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McFarland Hears Sweet Music in Nashville

NASHVILLE, TN--Seems every time the Southern All Stars travel to Nashville Speedway USA, it turns out to be a special evening for the popular series. Saturday night, there were track records broken, very competitive racing with lots of lead changes, and side-by-side racing all around the historic oval. In the end, it was Ken McFarland hearing the sweet music in Victory Lane after the Music City 220.

45 cars were on hand for the event, with 41 taking the green flag. Jason Hogan broke Charlie Bradberry's SAS track record set last July with a time of 17.839 (123.500 mph). The time is the fastest lap ever turned at the track, for any type of car. In all, eight drivers eclipsed the old record. Hogan rolled a six on the die, giving the pole to Jackie McGuire.

The action started quickly, as Heath Hindman, Doug Walker, Tony Ponkauskas, Spanks Overbeck, Mike Langston, and Johnny Wall were involved in a turn 1 crash on the first lap. All were able to continue except Langston. On the restart, McGuire jumped out to an early lead, followed by Ricky Turner, Wayne Willard, Bradberry, and Hogan. McGuire held the advantage until lap 53 when his engine dropped a valve. Turner then took the point and led until Hogan got inside of him coming off of turn 2 on lap 102. Turner was beginning to fade, and Willard got by on the same lap.

A caution for debris brought almost all of the leaders to the pits for fresh tires and fuel. Two exceptions were J.R. Norris, who came in one lap later, and Gary Jones, who took the lead when Norris pitted, and built as much as a half-straightaway lead before the cars with fresher tires ran him down. Gary Helton took the lead on lap 134, but his lead was short-lived, as John Wilkinson III got inside of him on lap 138. Wilkinson pitted on lap 186, leaving the lead to Hogan, who led just one lap before his engine stalled. Ronnie Sanders took over the lead, but again, the lead didn't last long.

Dennis Schoenfeld was making a strong run to the front, and had closed to Sanders bumper. As the two exited turn four on lap 193, Schoenfeld dove inside of Sanders. The two touched and the resulting wreck also involved the cars of Wilkinson, Jones, J.R. Dudley, Dusty Williams, and Bobby Hill. Only Wilkinson was able to continue, minus the nose of his Monte Carlo. The race was red-flagged while the track was cleared.

Tim Fryar led the field to the restart, followed by McFarland, Darrell Brown, David Hole, and Willard. Fryar appeared headed to victory, when his Monte Carlo slowed on lap 214, out of fuel. McFarland took control, but the race was far from over. Willard and a new contender, Tony Walls, were making a late race charge. Hole spun in turn 1, setting up a green, white, checkered dash.

McFarland, got a good jump on the restart, pulling out to a two car-length advantage over Willard. But Willard closed the gap fast, and was on McFarland's bumper as the two came out of turn four headed to the checkers. McFarland held off Willard's attempt to score his third career All Star win.

Following McFarland and Willard across the line were Walls, Turner, and Wilkinson. Jeremy Rice, who had run as high as third during the race, finished sixth. Hole was seventh, Jeff Fultz was eighth, Brown ninth, and Helton tenth.

There were 11 lead changes among 10 different drivers. 11 cautions slowed the pace for 73 laps.

"We felt we had a good car during practice, and usually the fastest car doesn't win, so we felt good going in.", a happy McFarland said after the race. "We talked about pitting with about 27 to go, but I've always said ' Don't give up 'till you're beat.' so we decided to stay out. We inherited the lead when Tim ran out of gas. Otherwise we wouldn't have caught him."

The series next race is April 13th at Huntsville Speedway. For more information, contact the series at (256) 539-4484 or visit the series web site at www.southern-allstars.com.

Results

1. Ken McFarland
2. Wayne Willard
3. Tony Walls
4. Ricky Turner
5. John Wilkinson III
6. Jeremy Rice
7. David Hole
8. Jeff Fultz
9. Darrell Brown
10. Gary Helton
11. Michael Crofford
12. J.R. Norris
13. Stanley Smith
14. Spanks Overbeck
15. Jason Hogan
16. Tim Fryar
17. Ronnie Sanders
18. Dennis Schoenfeld
19. Gary Jones
20. Dusty Williams
21. Robbie Brown
22. J.R. Dudley
23. Bobby Hill
24. Johnny Wall
25. Tony Ponkauskas
26. Dave Mader III
27. Ricky Sanders
28. Johnny Brazier
29. Dan Beddingfield
30. Charlie Holliday
31. Charlie Bradberry
32. Terry Mason Jr.
33. Gary Nix
34. Scot Smith
35. Jackie McGuire
36. Jimmy Garmon
37. Road Ammons
38. Stephen Mitchell
39. Doug Walker
40. Mike Langston
41. Heath Hindman ( No score card turned in)