STARS

MORAN MOTOR'S TO STARS WIN AT P.R.P.!!!
BRET EMRICK
(Portsmouth,OH 7-2-99)

 Donnie Moran of Dresden,OH scored his fifth STARS National DirtCar Racing League sanctioned event of the season Friday earning $3,000 for his effort's in the "RMS,Inc. 35" at Portsmouth Raceway Park in Portsmouth,OH.

Aboard the Stephen McCullough Motorsports/Eddie's Sunoco /MasterSbilt/Fisher Motorsports No. 99 Moran Racing Grand Prix, the three-time STARS champion had to claw his way to the front to grab the win. Moran wrestled the lead away from Chub Frank on lap 25 and pulled out to a five car length margin at the checkered flag. "Give all the credit in the world to my crew", said the happy winner. "The car wasn't real great in the heat or the dash so the
guy's put their head's together and got the car going pretty good. It
seemed the longer the race went the better the car got. We just hope we can back it up tomorrow night in the $10,000 to win race here at Portsmouth".

 Frank held on for second with early race leader Tim Hitt third followed by pole sitter Bill Bocook and sixteenth starting Steve Shaver. Sixth through tenth fell to Jackie Boggs, Shawn Holliday, Mike Balzano, twenty-first starter Craig Leist and Rod Conley. Race sponsor RMS,Inc. of Huntington,WV posted a $1,000 bonus to Shaver for his fifth place run while Leist pocketed an extra $200 from Timber Wolf Racing for advancing the most positions in the main event.

 At the drop of the green flag Hitt, who started outside pole, roared into the lead and the end of the first lap with third starting Frank, Bocook and sixth starting Holliday following. Moran got shuffled backwards in the early stages of the race falling back to eighth after starting fifth in the first 10 laps. Cortney Clewell spun in turn three on lap 11 to bring out the first yellow slowing the pace. Hitt opened up a two car margin on Frank when the green replaced the yellow but the action slowed just two laps later as Rodney Combs and Barry Doss collided in turn one causing Delmas Conley, Aaron Scott and Jim Leeth to pile into the wreck. All driver's were uninjured with Conley the only driver to return to the race after making repairs but fell from the action four laps later.

 Hitt had his hand's full with Frank for the restart as Moran shot to sixth from eighth using the outside groove. Frank pulled alongside of Hitt on lap 15 and raced side by side with the leader for two laps as Moran worked by Holliday for fifth. Frank, using the middle groove while Hitt held the bottom, seized the lead on lap 18 using as Moran went by Boggs for fourth. Frank opened up a car length advantage on Hitt as Moran hounded Bocook taking the third spot on lap 21. R.J. Conley lost the handle in turn four before lap 22 could be recorded closing up the field.

 Frank again opened up a little distance on Hitt when the race resumed but Moran was coming powering past Hitt on lap 23 and then taking the lead two laps later. Once in front Moran opened up a sizeable lead as Shaver began to battle Boggs for fifth on lap 30. Two laps later Shaver had the fifth spot and began to advance on Bocook but settled for the fifth spot as Moran crossed the line with no pressure from Frank.

 The first of two night's of racing at Portsmouth Raceway Park attracted 54 drivers for the $17,000 event. Moran set quick time on the field with a lap of 15.017 seconds around the semi-banked 1/3 mile. BORLA EXHAUST heat race winner's were Bocook, Combs, R.J. Conley (the SCOTT PERFORMANCE WIRE heat race bonus winner) and Boggs. Bocook grabbed the ISKY RACING CAMS dash while Clewell and Delmas Conley won the PRO SHOCKS "B" Mains.

STARS National DirtCar Racing League Race Report (for July 2,1999)
Race No. 14-1999 Season-"RMS,Inc. 35" Portsmouth Raceway Park-Portsmouth,OH-1/3 Mile Oval 35 Lap Feature-$3,000 To Win-$17,000 Purse

(Showing Finish Pos.,Start Pos.,Car #,Driver,Laps,Purse,Reason Out)

1. (4) #99 Donnie Moran 35 $3,050 Running
2. (3) #1* Chub Frank 35 $1,560 Running
3. (2) #68 Tim Hitt 35 $1,080 Running
4. (1) #B1 Bill Bocook 35 $900 Running
5. (16) #30 Steve Shaver 35 $750 Running
6. (5) #4B Jackie Boggs 35 $740 Running
7. (6) #1PJ Shawn Holliday 35 $685 Running
8. (9) #E1 Mike Balzano 35 $600 Running
9. (21) #51 Craig Leist 35 $575 Running
10. (10) #71R Rod Conley 35 $500 Running
11. (15) #11 Clint Smith 35 $400 Running
12. (19) #77 Barry Bragdon 35 $375 Running
13. (20) #2 Kenny Christy 35 $325 Running
14. (22) #5B Jack Boggs 35 $275 Running
15. (8) #71C R.J. Conley 35 $225 Running
16. (17) #12 Cortney Clewell 35 $225 Running
17. (13) #C9 Steve Casebolt Jr. 34 $200 Running
18. (12) #1 Nick Bocook 34 $200 Running
19. (23) #32L Greg Lucas 33 $225 Steering
20. (18) #71 Delmas Conley 17 $225 Handling
21. (7) #1C Rodney Combs 13 $200 Accident
22. (14) #55 Jim Leeth 13 $200 Accident
23. (11) #13 Barry Doss 13 $200 Accident
24. (24) #33 Aaron Scott 13 $225 Accident
25. (25) #18 Bob Adams Jr. 6 $225 Handling

TIME OF RACE: 27 Mins.
YELLOW FLAGS: Three-Laps 11,13,21
RED FLAGS: None
LAP LEADERS: Three-Hitt 1-17,Frank 18-24,Moran 25-35
PROVISIONAL STARTERS: Lucas,Scott,Adams Jr.
"ROOKIE OF THE RACE": Scott
OUTERWEARS CO. "Hard Charger of the Race": Leist
CAR COUNT: 54
FAST QUALIFIER: Moran 15.017 seconds
BORLA EXHAUST Heat Race Winners: Bocook,Combs,R.J. Conley,
Jackie Boggs
SCOTT PERFORMANCE WIRE Heat Race Bonus Winner: R.J. Conley
ISKY RACING CAMS Dash Winner: Bocook
PRO SHOCKS "B" Main Winners: Clewell,D. Conley

SUMMARY

Qualifying: 1)#99 Donnie Moran 15.017; 2)#1* Chub Frank 15.053; 3)#51 Craig Leist 15.061; 4)#4B Jackie Boggs 15.097; 5)#1PJ Shawn Holliday 15.153;6)#68 Tim Hitt 15.223; 7)#32L Greg Lucas 15.265; 8)#21 Jason Montgomery 15.303; 9)#B1 Bill Bocook 15.352; 10)#E1 Mike Balzano 15.385; 11)#1 Nick Bocook 15.390; 12)#30 Steve Shaver 15.390; 13)#77 Barry Bragdon 15.393;14)#1C Rodney Combs 15.407; 15)#71C R.J. Conley 15.430; 16)#1H Wayne Hughes
15.433; 17)#G2 Greg Oliver 15.453; 18)#5B Jack Boggs 15.453; 19)#11 Clint Smith 15.465; 20)#9F Mark Frazier 15.475; 21)#28 Chuckie May 15.483;22)#111P David Powers 15.500; 23)#71R Rod Conley 15.538; 24)#A1 Butch Dowdy 15.555; 25)#43 Aaron Bapst 15.616; 26)#71 Delmas Conley 15.635; 27)#97 Jim Lemasters 15.649; 28)#C9 Steve Casebolt Jr. 15.655; 29)#12 Cortney Clewell
15.667; 30)#33 Aaron Scott 15.695; 31)#46 Jason Tolliver 15.762; 32)#26 Paul Davis 15.779; 33)#W7 Thomas Ware 15.806; 34)#2 Kenny Christy 15.823;35)#111 Dick Phillips 15.853; 36)#07 Mike Wilson 15.937; 37)#5 Tim Tribby 16.002; 38)#18 Bob Adams Jr. 16.065; 39)#73 Tony Throckmorton 16.090;40)#13 Barry Doss 16.109; 41)#6 Richard Jenkins 16.133; 42)#80 Bryan Durig
16.241; 43)#41 Steve Littleton 16.325; 44)#16 Pat Bartlett 16.391; 45)#55 Jim Leeth 16.442; 46)#93 Tad Mitchell 16.476; 47)#K9 Kenny Mustain 16.527;48)#3 David Conn 16.575; 49)#1M Rob McCoy 18.020; 50)#72H Jerry Hemming NT;51)#75 Don Gross NT; 52)#02 Jody Moore NT; 53)#1A Audie Swartz NT; 54)#F45 Russ Frohnapfel NT

BORLA EXHAUST Heat #1: B. Bocook,Moran,Holliday,Leeth,Clewell,
Bragdon,Bapst,Oliver,Tribby,Swartz,McCoy,Jenkins,May,Ware
(Top 4 advance to feature)
BORLA EXHAUST Heat #2: Combs,Balzano,Hitt,Frank,D.Conley,Christy,Powers,Adams Jr.,Jk. Boggs,Scott,Durig,Mitchell,Frohnapfel,NS-Hemming
(Top 4 advance to feature)
BORLA EXHAUST/SCOTT PERFORMANCE WIRE Heat #3: R.J. Conley,
Rd. Conley,N. Bocook,Smith,Lucas,LeMasters,Leist,Mustain,Tolliver,
Phillips,Throckmorton,Gross,Littleton (Top 4 advance to feature)
BORLA EXHAUST Heat #4: Jckie. Boggs,Doss,Casebolt Jr.,Shaver,
Frazier,Wilson,Dowdy,Hughes,Montgomery,Conn,Moore,Bartlett,Davis
(Top 4 advance to feature)
ISKY RACING CAMS Dash: B. Bocook,Hitt,Frank,Moran,Jckie. Boggs,
Holliday (Finish determines first three rows of feature)
PRO SHOCKS "B" Main #1: Clewell,Bragdon,Leist,Bapst,Lucas,Tribby,
Mustain,Swartz,Oliver,Gross,Phillips,LeMasters,Ware,Tolliver,
Throckmorton,Littleton,Jenkins,McCoy,NS-May
(Top 3 advance to feature)
PRO SHOCKS "B" Main #2: D. Conley,Christy,Jk. Boggs,Powers,Adams
Jr.,Montgomery,Frohnapfel,Durig,Dowdy,Frazier,Mitchell,Scott,Hughes,
Conn,Davis,Wilson,Bartlett,NS-Moore,Hemming
(Top 3 advance to feature)