Old Dominion Speedway / May 25, 2002
McFarland Wins at ODS For Fourth Time in 2002…………………..
It’s the Mark McFarland Show at ODS thus far in 2002. For the fourth time
in five events, it was the Popeye’s sponsored machine of Mark McFarland from
Winchester Va. standing in victory lane Saturday night at the Old Dominion Speedway in
Manassas Va. McFarland led the final 65 laps of the NASCAR 200 lap feature for the NASCAR
Weekly Racing Series Presented by Dodge Late Model Stock Cars. Quick Qualifying was led by
Dustin Storm, the defending track champion, circling the 3/8 mile oval in 15.774 seconds.
McFarland was the second fastest qualifier, posting a 15.805 lap. Mike Southard in the
Posner Industries Chevy qualified third with a 15.830 lap. After the inversion, it was
Southard and Brian Jenkins on the front row. McFarland would have to start from the sixth
spot by virtue of his win the previous week. Southard darted out in front from the start,
as Jenkins wound up spinning into the grass on the initial lap. That situation took out
the car of Tom Hall as he swerved to miss the spinning Jenkins, and slammed the wall hard
on the front straight. Jenkins was relegated to the rear of the field. On the restart, it
was Southard leading the 22 car field. He held on throughout most of the first half of the
event until a caution and subsequent red flag was thrown on lap 116 after Matt Bucher
broke a hub and slammed hard into the fence in turn three. On the restart, McFarland
showed the strength in his Popeye’s mount, and took over the top spot on lap 134.
From then on, it was a battle for second between Storm, Danny Fair, and Southard. As the
second group approached some slower moving traffic, it appeared Storm checked up a bit,
and Fair tagged the rear of the Bailey’s machine. This sent Storm hard into the
fence. Southard spun his Chevy to avoid the incident, while Fair was sent to the rear of
the field. Storm was forced to park his ride, posting a disappointing 13th
place finishing position. This put Mike Darne in the second position, but he was no match
for McFarland, who would lead the final circuits for the win. Finishing third was Earl
Case in the Idylwood Exxon Shop / 84 Lumber Chevy, followed by Brian Jenkins, and Dave
Carter.
Jimmy Hardin picked win number four in the Redman Fleet Service Grand Stock 50 lap
feature. Hardin took over the top spot from Jack Crocker, and held off a fast closing
Willard Lawrence for the win. Jerry Black wound up third, while Mark Miller, and John
Tolliver rounded out the top 5.
In other racing action, Vince Langan took home the checkers in the 30 lap Mini Stock
feature, and Ray Miller easily took home the win in the 25 lap Gaston Automotive Speedway
Sportsman feature.
Next Saturday night, the Legends return to ODS for a 30 lap feature. Also on the schedule
is a 75 lap feature for the Late Models, 50 laps for the Grand Stocks, 30 laps for the
Mini Stocks, and 25 laps for the Speedway Sportsman. Quick Qualifying begins at 5:15 PM,
with racing action set for 7:00 PM.
