All Stars at Lincoln Speedway

JACOBS LEADS ENTIRE FEATURE TO GIVE ALL STARS A WIN AT LINCOLN SPEEDWAY
By Jerry Reigle

ABBOTTSTOWN, PA ( May 6, 2000)- The All Star Circuit of Champions finally ended its winless drought at Lincoln Speedway. In 12 tries since 1981, the sprint car series' regulars have somehow been sent back on the road without a checkered flag. Well, Kenny Jacobs changed all that as he led the entire 30-lap feature race Saturday night, giving the Holmesville, Ohio, native his second-career win at the Pigeons Hill oval. It was 86th-career victory in All Star competition.

"It's been a while since I've been able to look at the fans from the track like this,'' said Jacobs, an 86-time winner with the All Stars.

"I've been hurt here, been beaten here and I finally got back in victory lane. I appreciate Lincoln having the All Stars during this weekend.'' Even Bert Emick, the president of the series, was proud of his touring stars. "I don't care who wins, but I have to admit that it feels good to have one of our guys to get a checkered flag in central Pennsylvania because this is one of the toughest areas to win.''

Jacobs, in his Jacobs/Honecker Chevrolet-powered Eagle Chassis, led an All Star sweep of the finale as card-carrying series' members Jerrod Hull, Todd Gracey and Rodney Duncan completed the top four spots. Fred Rahmer was the only Lincoln representative to crack the barriers as he finished fifth and that was by luck as Butch Schroeder, who was running in second with a lap remaining, crashed in turn four.

From the time the event went green, Jacobs proved to be the star of the field. After starting on the ButlerBuilt Hot Seat pole, he pulled away from Schroeder and by lap seven, he began to maneuver through lapped traffic.

"I couldn't help it, because this car was on rails,'' said Jacobs. "I never would have thought it would have come out like this and run this great.'' Jacobs quickly attributed the car performance to mechanic Barry Jackson.

"Barry and Aaron (Hammer) stayed up all night getting this car ready for the All Star race,'' said Jacobs eluding to the 3:26 a.m. finish at Williams Grove Speedway Saturday morning. It appeared the race was going to go non-stop when Brook Weibley spun in turn two on lap 27. At the time, Jacobs lapped over half the field and he was beginning to work over Rahmer, the speedway points leader and two-time winner in 2000.

"I really wasn't sure how much of a lead I had over those other guys,'' said Jacobs. "All I know to do is go hard until that checkered flag falls. Anytime you come east, you have to run hard and I love running here at Lincoln."

On the restart, Hull got alongside Schroeder momentarily only to lose the spot to him in turn two. Things would get tough for Schroeder as he spun with a lap remaining, but the caution period wasn't of any bother for Jacobs as 11 cars separated the top-two runners.

"I had nothing for [Jacobs],'' said Hull. "I knew he was leading, but I had nothing for him. I'm just happy to run back east, because when you run good here, you know you're at the top of the game."

Jacobs is looking forward to the return of the All Stars to Lincoln in late August.

"This gives me some momentum for the race at the end of the summer,'' said Jacobs. "I can't wait to get back here. I would love to get back here more especially with all the great people and staff at the speedway. It's great and I'll remember this one for awhile."

Heat events for the 31 All Star Circuit of Champion sprint cars went to Brian Gobrecht, Steve Siegel, Fred Rahmer and Bobby Weaver. Curt Michael won the B Main while Brook Weibley blistered the oval with a fast lap of 13.648 seconds. Todd Gracey won the Commercial Truck & Trailer Dash.

TIME TRIALS: 1. Brook Weibley, Rebels 32, 13.648; 2. Todd Gracey, Cooper 25, 13.665; 3. Jerrod Hull, Webb 51, 13.771; 4. Frankie Kerr, Shoff 23s, 13.811; 5. Curt Michael, Tanger 07, 13.849; 6. Butch Schroeder, Daugherty 7, 13.853; 7. Kenny Jacobs, Jacobs/Honecker 6, 13.857; 8. Nicki Young, Young 17n, 13.875; 9. Brian Gobrecht, Gobrecht 92, 13.896; 10. Johnny Mackison Jr., Swope 65, 13.913; 11. Dave Haight, Apple 12, 13.926; 12. Jesse Wentz, Wentz 2w, 13.927; 13. Steve Siegel, Scarpitta 59, 13.954; 14. Rodney Duncan, Harrison 22, 13.964; 15. Byron Reed, B&S 5r, 13.965; 16. Bobby Weaver, Weaver X, 14.006; 17. Chris Knopp, Knopp 6K, 14.044; 18. Jimmy McBee, Neiderer 10n, 14.076; 19. Fred Rahmer, Hamilton 77, 14.180; 20. Danny Jones, Creasy 8, 14.104; 21. Chad Kemenah, Harble 15, 14.168; 22. Jeff Rohrbaugh, Weikert 29, 14.207; 23. Pat Cooper, Cooper 26, 14.274; 24. Glendon Forsythe, Forsythe 94, 14.321; 25. Daryl Stimeling, Stimeling 30, 14.368; 26. Billy Sims, Sims 55s, 14.665; 27. Greg Klar, Klar 71k, 14.792; 28. Bob Beidleman, Appalachian 81, 14.972; 29. Bob Camilli, Camilli 34, 15.235; 30. Gordon Senft Jr., Senft 9, 15.405; 31. John Garrett, Garrett 0, 15.976.

HEAT (10 Laps/5 to Qualify): 1. 92-Brian Gobrecht; 2. 15-Chad Kemenah; 3. 32-Brook Weibley; 4. 6-Chris Knopp; 5. 2W-Jesse Wentz; 6. 30-Daryl Stimeling; 7. 34-Bob Camilli. 8. 07-Curt Michael (DNF). No Time.

HEAT (10 Laps/5 to Qualify): 1. 59-Steve Siegel; 2. 10N-Jimmy McBee Jr; 3. 29-Jeff Rohrbaugh; 4. 22-Rodney Duncan; 5. 25-Todd Gracey; 6. 7-Butch Schroeder; 7. 55S-Billy Sims; 8. 9-Gordon Senft, Jr. Time: 2:26.91.

HEAT (10 Laps/5 to Qualify): 1. 77-Fred Rahmer; 2. 65- John Mackison Jr.; 3. 5R-Byron Reed; 4. 6- Kenny Jacobs; 5. 51-Jerrod Hull; 6. 26-Pat Cooper; 7. 17K-Greg Klarr; 8. 0-John Garrett (DNF).

HEAT (10 Laps/5 to Qualify): 1. X-Bobby Weaver; 2. 8-Danny Jones; 3. 17N-Niki Young; 4. 81-Bob Beidleman; 5. 94-Glendon Forsythe; 6. 12-Dave Haight (DNF); 7. 23S-Frankie Kerr (DNF).

COMMERCIAL TRUCK AND TRAILER DASH (4 Laps): 1. 25-Todd Gracey; 2. 51-Jerrod Hull; 3. 6-Kenny Jacobs; 4. 22-Rodney Duncan; 5. 15-Chad Kemenah; 6. 5R-Byron Reed. Time 59.47.

B MAIN (12 Laps/4 to Qualify): 1. 07 -Curt Michael; 2. 12-Dave Haight; 3. 7-Butch Schroeder; 4. 26-Pat Cooper; 5. 23S-Frankie Kerr; 6. 30-Daryl Stimeling; 7. 55S-Billy Sims; 8. 17K-Greg Klarr; 9. 34-Bob Camilli; 10. 9-Gordon Senft Jr.; 11. 0-John Garrett.

A MAIN (30 laps): 1.Kenny Jacobs 2. Jerrod Hull 3.Todd Gracey 4. Rodney Duncan 5.Fred Rahmer 6.Steve Siegel 7.Dave Haight 8. Brian Gobrecht 9. Johnny Mackison Jr. 10.Butch Schroeder 11. Chad Kemenah 12. Niki Young 13. Jesse Wentz 14.Jimmy McBee 15. Danny Jones 16. Bobby Weaver 17. Frankie Kerr 18.Chris Knopp 19.Pat Cooper 20. Glendon Forsythe 21. Brooke Weibley 22. Jeff Rohrbaugh 23. Byron Reed (DNF); 24. Bob Beidleman (DNF); 25. Curt Michael(DNF).