Durham Harley Davidson & Exchange Club 250
September 22, 2001

Triplett Dominates Late Model Race at OCS In Tune-Up for Martinsville

ROUGEMONT – Competitors planning to compete in the Taco Bell 300 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway this weekend had better beware.

David Triplett, Jr. of Durham could be a huge factor in the event, which is slated for Sunday, Sept. 30.

Triplett unveiled the car he plans to take to Martinsville this past Saturday night at Orange County Speedway. And, the Durham driver totally dominated the 16-car field in the 150-lap race for the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Late Model Stock Car Division.

The event was the featured attraction of the Durham Harley Davidson/Exchange Club 250.

Had it not been for a trio of caution periods, Triplett might would have lapped the entire field. As it was, he only five cars remained on the lead lap at the end of the night. In the opening 50 circuits of the race, which all ran under the green flag, Triplett lapped nine cars.

"We had a great car all night," Triplett said. "The guys didn’t really want to bring this up here tonight since we’re planning on taking it to Martinsville. But, I told them ‘you can’t get many scratches on it if you’re out front.’ I wanted to win the pole and lead every lap."

And, that’s exactly what he did.

"It’s kind of hard to celebrate winning this with everything that has gone on in the country,"
Triplett said. "But, we’re happy to get a win and we hope to well in Martinsville as well."

Triplett opened a lead of nearly half a lap over his nearest competitor in the opening 30 laps
of the race.

While he was pulling away from the field, Barry Beggarly of Pelham, who started fourth, was trying to get around Deac McCaskill of Benson, who began the race from the third spot, for second place on the track.

Beggarly gained the runner-up position in lap 35 and had hopes of making a charge of
Triplett when the caution flag flew for a spin involving Chuck Lawson of Providence on the
48th lap.

When the race went back to green on lap 52, however, Triplett soared right back to a
sizable lead with the aid of some lapped cars between he and Beggarly.

The advantage for Triplett quickly swelled to a straight-away lead by lap 60.

Beggarly got another crack to try and catch Triplett when the yellow flag flew on lap 62 when the car of Mike Chambers of Timberlake went spinning after getting a tap from behind from Kirk Leone of Raleigh.

Triplett didn’t have any lapped cars to cushion him when the race went under the green flag
on lap 65, but it didn’t seem to matter as he quickly put distance between himself and
Beggarly on the opening two circuits.

The final caution period of the night came on lap 114 for debris on the track. When the
green flag flew again on lap 124, Triplett had three cars between he and Beggarly and was
never threatened.

He went on to win the event by a straight-away at the checkered flag.

McCaskill finished second behind Beggarly, followed by division points leader Frank Deiny,
Jr. of Mechanicsville, Va. in the fourth position. Terry Dease finished fifth and was the final
driver on the lead lap.

Leone placed sixth, followed by Ryan Gray of Raleigh in the seventh position and Lawson in eighth place. Larry Barrett of Providence was ninth, while Chambers rounded out the top 10 drivers in the event.

Deiny’s fourth-place finish allowed him to add two points to his lead over Dease in the
division’s season-long points battle. He currently owns a 26-point edge over Dease. Triplett
is in third place, 24 points behind Dease and 54 points ahead of fourth-place Beggarly.

By Tim Chandler
Courier-Times Sports Editor