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Donnie Moran of Dresden,OH captured his 74th career Renegade DirtCar Racing Series sanctioned
feature event Saturday pocketing $7,500 for his flag to flag victory in the "10th Annual Dunn/Hartman/Lutz/Tanner Memorial
50" at Muskingum County Speedway near Zanesville,OH. The four-time Renegade champion powered into the lead at the drop of
the green flag aboard the QPI Tools/Eddie's Sunoco/Sunoco Race Fuels No. 99 Donnie Moran Racing MasterSbilt Race
Cars/Malcuit Racing Engines Chevrolet Monte Carlo and never looked back taking the win by four car lengths over Mark Banal.
Finishing third was 19th starting Jay Watson with R.J. Conley fourth and Rob Blair fifth. Completing the top ten were 24th
starting Davey Johnson in sixth followed by Jackie Boggs, Billy Drake, 16thy starting Doug Drown and 22nd starting Mike
Balzano.
"The car was just perfect", stated Moran to his hometown fans. "My hats off to my race day crew chief Brad Malcuit and the
rest of the guys for preparing an absolutely great car. I could drive it anywhere I wanted to."
Blair and Moran brought the 25-car field to the green flag with Moran winning the drag race into turn one. Moran opened up a
two car length lead on Blair as lap one was completed with Banal third, Dave Troutman fourth and Ryan Markham fifth. By Lap
10 Moran had pulled out to over a 20-car length lead over Blair with Banal and Troutman still third and fourth respectively
with Conley now fifth ahead of Boggs, Markham, Sammy Stile, Matt Urban and Scott Peltz.
Moran entered lapped traffic one lap later but it never slowed his pace. However a caution on lap 14 for a Chub Frank spin
in turn two slowed Moran's pace but opened the track in front of the leader. Moran continued his dominance pulling out to
full straightaway lead by lap 20. Banal was now second with Conley third then Blair and Boggs followed by Stile, Watson,
Drown, Troutman and Drake.
Lapped traffic on lap 26 slowed Moran's pace somewhat allowing Banal to close the huge gap on Moran. But caution on lap 28
for Peltz's disabled car slowed the action once again. Moran couldn't shake Banal on the restart with Banal staying in
striking distance of Moran for the next several laps as great racing for position was happening behind the two frontrunners.
With 10 laps remaining Moran had pulled out to a three car length lead over Banal with Watson now third ahead of Conley and
Blair with Boggs sixth ahead of Drown, Johnson, Drake and Stile.
As the remaining laps clicked off Moran used the lapped traffic to his advantage to open up a four car length lead over
Banal. But the battle for sixth through tenth was a dandy with Johnson moving up to sixth from laps 46 through 49 while
Balzano grabbed the tenth spot as the white flag waved.
The $32,500 purse event attracted 45 drivers to the semi-banked 3/8ths mile track with Watson earning the CARRERA SHOCKS
"Challenge the Clock" time trial award with his fast lap of 16.663 seconds. BRODIX,INC. heat race wins fell to Moran, Banal,
Conley and Boggs while Corey Conley and Frank grabbed the MASTERSBILT RACE CARS "B" Mains and the ISKY RACING CAMS dash fell
to Blair.
The Renegade DirtCar Racing Series will travel Friday and Saturday to two North Carolina speedways for the sanctioning
organizations first trip to the "Tar Heel State" since the 1996 season. Nearly $60,000 in total purse money has been posted
for the "Battle In Carolina" which will take place at New Thunder Valley Speedway in Lawndale,NC Friday, May 30 and at New
311 Speedway located near Madison,NC Saturday, May 31.
Renegade DirtCar Racing Series Race Report For 5-24-03
Race No. 6-2003 Season-"10th Annual Dunn/Hartman/Lutz/Tanner Memorial 50"
Muskingum County Speedway-Zanesville,OH-3/8ths Mile Oval
$32,500 Purse-$7,500 To Win-50 Lap Feature |
Time Of Race: 20 Mins.
Yellow Flags: Two-Laps 14,28
Red Flags: None
Lap Leaders: One-Moran 1-50
OUTERWEARS CO. "Hard Charger of the Race": Johnson
ROCKET CHASSIS "Rookie of the Race": Drown
Provisional Starters: Esbenshade,Johnson,Dohm
Car Count: 45
CARRERA SHOCKS "Challenge the Clock" Time Trial Award: Watson 16.663 secs.
BRODIX,INC. Heat Race Winners: Moran,Banal,R.J. Conley,Boggs
SCOTT PERFORMANCE WIRE Heat Race Bonus Winner: R.J. Conley
MASTERSBILT RACE CARS "B" Main Winners: C. Conley,Frank
ISKY RACING CAMS Dash Winner: Blair |
