Home >  Sports >  Notebooks

Sunday, September 02, 2001

By Chris Dolack, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Richard Mitchell's bid for his first ARCA RE/MAX Series victory came up a little short at Chicagoland Speedway yesterday, but it wasn't from a lack of effort.

Mitchell, a two-time NASCAR Northeast Region champion based on his performance at Motordrome Speedway in 1999 and 2000, qualified fifth at 167.764 mph. He was running with the leaders in the Chicagoland ARCA 200, but his Pontiac lost third gear after a restart on lap 76 of the 134-lap race, and he finished ninth. Without third gear on the 1.5-mile tri-oval, Mitchell was unable to keep pace with the leaders on restarts. He needed about eight laps to start closing the deficit, but with final pit stops coming just 21 laps from the end of the race, Mitchell had no chance to catch the leaders.

	Victory Lane Racing Roundup Park cut from car after wreck CART Q & A Alex Tagliani By the numbers A National Celebration

"We had a good enough car to get back up to third or fourth place," said Mitchell, a Bruceton Mills, W.Va., native who was making only his sixth ARCA start for Waynesburg-based Mac Hill Motorsports. "But after that gear went out, I was losing so much momentum, and on the last restart, the car was sliding up through the corners and I was just losing even more momentum."

NASCAR Winston Cup veteran Ed Berrier mounted a late charge in the race after the final round of pit stops on lap 113 and beat Jason Jarrett to the checkered flag by 2.165 seconds.

Benning improves

Norm Benning of Level Green worked his way from a 32nd starting position to finish 15th. Benning is sixth in points heading into another ARCA RE/MAX Series race tomorrow in DuQuoin, Ill., where NASCAR Winston Cup drivers Ken Schrader and Tony Stewart also plan to race.

"We've been consistent," said Benning, who has finished in the top 10 in points four consecutive seasons. "We haven't won anything, but we've been in the top 10. We've had three [did not finish] this year, which is unusual for us. We're going to have to work real hard to get into the top five."

The other Lazier

The Indy Racing League is also making its debut at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend with Delphi Indy 300. While Buddy Lazier is second in points and trying to prevent Sam Hornish Jr. from wrapping up the championship today, his younger brother, Jaques, will be starting on the pole in only his second start with Team Menard, which fired 1999 series champion Greg Ray last month.

"It is a situation where I've spent five years trying to find a home very similar to what Buddy has," said Lazier, who won the pole with a speed of 221.740 mph.

Scott done in sprints

After a trying season, David Scott, the 2000 sprint car champion at Lernerville Speedway, and car owner Denny Chase, have decided to end their sprint car team. Scott said he plans to focus only on his late model team next season.

"Me and Denny sat down and had a talk," Scott said. "We're going to call it quits in the sprint car deal. He's going to sell all his stuff. He's done being a sprint car owner, and I'm done being a sprint car driver. I don't think anybody else would ever put me in their car. We're concentrating solely on the late model deal and winning some bigger races."

Pit stops

Racing at Lernerville and Motordrome was washed out Friday night. There are two more weeks remaining to decide track champions at Motordrome, and the rainout will force the running of two 35-lap features this Friday to make certain drivers, including late-model points leader Mark Cottone, will have enough starts to be eligible for postseason NASCAR awards. ... Those with tickets for the World of Outlaws Gumout Series race rained out Friday night can send their tickets and a self-addressed stamped envelope to the Lernverville office for a refund or add the difference and exchange them for tickets to the World of Outlaws race Sept. 25 at Lernerville. Check out http://www.lernerville.com/ for more information.

Chris Dolack can be reached at cdolack@post-gazette.com.