STARR GRABS FIRST MAJOR NASCAR VICTORY IN THE ORLEANS 150 AT LAS VEGAS

Source: NASCAR Public Relations
Date: 04/24/2000

In the four NASCAR Winston West Series races in which David Starr competed in during the past two seasons, he had yet to post a top five finish. In fact, other than finishing seventh in his series debut two years ago, the soft spoken 32-year-old Texan had not had encountered very much good luck.

Not to be deterred, Starr returned to the series and to Las Vegas, Nev., where he turned his luck around by winning The Orleans 150 on April 22.

Starr, a regular competitor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, opted to skip a road race in that series to compete at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Team Texas Chevrolet owned by his uncle, Mike Starr.

"I race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, but I really wanted to come to this race in Las Vegas," David Starr explained. "This is really my first win in the NASCAR leagues. My goal as a kid was to race in Winston Cup. This is a dream come true. Hopefully, there are even bigger and better moments ahead."

Starr of Houston, Texas, dashed into the lead late in the 100-lap event and held on for the final four circuits to collect the win and $15,460 in prize money and posted awards. His margin of victory was .396 of a second, with an average speed of 100.093 mph.

Austin Cameron of El Cajon, Calif., crossed the line second in the MarCon/Creative Touch Chevrolet. Eric Norris of Dallas, Texas, was a close third in the JaniKing/Ultra Wheels Ford.

Hometown driver Brendan Gaughan, who won the Bud Pole Award and set a track record in qualifying with a speed of 167.691 mph, was fourth in the NAPA/Martin Senour Chevrolet. John Metcalf of Aurora, Colo., was fifth in the Team REIMAX Racing Chevrolet. Rounding out the top 10 were Mark Reed, John Borneman III, Steve Portenga, Jason Small and Don Holcomb.

The race featured seven lead changes among six drivers - Gaughan, Starr, Cameron, Norris, Metcalf and Joe Bean. The race was slowed by five cautions for 33 laps.

Gaughan retained the lead in the NASCAR Winston West Series championship standings with 510 points. Metcalf moved to second with 447, followed by Portenga with 425, Kevin Richards with 416, Bean with 400, Sammy Potashnick with 398, Cameron with 393, Scott Gaylord with 389, Bobby Dotter with 377, and Jason Small and Mike Duncan with 375 each.

Mike Grady, meanwhile, continues to lead the chase for the Rookie-of-the-Year Award in the series. With 24 points, he holds a slim lead over Duncan with 23, Rick Bogart with 20, Borneman with 19, Travis Powell with 16, Holcomb with 15, Gene Christenson with 13, Troy Cline with 11 and Jeff Jefferson with eight.

The next event on the NASCAR Winston West Series schedule will be the Pontiac Wide Track 200 at California Speedway on April 29.

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