Jewell and Bex Juke and Buzz Brownstown in Awesome 2000 Opener
Brownstown, IN-March 18- The 2000 season opener Saturday night at Brownstown
Speedway saw 77 entries between the Late Model and Bomber divisions. Mike
Jewell of Scottsburg, IN scored his first Late Model win at Brownstown since
1997 by capturing the 25 lap main event. Matt Bex of Avoca, IN picked up
his second career Bomber feature win by grabbing the 15 lap sprint for the
class.
The Late Model feature saw Jewell and John Gill bring the 20 car
starting field to the green flag, with Gill jumping to the point. Trailing
at this point were Don O'Neal, Jewell, Greg Johnson, and Dennis Erb.
Johnson would go door-to-door with Jewell on lap 4 before getting fourth on
lap 5. Meanwhile, up front the stage was being set for a classic
Gill-O'Neal duel and the duo were nose-to-tail by lap 10. On lap 13, O'Neal
would begin to make his move on Gill as the two took the halfway signal just
inches apart. O'Neal would squeeze past Gill exiting turn two as the two
made slight contact. Gill would then change his groove and dive below
O'Neal as the pair drove deep into turn three, with Gill's mount sliding up
the track and making slight contact with O'Neal. The end result saw Gill
loop his entry, bringing out the only caution of the event. The restart saw
O'Neal with lead, Johnson, Jewell, Erb, and Scott Smith in tow. Jewell
would tip-toe his mount upstairs to the top side and begin peddling his way
forward, taking second from Johnson on lap 15 and then pulling along side of
O'Neal. These two would go side-by-side for the next two circuits, with
Jewell finally snatching the lead on lap 18, as Smith and Steve Barnett
waged war for fifth, with Barnett cracking the top five on lap 20. The
final five circuits would see Jewell stave off the challenges of O'Neal for
the win in his MRC Motorsports, Morgan's Fine Foods, Southern Indiana
Logging, Jewell T.V. #9 MasterSbilt, putting a MasterSbilt in victory lane
at Brownstown for the first time since 1998. O'Neal would finish second,
with Johnson having an outstanding race by taking third. Defending H-A-T
rookie of the year Dennis Erb came home fourth, with Barnett holding on to
finish fifth. Completing the top ten were Scott Smith, Doug Ault, Ryan
Dauber, Steve Casebolt, and Brett Davis. Thirty-eight entries from five
states were entered with heats going to Jewell, Gill, Scott Smith, and
O'Neal. Steven Godsey and Richard Smith scored the Last Chance Consy wins.
Thirty-nine Bomber drivers signed in and Matt Bex would win a fantastic
feature event that saw then race leader Sam Chastain, Bex, and Matt Cummings
in a three-way dance for the win. Chastain took the lead at the drop of the
green flag and hold the top spot until lap 12 when Bex and Cummings put
Chastain in a "Matt" sandwich as the trio diced three-wide for the lead,
with no contact occuring. As the trifecta of pilots took the two-to-go
signal, Bex grabbed a one car length lead going into turn one. Bex would
hold the repeated attempts of Chastain and Cummings to get the win in his
Bailey Flowers, Matlock Construction, East Vending, Cummings Race Engines
#31 Performer Chassis. Cummings would nip Chastain for second, with Ray
Godsey, Jr. and Darrell Burton rounding out the top five. The second five
would be Alan Martin, Charlie Stevens, Corey Southern, Ryan Scott, and Jason
Dorsan. Heats went to Bex, Cummings, and Dorsan, while Josh Phelps won the consy.
SUMMARY-Brownstown Speedway-Brownstown, IN-March 18, 2000 LATE MODELS
Top Qualifier-Mike Jewell 15.828
1st Heat- Jewell, Dennis Erb, Brett Davis, Terry Eaglin
2nd Heat- John Gill, Doug Ault, Ray Godsey, Ryan Dauber
3rd Heat- Scott Smith, Greg Johnson, Steve Barnett, B.J. McCammon
4th Heat- Don O'Neal, Steve Casebolt, Jason Montgomery, Dan Sturgeon
1st Consy-Steven Godsey, Timmy Yeager, Lee Devasier, Shawn Negangard
2nd Consy-Richard Smith, Ron Pridemore, Shawn Toczek, Reece Riggle Feature- Jewell, O'Neal, Johnson, Erb, Barnett, Scott Smith, Ault, Dauber,
Casebolt, Davis, Steven Godsey, Yeager, Eaglin, Gill, McCammon, Pridemore,
Ray Godsey, Montgomery, Sturgeon, Richard Smith
BOMBERS
1st Heat- Matt Bex, Sam Chastain, Bubba Woods, Ryan Scott
2nd Heat- Matt Cummings, Charlie Stevens, Robbie Siewelt, Greg Hicks
3rd Heat- Jason Dorsan, Darrell Burton, Alan Martin, Ray Godsey,Jr.
Consy- Josh Phelps, Corey Southern, Josh Hayes, Paul Owens Feature-Bex, Cummings, Chastain, Godsey Jr., Burton, Martin, Stevens,
Southern, Scott, Dorsan, Owens, Terry Leitzman, Hayes, Hicks, Johnny
Collins, Tony Mahoney, Woods, Phelps, Mickey Hines, Siewelt