SCHEDULE AND NOTES OF INTEREST

Source: NASCAR Media Relations
Date: 05/09/2001

WHAT: FOOD 4 LESS 250
NASCAR Winston West Series Race #6 of 14
WHERE: Irwindale Speedway, Irwindale, Calif. 500-Mile Paved Speedway
WHEN: Saturday, May 12, 2001 - 8:00 p.m. PT
DISTANCE: 250 Laps, 125 Miles
POSTED AWARDS: $108,628

FIELD: 26 cars possible. Fastest 21 cars through time trials. Two provisional positions based on 2001 NASCAR Winston West Series Championship driver point standings, two additional provisional positions based on 2001 NASCAR Winston West Series Championship owner point standings, one provisional starting position to NASCAR Winston West Series Champion.
TV: Fox Sports Net (Tape Delay)
Air Date & Time: TBA

SCHEDULE:
Saturday, May 12
8:00 a.m. NWWS Team Haulers enter
8:00 a.m. Registration & Inspection
11:00 a.m. Mandatory Rookie Drivers' Meeting
12:00 p.m. Practice to 12:45 a.m.
1:15 p.m. Practice to 2:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m. Mandatory Drivers' Meeting
4:30 p.m. Time Trials, 2 laps (All positions)

THE RACE: Irwindale Speedway is a .500-mile paved oval with blended banking of six, nine and 12 degrees in the corners and banking of six degrees in the straights. This is the sixth visit by the NASCAR Winston West Series to the state-of-the-art facility.

2000 STATS:
Bud Pole: Bobby Dotter
Time of Race: 1 hour, 45 minutes, 50 seconds
Average Speed: 70.866 mph Margin of Victory: 2.735 seconds
Caution Flags: Nine
Lap Leaders- Bobby Dotter-grid, Johnny Borneman 1-36, Austin Cameron 37-64, Dotter 65-112, Steve Portenga 113-153, Borneman 154-190, Portenga 191-195, Borneman 196-201, Dotter 202-250.
Eight lead changes among four drivers.

PARTICIPATING AWARDS SPONSORS:
Winston, Aeroquip, Anheuser-Busch, Auto Meter Products, Bowman Distribution, Clevite Engine Parts, Competition Cams, Edelbrock Intakes Manifolds, Featherlite Trailers, Ford Motor Company, Gatorade, Goodyear Belts & Hoses, Holley Carburetors, Hoosier Tires, JE Pistons, Jesel Rocker Arms. MAC Tools, Mechanic Wear, Moog Chassis Parts, MSD Ignitions, Raybestos , Simpson, Spice- Driveshafts, Wix Air Filters, 3M Automotive, 76 Race Gasoline.

RECAPPING CALIFORNIA:
The outcome of the California Speedway race shuffled many positions in the top 20 of the championship standings, with 15 drivers changing spots. Brendan Gaughan and Sammy Potashnick benefited the most -each moving up five spots. Gaughan moved to third and Potashnick to 11th. Kevin Richards moved up three spots to eighth. Troy Cline moved up two positions to 12th Austin Cameron moved up a spot to first, while Steve Portenga moved up one to fourth and Sean Woodside moved up one to 18th.

The average speed of the race at California Speedway was 152.316 mph, which set a record for the series. The old mark of 145.384 mph was set at College Station, Texas, in 1992.

Gaughan's victory at California Speedway was the third of his career in the series and his first on a superspeedway, He became the fifth different winner in five races this year.

Mark Reed set a track record of 181.5£13 mph at the two-mile track, en route to winning his third Bud Pole Award of the 2001 season.

Jon Wood led the most laps at the two-mile superspeedway to earn the Gatorade Front Runner Award. He kept the AutoConcierge Ford out front for 58 of the 100 laps.

With his prize money from California Speedway, Scott Gaylord moved past the $400,000 mark in career prize money in the series. He is eighth on the list of career money leaders with $400,045.

Rick Carelli, making his first appearance in the series since 1999, drove to a ninth-place finish at California Speedway.

NOTES ABOUT IRWINDALE:
The Food 4 Less 250 is the sixth race on the NW WS 2001 schedule. It is the first of three visits by the series to Irwindale Speedway this season. Bobby Dotter won two of the three NW WS races at Irwindale Speedway in 2000, He is the only driver with more than one series win at the 1/2-mile facility.

• Gaughan and Joe Bean top the list for the most top-five finishes in series competition at Irwindale, with three each.
• Gaughan and Bill Sedgwick are tied for the most top-10 finishes at Irwindale, with four each.
• With $36,320, Dotter has won the most money in NWWS competition at Irwindale Speedway.
• Cameron has led the most laps of competition at the Southern California °%-mile facility, showing the way for 221 circuits.
• A Chevrolet has been in victory lane for four of the five NWWS races. NOTES OF INTEREST:
• Why-, he takes the green flag in the Monaco Enterprises Chevrolet at Irwindale, Richards will tie Jack McCoy's mark of 49 consecutive NASCAR Winston West Series Warts. McCoys string of races - set between January 1972 and September 1973 -ranks fifth on the series' modern era list to Ray Elder, who started 121 consecutive races between January 1971 and January 1976. Richards began his string of consecutive events on Oct, 5, 1997.
• Cameron is the only driver to finish in the top five in four of the first five races this season.
• Cameron had the best average finish in the first five races of the year. His average of 5.2 compares to a 6.2 by Reed.
• Reed continues to top the category for most laps led in NWWS competition so far this season. He has kept the Food 4 Less Pontiac on the point for 149 laps.
• Cameron has completed the most laps so far this season, recording 999 of the possible 1002. Reed is second on the list with 998, followed by Johnny Borneman with 994 and Gaylord with 992.
• Gaughan leads in terms of money won so far in 2001 _ Me has netted $35,175.
• Competition throughout the top 20 in the championship standings this season is very close. Eight drivers are within 10 points of gaining a position in the standings. Five of the drivers, 13"' thought 17th, are separated by just eight points
• Drivers celebrating a birthday in the month of May include Charlie Solomon, who turns 39 on the 7th; Eric Norris, who turns 36 on the 2&; Steve Portenga, who turns 31 on the 22nd; and Jerry Cain, who turns 43 on the 27th.

The five NWWS events at Irwindale produced five different Bud Pole winners-Dotter, Gaughan, Cameron, Potashnick and Butch Gilliland.

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Article posted by RacingWest.com staff on 05/09/2001. http://www.racingwest.com