#80-Andy Hillenburg, who failed to qualify Junie Donlavey’s #90-car at Daytona (although he made a little money in the 125), made the field in Stan Hover’s long-shot car here and did best among the irregulars, finishing 34th. You might also consider #14-Larry Foyt (32nd, running without sponsorship) and #50-Derrike Cope (30th), although Cope was semi-regular last year and may be again this year [Jayski Note: Cope and the #50 plan to run a full season]. Hillenburg’s take for the afternoon’s work was $55,425, not a bad payday for 376 laps of staying out of the way. Less notable were the ultimate back-mark cars of #09-Joe Ruttman and #72-Kirk Shelmerdine. Ruttman, “driving” for James Finch, was flagged before the green because he did not have a pit crew [should be a rule, no pit crew, no start, no points, no money]. Shelmerdine, lapped eight minutes after the start-engine command, made 19 laps before he was parked for being below minimum speed. Both, however, made minimum purse, which here is a little over $50,000. There was some talk that a driver had to make a certain number of laps in order to collect purse money, but that never has been the case and likely was not Sunday.(Speed Channel)(2-24-2004)
