SCOTT HANSEN USES LAST LAP PASS TO COLLECT PHOENIX WIN

Source: Gary Jacobs
Date: 11/10/1999

Scott Hansen from Wisconsin led only one lap of Friday's 125 mile NASCAR Southwest Series season finale on the Phoenix International Raceway one mile paved oval, but it was the final one as he won the event for the fourth time in the last five years with his outside groove pass on first time Phoenix racer David Stremme on that final mile. Hansen had only timed 23rd fast in the 60 car turnout and had to take a wild ride down the pit lane to avoid a spun Dennis Dyer on lap 64 after he had climbed into the top ten. He was again outside the top ten with just 25 laps to run, but gained fourth on lap 113 and made passes around Washington's John Zaretzke and Re-Max Series champion Brian Hoppe to gain second with five miles to run. Stremme, a 22 year old from Indiana, had gained the lead on lap 104 when race dominator and defending champion Garrett Evans pushed high. Evans was eventually blackflagged. Hansen and Stremme were trailed at the checkered flag by Hoppe, Ford mounted Zaretzke and Bruce Bechtel, who came from 25th starting. Hansen had a three year winning streak in this race snapped in 1998 by Evans. Hansen's winning mount is owned by Winston Cup racer Ken Schrader and sponsored by Checker Auto Parts and Budweiser. In the post race inspection, Hansen's car was found with an unapproved carburetor spacer plate, but the NASCAR officials decided three days later to fine his crew chief Craig Smokstad $3,000 and allow the win to stand.

The 60 car field that included several teams that towed across the country ran their time trials on Thursday morning. Bakersfield's Mark Reed put his Food-4-Less sponsored mount on the pole with a 129.548 mph run with Evans and Jason Fensler the only two cars in the 128 mph bracket. In his first competitive laps on the one mile track, Stremme was fourth fast and he was joined in the 127 mph bracket by Damon Lusk, Kevin Quesnell, Hoppe, Jim Inglebright, Dyer, Nathan Haseleu and Southwest Series champion Kurt Busch, who had a four race winning streak coming into the race. The top 30 qualifiers made the field on time trials with a 125.698 mph lap needed. With drivers from four of NASCAR's traveling circuits on hand, eight provisionals were given and they went to Rocky Nash, Frank Maronski Jr, Augie Vidovich and Scott Lynch for the Southwest Series, Chris Hart and Rick Allison from the Northwest Series, All Pro racer Coy Gibbs and Re-Max racer Justin Diercks. The remaining cars ran a 20 lap B Main on Thursday afternoon with the top four finishers transferring to the rear of the 42 car feature. Third starter Roger Avants from Colorado won the B Main ahead of sixth starter Zachary Niessner of Washington and pole starter Bruce Yackey from Colorado. Oklahoma's Donnie Wilson claimed the final spot with a fourth ahead of long tow Larry Middleton and the Utah duo of Doyle Olsen and Jeff Hillock. New Mexico's Mike Grady, who set fast time at the Copper Classic back in February, spun on his qualifying effort and crashed in the B Main with Washington ace Gary Lewis and Jeff Hill.

The 125 mile feature with the 42 starters was run as the sun was setting on Friday afternoon and Evans beat Reed on the start to take the early advantage. Stremme settled into third ahead of Fensler and Washington's Kevin Quesnell. Fensler drives from the Lee family in his super speedway starts. Rick Allison was the first retiree 9 laps into the race. The first yellow on lap 15 saw Bob Lyon spin into the turn 1 fence. Stremme took second from Reed on lap 22 and Reed pitted a lap later with Fensler into third ahead of Quesnell and Inglebright. A false start tangle between Yackey and Diercks forced another quick caution on lap 27. With a short at second in the tour points, Lusk slowed with engine problems running 7th on lap 32. Tom Sweatman fell from contention when he dropped out on lap 38. Fensler was quickly shuffled back to 7th by Quesnell, Inglebright, Hoppe and Busch. Hoppe gained third at lap 51 and leader Evans had a scary moment on lap 59 when Lynch and Niessner tangled right in front of him. Hoppe had just driven underneath Stremme for second when Dyer spun exiting turn 4. Hansen had worked his way to 10th, but had to take evasive action down the pit lane. During the caution, all the top runners pitted to hand Darrell LeMoure the lead. Hoppe made short work of LeMoure when green flag racing resumed on lap 73, but LeMoure held his own in fourth after giving up spots to Evans and Stremme. Scott Busby spun to force a lap 82 yellow flag and LeMoure made his pit stop at this time. On the restart, John Baker and Fensler tangled to trigger a major melee that ended the day for series champion Busch and Indy racer Jeff Ward. Danny Crafton had to pit with a fire after running over debris. The lengthy yellow flag saw the green flag return on lap 100 with Evans driving underneath Hoppe in turn 3 to retake the top spot. Stremme took second from Hoppe a lap later as the Washington youngster Zaretzke had moved his Ford into fourth ahead of Inglebright. Evans pushed off the groove on successive laps to fall outside the top five with Stremme the new leader on lap 104. When Evans slowed on the front stretch, it forced John Dillon to tangle with the lapped car of Frank Maronski and ended the day for 7th place Dillon. During the caution, Evans elected to pit, but he was blackflagged shortly after green flag racing resumed. Hansen was running sixth when green flag racing resumed for the final time on lap 111. With Hoppe putting pressure on Stremme for the lead, Hansen took fourth from Inglebright. He passed Zaretzke on lap 118 and took second from Hoppe on lap 120. Stremme appeared headed to a major win in his big track debut, but Hansen pulled alongside at the white flag. On the final lap, Hansen found a groove up high and made his winning pass as they exited turn 2. Stremme settled for a strong second ahead of Hoppe, Zaretzke, unsung Bechtel, Inglebright, Quesnell, Hart, LaMoure, Doug McCoun, 39th starter Avants, Kenny Shepherd, Haseleu, North Carolina's Jeff Fultz, Oregon's Randy Hvall and Crafton. Those 16 drivers finished on the lead lap.

In the final point standings, Busch won the championship by a whooping 328 points over Shepherd with McCoun climbing into third ahead of Lush, Dyer, Crafton, LeMoure, Lyon, Busby and rookie of the year Lynch from Idaho.

Summary Fast Time-Mark Reed 27.789 seconds (129.548 mph) B Main-Roger Avants, Zachary Niessner, Bruce Yackey, Donnie Wilson, Larry Middleton, Doyle Olsen, Jeff Hillock, Kenneth Walter, Harry Brady, Mike Bright, Paul Banghart, Gary Matranga, Troy Ermish, Keith Mayberry, Gary Graham, Dave Clark, Jeff Hill, Mike Grady, Gary Lewis, Kevin Moland, Todd Ellison. A Main-Scott Hansen, David Stremme, Brian Hoppe, John Zaretzke, Bruce Bechtel, Jim Inglebright, Kevin Quesnell, Chris Hart, Darrell LeMoure, Doug McCoun, Avants, Kenny Shepherd, Nathan Haseleu, Jeff Fultz, Randy Hvall, Matt Crafton, Frank Maronski Jr, Bob Lyon, Scott Lynch, Coy Gibbs, Wilson, Scott Busby, Carson Woods, Niessner, Garrett Evans, Tom Sweatman, Yackey, John Dillon, Reed, John Baker, Jason Fensler, Kurt Busch, Jeff Ward, Steven Howard, Augie Vidovich, Dennis Dyer, Rocky Nash, Damon Lusk, Ross Thompson, Justin Diercks, Patrick Lawler, Rick Allison.

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