GOODYEAR-EQUIPPED TEAMS FAST IN SPORTS CARS, DRAG RACING COMPETITION

In what might be the best feel-good story in all of racing this season, Austin Cameron won the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Stockton 99 Speedway in Stockton, Calif.

Cameron was racing for just the second time since missing four races after learning he has a form of cancer. He won in dominating fashion, setting a track record while winning the Bud Pole Award and leading 154 of the 200-lap race. Cameron was the eighth winner in eight races this season.

Cameron’s fastest qualifying lap set a track record. He averaged 63.672 mph and was one of 10 drivers to crack the previous record.

Steve Portenga finished second, leaving him the only driver this year to finish in the top 10 in all ten races this season. He leads the series’ championship standings. Portenga was .806 of a second behind the winner.

Mike David took third, Brett Thompson was fourth and Johnny Borneman came in fifth.

Goodyear-equipped cars clearly had the fastest tires at the Toronto Grand Prix of Mosport. Teams using Goodyear tires won the overall pole position and set a GTS class record in qualifying, then took two class victories in the race.

James Weaver, driving an LMP 675 class Lola-MG for Dyson Racing, started on the overall pole position after recording the best time in time trials.

Weaver co-drove with Butch Leitzinger in the race. The other Dyson car, piloted by Andy Wallace and Chris Dyson, started second overall. Jon Field, driving another Goodyear-shod LMP 675 car, qualified fifth on the grid.

Oliver Gavin driving, driving for Corvette Racing, destroyed the GTS class record at the 2.495-mile, 10-turn track. Gavin eclipsed the record by nearly two seconds with a lap of 1 minute, 14.417 seconds, an average of 118.957 mph. Ron Fellows qualified the other Corvette entry under the previous track record as well.

Harry Turner, General Motors’ Group Manager for Road Racing, said, “We also owe a lot to the work the Goodyear people have done to improve our tire package. The tires have been quite good and we can run nearly a full driver stint with virtually no loss in performance.”

In the race, Wallace and Dyson finished second overall and won the LMP 675 class. Fellows, co-driving with Johnny O’Connell, finished fourth overall and won the GTS class victory.

Goodyear drivers lead two classes in their respective championship campaigns. In the LMP 675 class, Dyson leads with 75 points, while Field and his co-driver Duncan Dayton are tied for second with 62 tallies each. The last two champions of this class have driven to their titles on Goodyear tires. Field is the defending class champ.

In the GTS class, Corvette Racing has been undefeated in ALMS competition this season and the driver standings reflect that. Fellows and O’Connell are tied for the lead with 75 points each.

Goodyear-equipped teams won six of the 11 classes in the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. The race was the last event prior to the MAC Tools US Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park over the Labor Day Weekend.

In the Sportsman classes, Alan Bradshaw beat David Wells in the final round of Top Alcohol Dragster. Goodyear-shod cars have won the last three national events in this class and have won seven times this season. No other tiremaker has more than three TAD wins this season.

Clint Sallee won in Competition Eliminator for his second national event victory. He was also the top qualifier.

In Super Stock, Paul Klein won his first national event. Klein’s margin of victory was .0132 of a second.

In the professional classes, Doug Kalitta won by the narrowest of margins in Top Fuel. Kalitta and Tony Schumacher recorded identical elapsed times, but Kalitta was the first to leave the line and won. Gary Densham scraped by Tim Wilkerson in the Funny Car final, winning by .005 of a second. Greg Anderson edged Kurt Johnson in the Pro Stock final, winning by .003 of a second.

Dale Quarterly started 12th but he didn’t stay that far back for very long, eventually winning the Dealmaker 150 at Adirondack Speedway in Beaver Falls, NY.

Martin Truex Jr. started on the pole and led the first 140 laps of the 150-lap event before Quarterly slipped by. He won the Bud Pole Award with a lap of 17.306 seconds, an average 104.010 mph. He finished just .32 of a second behind the winner.

Andy Santerre finished third, followed by Mike Olsen and Matt Kobyluck.

Santerre said before the race, “I think the tires are pretty strong now. Every place we run, they seem to go the distance without any problem.”

Quarterly averaged 60.700 mph over the race distance.

Fred Campbell won the GMAC Financial Services 100 in front of a huge crowd at Indianapolis Raceway Park in Clermont, Indiana. Series officials estimated nearly 20,000 fans jammed the 6/10-mile oval for the event.

Campbell dominated the evening, winning the Yockey Motorsports Marketing Fast Qualifier Award. He started fourth in the race.

Ray Skillman finished second, Scott Hantz was third, Jeff Lane came in fourth and Eddie Hoffman capped the top five.

Davey Brown and Dustin Daggett won the series events over the weekend. Brown won on the quarter-mile oval at Merritt Speedway in Merritt, Mich. Daggett won on the half-mile at Hartford Speedway in Hartford, Mich.

Brown’s victory was his second of the 2003 season. Fred Bliss, Daggett, Jason Blonde and Bill Johnson finished the top five. Mark Carrick won the Goodyear Racing Tire Heat Race.

Daggett’s win came at Hartford, Mich. on a half-mile oval. Eddie Smith finished second, Ben Rutan was third, Jim Wohlfeil took fourth and Gregg Dalman was fifth. John Gall won the Goodyear Racing Tire Heat Race.

Mario Gosselin is one of the most successful short track racers in the country and he added another victory to his career total when he won the Jackaroo Sauces 250 at Peach State Speedway in Jefferson, GA.

Jason Sarvis finished second by just .433 of a second.

Shane Huffman, who won the Advance Auto Parts Pole Award, took third. Mart Nesbitt and Steve Christian rounded out the top five.