Mesquite, TX (August 31, 2002) - Matt Clevenger took off and led every lap of the USA sprint car feature to take his first win of the season at Devil’s Bowl Speedway Saturday night. Tom Lorenz topped the late models for the first time this year. Tim McManus inherited the street stock win after Trandel White was disqualified for an unapproved torque converter. Randy Kirkland claimed his second USA modified victory of the season.

A group of dedicated racers spent the holiday weekend at Devil’s Bowl, with Matt Clevenger putting the H&H Steel Fabricator/ NAPA of Lewisville and Grapevine Nr. 31 on the outside front row to start the 20-lap feature after easily winning his heat race. Contact in turn four as the green flag waved resulted and damage to several cars. Brandon Erwin flipped, while Bob Ewell crashed hard into the inside wall. Heat race winner and feature polesitter Keith Walker also had his car damaged and stopped in turn two with the Leo Walker Paint & Body / Quality Powder Coating Nr. 52 having to be hauled to the pits. When the green flag waved again, Clevenger pulled away and quickly built a comfortable lead. Rawdy Hull was the fastest driver on the track in the early laps as he moved to second and started to narrow Clevenger’s margin. Hull’s night ended early a couple laps later when problems forced him to slow and pull out of the race. Through the middle part of the race Marvin Lough battled with Skip Wilson for second. Brian Harvill brought out the caution with a flat tire on the 12^th lap. Two laps later Harvill stopped in turn two for the car to be towed in. On the restart, Lough got a run on Wilson and pulled into second in his Commercial Music / Smoke Pit Bar-B-Que Nr. 39. Lough tried to close on Clevenger, but had nothing for the fast young driver who took his second career win at Devil’s Bowl by a comfortable margin. Lough’s second place finish put him into the points lead with four nights left in the season. Third went to Greg Young in the Mack’s Auto Sales Nr. 9, with Gary Apple taking fourth on his first visit to Devil’s Bowl. Wilson fell to fifth in the Forney Koin Kar Wash / Bubba’s Plumbing Nr. 65 when he stopped on the final lap in turn two.

Kirkland started the USA modified 15-lapper on the inside of the sixth row. A relatively calm feature for the USA modifieds saw Chris Locke lead the opening lap in his Broadband Specialists Inc / Locke Ventures Nr. 15 with Randy Lynch taking the tops spot on the next circuit in Troy’s Used Cars of Garland Nr. 28L. While Lynch pulled away to lead by a full straight away, the drivers battled three and four wide behind him. Kirland passed Jerry Cowart to take second place on the eighth lap and started to close in on Lynch. The race was caution free from start to finish, which meant that Lynch caught lapped cars in the final five laps. Trying to pass the slower cars slowed Lynch and allowed Kirkland to close up on Lynch’s back bumper. Kirkland took the lead on the 14^th lap with a deep dive into turn three. Kirkland and Lynch raced just a couple feet apart with Kirkland taking the victory in the Reliable Plumbing / Baber’s Garage Nr. 77. Third went to Cowart in the D.C. Vending / Moragee Support Service Nr. 6P. Dale Wester was fourth in the T-N-T Truck Parts / D&W Towing & Recovery Nr. 12W with Rick McCommas fifth in the B&H Painting / McCommas Construction Nr. 39. Kirkland, McCommas and sixth finishing Rowdy Starnes all passed ten cars during the feature, with Kirkland winning the Timber Wolf Racing Hard Charger Award by finishing higher in the feature. Locke, McCommas and Kevin DeLashaw in the Kustom Machine Shop / ABC Auto Salvage Nr. K2 won the heat races. McCommas victory was very exciting as he and Wester charged into turn three on the final lap with leader Marc Madison between them. McCommas held the car low in the turn and took the heat victory.

Lorenz has driver a couple different late models this season, and came out two weeks ago with his own Smiley’s Race Car Products / Hoosier Tire Southwest Nr. 84. The track was still a little slick when the late models took the green flag and cars were slipping all over the track. Lorenz took the lead on the opening lap and never looked back. Steve Trevathan tried to keep up with Lorenz in the Hawk Aviation / Top 10 Fun Raisers Nr. 21. Lorenz was able to maintain a steady two to four car length lead until the only caution of the race flew on the 12^th lap. Lorenz pulled away easily on the restart and took his first victory in the late model class of the season. Trevathan was second. Third went to Brad Zimmerman in the RedLine Raceway / Performance Auto Supply Nr. 99X. It was Zimmerman’s first night in the car and he won his heat and the trophy dash on his way to the third place feature finish. Jimmy Goodwin was fourth in the Gatlin Motors / M&M Machine Nr. 12 with the Town East Ford / Enduro Powder Coating Nr. 28 of Ronnie Long rounding out the top five. James Williams won the other heat in the J&K Tools & Equipment / Color by John’s Nr. 45.

The strange street stock season continued with a change in the points lead, a disqualification and an first win. Michael Murphy lost the points lead when he dropped out with a problem on the eighth lap. Travis Pace finished fourth and took over the top spot in points. Trandel White has had a rough season, and it got worse Saturday. After leading the last half of the feature, White was found to be using a non-approved torque converter and disqualified. That gave the victory to the only driver with a worse season than White, Tim McManus who drove his best race of the season. It was McManus’ first win this year in the F&J Construction / Seldom Open Paint & Body Nr. 29. The feature started with Mike Walls out front in the Nr. 38. McManus moved quickly to second and tried to pass Walls several times over the next six laps. Every time McManus pulled even with the Nr. 38, Walls was able to pull ahead and stay out front. The only caution flew on the sixth lap when third running Pace and fourth running Mark Ross got together in turn two, spinning Pace. Walls tried to block McManus low in turn four and down the front straight. That left the outside open for White to take the lead. McManus got past Walls but could not catch White until a post-race inspection. The disqualification moved Walls up to second with Michael Grubbs third in the RCI / Graphics by Edge Nr. 00X. Pace came back in the Gary’s Machine Shop / Action Speed Products Nr. 17 to finish fourth with Mike Meeks, Jr. fifth in the Meeks Paint & Body / Ernie’s Auto Motors Nr. 37. Mark Ross won his heat in the Tommy G’s Welding / East Gate Automotive Nr. 8 with Grubbs winning the other heat race.

USA SPRINT CARS - First Heat Race: 1. #31, Matt Clevenger, Flower Mound, TX; 2. #85, Bob Ewell, Forney, TX; 3. #65, Skip Wilson, Garland, TX; 4. #5E, Brandon Erwin, Lake Kiowa, TX; 5. #96, Gary Apple, ??; 6. #43, Phil Valvra, Ennis, TX

Second Heat Race: 1. #52, Keith Walker, Irving, TX; 2. #8H, Rawdy Hull, Kennedale, TX; 3. #39, Marvin Lough, Fort Worth, TX; 4. #9, Greg Young, Wichita Falls, TX; 5. #31B, Brian Harvill, Irving, TX

A FEATURE: 1. #31, Matt Clevenger, Flower Mound, TX; 2. #39, Marvin Lough, Fort Worth, TX; 3. #9, Greg Young, Wichita Falls, TX; 4. #96, Gary Apple, , TX; 5. #65, Skip Wilson, Garland, TX; 6. #31B, Brian Harvill, Irving, TX; 7. #5E, Brandon Erwin, Lake Kiowa, TX; 8. #8H, Rawdy Hull, Kennedale, TX; 9. #52, Keith Walker, Irving, TX; 10. #85, Bob Ewell, Forney, TX; Did not start. #43, Phil Valvra, Ennis, TX

USA MODIFIEDS - First Heat Race: 1. #15, Chris Locke, Mesquite, TX; 2. #23Z, Richard Miller, Terrell, TX; 3. #28L, Randy Lynch, Garland, TX; 4. #6P, Jerry Cowart, Mesquite, TX; 5. #88, Clyde Dunn, Jr., Sunnyvale, TX; 6. #50X, Rowdy Starnes, McKinney, TX; 7. #17, Charles Lasater, Garland, TX; 8. #20, Ronnie Welborn, Princeton, TX

Second Heat Race: 1. #K2, Kevin DeLashaw, Hendrix, OK; 2. #77, Randy Kirkland, Mesquite, TX; 3. #50, Steve Sickels, Rowlett, TX; 4. #84, Tom Lorenz, Balch Springs, TX; 5. #50D, David Gailley, Mesquite, TX; 6. #11, Dave Peoples, Royse City, TX; 7. #34, Jay Miller, Terrell, TX

Third Heat Race: 1. #39, Rick McCommas, Balch Springs, TX; 2. #12W, Dale Wester, Ovilla, TX; 3. #98, Marc Madison, The Colony, TX; 4. #5, Billy Fronterhouse, Wylie, TX; 5. #19J, Jeff Welborn, Princeton, TX; 6. #18, Frank Rose, Mesquite, TX; 7. #66, Mike Goodson, Ardmore, OK

A FEATURE: 1. #77, Randy Kirkland, Mesquite, TX; 2. #28L, Randy Lynch, Garland, TX; 3. #6P, Jerry Cowart, Mesquite, TX; 4. #12W, Dale Wester, Ovilla, TX; 5. #39, Rick McCommas, Balch Springs, TX; 6. #50X, Rowdy Starnes, McKinney, TX; 7. #K2, Kevin DeLashaw, Hendrix, OK; 8. #23Z, Richard Miller, Terrell, TX; 9. #84, Tom Lorenz, Balch Springs, TX; 10. #50, Steve Sickels, Rowlett, TX; 11. #88, Clyde Dunn, Jr., Sunnyvale, TX; 12. #19J, Jeff Welborn, Princeton, TX; 13. #11, Dave Peoples, Royse City, TX; 14. #98, Marc Madison, The Colony, TX; 15. #5, Billy Fronterhouse, Wylie, TX; 16. #15, Chris Locke, Mesquite, TX; 17. #66, Mike Goodson, Ardmore, OK; 18. #50D, David Gailley, Mesquite, TX; Did not start. #20, Ronnie Welborn, Princeton, TX; Did not start. #18, Frank Rose, Mesquite, TX; Did not start. #34, Jay Miller, Terrell, TX; Did not start. #17, Charles Lasater, Garland, TX

LATE MODELS - First Heat Race: 1. #45, James Williams, Combine, TX; 2. #21, Steve Trevathan, Forney, TX; 3. #84, Tom Lorenz, Balch Springs, TX; 4. #28, Ronnie Long, Dallas, TX; 5. #51, Britt Ables, Wylie, TX; 6. #86, Dale Kirk, Mineola, TX; 7. #23, Darren Ellis, Royse City, TX

Second Heat Race: 1. #99X, Brad Zimmerman, Mesquite, TX; 2. #12, Jimmy Goodwin, Garland, TX; 3. #8, Skip O'Neal, Midlothian, TX; 4. #9, Rapid Richard Robinson, Hurst, TX; 5. #92, Harry Hronas, Sunnyvale, TX; 6. #19, Jeff McGibboney, Dallas, TX

Trophy Dash: 1. #99X, Brad Zimmerman, Mesquite, TX; 2. #12, Jimmy Goodwin, Garland, TX; 3. #21, Steve Trevathan, Forney, TX; 4. #84, Tom Lorenz, Balch Springs, TX; 5. #8, Skip O'Neal, Midlothian, TX; Did not start. #45, James Williams, Combine, TX

A FEATURE: 1. #84, Tom Lorenz, Balch Springs, TX; 2. #21, Steve Trevathan, Forney, TX; 3. #99X, Brad Zimmerman, Mesquite, TX; 4. #12, Jimmy Goodwin, Garland, TX; 5. #28, Ronnie Long, Dallas, TX; 6. #8, Skip O'Neal, Midlothian, TX; 7. #19, Jeff McGibboney, Dallas, TX; 8. #86, Dale Kirk, Mineola, TX; 9. #51, Britt Ables, Wylie, TX; 10. #45, James Williams, Combine, TX; 11. #92, Harry Hronas, Sunnyvale, TX; 12. #9, Rapid Richard Robinson, Hurst, TX; Did not start. #23, Darren Ellis, Royse City, TX

STREET STOCKS - First Heat Race: 1. #8, Mark Ross, Mesquite, TX; 2. #34, Jimmy Luker, Terrell, TX; 3. #5, Mark Reedy, Mesquite, TX; 4. #39, Pat Walls, Frisco, TX; 5. #21, Michael Murphy, Ferris, TX; 6. #1, Flash Fifield, Mesuite, TX; 7. #29D, Mike Deaver, Mesquite, TX; Disqualified. #10, Trandel White, Balch Springs, TX

Second Heat Race: 1. #00X, Michael Grubbs, Sachse, TX; 2. #38, Mike Walls, Flower Mound, TX; 3. #48, Rick Wycough, Richardson, TX; 4. #29, Tim McManus, Dallas, TX; 5. #17, Travis Pace, Mesquite, TX; 6. #42, Gayla Jones, Mesquite, TX; 7. #37, Mike Meeks, Jr., Mesquite, TX