Old Dominion Speedway............................ July 28, 2003
By Dave Perry

McFarland scores wins in twin races

Late Model driver Mark McFarland barreled to his 10th and 11th victories of the season Saturday night in twin 75-lap races at Old Dominion Speedway. McFarland, who needs three more wins to beat his 13 victories of his 2000 championship year at ODS, started fifth in both races and threaded his way through traffic. McFarland, however, had to fight for the wins as he struggled to get around Andreas Kestermann, Mike Southard and Stan Owens in both races. McFarland, who still leads the Atlantic regionals and NASCAR's national points contest, said it was an exciting night of racing and topped off a good weekend for him. He won a 100-lapper at South Hampton Speedway Friday night. "That's the best we could do," said McFarland, referring to his three weekend wins. "We love to win twins and knock out two races in a weekend." In the first race, Kestermann took the lead from Jimmy Hardin in lap three. Southard then took second from Hardin in the backstretch in lap 4, and McFarland scooted around Hardin in the backstretch in the next lap for third. McFarland took second from Southard in lap 29 and then caught Kestermann in the backstretch in lap 32 for the lead. In lap 38, Southard, who finished second, wheeled by Kestermann in the front stretch. "The car's been fast every since we got that fresh motor for the 'Big One,'" Southard said. "Now we're getting the chassis right there where we want it." Richard Boswell was third, Kestermann fourth, and Owens fifth. In the second twin 75, McFarland rolled by race leader Owens coming out of turn four in lap 24 for the lead. Boswell got around Owens in turn two of lap 50 for second and held on to the checkered flag, picking up his highest finish in Late Models. Owens, who led from the pole, finished third. Southard came in fourth and Kestermann was fifth. "That was a good night," Boswell said. "I can't thank Jim Dean enough. He gave me the opportunity to run [the 99 car] again. Matt Bucher and Danny Fair were giving us a hand. That just shows what good sports they are. I got to thank them." 
In Grand Stocks, Willard Lawrence swept twin 50-lappers and picked up his fourth and fifth wins of the season. He also tied Chris Donnelly for the points lead. Donnelly was second in both races. In the first race, Lawrence started on the pole and led for the entire contest, with Donnelly trailing him in second. Ron Jardine was third, Jim Todd Jr. fourth and John Tolliver fifth. "It's finally good to be lucky in July," Lawrence said. "Usually, July is my unlucky month." In the second twin 50, Jardine looked as though he was on his way to his second win of the season as he led from the pole. But he cut a tire in lap 36. At the same time, Chris Donnelly, who was behind Jardine, went high in turn two and Lawrence got around him and was able to take the lead. "It was just pure luck that at the same time Jardine had problems, I got around Chris," Lawrence said. "You can't orchestrate that. It's just pure luck. I had to wait for somebody to make a mistake before I could capitalize." Donnelly finished second, Todd third, Dave Zech fourth and Michael Arnold fifth. 
In Mini Stocks, Colt White cruised to his fourth win of the season after starting on the pole. White was tailed by last week's winner, Vince Langan, for the entire race, but Langan could not make progress. White moved back into second in points with the win. "It was pretty good [to win], especially with my grandfather's death last Friday night," White said. "It was nice to win one for him." 
In the Speedway Sportsman feature, James Lucas took the lead from the pole and never wavered as he won his fourth race of the year. Jamie De Mattio, who started fifth, fought his way to second. Jeff Kauffman was third, with Joe Edwards fourth and Dave Nobles fifth.