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Hogan All the Way at Hickory

Jason Hogan said after the Southern All Star race at Lanier National Speedway May 26th that he was tired of losing. His comments came after finishing second, watching Wayne Willard turn in a dominating performance. Saturday night, it was Hogan turning in the masterful performance, leading all 125 laps of the Southern All Star feature.

Willard led Garrison Racing Equipment Pole Qualifying with a time of 14.266 around the historic .333 mile oval, almost a quarter second faster than Ricky Turner's pole speed of a year ago. Rolling a two on the inversion die, Willard started on the outside front row next to Hogan. The two Georgia drivers ran side by side for two laps before Hogan gained the full advantage on the third lap. It was the closest anybody would get to Hogan for the rest of the night. Ronnie Sanders had probably the fastest car, other than Hogan, and moved from his seventh starting spot to third by lap 18.

Hogan continued to hold his lead, building as much as a five car length lead by the midpoint of the race. Willard, running second, held the same lead over Sanders. David Hole was running fourth, with North Carolina driver Ricky Marshall fifth.

Sanders and Turner, one and two in series points, pitted during a caution period around lap 75 to take on their two new right side tires. Hogan and the rest of the field stayed out, opting for track position rather than fresh tires. Hogan's strategy paid off, as he was able to maintain his lead, his Universal Chevrolet sponsored Monte Carlo never seeming to slow. Willard, still running second was beginning to fade, but was holding on to the position by running his line. The next six cars were starting to bunch up behind him, but none were able to get around the "wide-track" Monte Carlo.

Hole and Marshall, fighting for third position, got together, sending Hole around and into the fourth turn wall. On the restart, Sanders got by Marshall and quickly disposed of Willard. But Hogan had too much of a lead to overcome, and took his first win of the year.

Sanders took second place, followed by Willard, Marshall, and Turner. Sixth through tenth went to Freddie Query, J.R. Norris, Hole, Jimmy Garmon, and Jeff Fultz.

The series travels to Nashville Speedway USA next for the July 3rd Firecracker 150. For more information, contact the series at (256) 539-4484, or visit the series web site at www.southern-allstars.com/

Results

1. Jason Hogan
2. Ronnie Sanders
3. Wayne Willard
4. Ricky Marshall
5. Ricky Turner
6. Freddie Query
7. J.R. Norris
8. David Hole
9. Jimmy Garmon
10. Jeff Fultz
11. Lee Hansard
12. Gary Nix
13. Larry Pollard
14. Robbie Brown
15. Dean Clattenburg
16. Matt McCall
17. Johnny Wall
18. Jeremy Rice
19. Dennis Schoenfeld
20. Mike Langston
21. Duane Linville
22. Bobby Fain

DNS Jimmy Simpson, Billy Larrimore Jr., J.R. Dudley