Old Dominion Speedway / August 10, 2002

    
Twin 50 Lap Late Model Feature Winners
Mike Darne (Left) - Mark McFarland (Right)

McFarland, Darne Twin 50 Winners……….

Drivers hate them, body men hate them. Short dashes on a 3/8 mile oval with over 28 cars starting, and only 50 laps to the finish. But that is what was on the schedule Saturday night at the Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas Va. The NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Presented by Dodge Late Model Stock Cars competed in Twin 50 lap events, and once the dust had settled, it was Mark McFarland from Winchester Va. and Mike Darne from Warrenton Va. standing in victory lane. Both feature events began with a major incident involving the front starters. The first feature had problems before the green ever fell as Brian Jenkins was scuffing his tires and rammed the Darne machine on the front row. Both cars headed for the pits. Jenkins made his way to pit road for repairs, but as Darne was on his way to the pits to check out the damage, he smacked the car driven by Jeff Sipe who was scuffing his tires. Both cars suffered damage, but Darne was forced to go to his back-up car and start from the rear of the field due to heavy front suspension damage. The green finally waved, and before the 16^th circuit was complete. McFarland had made his way through the field and had taken over the top spot. He was pressed hard by 5 time track champ Danny Fair for the last 10 laps, but Fair came up a car length short at the end. Following the top two were Mike Southard, James Penny, and Stan Owens.
The second feature actually took the green flag before the problems began. David Quackenbush was the polesitter, with Stan Owens on the outside. Coming out of turn four on the initial lap, the two touched, sending Owens and Quackenbush into spins in front of the entire field. Over 15 cars were in one way, shape, or form involved in the melee, with the heaviest damage being suffered by Stafford’s Mark Winstead, who was making his first start of the season. His car was torn from front to back, but he walked away unscathed. Once the track was cleared, the cars of McFarland and Darne marched away from the remainder of the field, with Darne taking over the top spot early. He was able to pull away, and easily take the win in the second 50 lapper. Following Darne and McFarland across the stripe were Mike Southard, Chuck Lewis, and Richard Boswell Jr.
Other racing action for the evening included a 50 lap feature for the Redman Fleet Service Grand Stocks. The winner in that event was Chris Donnelly from Stafford Va. Finishing second was point leader Jimmy Hardin, followed by Bryan Short. Sean Dawson took home the checkers in the 30 lap Mini Stock feature. With the win, Dawson finds himself tied for first with Mike Carte for the divisional point lead. Les Miranda took home his second feature win in 2002 in the Gaston Automotive Speedway Sportsman 25 lap feature. The INEX Legends were in town once again, and Roger Austin Jr. came home victorious in the 30 lap event. The win makes it 5 different winners thus far in 2002 for the motorcycle engine powered machines.
Next Saturday night the Old Dominion Speedway will be dark for the final night of the Prince William County Fair. NASCAR Weekly Racing Series action returns on Saturday night, August 24^th, with yet another Twin 50 lap feature night for the Late Models. Also on the schedule is a 50 lap feature for the Grand Stocks, 30 laps for the Mini Stocks, and 25 laps for the Speedway Sportsman. Qualifying begins at 5:15 PM, with racing action set for 7:00 PM.
  
  

Feature Winners From 8/10/02 Clockwise From Top Left:
Les Miranda (Speedway Sportsman)
Chris Donnelly (Grand Stock)
Sean Dawson (Mini Stock)
Roger Austin Jr. (INEX Legends)
  
Former track champ Billy Earl ended the night on his roof - Earl was unhurt....
Hooters of Manassas was well represented Saturday Night......