Maupin cruises to Sizzler win

By Robert Walden

BULLS GAP, Tenn. (Aug. 2) — Pizza Plus presented the “Summer Sizzler” Saturday night at Volunteer Speedway and no driver was hotter than Jeff Maupin of Greeneville. Maupin powered into the lead at the drop of the green flag and never looked back en route to capturing his second “Gateway Ford” Super Late Model victory of the season.

With a tacky, hooked-up surface greeting the competitors during pole qualifying, Mike Smith ran a fast-lap of 12.092-seconds (119.092 mph) to get close to the Super Late Model track record of 12.004, with Maupin timing-in second fastest at 12.159.

Maupin beat Smith into the first turn on the opening lap to jump into the lead, with Vic Hill, Shanon Buckingham and Austin Dillon rounding out the top-five. Hill passed Smith racing off turn two on the eighth lap to move in second, but his night ended just one circuit later when rear-end suspension broke on his car and he slowed to a stop at the end of the front straightaway to bring out the event’s first caution.

Maupin was all alone out front for the Delaware double-file restart, with Smith and Buckingham side-by-side behind him, followed by Dillon and Dale Ball. With Maupin hard on the gas (pedal) going back green he launched like a rocket down the front straightaway, with Buckingham getting past Smith to move into second place.

Dillon and Ball tangled between the third and fourth turns, with both almost spinning, allowing Mike Jackson to slip by and into fourth place. With Dillon and Ball reeling their mounts back in, Dillon got around Jackson on lap 10 to move into fourth, and Ball also got past Jackson for fifth in the running order. Jackson spun on lap 12 to bring out the caution, which would be the last yellow during the 35-lap feature.

Going back green using the Delaware double-file restart Maupin was riding in style out front, with Buckingham and Smith in the row behind, followed by Dillon and Ball. Maupin quickly put some distance between his Landair Transport Inc./TEG Enterprises/ G&W Hauling and Rigging/Jerry's Auto Salvage/Tolliver Heating & Cooling/Greenlee Farm/Allstar Performance/O'Reilly Auto Parts/Performance Rod & Custom/GRT Race Cars/Vic Hill Racing Engines/American Race Tires/No. 0 Chevrolet Impala SS, and both Buckingham and Dillon, who passed Smith for third place as the field accelerated back up to speed.

With the race running clean-and-green through the mid-stages headed towards the finish, Maupin was setting a blistering pace out front and pulling away to a comfortable margin over Buckingham and Dillon, while Smith and Ball were battling for the fourth spot.

Maupin completed his green-to-checkers romp to victory in impressive fashion as he won by a little over a full-straightaway over Buckingham and Dillon, with Smith and Ball rounding out the top-five.

Completing the top 10 at the finish were Bobby Mays, Bryan Hendrix, Jackson, Terry Wolfenbarger and Gary Blanken.

“Man, what an awesome track we had to race on tonight,” said a smiling Maupin in victory lane. “I don’t know that I’ve ever had this much fun in a race car. I’m telling you, this place was just wicked-fast tonight and you could about run wide-open. Between the first and second turns, all you did was just barely burp the (accelerator) and then you were back on the floor with the gas pedal. I want to commend track owner Joe Loven for having the surface in such good shape. I just hope whatever he did to get it this good, it will be like this in a couple of weeks for the big World of Outlaws Late Model Series double-header nights of the ‘Scorcher.’

“To be able to outrun (Shanon) Buckingham, Austin (Dillon), Mike (Smith), Dale (Ball), and early in the race Vic (Hill), that was an unreal feeling. I knew I had a very good car, and it seemed the longer we ran (especially that last long green-flag run) the faster we got. Ever since I switched over to the American Racer tires a few weeks back it’s really just picked my racing program up big-time. With the strong Vic Hill Racing Engine under the hood and the tires (American Racer), that’s a potent combination. That is as long as the driver does his job and doesn’t make any dumb mistakes driving the car.

“I want to thank all the guys who help work on the car during the week and on race-night at the track – Rodney Justice, Josh Bible, Tony Price and Casey Greenlee. They get just as pumped-up when we run well and win races as I do. With as good as the car is running right now, I’d love to be able to come back at the ‘Scorcher’ and run well against all of those World of Outlaws traveling guys. And I believe we can do it, too.”

Sponsorship packages remaining

Sponsorship packages are remain for the 2008 season with Jeff Maupin Racing. Jeff is planning on hitting the road for more, bigger paying events in '08. In order for Jeff to have the resources, Jeff needs some additional sponsorship help. A few remaining packages are available. Contact Ricky Whittenburg by email for more information.

Jeff Maupin Racing Message Board now open for fans

The Jeff Maupin Racing Message Board is now open. Fans can chat about Jeff's races, racing in general, or other topics. From time to time, Jeff will be on the board himself to chat with fans about his racing, answer questions, or maybe even talk about his favorite music. The board can be accessed by clicking here. Please keep things clean and no bashing.