SCOTTS VALLEY, California (Aug. 23,1999) -- Austin Cameron came within a whisker of winning several times since joining the NASCAR Winston West Series last year. With two runner-up finishes as a rookie and another one earlier this season, Cameron felt victory was within his grasp.
He secured that first win at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway in the Snap-On 250 for the benefit of City of Hope on Aug. 21. The event was only his 23rd race in the series.
"I’m ecstatic about this," the 22-year-old El Cajon, Calif., competitor said of the victory. "The first one is the toughest to get. It makes it so sweet."
Cameron, who won the Sears Point Raceway Rookie-of-the-Year title in the series last season, put much of the credit for the win on his crew. "Everybody on this team has worked so hard for this," he explained. "I knew we were going to win sometime. We had so many chances to win and little things happened that prevented it. This is exactly what we need for this team."
Cameron took home $13,192 for the victory and became the ninth different driver to visit victory lane in 10 NWWS races so far this season. He crossed the finish line .616 of a second ahead of Kevin Richards of Spokane, Wash., in the Monaco Enterprises Chevrolet, with Butch Gilliland of Chino Hills, Calif., third in the Ralph’s/Food 4 Less/Coca Cola Ford. Joe Bean of San Diego, Calif., finished fourth in the Race for Hope/City of Hope Ford. Sikeston, Mo., competitor Sammy Potashnick, who won the Bud Pole Award with a lap of 99.547 mph, was fifth in the WW TransportlPll Transportation Chevrolet. Bill Sedgwick came home sixth, followed by Wayne Jacks and Gary Smith — all on the lead lap. Brendan Gaughan was ninth and Sean Woodside 10th, each one lap down.
The race featured 13 lead changes among seven drivers — Cameron, Potashnick, Sedgwick, Brandon Ash, Gaughan, Bean and Richards. The pace was slowed by eight cautions that flew for 79 laps, reducing the average speed of the winner to 62.138 mph.
Woodside remains out front in the NASCAR Winston West Series championship standings, with 10 of the 14 races completed. The Saugus, Calif., competitor leads with 1,473; followed by Ash of Umpqua, Ore., with 1,413; Cameron with 1,406; Mike Chase of Redding, Calif. with 1,393; and Steve Portenga of Sparks, Nev., with 1,357. Rounding out the top 10 are Bean 1,354, Sedgwick 1,331, Richards and Gilliland each with 1,287 and Jason Small 1,258.
Small continues to lead in the chase for the Sears Point Raceway Rookie-of-the-Year Award. He leads with 75 over Potashnick with 72, John Metcalf with 65, Gaughan with 57, Jerry Cain with 55, Rick Ware with 41, Davy Lee Liniger with 29 and Bobby Pangonis with 13.
Chevrolet has evened the score with Ford in terms of victories in the series this season with five wins each, but still trails in terms of overall points in the chase for the manufacturers’ championship. Ford has 75 points, followed by Chevrolet with 71 and Pontiac with 44
The next event on the NASCAR Winston West Series schedule is the Bank One 250 presented by Pacific Coast Building Products and PPG Automotive Finishes, at Rocky Mountain Raceways near Salt Lake City, Utah on Sept. 6.
