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 THOMPSON,
CT (August 15) -- Eddie Flemke notched his second consecutive win in
the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series Thursday evening. It was
Flemke's third win of the 2002 season and 14th of his career.
Flemke opted to run the entire race on just one set of Hoosier tires
on his way to capturing the Budweiser 150 at Thompson International
Speedway. The race mirrored his previous win at Riverhead in that the
Southington, Connecticut driver once again won the Bud Pole Award for
being the fastest qualifier on the 5/8-mile track and won the Gatorade
Front Runner Award for leading the most laps for the second race in a
row. Flemke earned $7,700 for the win.
Thirty-three cars took the green flag Thursday night
in what was to be a 150-lap race. Charlie Pasteryak and Tony Ferrante
comprised the front row after the post qualifying re-draw. Pasteryak
led the race's first 23 circuits before sixth starting Ted Christopher
moved into the race lead.
Christopher led through lap 70, when he opted to pit
for new tires which turned the lead over to Eddie Flemke. Flemke held
the lead until lap 89, when Chuck Hossfeld took over the lead after starting
ninth. Hossfeld led for 22 laps before Flemke moved back into the lead
for good leading the final 57 circuits. (Due to a late race caution,
the length of the event was extended from 150 laps to 158.)
Rick Fuller followed Flemke to the finish line to
capture second and pocket $4,505. Finishing in third place was Chuck
Hossfeld. Thirteen of the 33 starters finished the race on the lead
lap with Tommy Cravenho and Ted Christopher rounding out the top five.
Hoosier Manager of Contract Sales Irish Saunders
attended the race and commented via telephone interview, "The tires
were awesome tonight." Saunders continued, "Eddie (Flemke)
won without changing tires which is a testament to the tires Hoosier
developed for the Featherlite Series in that they are very consistent
with little drop-off in performance over sticker tires. This is our
goal in tire-rule venues--to provide competitive tires at a reasonable
price which are consistent and repeatable. Tonight, we achieved that
goal remarkably well."
Jerry Marquis, who finished 11th, retains the NASCAR
Featherlite Modified Series point lead with 1726 points with Eddie
Flemke moving into second place with 1703 points. Rick Fuller (1693),
Todd Szegedy (1688), and Mike Stefanik (1625) round out the top five
in the standings.
The series will resume action on August 23, at
Stafford Motor Speedway for the ASB Classic 150.
The NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series competes
exclusively on Hoosier tires.
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