Reported By James Fisher
(May 13, 2000) Tim Norman ended his 1999 season with a sprint car victory at Butler Motor Speedway and opened the 2000 season the same way. The Warsaw, Indiana driver won last September's Dealer's Choice sprint feature and won Saturday's 25-lap sprint car feature in his first time out this season. In the late model division Brian Ruhlman took the win, while Tim Abbeg claimed the street stock feature.
Gerry Hart and Bob Jones made up the front row for the sprint feature, with Hart gaining the early lead and moving out to nearly a 1/4 lap lead by lap
three, with eighth-starting Norman stuck in seventh. Norman and Roger Spieth
charged to the front, with Spieth passing Jones for the runner up spot on lap five, only to see Norman take the spot two laps later.
A lap eight caution for Ron Spieth's turn two spin bunched the field, putting Norman on Hart's bumper. Hart held his ground until lap 10 when Norman snuck
under in turn three to lead the remainder of the race. Hart was second at the finish, followed by second-year sprint driver Roger
Spieth. Mark Boyer was fourth, with Ken Mackey fifth, Daryl Shaffer sixth, Chuck Mohr seventh, Mike Koss eighth, Keith Stepke ninth and Bob Jones tenth.
Norman and Bob Thoms won sprint heats.
The late model division saw its opening night under UMP-type rules after several seasons with limited rules. The move added several new faces to the
driver roster, with Ruhlman driving to his first career win. Rick Delong and Bill
Eversole started out front for the 25-lap feature. Eversole used the outside groove to move to a quick lead in turns one and
two, but lost two spots exiting turn four, with Delong and Ruhlman able to get by.
Delong held the point for two laps until Ruhlman drove under in turn four. He led the final 22 laps to record the win. Delong held on for a solid second
place finish, with George Lindsey coming from a sixth-place staring position to third. Terry Sroufe was fourth, while Terry Wilber was the highest
finishing '99 Butler late model regular, taking fifth. Marv Burroughs, Randy
Archer, Linc Stevens, Jeff Petsch and Bryon Koebbe rounded out the top 10.
Curtis Roberts won the dash, with heats to Ruhlman, Rick Swartout and Mark Dowdy. Billy Daniels won the 'B' Main.
Abbeg, who started on the outside of the front row in the street stocks, took his second career win. Former division champion Glenn Heath was second, with Shawn Perkins third, Reynaldo Rivera fourth and Trent Howland fifth. Adam Baker, Eric Wilson, Shawn McFeters, Staton Trumble and Tim Swan made up the remainder of the top 10. Heats went to Mark Budd, Howland, Perkins and Rivera.
Butler Motor Speedway Results 5-13-00
Sprints
Heat 1: Bob Thoms, Mark Boyer, Jeff Rankin, Gerry Hart
Heat 2: Tim Norman, Roger Spieth, Ken Mackey, Bob Jones
Feature: Tim Norman, Gerry Hart, Roger Spieth, Mark Boyer, Ken Mackey, Darryl
Shaffer, Chuck Mohr, Mike Koss, Keith Stepke, Bob Jones, Patrick Shaffer, Tim
Evilsizer, Ken Quimby, John Fast, Ron Spieth, Kevin Atkins, Troy White, Steve
Zabonic, Jeff Rankin, Bob Thoms, Corey Bevard
Late Models
Fast Time: Marv Burroughs 17.436
Dash: Curtis Roberts, Terry Sroufe, George Lindsey, Marv Burroughs
Heat 1: Brian Ruhlman, Rick Delong, Bryon Koebbe, Jeff Petsch
Heat 2: Rick Swartout, Link Stevens, Mike Moore, Rod Patterson
Heat 3: Mark Dowdy, Jamie Campbell, Bill Eversole, Randy Archer
B Main: Billy Daniles
Feature: Brian Ruhlman, Rick Delong, George Lindsey, Terry Sroufe, Terry
Wilber, Marv Burroughs, Randy Archer, Link Stevens, Jeff Petsch, Bryon
Koebbe, Mark Dowdy, Jamie Campbell, Billy Daniels, Rick Swartout, Rod
Patterson, Tim Wilber, Mike Hanna, Curtis Roberts, Bill Eversole, Mike Moore
Street Stocks
Heat 1: Mark Budd, Eric Wilson, Adam Baker, Gary Sheldon
Heat 2: Trent Howland, Glenn Heath, Justin VanWyck, Tim Abbeg
Heat 3: Shawn Perkins, Staton Trumble, Tim Swan, Jerry Redding
B Main: Reynaldo Rivera, Brian Harris, Shawn McFeters, Steve Kidney, Jr.
Feature: Tim Abbeg, Glenn Heath, Shawn Perkins, Reynaldo Rivera, Trent
Howland, Adam Baker, Eric Wilson, Shawn McFeters, Staton Trumble, Tim Swan,
Brian Harris, Zeke McNew, Jerry Redding, William Howard, Steve Kidney, Jr.,
Mark Budd, Brad Blonde, Gary Sheldon, Justin VanWyck, Andy Kellicut