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Miller, Hansen share Dubuque victoriesDUBUQUE, Iowa (June 24, 2001) - Race fans were treated to pair of NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Late Model feature events that spanned a generation as young gun Darren Miller and Eastern Iowa Legend Curt Hansen shared victory lane on Sunday June 24th at the Dubuque Speedway. Miller grabbed the early lead during the first feature event, rained out from June 17th, after the first lap, quickly opening up a huge lead while the rest of the pack fought for position behind him. With the first 23 laps going without a caution, Miller opened over a half of a lap lead while slicing through traffic. Helping his cause was a great duel for second between the father son team of Gary and Brian Webb. Gary had just nosed ahead of his son when the events only caution flag flew on lap 23. A two lap shootout between Miller in the lead and the 2000 NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Champion Webb failed to materialize when Miller shot out of the second corner with a comfortable lead when racing resumed. Brian Webb finished a career-best third ahead of second place points Denny Eckrich and Duane Coulson. Curt Hansen proved that the torch isn’t ready to be passed to the young guys yet in the regularly scheduled feature. Capturing a Late Model feature event in his fifth straight decade starting in 1964; Hansen used all of his experience to stay ahead of Miller in the second feature. Starting on the pole, Hansen jumped out to the early lead while Miller carved his way to the front from his eighth place start. Steve Johnson and Coulson battled for the runner up spot for the first half of the race, while Miller worked is way to the front. Catching the pair on lap fifteen, Miller overtook the second position one lap later and began closing in on the leader. Better in the first two turns of the high-banked clay oval, Miller quickly eliminated Hansen’s lead and was able to pull alongside several times. Not giving up, Hansen found a quicker line on the other half of the racetrack to hold back Miller’s charge before a lap 23 yellow slowed the action. As the field resumed racing for a green/white/Checkered finish to the race, Hansen stayed true to the top of the racetrack while Miller pulled alongside underneath. Not until the duo exited the fourth corner with the white flag waving was Hansen able to reclaim the lead, pulling ahead and eventually finishing two car lengths ahead of Miller, with Johnson, Ace Ihm and Luke Merfeld rounding out the top five. Jason Schueller used the topside of the racetrack and a front row starting position to claim the Modified feature win. Ryan Dolan made Schueller work for his win, spending the last ten laps of the race glued to the leader’s rear bumper. Ron Barker finished third ahead of Bob Dominacki and Scott Nesteby. Dan Shelliam made a clean sweep of the Pro Stocks; capturing both the make up and regularly scheduled feature events. Shelliam chased down early leader Jim Brokus in the first feature, working his way up from seventh to make the race-winning pass in the final corner of the race while the event went green to checkered non-stop. Jeff Tharp also got past to claim second, with Brokus finishing third ahead of Bruce Van Gordon and Tommy Garner. The regular feature saw Shelliam take the lead much earlier, after he shot underneath Skip Culbertson following a lap four restart. Unchallenged until the final lap, Shelliam held off a late charge by Rich Pica. Jeff Kennedy crossed the stripe third ahead of Brokus and Tharp. Terry Merkes bested Scott Riechers and TJ Leslein in the Hobby Stocks while Russ Yonkovic prevailed in Fun Car action. Racing action continues this Sunday June 30th at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway. First up on the schedule will be the make-up features for the Hobby Stock and Modified divisions, with a full regular show to follow. Hot Laps are scheduled for 6 pm with racing to follow. Raceday information and instant results can be found on your local McLeod USA InTouch Directory categories #3741 and 3740. For more information, contact Simmons Promotions at 563-744-3620 or online at www.simmonspromotionsinc.com. LATE MODELS (make up from June 17th) DNS LATE MODELS (regular feature) DNS MODIFIEDS PRO STOCKS (make up feature from June 17th) PRO STOCKS BOMBERS FUN CARS |
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