Hardy battling for Wissota
point lead at Princeton

By DAWN SLADE
Mille Lacs County Times
Posted 8/16/02

Race car driver Pat Hardy, car No. 2H of Milaca, was tied for first place in points in the Wissota Modified class at Princeton Speedway going into the Aug. 2 race.

But Hardy had some trouble with his distributor, and his points standing dropped from first to fourth in just one night.

"You never know when something is going to go wrong, thatís the neat part about this thing," Hardy said.

Dave Cain, car No. 2C, is currently in first place with 579 points. Second place currently belongs to Paul Hipsag with 578 points and Jim Paulson is in third with 571 points.

Hardy is just six points behind Paulson.

"When the points race is tight at the top, it doesnít take much to drop," Hardy said.

"Iíve won two championships, so I know what it takes to win - everything has to click. Thereís a lot of talent out there, so to be in the top five is pretty good," he added.

The rest of the Milaca pack is doing well this race season also.

Chad Banks, car No. 11, is currently in sixth place; Chuck Cooper, car No. 18, is currently in 10th; Brett Johnson, car No. 89, is currently in 18th; and Jeremy Nichols, car No. 11J, is currently in 30th and is a contender for rookie of the year.

Wissota sanctioned races are held each Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Princeton Speedway, including modifieds, midwest modifieds, super stocks and street stocks.