DARLINGTON RACE REPORT
by Stenzo


BOB WINS 3 OUT OF 4 RACES!
Could This Be His Year?

Darlington Speedway, Darlington, SC (4/19/01) -- Bob has really been on a tear these past few weeks, winning three out of four races, and moving into second place in the points standings for the first time in his career!   Could this be his year?   If he keeps up the pace he's on right now, he could certainly pose a serious challenge to two-time defending champion Speed for the 2001 championship!

The race started off “clean and green” with Coyote on the pole and Bob on the outside in 2nd, and at the drop of the green flag, Bob shot past Coyote heading into turn 1 to lead lap 1.   On lap 2, Coyote tapped Bob entering turn 3, causing Bob to drift up high and scrape the wall, while Coyote and Speed got past to take 1st and 2nd, leaving Bob in 3rd.   Jay started in 8th, and on lap 12 got into the wall exiting turn 2, wrinkling his rear bumper, dropping him from 8th to 9th.   Meanwhile, Stenzo, who had started back in 20th, had worked his way through the field up to 10th, and on lap 16 made the pass on Jay for 9th, bringing the 6 car along with him.   With the damage to his rear end, Jay slowly slipped back in the pack, and by lap 20 had dropped to 14th place.   On lap 22, Bob got back by Speed to take 2nd, while Coyote extended his lead.   As the race progressed under a green flag, Coyote maintained the lead, while Bob and Speed remained in 2nd and 3rd respectively.   By lap 43, Stenzo had worked his way up to 4th, and Jay up to 11th, then on lap 47, Jay passed the 2 car to take 10th.   On lap 51, while working through lap traffic, Speed passed Bob to reclaim 2nd.

Green flag pit stops began on lap 60, and on lap 63, Bob gave up 3rd place to hit the pits.   Two laps later, Stenzo came in for his pit stop, and Jay moved up to 8th.   On lap 66, Coyote handed the lead over to Speed as he came in for fresh rubber and gas.   Jay pitted on this lap too, but was in danger of getting lapped, and because he repaired the damage to his car, he ended up falling 3 laps down.   On lap 67, after leading one lap, Speed came in for his pit stop, turning the lead over to the 18 car, who had stayed out and almost lapped the entire field.   On lap 77, Stenzo passed the 18 car to get back on the lead lap, in 5th place, while on lap 81, Bob and Coyote passed Speed to take over 2nd and 3rd, leaving Speed in 4th place.   On lap 87, Jay pitted again for fuel and dropped from 20th to 23rd, two laps down.   Then on lap 90, Bob tapped the 2 car in turn 2, and Coyote hit Bob, slightly damaging both cars.   On lap 93, Speed squeezed past three lap cars, but clipped the 28 car in the process, causing him to scrape the wall and damage his rear bumper.   But this wouldn't slow him down though, because he still managed to pass Coyote heading into turn 1 the next time around!   Then the 22 and 1 cars tangled together in turn 2, directly in front of Bob, Speed, and Coyote, causing them all to stand on the brakes to avoid the wreck, but Coyote couldn't avoid hitting the 1 car and spinning into Speed, just as Bob started to pull away.   Meanwhile, Stenzo, who was running a distant 5th, shot down to the apron to pass the melee and grab the 3rd spot as the first yellow flag of the race came out on lap 94.   While under caution, the 18 car finally relinquished the lead to hit the pits, and handed the lead over to Bob, while Stenzo moved up to 2nd.   The race restarted on lap 97, but as the field barreled into turn 1, the 40 car clipped Jay, who then spun down to the apron and got T-boned in the driver's door by Coyote, which brought out caution flag number 2 on lap 98, setting up what would become a one-lap “dash for the cash.”   On lap 101 the green flag fell to restart the race for one lap, with Bob grabbing the win, Stenzo in 2nd, Speed in 3rd (despite getting together with the 20 car coming out of turn 4), Coyote in 4th, and Jay in 29th, 8 laps down.