Rich earns Hooters Pro Cup victory at South Georgia
Cecil, GA - March 30, 2008
By: Paul Warner
USAR Hooters Pro Cup PR
www.usarprocup.com
Michael Ritch took the lead from Trevor Bayne on Lap 141 and held off a slew of contenders to win the BFGoodrichTires.com 250 presented by K&N Filters at South Georgia Motorsports Park on Saturday, March 29.
"We’ve always been pretty horrible here," said Ritch, who started 12th. "But, man, when the green flag dropped that thing took off. We already had a game plan [to pit early]; we stuck to it, but we really didn’t need to pit early because the car was so good."
Ritch, driver of the No. 28s Support Our Troops Ford, pitted on Lap 6 to make his mandatory tire stop. But the defending Greased Lightning Southern Division champion didn’t wait for everyone else to pit to start his charge back to the front.
Ritch knifed his way back to the front and caught Bayne for the lead just after the halfway mark. The two waged a fierce battle for the lead before Ritch eventually inched past.
"I was kind of sitting back there taking it easy," said Ritch. "But my spotter told me [Wade Day] was coming, so I had to go."
Day wasn’t the only one closing as Bayne and Ritch battled. Mark McFarland and Drew Herring made it a five-car fight for the lead. After Ritch made it past Bayne, Day and McFarland followed him through.
A slew of late-race restarts made it interesting for Ritch, but lucky for him most of close calls were behind him. Herring, driver of the No. 22s Black’s Tire&Auto Service Ford, and Day bumped for second. The contact sent Day up the track and he eventually spun in the marbles. Day finished eighth.
Herring and McFarland, driver of the No. 81s Sears Auto Center Chevrolet, would tangle for second laps later. The contact would cost both drivers a shot at the win as they both spun in Turn 2. McFarland slipped to 19th after the contact.
Bobby Gill, driver of the No. 06s USG Sheetrock Ford, took advantage of the late-race carnage at the front and came home second.
"We didn’t have a second-place car, but we’ll take it," said Gill. "We’re still a little off with this new car. We haven’t tested like these other guys, but we’re going to test at Concord."
Bayne, driver of the No. 29s Chevy Racing Chevrolet, used the opposite pit strategy of Ritch, waiting until Lap 168 to take on his BFGoodrich Tires g-Force radials. But with 15 cars on the lead lap, Bayne was only able to make it back to third at the finish.
"We had some long runs at the beginning of the race and we figured it would keep going that way," said Bayne, who restarted 13th with 75 laps to go. "But that weekend-warrior racing at the end caused lot of cautions at the end. It was fun driving back up there, but it was also getting on my nerves when I got under people and they’d chop me off."
Dusty Williams, driver of the No. 40s Dustcom LTD Ford, wasn’t one of the drivers that were frustrated at the end of the night. The Georgia native posted his career-best finish by coming home fourth.
Woody Howard, driver of the No. 55s Dean Motorsports Chevrolet, rebounded from an early-race spin to round out the top five.
After the incident with McFarland, Herring rallied to finish 12th and take home Miller Lite Rookie of the Race honors.
Unofficial Results
1. Michael Ritch
2. Bobby Gill
3. Trevor Bayne
4. Dusty Williams
5. Woody Howard
6. Travis Kittleson
7. Matt Hawkins
8. Wade Day
9. James Buescher
10. Billy Bigley Jr.
11. John Gibson
12. Drew Herring
13. J.P. Morgan
14. Kirk Leone
15. Tom Hessert
16. Carl Long
17. Don Satterfield
18. Larry Barrett
19. Mark McFarland
20. Hunter Robbins
21. Matt Lofton
22. John Townley
23. Scotty Crockett
24. Caleb Holman
25. Michael Phelps
26. Bryan Silas
27. Joey Coulter
28. Frank Deiny Jr.
