Johnny Herrera lost ninth place and opened the track ahead of the leaders the next time around when he hit a retaining tire in turn two and stopped in the third corner. Dollansky used a similar move to pass Shepard for the lead in lapped traffic six laps later. Kinser continued his run to the front late in lap 16, passing Shepard for second place deep in the fourth corner. Dollansky was .3 seconds ahead of Mark when P.J. Chesson stopped on the front straightaway with a mechanical problem. Dollansky lost the lead when he joined Brian Paulus and James Chesson in the pit area to replaced their flat right rear tires.
Momentum is everything in racing.
It makes for some long drives between races and some long nights at the track when things aren't going well. It's way too early to be thinking about the championship yet. We'll see where we are at the Amoco Knoxville Nationals before we start worrying about points. Furr held off Third O'Reilly Heat Race winner Randy Hannagan for third place. Andy Hillenburg passed Stevie Smith for fifth place during the 25th-lap restart.