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 TAMPA,
FL (February 13) -- Friday turned out to be the third and final night
of racing in the 28th Annual 410 Sprint Winternationals at East Bay
Raceway Park when rain forced the cancellation of Saturday's finale.
On Friday, Terry McCarl (photo) won for the second night in a row
giving the Hoosier tire brand its third consecutive win at the
1/3-mile track. Couple the three wins at East Bay with the four wins
at Volusia Speedway Park earlier in the week and Team-Hoosier went
undefeated in the 2004 Florida Speedweeks for 410 sprint cars.
Amazingly, the Hoosier brand has not been defeated during Speedweeks
competition the past three consecutive years. Also of note on Friday,
Kevin Swindell won his first-ever Mini Sprint race in dramatic
fashion. Swindell, the 14-year-old son of World of Outlaws star Sammy
Swindell, charged from his 25th starting spot to make a final-lap pass
to capture the exciting win. Swindell won the 20-lap race riding on
Hoosier tires.
Thirty-three cars took turns posting qualifying times
Friday evening with 32 drivers opting to compete on Hoosier tires.
Joey Saldana set fast time of the night at 12.648 seconds followed
closely by Danny Smith at 12.686 seconds. Craig Dollansky, Terry
McCarl and Lance Dewease rounded out the top five in qualifying as
Hoosier-shod drivers posted the 24 fastest times.
All four heat races were also won by drivers riding
atop the Hoosier brand including Shane Stewart, Nick Naber, Jeremy
Campbell and John VanDenBerg.
In the 25-lap feature, Terry McCarl riding on a pair
of Hoosier RD12's, fought off both
Craig Dollansky and Sammy Swindell in the final laps to capture his
second win in as many nights. The final five laps had three caution
flags which had McCarl defending the top spot as the trio crossed the
line together with McCarl escaping with the win and Dollansky (RD12
left rear/RD12 right rear) and
Swindell (RD12/D12) settling for second and third, respectively.
Jeff Shepard (D12/D12), Daryn Pittman (D12/D12), Greg
Wilson (D12/D12), Danny Smith,
Jim Nier, Shane Stewart and Jeremy Campbell rounded out the top ten.
All 26 feature starters rode on Hoosier tires.
The win was the third in as many nights at East Bay.
With rain forcing the cancellation of Saturday's finale, Team-Hoosier
claims its third consecutive undefeated Speedweek with a 7-0 record.
The compound combination information for the top six
finishers was provided by Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic's Randy Glover.
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TAMPA,
FL (February 13) -- Thirty-three Florida Mini Sprints were also
in competition on the East Bay 1/3-mile track. In the 20-lap feature,
Kevin Swindell started 25th in the 26-car field en route to capturing
his first-ever Mini Sprint win. Swindell masterfully picked off car
after car until just Terry Monroe was left. Swindell then passed
Monroe in the first turn of the final lap to collect the win. Monroe
settled for second place followed by Harold Matthews, Matt Ebarb and
Ryan Greth. Swindell's charge to the victory from the last row
was accomplished using a Hoosier RD12 compound on his right rear
position of his race car. 