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Moore JR. Wins His First on Golden State Soil - By Bobby Gerould, 04/26/03, Tulare, CA. …Grinnell Iowa's Dennis Moore JR., used a hand signal from crew chief Ashley Smith, telling him to move up one groove on the track for a lap 26 restart. That advice propelled Moore to make a sweeping pass of Ricci Faria to claim the 30 lap feature win in round seven of the 22-race Golden State Challenge, Saturday night at Tulare Thunderbowl. "My mechanic won that race", said Moore JR. "On the restart he signaled me to try the outside, and it worked."
Twelve cars were inverted to start the 30-lap feature. The original start was aborted when Chico's Jason York stopped in turn three. The restart was unlucky for Garrett Ishii who tipped onto his side in turn one collecting Brian Coelho and Andy Forsberg with him. At Jake Vickers third green flag, Ricci Faria propelled his Green Trucking #89 to the point ahead of fellow front row starter, Moore JR. By lap seven the leaders hit traffic on the fast, 1/3 mile oval, which was packed hard, and had taken rubber.
On lap ten, third running Tommy Tarlton nosed inside Moore to battle for second as the two raced into turn four. Tarlton pinched his car to avoid contact with Moore, the car spun around and stood back onto its rear wheels before tipping onto its left side. Tarlton was unhurt and able to continue. Four laps later the next caution flag appeared for Garrett Ishii when he spun to a stop. Ishii was done for the night. The ensuing restart was a mess. Six cars tangled in turn one including Tarlton, Andy Forsberg, Bob Maiwald, Mike Quigley, Steve Kent, and Mike Faria. Faria rolled onto his side and the red flag appeared again. Believe it or not, the yellow flag appeared four more times, and the red flag made a cameo too.
With each restart Ricci Faria withstood pressure from Moore. On the eighth of eleven restarts in the event, Moore nearly made contact with Faria as he tried to execute a turn one dive bomb move on lap 24. Moore caught a piece of the inside berm however, and was unable to make the pass. In back of Ricci Faria and Moore, Jason Statler was hoping for a mistake by either of those two. Ultimately, on a lap 26 reset, Moore took advantage of the widening racing groove to sneak around the outside of Faria for the winning move.
Said winning crew chief, Smith, "I saw Jason York moving well on the outside. He passed Jason Meyers at one point, and on the next restart I gestured to Dennis to try and swoop around the outside of Faria." The victory for Moore JR. made him the 45th driver in the 17 year history of the Golden State Challenge to win a race. It was only Moore's second drive ever at the Thunderbowl. The winning mount was the Williams MotorSports Maxim #0.
Faria later suffered a flat right rear tire on lap 29, and had to hit the pits for repair. The final two laps were raced without incident. The finishing order was Moore JR., Statler, Brad Furr, Blake Robertson, and Jason Meyers. Sixth through tenth were, Tim Kaeding, Craig Stidham, Shain Matthews, Brent Kaeding, and Steve Kent.
Matthews brought out a brand-new Maxim Chassis and then drove from 19th on the starting grid to his eighth place finish. Stidham's original starting slot was 18th, and he wound up seventh. Tim Kaeding paced the 24-car field, earning the BR MotorSports Quick Qualifier award with a 13.530 second clocking. Kaeding also won the B&B Oval Track Products heat race. Furr, and Robertson won the other two heats.
The GSC heads to Calistoga Speedway Saturday May 3rd for their initial visit of 2003. The Golden State Challenge "King of California" series is sponsored by Hoosier Tires, CL Bryant, BR MotorSports, and B&B Oval Track Products.
April 26, 2003. Tulare Thunderbowl, Tulare, CA. Golden State Challenge Round Seven
BR MotorSports Qualifying: Driver Hometown Car Time
B&B Oval Track Products Heat One: 1. T. Kaeding, 2. Meyers, 3. Statler, 4. R. Faria 5. Coelho. 6. Williams, 7. B. Maiwald, 8. Binstock.
Heat two: 1. Furr, 2. York, 3. Kent, 4. Forsberg, 5. Ishii, 6. Quigley, 7. Skinner, 8. Fowzer
Heat three: 1.Robertson, 2. M. Faria 3. Moore Jr., 4. Stidham, 5. Tarlton, 6. B. Kaeding 7. Matthews, 8. J. Maiwald
Last Chance Race (12 laps. Top 7 transfer.): 1. B. Kaeding, 2. Williams, 3. Skinner, 4. Matthews, 5. B. Maiwald, 6. Quigley, 7. J. Mailwald, 8. Fowzer, 9. Binstock
Feature (30 laps) 1. Moore Jr., 2. Statler, 3. Furr, 4. Robertson, 5. Meyers, 6. T. Kaeding, 7. Stidham, 8. Matthews, 9. B. Kaeding, 10. Kent, 11. York, 12. M. Faria, 13. Williams, 14. Forsberg, 15. Tarlton, 16. R. Faria, 17. Quigley, 18. B. Maiwald, 19. J. Maiwald, 20. Skinner, 21. Ishii, 22. Coelho.