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NASCAR-SJAPS: Event #3 - Bi-Lo BonusCard 200

21 April 1998

1998 NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series Race Facts

WHAT:	Bi-Lo BonusCard 200
WHERE:	Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Greenville, SC, 0.500 mi. oval
WHEN:	Saturday, April 25, 1998, 8:00 p.m.
DISTANCE:	200 laps (100 miles)
POSTED AWARDS:	$44,300
TV/RADIO:	None

FIELD: 32 cars. Starting positions 1-28 will be determined by time trials (2 laps), positions 29-32 will be available to any of the top 30 eligible drivers in the current 1998 NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series Championship point standings, who have entered the event, but have not qualified for one of the original 28 starting positions. If a starting position(s) remains unfilled, then that starting position(s) will become available to the next eligible car from the qualifying procedure for the event.

SANCTION:	National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.
(NASCAR)

PROMOTER:	Greenville Auto Racing, Inc.

CONTACTS:	Jim Noltimier, NASCAR, (770) 486-3591
	Pete Blackwell, Greenville-Pickens Speedway, (864) 269-0852

SCHEDULE:	Team Hauler Parking	8:00 a.m.
	Registration & Inspection	9:00 a.m.
	Practice	1:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
	Time Trials (2 laps, all positions)	6:00 p.m.
	Bi-Lo BonusCard 200	8:00 p.m.

THE RACE: The Bi-Lo BonusCard 200 is the fifth of 19 races on the 1998 Slim Jim All Pro Series schedule. This race represents the

RECORDS: Track Qual. Record: Rick Crawford, Mobile, Ala., Ford, 19.325 seconds, 93.144 mph, 8/5/95
Fastest Avg. Speed: Mike Cope, Pinellas Park, Fla., Oldsmobile, 1 hour, 20 minutes, 57 seconds, 74.11 mph, 8/7/93

1997 REVIEW: Last year's race was postponed from April 26 to May 10 when rain began to fall just prior to the drop of the green flag. When the 32

qualified teams returned on May 10 one driver was missing. Wildwood, Fla.'s Wayne Anderson had a prior commitment to run a NASCAR Busch North Series-Grand National Division race at Loudon, N.H. Wayne's father Dick hopped into his son's Porter Cable Power Tools Chevrolet, dropped to the rear of the starting field, then proceeded to put on a driving exhibition. Coming from the back, the elder Anderson grabbed the lead on lap 98 and was never headed as he held off Ron Young, Steven Christian, Randy Gentry and Steve Mendenhall for the win.

NOTES OF INTEREST:

Mike Garvey, Gary Balough, Jason Keller, Donnie Bishop, Jody Ridley, Mike Cope, Shane Hall, Toby Porter, Hal Goodson, Dick Anderson and Derrick Gilchrist have all earned Slim Jim All Pro Series victories at Greenville-Pickens. Cope and Ridley are the only drivers to have earned multiple victories with Ridley visiting victory lane twice and Cope taking top honors three times. Only Porter, Goodson and Gilchrist can be expected to return in search of a second victory.

The Bi-Lo BonusCard 200 is the 15th Slim Jim All Pro Series race to be run at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, more than any other track on the series schedule.

Derrick Gilchrist swept Bud Pole qualifying at Greenville-Pickens in 1997. His second Greenville pole, secured in the August 2 event, propelled him to his first career Slim Jim All Pro Series victory.

Local favorite Randy Gentry is having a strong start in only his second full season of Slim Jim All Pro Series competition. He currently sits in eighth place in the point standings and has notched two top 10 finishes in four 1998 starts. Another Greenville area resident, Mardy Lindley is just one points position behind Gentry in ninth.

This event is the first event where provisionals will be based on 1998 point standings. This will be most meaningful for Freddie Query, Ronnie Burkett, Mardy Lindley, Scott Kilby, Nevin Jenkins, Jimmy Cope, David Jude, Brian Sockwell and David Moyer. All of these drivers currently reside in the top 20 in 1998 points but have yet to earn any bonus plan dollars as those have been paid out based on 1997 points for the first four events.

STAT OF THE WEEK: After four events, encompassing a total of 600 laps, only two drivers have completed all of the laps run. Points leader Freddie Query and third place points man David Reutimann have been running on the lead lap at the end of each 1998 event.

HEADQUARTERS MOTEL: Comfort Inn, 1804 Highway 123 South, Easley, S.C., (864) 859-7520, Steve Alexander or Sandy Boggs, $38.00 single or double.

MEDIA SERVICES: NASCAR Online, NASCAR's Official Internet Site on the World Wide Web can be accessed at http://www.nascar.com and offers up to the minute information on the Slim Jim All Pro Series and all of NASCAR's racing divisions.