The Career Of Steve Fulton(Nascar Racing 2002 Season) 2nd Attempt

[sgf83]

#83 FULTON MOTORSPORTS WEEKLY RECAP

Darlington, South Carolina | Race 5/32

Darlington is a tough track. We were slow off the truck but worked on it in practice and somehow turned a 21st place lap in practice. We were so loose on entry I was nearly spinning out so there was no room for error.

We didn't match our practice speed in Qualifying but were good enough to sneak into the show in 40th spot. Not great, but sure beats the heck out of the DNQ's the last two weeks.

At the start we were just riding and saving our tires when a plume of smoke started billowing out from underneath our engine. The setup I had in for the race was good but apparently I need to make some adjustments on it so the engine won't give out.

All in all it wasn't a great race but at least we were in it. Texas is next and its a crap shoot if we will make the race but I feel good about running well at Bristol after that.

[sgf83]

Interstate Batteries 500 at TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Caution Flags: 3 (12 laps)
Lead Changes: 11 (7 drivers)
Weather: Cloudy, 92 °F, Southwest 12 mph

1997 Interstate Batteries 500 Race Results
POS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	START	LED	PTS	BONUS
1	Dale Jarrett	88	167	3	38	180	5
2	Mark Martin	6	167	2	13	175	5
3	Johnny Benson	30	167	28	0	165	0
4	Dale Earnhardt	3	167	1	1	165	5
5	Rusty Wallace	2	167	7	0	155	0
6	Bobby Labonte	18	167	25	0	150	0
7	Joe Nemechek	42	167	27	8	151	5
8	Kyle Petty	44	167	9	0	142	0
9	Michael Waltrip	21	167	17	0	138	0
10	Ted Musgrave	16	167	19	0	134	0
11	John Andretti	98	167	14	0	130	0
12	Ernie Irvan	28	167	15	0	127	0
13	Larry Pearson (R)	15	167	42	0	124	0
14	Jeff Gordon	24	167	5	55*	131	10
15	Steve Grissom	41	167	4	50	123	5
16	Ricky Rudd	10	167	21	0	115	0
17	Jeremy Mayfield	37	167	8	0	112	0
18	Ricky Craven	25	-1L	23	0	109	0
19	Brett Bodine	11	-1L	24	0	106	0
20	Jeff Burton	99	-1L	6	0	103	0
21	Robert Pressley	29	-1L	41	0	100	0
22	Bobby Hamilton	43	-1L	35	0	97	0
23	Mike Skinner (R)	31	-1L	20	0	94	0
24	Steve Fulton (R)	83	-1L	38	0	91	0
25	Jimmy Spencer	23	-1L	13	0	88	0
26	Rick Mast	75	-1L	40	0	85	0
27	Dave Marcis	71	-1L	37	0	82	0
28	Robby Gordon (R)	40	-1L	43	0	79	0
29	Todd Bodine	35	-1L	39	0	76	0
30	Darrell Waltrip	17	-2L	10	0	73	0
31	Ken Schrader	33	-2L	11	0	70	0
32	Terry Labonte	5	-2L	12	2	72	5
33	Hut Stricklin	8	-2L	31	0	64	0
34	Derrike Cope	36	-2L	30	0	61	0
35	Ward Burton	22	-2L	18	0	58	0
36	Morgan Shepherd	1	-2L	32	0	55	0
37	Bobby Hillin	77	-2L	36	0	52	0
38	Chad Little	97	-2L	34	0	49	0
39	Lake Speed	9	-2L	33	0	46	0
40	Sterling Marlin	4	-3L	26	0	43	0
41	Bill Elliott	94	-3L	22	0	40	0
42	Geoff Bodine	7	-3L	16	0	37	0
43	Dick Trickle	90	-3L	29	0	34	0

DID NOT QUALIFY
81 | Kenny Wallace
96 | David Green (R)

DALE JARRETT WINS INAUGURAL RACE AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Fort Worth, TX | Race 6/32

In the inaugural running of the Interstate Batteries 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway Dale Jarrett won for the second week in a row. He was also your pole-sitter and is really on fire right now and has climbed to 3rd in the NASCAR Winston Cup Point Standings. Jeff Gordon remains on the wrong side of luck as his woes continue after leading the most laps.

Rookie Larry Pearson really surprised us with his 13th place finish and was the highest finishing rookie in the race. Mike Skinner has been dominating the Rookie of the Year battle but not today as he came home 23rd just in front of fellow rookie Steve Fulton.

There were no DNF's this week and the next race is from Bristol, TN so get ready for some more short track racing!

[Careless Whisper]

Pretty solid result at Texas considering you didn't know if you'd qualify or not! Hope that momentum carries into Bristol!

[sgf83]

NASCAR LIVE DRIVER Q&A

Eli Gold: Good evening race fans, tonight on the program we have Rookie of the Year contender Larry Pearson. Welcome Larry, how are you feeling about your career best 13th place finish?

Larry Pearson: Well, Eli that run is like winning for us. We don't have the resources as the big teams so anytime we can finish in the top-25 is a good day for us. So 13th is REALLY good for this small team.

Eli Gold: Your dad David Pearson is a legend in our sport. Has that added pressure to live up to your dad's success affected you over the years?

Larry Pearson: Well, everyone else is the one with the high expectations just because my name is Pearson. I can't be my dad, if I can have half the success he did I would be happy. As a matter of fact I'm happy with what I've done in the Busch Series. I hope I can build Bud Moore's team up or turn some heads and get a better ride in the future.

Eli Gold: Are you still hopeful to be Rookie of the Year?

Larry Pearson: Mike has that thing pretty much wrapped up already. He has a great ride and nobody thought he wouldn't win it. We are down 200 points to him but all we can do is try and beat him each week.

Eli Gold: Thanks for coming on the show Larry. Tune in next week fans as we will be fresh off the first Bristol race of the year with another Driver Spotlight. See you then!

Driver: Larry Pearson
Hometown: Spartanburg, SC
Experience: Rookie | 1986-1987 Busch Series Champion
Team: 15 | Unsponsored | Ford | Bud Moore Engineering

[sgf83]

#83 FULTON MOTORSPORTS WEEKLY RECAP

Fort Worth, Texas | Race 6/32

We were very worried headed to Texas Motor Speedway. The car was a handful in practice and I spun out a few times. We ended up laying down a clean lap and were 43rd on the first lap but I drove in as hard as I could on lap 2 and was able to qualify 38th. Goal accomplished, we were in the race!

Once we were in we started working on our race package. We were decent and could hang with the field and weren't doing too bad with tire fall off in practice. I made sure that the engine would hold up after the Darlington fiasco and was ready to race.

The race was uneventful for us really until the end. I would like to say we ran in the top-25 all day but we didn't. We ran between 35th and 43rd all day and were likely going to finish about 37th when some cars had to pit one more time with about 10 to go. I had pitted at the last caution so we were good to go to the end and gained 10-15 positions by luck. But we will take it!

I'm looking forward to Bristol and even more to Talladega in a few weeks. Hopefully we can get some more decent runs.

[sgf83]

Quote: Originally Posted by Careless Whisper

Pretty solid result at Texas considering you didn't know if you'd qualify or not! Hope that momentum carries into Bristol!

A little luck is always nice. Bristol we can work on race setup straight off because our testing speeds should be plenty quick to get us in the race. Martinsville is iffy but Talladega should be a good shot at a top-10. Got Sears Point in that stretch between Martinsville and Talladega and I don't expect to make the road courses this season.

[sgf83]

Food City 500 at BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Caution Flags: 3 (13 laps)
Lead Changes: 5 (4 drivers)
Weather: Clear, 79 °F, Southeast 6 mph

1997 Food City 500 Race Results
POS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	START	LED	PTS	BONUS
1	Geoff Bodine	7	250	1	196*	185	10
2	Kyle Petty	44	250	5	0	170	0
3	Ted Musgrave	16	250	20	0	165	0
4	Ricky Craven	25	250	18	0	160	0
5	Dale Jarrett	88	250	6	0	155	0
6	Mark Martin	6	250	19	0	150	0
7	Jeff Gordon	24	250	12	8	151	5
8	Sterling Marlin	4	250	23	0	142	0
9	Ernie Irvan	28	250	17	0	138	0
10	Jeremy Mayfield	37	250	15	0	134	0
11	Dale Earnhardt	3	250	8	1	135	5
12	Johnny Benson	30	250	13	0	127	0
13	Michael Waltrip	21	250	16	0	124	0
14	Jeff Burton	99	250	2	0	121	0
15	Bobby Labonte	18	-1L	10	0	118	0
16	Ricky Rudd	10	-1L	21	0	115	0
17	Bill Eliott	94	-1L	4	0	112	0
18	Brett Bodine	11	-1L	24	0	109	0
19	John Andretti	98	-1L	29	0	106	0
20	Ward Burton	22	-1L	25	0	103	0
21	Dick Trickle	90	-1L	39	0	100	0
22	Joe Nemechek	42	-1L	26	0	97	0
23	Steve Grissom	41	-1L	22	0	94	0
24	Robby Gordon (R)	40	-1L	37	0	91	0
25	Mike Skinner (R)	31	-1L	32	0	88	0
26	Todd Bodine	35	-1L	36	0	85	0
27	Chad Little	97	-1L	40	0	82	0
28	Rusty Wallace	2	-2L	3	0	84	5
29	Hut Stricklin	8	-2L	35	0	76	0
30	Larry Pearson (R)	15	-2L	31	0	73	0
31	Dave Marcis	71	-2L	33	0	70	0
32	Derrike Cope	36	-2L	28	0	67	0
33	Bobby Hillin	77	-2L	38	0	64	0
34	Terry Labonte	5	-3L	7	0	61	0
35	Jimmy Spencer	23	-3L	9	0	58	0
36	Ken Schrader	33	-3L	14	0	55	0
37	Darrell Waltrip	17	-3L	27	0	52	0
38	Robert Pressley	29	-3L	34	0	49	0
39	Lake Speed	9	-3L	41	0	46	0
40	Bobby Hamilton	43	-3L	30	0	43	0
41	Steve Fulton (R)	83	-3L	11	0	40	0
42	Kenny Wallace	81	-7L	42	0	37	0

DID NOT QUALIFY
1 | Morgan Shepherd
75 | Rick Mast
96 | David Green (R)

GEOFF BODINE WINS FROM POLE AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWA

Bristol, TN | Race 7/32

Geoff Bodine's victory Sunday was the 4th time this year someone started on the pole and went on the win the race. The #7 QVC Ford was hooked up all day but at the end it looked like Rusty Wallace was going to take home another short track victory but a late pit stop took him out of the running for the win.

Rookie of the Race honors went to Robby Gordon who edged out fellow rookie Mike Skinner at the line. This marks the second straight race that Skinner has not been top rookie after dominating the first few races of the season. Maybe we will have a rookie battle after all!

There were no DNF's this week. Next race up is from Martinsville, VA and we look forward to seeing you there.

[sgf83]

NASCAR LIVE DRIVER Q&A

Eli Gold: Tonight's guest is Geoff Bodine, driver of the QVC Ford and fresh off a dominating performance in the Food City 500. That was a great run Geoff.

Geoff Bodine: Thanks Eli, it was much needed as we haven't gotten off to the start we had hoped for here in 1997. I thought we had let it slip through our fingers but Rusty had a problem there at the end and we were able to put a exclamation point on the race.

Eli Gold: Both you and Ricky Rudd have won this season as Owner/Drivers. Does this success keep hope alive for the little guys out there as y'all go up against the giants like Hendrick and Roush week in and week out?

Geoff Bodine: Well, wins sure do show that we are capable but we need to be more consistent if we want to dethrone those guys. We just want to be competitive and so far I think we are doing OK.

Eli Gold: Thanks for coming on Geoff, good luck as the tour heads to Martinsville. Ladies and Gentleman that's all for tonight's episode of NASCAR Live.

Driver: Geoff Bodine
Hometown: Chemung, NY
Experience: 16th Season | 17 Career Wins
Team: 7 | QVC | Ford | Geoff Bodine Racing