Dustin Weathers The "Storm" Takes Home Win #1 In 2003 . June 14, 2003
2001 Old Dominion Speedway track champ Dustin Storm, who has
had a rough start thus far in 2003, beat the weather and the competition Saturday night
at, as he picked up the win in the Dodge Dealers 75 lap feature for the NASCAR Dodge
Weekly Series Late Model Stock Cars. The race was shortened to just 53 laps due to a
second shower that passed through the area that evening.
The starting grid was determined by a draw because of a massive downpour that occurred
around 3:30 PM resulting in a 2-hour track drying operation. This put Richard Boswell II
and five-time track champ Danny Fair on the front row of the 23 car field. It did not take
long before the action started as Boswell and Fair spun coming out of turn 4 on the
initial lap, causing a multi car pile up. Also involved were Matt Bucher, Jimmy Hardin,
and David Quackenbush. All cars involved were able to continue, but had to start from the
rear of the field. A complete restart resulted, which put Mike Southard and Jack Bailey on
the front row. However, shortly after the second drop of the green, yellow was displayed
again for contact involving point leader Mark McFarland and Southard. McFarland clipped
the rear of Southards car heading into turn one, sending Southard for a spin.
McFarland and Southard were both relegated to the rear of the field. Stan Owens then
inherited the lead, but was overtaken by Bailey, who was closely followed by Storm. Storm
then overtook Bailey for the lead and held on until the rains came. The race was
officially ended on lap 53. McFarland came from the back of the pack to finish second,
followed by Bailey, Owens, and Andreas Kestermann.
Colt White came out on the winning end of the battle between himself and Tom Beckman, and
took home win number 3 in 2003 in the 30 lap Mini Stock feature. After battling side by
side for several laps, White took control just past halfway, and beat Beckman to the
stripe by two car lengths. Mike Carte came from far back in the field to take third,
Johnny Lowery and Sean Ballentine rounded out the top 5.
The Grand Stocks and Speedway Sportsman were unable to compete due to the late rains.
Next Saturday night, its the Popeyes 200 lap feature for the Late Models. Also
on the schedule are twin 50 lap features for the Grand Stocks, 30 laps for the Mini
Stocks, and 25 laps for the Speedway Sportsman. Also scheduled is an appearance for the
Baby Grands. Qualifying begins at 5:15 PM, with racing getting started at a special time
of 6:30 PM.