor,MI-Quality Filters Chev 14
15 2 Clint Coffman,Claremont,FL-Coffman Corvette Chev 12
16 23 Mark Padgett,Clay Hill,FL-Padgett Trucking Chev 12
17 99 Skip Pannell,Albany,GA-Pannall Motorsports Chev 2
Weather Conditions: Overcast,40's
Margin of Victory : 20 car lengths
Lap Leaders : English,Essary
Cautions : 5
Track Length : 0.3750 Miles
John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel
Lake City, FL - Greg Skinner of Oxford, AL piloted his Skinner Body Shop
sponsored Chevrolet to victory in the second race of the Nothern All Stars
Late Model Series at Lake City Speedway, FL. Skinner started on the front row and led
every lap of the 30 lap feature to take the win. Leslie Essary of Joplin, MO finished in
second place with Jimmy Murphy of Jennings, FL taking third. Ivedent Lloyd and Lonnie
Roberts Jr. rounded out the top five.
Skinner grabbed the lead at the drop of the green with Terry English right
on his back bumper. Skip Pannell was running in third with Essary and Murphy the next
two in line. The front five began to pull away from the remainder of the 17 car field as
thefirst ten laps passed without any changes at the front. Ivedent Lloyd running in 7th spot
worked his way into sixth place with a pass of Bryan Koebbe and began to run down the lead
group. By lap 12 he was closing the distance quickly when Rod Miller, about to be
lapped by leader Skinner, went high in turn two and got into the marbles. As he fought for
control he turned the car to the left and came down the track into the path of the leaders.
At the same time Pannell, who had passed English just a few laps earlier, was trying to get
under Skinner as the cars came off the turn under full power. Skinner moved low on the track
to avoid Miller, forcing Pannell even lower as he had now worked his car halfway
past the leader. When Skinner continued lower to miss the Miller car there was contact
between himself and Pannell and Pannell spun into the inside wall on the back straight.This
brought out the caution and left the order at the front Skinner, Essary, Murphy, English
and Lloyd.
Under Series rules, Pannell was sent to the rear for stopping on the track
and this placed him behind Miller on the track. After the restart Pannell began working his
way towards the front in a hurry, picking off the slower cars as he tried to regain the
lost ground. When he tried to pass Miller the two made heavy contact with Miller spinning out
and bringing out the caution. When Miller caught up to the pack, he pushed Pannell to
the top of turn two causing Pannell to get hard on the brakes to avoid going over the top
of the turn. Pannell managed to stop, and then after Miller had passed restarted the car
and caught Miller and rammed him in the rear. Series officials chose to black flag the
Albany, GA driver while leaving the Toledo, OH pilot on the track. Pannell was
classified in last place while Miller continued to an eventual 11th place finish.
The remainder of the race was devoted to Essary trying to get past Skinner
with no success as Skinner was stronger off the corners and had the horsepower to maintain
the lead down the straights. Skinner took a hard earned win with Essary gaining the early
points lead on the new series following his win the previous night.
Heat winners were Skinner, English and Pannell while Essary was the fast
qualifier with a lap of 16.670seconds for an average speed of 80.984 mph.
In the Late Model Sportsman feature Danny Ferry lead wire to wire to take
the win followed by Johnny Lieupo, Everett Phillips, Rance Phillips and Lee
Newsome.
In the Hobby Stocks the winner was Randy Smith.
John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel
Lake City Speedway - Provisional results for the
Northern All Stars,
Spring Fling 98:
Ps.Ql.No. Driver , Car Laps Notes
-- -- ---- ----------------------------------------------------- ----- -------
1 11 Greg Skinner,Oxford,AL-Skinner Body Shop Chev 30
2 5 Leslie Essary,Joplin,MO-Hawkins Tire Co. Chev 30
3 68 Jimmy Murphy,Jennings,FL-Cooper Bros Garage Chev 30
4 11w Ivedent Lloyd,Ocala,FL-M&M Transport/Snow Bros Chev 30
5 81 Lonnie Roberts Jr,Sparks, GA-Roberts Const. Chev 30
6 23 Mark Padgett,Clay Hill,FL-Padgett Trucking Chev 30
7 69 Terry Ealin, Versailles,IN-Vigoro Chev 30
8 111 Terry English,Benton,KY-Barker Mobile Homes Chev 30
9 33 Bryan Koebbe,Adrian,MI-Triple A Glass Chev 30
10 L97 Randy Little,Satsuma,AL-Littles Auto Sales Chev 30
11 35 Rod Miller,Toledo,OH-Hall Transport/MasterSbilt Chev 30
12 4 Lee Gruber,Lewistown,IL-Gustaff Engines Chev 30
13 97 Mike Bechelli,Elizabethtown,IN-Cameron Springs Chev 18
14 1s Bob Dumke,Mooresville,IN-Catt Racing Chev 17
15 711 Dave Brickner,AnnArbor,MI-Quality Filters Chev 16
16 55 Jeff Wilson,Butlerville,IN-Bright Farms Chev 16
17 99 Skip Pannell,Albany,GA-Pannall Motorsports Chev 12
Weather Conditions: Partly cloudy, 50's
Margin of Victory : 1 car length
Lap Leaders : Skinner
Cautions : 3
Track Length : 0.3750 Miles
John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel