Gaffney 3

DONNIE WINS LAST LAP THRILLER AT CHEROKEE

By Jarrod Lehman

Dresden, OH --- The Dirt Ripper has returned to victory lane! Donnie Moran has come out swinging at the start of the 2003 racing season with his QPI Tools/Eddie’s Sunoco/Mastersbilt Race Cars/Carrera Shocks/Malcuit Racing Engines #99 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and took it to the winner’s circle Sunday afternoon at the famed Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, SC for the $10,000 win in the 75-lap “1st Annual March Madness” main event sanctioned by the O’Reilly Auto Parts Southern All Stars Dirt Racing Series. In a stand-on-your-feet finish, Donnie Moran took the win after powering out of the fourth turn on the last lap and narrowly avoiding a three-car crash involving the top three runners. The two-day race was held March 22-23.

Courtesy Of Tony Hammett Photos

“We started 12th and we got the lead coming off the last lap in turn number four (laughs)!” recalled Moran immediately following the race. “What happened was we were probably going to run fourth and Chris Madden, Earl Pearson and Dwayne Hommel was running one, two, three. And we came from 12th to fourth and I got up under Dwayne once but then our right rear tire started giving up. If we would have went five more laps it would have been bald.”

“And then coming down the back straightaway and going into turn three I was right there on their bumper and Hommel went in and they piled all three of them up and we went around them on the outside and won! Coming off of turn four was the first time I got the lead.”

“We had a really good car and a fast enough car to win the race if we would have got to start on the front but we didn’t. We ran third in the fourth heat and we were the very last car to qualify and the track slowed down and there wasn’t hardly any passing in any of the heat races. So we had to take what we did and we worked our way up to fourth.”

Moran took the checkers over Freddy Smith, Petey Ivey, Dennis Franklin, Skip Arp, Jeff Cooke, Clint Smith, Scott Bloomquist, Steve Lucas and Rickey Weeks.

Courtesy Of Tony Hammett Photos

‘The Mastersbilt was real comfortable and that Malcuit motor was pulling that baby down the straightaway too!” added an enthused Moran.

Moran was also impressed with his crew and their dedication. Members of the Donnie Moran Racing crew working under crew chief Brad Malcuit are Tim Marshall, Joe Mathu, Rusty Redman and Jim Martin.

The “March Madness” win at Cherokee Speedway was Moran’s first career O’Reilly Auto Parts Southern All Stars Dirt Racing Series win but not his first at Cherokee.

“This is my first Southern All Stars win but I’ve won here at Gaffney before,” stated Moran. “I won the Blue Grey here a couple times. One was an Xtreme race and one was an open competition show. And this one was my first Southern All Stars.”

Next up for Donnie Moran and the QPI Tools team will be the season opener at Eldora Speedway this coming Saturday March 29 in Rossburg, OH featuring the Sunoco American Late Model Series.

“That’s where we’re planning on going,” confirmed Moran. “We want to get the Mastersbilt out there and see how it runs and get ready for the big races out there this year. I want to try and redeem myself out there for last year.”

As for the rest of the season, the Dirt Ripper is till contemplating his choices.

“If we get running good we might run the whole Xtreme deal,” commented Moran. “We’re up there in points and it pays the best. Or we might end up running Renegade the deal. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all shakes out.”

Moran currently sits fourth in Xtreme Dirt Car Series points and 14th in Renegade Dirt Car Racing Series standings.

Following Eldora Speedway’s Sunoco ALMS event this coming weekend, Donnie Moran’s next scheduled weekend of racing will be the XDCS 50-lap $10,000-to-win race at Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, NC on April 11, followed by another 50-lap
$10,000-to-win event at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, SC on April 12.

Prepared by Lehman Motorsports Services