By Gary Jacob
Gallup, NM -- Only fast time eluded SCOA Sprint Car point leader Ricky Hood as he added to his point advantage with victories in the dash, his heat and the 25 lap feature for the Empire Cup Series at Gallup Speedway Saturday night. The drivers fought dry-slick track conditions and very bad dust limited their visibility. Hood took the lead from Jimmy Norman on lap 13, but was challenged in the closing rounds by point runnerup Marty Wilcox. Norman ran third and New Mexico's own Scott Box used the recent string of New Mexico races to climb into the top 20 in points with a fourth place run.
Jeff Branaman was the fast qualifier at 14.802 seconds on the 3/8 mile clay oval. Hood and Wilcox beat Branaman in the Sander Engineering dash and the 21 car field was split into three heat races. Steve Cushman beat Branaman in heat 1. Wilcox led John Harris to the checkered flag in heat 2 and Hood won heat 3 ahead of Zeke Ziska and Box.
Joey Moriarity and Jimmy Norman led the field down for the initial green flag in the 25 lap main. Norman took an early lead over Moriarity, Box and Kaylene Verville. Hood had lined up 8th, but raced his way into the lead on lap 13. Despite the tough track conditions, the field raced to lap 15 before the first caution dropped as Robert Hall and Harris tangled. Wilcox battled with Box and Moriarity before taking over second on lap 18. The lapped traffic allowed Wilcox to close in on leader Hood. A tap from another car sent Steve Stone spinning for the second yellow flag. On the restart, Wilcox made a run at leader Hood in turn 1, but ran out of room with the very narrow groove. The final caution fell when Hall spun in turn 2 and went unseen by the flagman in the limited visibility. He was hit by J R Patton. Hood led the four remaining laps with Wilcox right behind as Norman ran third ahead of Box, Jeff Wheeler, Verville, Branaman and Moriarity.
Hood emerged from the night with a 295 point lead over Wilcox, who is just 20 ahead of Patton and 30 ahead of Norman. Jeff Slinkard was second in points entering the race, but unwinged specialist Charles Davis Jr drove his normal mount at Gallup.
SCOA will not race again until Labor Day weekend when they have events in Show Low on Saturday night and Casa Grande on Sunday night.
Summary Fast Time-Jeff Branaman 14.802 Dash-Ricky Hood, Marty Wilcox, Branaman. Heat 1-Steve Cushman, Branaman, Jimmy Norman, Jeff Wheeler, Steve Stone. Heat 2-Wilcox, John Harris, Joe Bustillos, Buddy Ray Earle, Joey Moriarity. Heat 3-Hood, Zeke Ziska, Scott Box, Jesse Baker, Kaylene Verville. Main-Hood, Wilcox, Norman, Box, Wheeler, Verville, Branaman, Moriarity, Steve Martin, Charles Davis, Cushman, Earle, Bill Liebig, J R Patton, Bustillos, Ziska, Baker, Stone, Harris, Robert Hall, Ty Brooks.