|| *Comments on the 1997 APCO EasyCare 300:* View the most recent comment <#11> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. RaceFanX posted: 02.04.2012 - 12:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tim Steele wins the final ARCA race on the track's original configuration. Similar to his win in this race the previous year when he had kidney stones in this race Steele was shrugging off some minor rib injuries from his hit into the outside wall at Daytona. This was also Frank Kimmel's third ARCA pole but his first-ever on a super speedway. 17-year-old Jeff Streeter makes his first-ever start in a stock car of any kind and runs his first-ever oval race. He finished 15th, not bad for a first timer. ARCA returned to Atlanta in the fall for its first race on the new configuration but Steele was not in the field for that race as he crashed testing at Atlanta a few weeks earlier causing injuries that ruined his chances of moving up to Cup for 1997 and continue to cause him hassles for years. 2. The Great Dave posted: 02.08.2012 - 9:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Car owners #16 Harold Steele #46 Larry Clement #1 James Finch #80 Stan Hover #32 Mark Stahl #90 Ed Berrier #06 Wayne Peterson #99 RaDius Motorsports #98 Drew White #89 Drew White 3. The Great Dave posted: 02.08.2012 - 6:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Corrections #17 Hughes Supply / Rheem #32 Auto Bell Car Washes / Petron Plus #59 Hardy Dealers / Metrac #66 Midway Island / Pheonix Air #84 Total / Benning Racing #90 Mean Green/Lauderdale-Miami Auto Auctio/Kilz/ADT #97 Huddle House / Blue Horse Jeans 4. Chives posted: 11.23.2012 - 11:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wild finish between Steele, Thompson, and the rest of the top-5. After Norm Benning wrecked with just a handful of laps to go, the race restarted with 2 laps to go. Mike Ciochetti led on the restart, but missed a shift. Harris DeVane took the lead with Kimmel close behind, but both slid up the track in turn 1. Thompson bounced off of Ciochetti to grab first, but Steele muscled his way to the lead off of turn 2 and took the win. Great racing all day long! 5. 23andJoe posted: 04.16.2014 - 8:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #10 owner: Jan Brewer 6. 23andJoe posted: 06.14.2014 - 6:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Qualifying results: Pos Driver Nbr Car Time Speed 1 Frank Kimmel 46 Chev 30.477 179.781 2 Tim Steele 16 Chev 30.549 179.358 3 Matt Hutter 1 Ford 30.593 179.100 4 Mark Gibson 59 Ford 31.021 176.629 5 Dave Blaney 80 Ford 31.062 176.396 6 Jimmy Kitchens 47 Ford 31.082 176.282 7 Mark Thompson 66 Ford 31.093 176.220 8 Ed Berrier 90 Ford 31.148 175.909 9 Bob Strait 21 Ford 31.390 174.552 10 Perry Tripp 6 Chev 31.454 174.197 11 Jeff Streeter 20 Ford 31.553 173.651 12 Blaise Alexander 26 Chev 31.567 173.574 13 Kenny Martin 50 Ford 31.674 172.987 14 Harris DeVane 33 Ford 32.028 171.075 15 Rick Heuser 99 Ford 32.091 170.739 16 Dill Whittymore 56 Chev 32.099 170.697 17 Curt Piercy 9 Pont 32.138 170.490 18 Mike Ciochetti 17 Chev 32.155 170.400 19 Dan Pardus 42 Chev 32.158 170.384 20 John Wilkinson 58 Chev 32.217 170.072 21 Mark Stahl 32 Ford 32.522 168.477 22 Tim Mitchell 06 Pont 33.207 165.001 23 Bill Flowers 44 Chev 33.522 163.451 24 Jimmy McCune 88 Ford 33.605 163.047 25 Gary Weinbroer 75 Olds 33.769 162.255 26 Rick Sheppard 12 Olds 32.382 169.205 27 Drew White 98 Pont 33.280 164.639 28 Phillip Young 13 Pont 33.357 164.259 29 Bobby Gerhart 85 Chev 33.630 162.926 30 Frog Hall 51 Pont 33.671 162.728 31 Norm Benning 84 Chev 33.949 161.395 32 Glenn Brewer 10 Chev 34.278 159.846 33 Mike Buckley 48 Pont 34.714 157.838 34 Tony Altire 89 Olds 34.716 157.829 35 Dick Tracey 02 Chev 35.765 153.200 36 Dickie Wiliamson 0 Ford 0.000 0.000 37 Shane Doles 97 Ford 0.000 0.000 7. 23andJoe posted: 06.14.2014 - 7:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Race name was APCO EasyCare 300 Harris DeVane was in the #33 #33 sponsor: Georgia Peanuts/Industrial Pipe & Supply #51 sponsor: Bull Frog Sun Block #75 sponsor: The Port Hole Lounge/Carrollton Auto & Truck #90 sponsor: Mean Green/Lauderdale-Miami Auto Auction #97 sponsor: Huddle House (all others were associates) #89 was an Oldsmobile #02 owner: Dick Tracey (same for all races this season) #13 owner: Phillip Young #20 owner: Stephen Streeter #50 owner: Bob Schacht #51 owner: Greta Hall #58 owner: John Wilkinson, Jr. #97 owner: Billy Ballew #1 crew chief: Johnny Allen #21 crew chief: Larry LeMay #46 crew chief: Jeff Lemons (same for all races this season) #47 crew chief: Grady Humphries #59 crew chief: Tony Gibson #66 crew chief: Bob Bechstein #85 crew chief: Billy Gerhart Cautions: Lap 22-27: #97 spin turn 2 Lap 32-38: #47 accident turn 3 Lap 56-63: #84 flat tire Lap 115-120: #84 accident turn 1 Winnings: Steele, $15,138 M.Thompson, $8,108 Tripp, $5,650 Frank Kimmel, $5,125 DeVane, $5,125 Ciochetti, $4,037 Strait, $3,300 Pardus, $2,750 M.Gibson, $2,600 Hutter, $3,140 K.Martin, $2,450 D.Blaney, $2,400 Doles, $2,550 McCune, $2,300 Streeter, $2,400 Stahl, $2,218 B.Alexander, $3,000 Sheppard, $2,250 Flowers, $2,050 Weinbroer, $2,400 Piercy, $2,050 Williamson, $1,800 G.Brewer, $2,000 Benning, $1,750 Buckley, $1,650 Tracey, $1,625 Whittymore, $1,750 P.Young, $1,425 Berrier, $1,400 Hall, $1,375 Mitchell, $1,500 Heuser, $1,325 Wilkinson, $1,300 Kitchens, $1,275 D.White, $1,250 Gerhart, $1,200 Altiere, $1,200 8. 23andJoe posted: 06.15.2014 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #0 owner: H.L. Waters 9. 23andJoe posted: 06.16.2014 - 9:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Correction to the above: #66 crew chief: Bob Bissinger (same for all races this season) 10. ol hank posted: 10.11.2017 - 9:50 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) This race had an interesting incident towards the end where Mark Gibson, who was running second, ran out of fuel on the caution laps following Norm Bennings spin. As he limped around the track he barely got to the entrance of pit road, where Bob Schact ran out and pushed him to his teams pit stall, gassed him up, and tried to ether up the engine to keep Gibson on the lead lap and in contention. It ended up being all for naught, as Gibson couldn't get the car fired for another lap or so, and he ended up coming home ninth. In the same sequence as the Gibson debacle, Mark Thompson passed the pace car on the caution laps, leading to some clamoring from the Gibson and Steele pits about a penalty. ARCA let it slide though. And, in possibly the most ARCA fashion possible, on the first round of pit stops Ed Berrier's crew dropped the jack and he left his pit without the lugs tightened on the right rear. He made it all of 3 feet before the tire caromed off the car and destroyed the quarter panel. This lead to the Berrier team jacking up the car and finishing the stop in the middle of pit road, as other cars flew by. The worst part? The crew was on loan from Mike Skinner's Cup team, not even an ARCA crew who could chalk it up to inexperience. This race was honestly very very good and produced some great racing, and had some very unique circumstances occur during it. 11. Rich posted: 09.11.2020 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dr. Jerry Punch, Benny Parsons and Ray Dunlap were the commentators. Bill Weber and Kyle Petty were the pit road reporters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: