MELVIN
EARNS POLE FOR NeSMITH CHEVROLET WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIP RACE AT EAST BAY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TAMPA, FL Rodney Melvin of Benton, IL
drove his Thomason Engines Rayburn to
fast time honors, and then won the first
of six 15-lap heat races on Friday night
to earn the pole position for Saturday
nights NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late
Model Series 100-lap $10,000-to-win 4th
Annual World Championship Race at East
Bay Raceway Park.
Melvin out-qualified the 63-car field on
Friday night with a lap around the
1/3-mille clay oval in 16.079 seconds to
earn the pole for the first heat race.
Melvin then won the first heat to take
the inside front row starting spot for
the big show on Saturday night.
Stacey Roberts of Sylvester, GA won the
second heat race on Friday night in the
Sunbelt Ford Rocket to earn the outside
front row starting spot for the Saturday
night main event. Shanon Buckingham of
Morristown, TN won the third heat race
in the Rusty Wallace Toyota Bloomquist
to start the Saturday night feature race
from the inside of the second row.
Anthony White of Clinton, TN will start
the Saturday night 100-lapper from the
outside of the second row after winning
the fourth heat race on Friday night in
the Stone Plus DWB. The 2006 race winner
Randy Korte of Highland, IL will try for
his second World Championship Race win
from the fifth starting hole after he
won the fifth heat race on Friday night
driving the Terry Eaglin Motorsports
Rocket.
Local favorite Phillip Cobb of
Riverview, FL won the sixth heat race on
Friday night to earn the outside third
row starting spot for Saturday nights
main event driving the Coastal Trucking
GRT.
The top three finishers in each of the
six heat races on Friday night
transferred into the top 18 starting
spots for the main event on Saturday
night. Ross Bailes of Blacksburg, SC in
the Felony Farms Mastersbilt and Tim
McCreadie of Waterloo, NY followed
Melvin out of the first heat and into
the main event.
Josh Peacock of Dover, FL in the Peacock
Farms Warrior and Bryan Bernhardt of
Clearwater, FL in the B&B Precision
Movers Rocket finished second and third
respectively in the second heat race
behind Roberts to make the main event.
Larry Boutwell of Baker, FL in the
McLeod Construction Rocket finished
second in the third heat race followed
by Jeff Fields of Aragon, GA in the J&J
Transport Mastersbilt. Joining White in
transferring from the fourth heat race
were second-place Dennis Erb Jr. of
Carpentersville, IL in the Thomason
Engines Rayburn, and third-place Jeff
Fortner of Vidalia, GA in the Extreme
Hauling Rocket.
Two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late
Model Series National Champion David
Gentry of Lewisburg, TN in the Paynes
Body Shop Mastersbilt and Jeff Mathews
of Seffner, FL in the Vassar Cord
Warrior followed Korte under the
checkered flag in the fifth heat race to
make the big show.
Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA in the
Turner Excavating DWB and Wallace
Peacock of Dover, FL in the Strawberry
Garden TNT finished second and third
respectively in the sixth heat behind
Cobb on Friday night to take a seat in
the starting field of the World
Championship Race on Saturday night.
Drivers that finished fourth on back in
the six heat races will another
opportunity to make the 26-car starting
field for the World Championship Race in
one of two 20-lap B-Main Races to take
place on Saturday night before the
100-lap big show. The top three
finishers in each B-Main will take the
19th through 24th starting spot in the
main event.
Starting spots 25 and 26 are NeSmith
Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series
provisional spots reserved for the Top
15 in the 2008 National point standings.
Among the Top 15 still on the outside
looking in are the 2008 NeSmith
Chevrolet DLMS National Champion Chip
Brindle of Chatsworth, GA, and the
Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Year and
third place points driver Scott Knowles
of Lanett, AL.
Other Top 15 drivers starting the
B-Mains on Saturday night are
fourth-place Derrick Rainey of Powder
Springs, GA, sixth-place Hunter Peacock
of Macon, GA, seventh-place Eric Cooley
of Fulton, MS, and tenth-place Frank
Ingram of Woodstock, GA.
On Saturday night, gates open at 4 p.m.
with racing scheduled for 7 p.m. For
more information, call East Bay Raceway
Park at 813-677-7223, or visit the track
web site at www.eastbayracewaypark.com.
East Bay Raceway Park is located five
miles south of I-4 off U.S. Highway 41.
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE NeSMITH
CHEVROLET DLMS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RACE
AT EAST BAY RACEWAY PARK IN TAMPA, FL ON
12/12/08:
ENTRIES: 63
FAST QUALIFIER: Melvin, 16.079 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: Brindle and Knowles
LEAD CHANGES: 1
LAP LEADERS: Melvin, 1-44; Buckingham, 45-100
LAPS LED: Buckingham, 56; Melvin, 44
HARD CHARGER OF THE RACE: Knowles (started 26th and finished
12th)
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD: Turner
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 5TH-PLACE AWARD: Peacock
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 8TH-PLACE AWARD: Bernhardt
MAXIMUM SIGNS 9TH-PLACE AWARD: Boutwell
OLD 29 GOLF CARTS 10TH-PLACE AWARD: Mathews
CAUTIONS: 7
TIME OF THE RACE: 56 Minutes and 50.239 Seconds
QUALIFYING:
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GROUP 1: |
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POS |
CAR # |
DRIVER |
HOMETOWN |
CHASSIS |
LAP 1 |
LAP 2 |
TIME |
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1 |
92b |
Billy Faust |
Highland, IL |
Rocket |
16.421 |
16.250 |
16.250 |
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2 |
12 |
Hunter Peacock |
Macon, GA |
Bullet |
16.497 |
16.550 |
16.497 |
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3 |
11r |
Stacey Roberts |
Sylvester, GA |
Rocket |
16.878 |
16.662 |
16.662 |
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4 |
21p |
Josh Peacock |
Dover, FL |
Warrior |
17.019 |
16.703 |
16.703 |
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5 |
21b |
Royce Bray |
Hull, GA |
Warrior |
16.746 |
17.660 |
16.746 |
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6 |
121 |
Benji Cole |
Canon, GA |
DWB |
16.840 |
17.418 |
16.840 |
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7 |
B69 |
Bryan Bernhardt |
Clearwater, FL |
Rocket |
17.147 |
17.431 |
17.147 |
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8 |
11 |
Steven Roberts |
Sylvester, GA |
Rocket |
17.158 |
17.284 |
17.158 |
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9 |
44 |
Stephen Rogers |
Knoxville, TN |
Warrior |
17.502 |
17.178 |
17.178 |
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10 |
10b |
Scott Riggs |
Harrisburg, IL |
Forward |
17.472 |
18.495 |
17.472 |
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11 |
8m |
Matt Miller |
Tampa, FL |
Rocket |
17.671 |
18.375 |
17.671 |
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GROUP 2: |
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POS |
CAR # |
DRIVER |
HOMETOWN |
CHASSIS |
LAP 1 |
LAP 2 |
TIME |
|
1 |
P1 |
Wallace Peacock |
Dover, FL |
TnT |
16.789 |
17.543 |
16.789 |
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2 |
32 |
Phillip Cobb |
Riverview, FL |
GRT |
17.667 |
16.943 |
16.943 |
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3 |
10 |
Matthew Turner |
Dawsonville, GA |
DWB |
16.971 |
17.361 |
16.971 |
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4 |
8s |
Steve Miller |
Tampa, FL |
Rocket |
46.178 |
16.994 |
16.994 |
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5 |
9w |
Jimmy Waldrop |
Seffner, FL |
Rocket |
17.091 |
19.414 |
17.091 |
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6 |
79 |
Jason Kimball |
Brooksville, FL |
Rocket |
17.237 |
17.601 |
17.237 |
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7 |
2 |
Shane Hitt |
Buckhannon, WV |
Rocket |
17.847 |
17.380 |
17.380 |
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8 |
33c |
Eric Cooley |
Fulton, MS |
Mastersbilt |
18.093 |
17.547 |
17.547 |
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9 |
22x |
Danny Peoples |
Margaret, AL |
Warrior |
17.561 |
17.559 |
17.559 |
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10 |
88 |
David Polen Jr. |
Tampa, FL |
Rocket |
17.616 |
33.128 |
17.616 |
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11 |
24w |
Dennis Williams |
Zephyrhills, FL |
Rayburn |
19.014 |
19.343 |
19.014 |
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GROUP 3: |
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POS |
CAR # |
DRIVER |
HOMETOWN |
CHASSIS |
LAP 1 |
LAP 2 |
TIME |
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1 |
2w |
Anthony White |
Clinton, TN |
DWB |
16.615 |
16.455 |
16.455 |
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2 |
28e |
Dennis Erb Jr. |
Carpentersville, IL |
Rayburn |
16.755 |
16.606 |
16.606 |
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3 |
27 |
Jeff Fortner |
Vidalia, GA |
Rocket |
16.727 |
17.010 |
16.727 |
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4 |
87 |
Derrick Rainey |
Powder Springs, GA |
Warrior |
16.911 |
17.000 |
16.911 |
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5 |
105 |
Dave Schmauss |
Tampa, FL |
Warrior |
16.921 |
17.265 |
16.921 |
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6 |
16b |
Dan Brewer |
Wytheville, VA |
Barry Wright |
17.508 |
17.029 |
17.029 |
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7 |
28 |
Brandon Overton |
Appling, GA |
GRT |
17.442 |
17.227 |
17.227 |
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8 |
81c |
Kevin Cole |
Benton, IL |
Pierce |
17.261 |
17.276 |
17.261 |
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9 |
10x |
Jake Knowles |
Tyrone, GA |
Rocket |
17.509 |
17.358 |
17.358 |
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10 |
49 |
Jonathan Davenport |
Blairsville, GA |
Rayburn |
17.753 |
17.640 |
17.640 |
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11 |
59 |
Aaron Heck |
Mount Vernon, IL |
Rayburn |
17.723 |
17.846 |
17.723 |
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GROUP 4: |
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POS |
CAR # |
DRIVER |
HOMETOWN |
CHASSIS |
LAP 1 |
LAP 2 |
TIME |
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1 |
27m |
Rodney Melvin |
Benton, IL |
Rayburn |
16.276 |
16.079 |
16.079 |
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2 |
102 |
Tim McCreadie |
Waterloo, NY |
Rocket |
16.572 |
17.160 |
16.572 |
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3 |
87L |
Ross Bailes |
Blacksburg, SC |
Mastersbilt |
17.510 |
16.900 |
16.900 |
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4 |
38c |
Chip Brindle |
Chatsworth, GA |
Mastersbilt |
17.275 |
16.982 |
16.982 |
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5 |
92k |
Brant Kehrer |
New Memphis, IL |
Rocket |
17.836 |
17.429 |
17.429 |
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6 |
61 |
Caleb Ashby |
Cunningham, TN |
PPM |
18.240 |
17.456 |
17.456 |
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7 |
1g |
Ronnie Johnson |
Chattanooga, TN |
Warrior |
17.594 |
17.622 |
17.594 |
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8 |
11w |
Randy Weaver |
Crossville, TN |
PPM |
17.798 |
17.914 |
17.798 |
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9 |
21m |
Ben McCreary |
Baldwyn, MS |
Mastersbilt |
18.213 |
17.931 |
17.931 |
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10 |
18L |
Jason Riggs |
Harrisburg, IL |
Rocket |
18.710 |
18.240 |
18.240 |
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GROUP 5: |
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POS |
CAR # |
DRIVER |
HOMETOWN |
CHASSIS |
LAP 1 |
LAP 2 |
TIME |
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1 |
69 |
Randy Korte |
Highland, IL |
Rocket |
16.661 |
16.638 |
16.638 |
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2 |
9 |
Jeff Mathews |
Seffner, FL |
Warrior |
16.708 |
16.915 |
16.708 |
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3 |
11g |
David Gentry |
Lewisburg, TN |
GRT |
16.860 |
16.823 |
16.823 |
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4 |
11h |
Doug Horton |
Bruceton Mills, WV |
Warrior |
17.968 |
17.183 |
17.183 |
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5 |
22p |
Travis Pennington |
Winston, GA |
GRT |
18.302 |
17.287 |
17.287 |
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6 |
22w |
William Thomas |
Phenix City, AL |
Scorpion |
17.633 |
17.349 |
17.349 |
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7 |
92s |
Matt Santel |
New Memphis, IL |
Rocket |
17.446 |
17.464 |
17.446 |
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8 |
17ss |
Shan Smith |
Dade City, FL |
TnT |
17.770 |
17.656 |
17.656 |
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9 |
22 |
Jason Wilson |
Margaret, AL |
Warrior |
18.411 |
17.800 |
17.800 |
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10 |
41v |
Travis Varnadore |
Dover, FL |
Rayburn |
17.808 |
18.051 |
17.808 |
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GROUP 6: |
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POS |
CAR # |
DRIVER |
HOMETOWN |
CHASSIS |
LAP 1 |
LAP 2 |
TIME |
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1 |
50 |
Shanon Buckingham |
Morristown, TN |
Bloomquist |
16.604 |
16.317 |
16.317 |
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2 |
66k |
Scott Knowles |
Lanett, AL |
Warrior |
16.952 |
17.289 |
16.952 |
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3 |
16 |
Jeff Fields |
Aragon, GA |
Mastersbilt |
17.155 |
17.057 |
17.057 |
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4 |
12c |
Jon Callaway |
Herrington, DE |
Rocket |
17.404 |
17.187 |
17.187 |
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5 |
58 |
Larry Boutwell |
Baker, FL |
Rocket |
17.719 |
17.226 |
17.226 |
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6 |
2x |
Nick Lyons |
Centrailia, IL |
Forward |
17.483 |
17.564 |
17.483 |
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7 |
F9 |
Frank Ingram |
Woodstock, GA |
Rocket |
17.552 |
17.769 |
17.552 |
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8 |
20u |
Bruce Unterbrink |
Greenville, IL |
Rocket |
18.152 |
17.553 |
17.553 |
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9 |
21 |
Rusty Hoge |
Ooltewah, TN |
GRT |
18.895 |
17.932 |
17.932 |
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10 |
91 |
Guy Robinson |
Rockmart, GA |
TnT |
18.691 |
NT |
18.691 |
HEAT
RACES (15 Laps Top 3 Transfer To Main
Event):
1ST HEAT: 1. Melvin; 2. Bailes; 3.
McCreadie; 4. Brindle; 5. Johnson; 6.
McCreary; 7. Ashby; 8. Kehrer; 9.
Weaver; 10. J. Riggs.
2ND HEAT: 1. Stacey Roberts; 2. J.
Peacock; 3. Bernhardt; 4. Bray; 5. B.
Cole; 6. Stephen Roberts; 7. Faust; 8.
S. Riggs; 9. H. Peacock; 10. Rogers; 11.
M. Miller.
3RD HEAT: 1. Buckingham; 2. Boutwell; 3.
Fields; 4. Ingram; 5. Lyons; 6. Hoge; 7.
S. Knowles; 8. Callaway; 9. Unterbrink;
10. Robinson.
4TH HEAT: 1. White; 2. Erb; 3. Fortner;
4. K. Cole; 5. Rainey; 6. Brewer; 7.
Heck; 8. Davenport; 9. Overton; 10. J.
Knowles; 11. Schmauss.
5TH HEAT: 1. Korte; 2. Gentry; 3.
Mathews; 4. Horton; 5. Thomas; 6.
Pennington; 7. Wilson; 8. Varnadore; 9.
Santel; 10. Smith.
6TH HEAT: 1. Cobb; 2. Turner; 3. W.
Peacock; 4. S. Miller; 5. Polen; 6.
Cooley; 7. Kimball; 8. Williams; 9. Hitt;
10. Peoples; 11. Waldrop.
ELITE 18 FEATURE RACE STARTING
LINE-UP:
ROW 1:
27m Rodney Melvin 11r Stacey Roberts
ROW 2:
50 Shanon Buckingham 2w Anthony White
ROW 3:
69 Randy Korte 32 Phillip Cobb
ROW 4:
87L Ross Bailes 21p Josh Peacock
ROW 5:
58 Larry Boutwell 28e Dennis Erb Jr.
ROW 6:
11g David Gentry 10 Matthew Turner
ROW 7:
102 Tim McCreadie B69 Bryan Bernhardt
ROW 8:
16 Jeff Fields 27 Jeff Fortner
ROW 9:
9 Jeff Mathews P1 Wallace Peacock
B-MAIN LINE-UPS (20 Laps Top 3
Transfer To Main Event):
1ST B-MAIN:
38c Chip Brindle F9 Frank Ingram
11h Doug Horton 1g Ronnie Johnson
2x Nick Lyons 22t William Thomas
21m Ben McCreary 21h Rusty Hoge
22p Travis Pennington 61 Caleb Ashby
66k Scott Knowles 22 Jason Wilson
92k Brant Kehrer 12c Jon Callaway
41v Travis Varnadore 11w Randy Weaver
20u Bruce Unterbrink 92s Matt Santel
18L Jason Riggs 91 Guy Robinson
17ss Shan Smith
2ND B-MAIN:
21b Royce Bray 81c Kevin Cole
8s Steve Miller 121 Benji Cole
87 Derrick Rainey 88 David Polen Jr.
11 Stephen Roberts 16b Dan Brewer
33c Eric Cooley 92b Billy Faust
59 Eric Heck 79 Jason Kimball
10b Steve Cole 49 Jonathan Davenport
24w Dennis Williams 12 Hunter Peacock
28 Brandon Overton 2 Shane Hitt
44 Steven Rogers 10x Jake Knowles
22x Danny Peoples 8m Matt Miller
105 Dave Schmauss 9w Jimmy Waldrop
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