|| *Comments on the 2000 Southern Illinois 100:* View the most recent comment <#7> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. RaceFanX posted: 04.04.2010 - 7:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Billy Thomas' final ARCA victory 2. Unser1 posted: 04.14.2010 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was Thomas' only start of 2000, he DNQed at Springfield a few races earlier 3. 83andJoe posted: 02.28.2013 - 3:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Did Not Qualify: Dennis English, #06 Falconite Pontiac 4. 23andJoe posted: 04.13.2014 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #47 owner: Rich Hayes 5. Jeff Wagoner (ARCA Results Archive) posted: 09.05.2016 - 11:46 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The dust was really bad in this race. A big crash happened on lap 30 because drivers couldn't see anything in front of them going into Turn 3. 6. RaceFanX posted: 01.14.2018 - 10:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) All five of Billy Thomas' ARCA wins came on dirt. 7. rm posted: 07.19.2020 - 2:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) 0 owner - Richard Hampton 06 owner - Wayne Peterson (DNQ) 39 owner - Roulo Brothers 41 owner - Rich Hayes 48 owner - Randy Fenley 74 owner - Karla Lampe 79 owner - Charlie Schaefer 99 sponsor - Budweiser Ed Dixon's final stock car start driving for Ken Schrader's team. As the fifth comment alludes to, the track prep was poor on this afternoon and pretty much everybody had problems of some kind related to that. Dixon's crew spilled water on the nose at one point when trying to cool the car and turned the dust on the grille into mud, overheating the car even worse but not enough to knock the car out of the race, somehow. Ron Cox also had big trouble, having let the car idle a little too long when he drove it back to the hauler after the race and causing the car to briefly ignite due to the heat. Guess he took the term "post-race fireworks" just a little too literally. The win was some sweet, sweet redemption for Billy Thomas, who had been controversially DQ'd from this race the year before while running up front. Thomas had passed under a late caution flag because he had gotten wrecked under the yellow, but officials refused to allow him to return to his original position and he was shown the ever-rare black flag with the white cross. Thomas left no doubt this time around that he would be the very rightful winner at the Southern Illinois State Fair, dominating the show that was run mostly behind the pace car. It also helped out Thomas that Dean Roper & the Mueller brothers were a no-show at DuQuoin after a big crash at Springfield. Roper never made the return trip to DuQuoin, as he unfortunately passed away at Springfield the next year when he had a heart attack during the race. Also, apparently after the big crash on lap 31, a miscommunication meant that the track was only watered on the frontstretch and not on the backstretch and turn 3 where most of the issues had been. After a crash off the restart, they finally watered the rest of the track but it didn't do much to ease the issues. They basically ran 20+ laps consecutively under caution, never going green for more than about half a lap. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: