Brett Hallmark Stays Red Hot With Another Clean Sweep

By Gary Jacob

Denver, CO -- The only driver from the western edge of the state to be running a full schedule with the Colorado Late Model Association, Brett Hallmark from Grand Junction stayed red hot by charging to wins in both his heat race and the 25 lap feature Saturday night at Rocky Mountain National Speedway. After winning the heat race from the pole, Hallmark started his GRT late model in the 4th position for the 25 lap feature. He paced the final 15 laps for the win with veteran Jim Clifton second after he also scored a heat win.The third heat winner, Rod Glenn, was third in the main event as the drivers battled heavily rutted track conditions caused by rain and snow the previous day. This was the second straight race for the traveling series at RMNS.

The series brought 17 cars to this event and they were divided into three heat races. After a three wide pass on the opening lap, Glenn came from 4th starting to win the first ten lap heat race over Mike Cox and Ken Brack. Hallmark drew the outside front row starting spot for heat 2 and was never challenged. Pole starter Dave Garmann ran second over third starting Kevin Wright. Previous race winner John Kuchar started on the pole for the third heat, but surrendered the lead to 4th starter Clifton on lap 1. Clifton won with Kuchar second over Scott Cimfl. Cimfl strained his motor and was a feature scratch to leave a 16 car field for the 25 lap feature. Clifton and Cox shared the front row with Glenn and Hallmark in row 2 as Garmann and Kuchar rounded out the front three rows. The ageless veteran Clifton raced into the lead at the start with Cox pulling alongside on lap 3. Cox could never finish the pass. On lap 6, Cox clipped a rut and spun to a stop for the first yellow flag. J T Botts elected to pit during the caution period. On lap 8, Brack also hooked a rut and spun for the last yellow flag. On lap 11, Hallmark passed Clifton for the top spot. Bill Smith retired on lap 12. Hallmark and Clifton ran away from the field over the final rounds with Glenn third over Wright, Garmann, Kuchar, Scott Lewis, Rick Lieser and Don Post. Running for the first time since his injuries at the big Albuquerque race, Terry Loos ran 14th.

Summary Heat 1-Rod Glenn, Mike Cox, Ken Brack, Chris Persichetti, J T Botts. Heat 2-Brett Hallmark, Dave Garmann, Kevin Wright, Scott Lewis, Rick Lieser. Heat 3-Jim Clifton, John Kuchar, Scott Cimfl, Don Post, Terry Loos. Main-Hallmark, Clifton, Glenn, Wright, Garmann, Kuchar, Lewis, Lieser, Post, Persichetti, Brack, Cox, Curt Daniels, Loos, Bill Smith, Botts.

Big Idaho Dollar Weekend For Mini Sprints

By Gary Jacob

Boise, ID -- A solid field of California invaders made the long tow to OMC Speedway to contest the Pepsi Shootout, the richest race for the mini sprints and modified midgets annually in Idaho. Brian Gard from Kelseyville, CA was the $1,000 winner for the Modified Mini Sprint 600's on Sunday night. Saturday night's $400 win had went to Idaho's Rob Grice and he ran second to Gard in the big money Sunday show. For the Modified Midget 250's, Randy Pierce from Meridian, Idaho pocketed $1,400 as he won both the $400 Saturday night show and the $1,000 Sunday night feature. Eagle, Idaho's Casey Taylor ran second on Sunday night with Larry Jackson second on Saturday night. The Stock Mini Sprint 600's also raced both nights and a pair of California drivers dueled for the Saturday night win with Ralph Cortez beating out Rick DeCosta. On Sunday night, it was Delta Speedway star DeCosta from Manteca, CA winning.

The first night action for the modified mini sprint 600's saw female racer Sara Shaffer with fast time at 10.572. Rick Cook II won the first heat over fellow California racer Shawn Wright. DeCosta beat Rick Cook I in the second heat. Grice was chased to his Saturday night win by DeCosta, Shaffer, Cook II and San Jose's Michael Trimble. On Sunday night, Gard posted fast time with a 10.358 lap. Grice was the dash winner and Gard won the first heat in front of Shawn Flagstad. Trimble beat Grice in heat 2. For the $1,000 win, it was Gard in front as DeCosta lost his engine running 3rd on the final lap. Grice placed second ahead of Shaffer, Cortez and Flagstad.

For the Modified Midget 250's, Saturday's fast timer was Pierce with a 10.556 lap. Sid Fuller won the dash and heat 1 went to Taylor over Pierce and Mike Harris. Mike Jackson beat Ryan Hansen in heat 2. Pierce took the $400 win with L Jackson second over M Jackson, Bob Hansen and Harris. Pierce also set fast time on Sunday night at 10.623 and R Hansen was the dash winner. B Hansen took heat 1 over M Jackson and R Hansen won heat 2 with Eric Turner second. For the $1,000 prize, it was again Pierce in front of Taylor, R Hansen, L Jackson and Pat Hoskins.

The Stock Mini Sprint 600's found Sacramento's Cortez posting fast time on Saturday at 10.861. Rick Cook II won the dash and Rod Huggins beat Cook II in the heat race. Cortez won the feature over DeCosta, Huggins, Tyler Mason and Cook II. DeCosta won Sunday's feature ahead of Huggins and Mason.

Both of the big purse classes started full 16 car features.

Summary

May 25
Modified Midget 250 Fast Time-Randy Pierce 10.556 Dash-Sid Fuller. Heat 1-Casey Taylor, Pierce, Mike Harris. Heat 2-Mike Jackson, Ryan Hansen, Larry Jackson. Main-Pierce, L Jackson, M Jackson, Bob Hansen, M Harris. Stock Mini Sprint 600 Fast Time-Ralph Cortez 10.861 Dash-Rick Cook II. Heat-Rod Huggins, Cook II, Rick DeCosta. Main-Cortez, DeCosta, Huggins, Tyler Mason, Cook II. Modified Mini Sprint 600 Fast Time-Sara Shaffer 10.572 Heat 1-Rick Cook II, Shawn Wright, Trevor Miran. Heat 2-Rick DeCosta, Rick Cook I, Shawn Flagstad. Main-Rob Grice, DeCosta, Shaffer, Cook II, Michael Trimble.

May 26
Modified Midget 250 Fast Time-Randy Pierce 10.623 Dash-Ryan Hansen. Heat 1-Bob Hansen, Mike Jackson, Pierce. Heat 2-R Hansen, Eric Turner, Brandon Turner. Main-R Pierce, Casey Taylor, R Hansen, Larry Jackson, Pat Hoskins. Stock 600 Mini Sprint Main-Rick DeCosta, Rod Huggins, Tyler Mason. Modified Mini Sprint 600 Fast Time-Brian Gard 10.358 Dash-Rob Grice. Heat 1-Gard, Shawn Flagstad, Shawn Wright. Heat 2-Michael Trimble, Grice, Sara Shaffer. Main-Gard, Grice, Shaffer, Ralph Cortez, Flagstad.

Clean Sweep For Boen In WDRA Season Opener

By Gary Jacob

Colby, KS -- The Grand Junction, CO based WDRA Late Models traveled all the way to Colby, Kansas to start their 2002 season Sunday night. A former IMCA Modified Super Nationals champion, Kelly Boen from Henderson, Colorado scored a clean sweep of the night's action as he won his heat, the Dash for Cash and the feature race. Colorado's hottest dirt late model racer Brett Hallmark from Grand Junction finished second with another CLMA winner in 2002, John Kuchar, placing third.

The 11 car turnout included nine Colorado based teams and a pair from Kansas. Boen beat Dave Garmann and Hallmark in heat 1. Kuchar won heat 2 with Chris Kratzer from Lyons, Kansas in second over Dean Moore from Grand Junction, CO. Boen then beat Kuchar and Garmann in the dash.

Boen outran Hallmark to win the feature race with Kuchar third over Kratzer, Garmann, Butch Clark from Grand Junction, ageless veteran Jim Clifton from Fort Morgan and Oakley, KS racer Rod Benken. Michael Cox, Curt Daniels and Moore failed to finish.

Summary Dash-Kelly Boen, John Kuchar, David Garmann. Heat 1-Boen, Garmann, Brett Hallmark, Michael Cox, Butch Clark. Heat 2-Kuchar, Chris Kratzer, Dean Moore, Jim Clifton, Curt Daniels. Main-Boen, Hallmark, Kuchar, Kratzer, Garmann, Clark, Clifton, Rod Benken, Cox, Daniels, Moore.

Hallmark Stays Hot With Rocky Mountain Win

By Gary Jacob

Denver, CO -- Brett Hallmark from Grand Junction, Colorado continued his early season hot streak by racing to a 25 lap win as the Colorado Late Model Association visited Rocky Mountain National Speedway for the first time in 2002. Hallmark has now won two of the first 3 races on the season schedule as he holds a 10 point lead over defending series champion John Kuchar, who finished 3rd. Kuchar won the other point race in 2002. With all the series events on the eastern half of the state, Hallmark has to make the long tow from his Western Colorado home, but he was also racing all of the Arizona races before the Colorado action started. Hallmark wheels a GRT Chassis. Rick Lieser climbed into fourth in points with a second place run.

There were 19 late models on hand and Kuchar won the first heat race from the pole with Lieser second ahead of Dean Moore, who towed east from Grand Junction for the first time in 2002. Rod Glenn won heat 2 from the pole with 6th starter Mike Cox second over Scott Lewis. Scott Cimfl lost an engine to end his night. Hallmark won heat 3 from third starting. Ken Brack led early, but faded to a third behind Dave Garmann. Kelly Boen spun for the only yellow flag. Boen had run a big national event in Kansas City on Wednesday night, finishing 13th in a $5,000 to win race won by Terry Phillips.

Bill Smith joined Cimfl as a feature scratch leaving 17 cars to run the 25 lap feature. The front of the lineup had Hallmark and Lieser on the front row with Kuchar and Glenn in row 2 as Cox and Garmann shared row 3. Hallmark took a quick lead and was never headed. By lap 8, he was half lap in front and passing lapped cars. Lieser continued run with Hallmark, but still finished a strong second. Kuchar was able to fend off the challenges of Moore to finish third. Despite losing an engine on the final lap, Brack ran fifth over Glenn, Grand Junction's Butch Clark and Cox. Garmann was 9th over Jim Clifton. Don Post ran 11th in his first dirt late model feature. Aaron Loos was filling in for his father Terry Loos, who is still recovering from injuries suffered in Albuquerque in April. Boen was no factor, finishing 16th.

Hallmark is 10 points ahead of Kuchar, 35 ahead of Glenn, 36 ahead of Lieser and 38 ahead of Cox. The series returns to Rocky Mountain National Speedway on May 25 and then runs at I-76 Speedway on June 1.

Summary Heat 1-John Kuchar, Rick Lieser, Dean Moore, Don Post, J T Botts. Heat 2-Rod Glenn, Mike Cox, Scott Lewis, Jim Clifton, Chris Persichetti. Heat 3-Brett Hallmark, Dave Garmann, Ken Brack, Butch Clark, Kelly Boen. Main-Hallmark, Lieser, Kuchar, Moore, Brack, Glenn, Clark, Cox, Garmann, Clifton, Post, Persichetti, Curt Daniels, Botts, Lewis, Boen, Aaron Loos.

Surprise winner at the Acres

Surprise winner at the Acres

By Matthew J. Sullivan

In only his second race in the sportsman division at Redwood Acres Raceway, Jim Norris won his first ever main event win by avoiding a late race tangle between Acres veteran, Angelo Marcelli and second year sportsman driver, David Henderson. Mike Peters made his way through heavy traffic in the real stock class to claim the victory while Jaison Chand scored his first victory of the season in mini stock action.

A close battle in the mini stock trophy dash saw Chand and defending champion, Phil Wood battle hard for the four-lap race. In the end, however, Chand took the victory over Wood and Ron Miller in his “Cow Car.” The heat race action was tight as well and again Wood and Chand battled hard for the top spot. This time Wood took the victory over Chand and Mac Collado. The first two races were a prelude to the 20-lap main event as Miller and Brian Murrell led the field to the green flag.

Going into turn one, Miller took the lead but by the end of lap one it was Chand who took command of the race followed by Collado. After a lap six caution flag a tight battle between Collado and Wood ensued that lasted until a caution flag flew on lap 14 when Chad Grammer and Murrell made contact between turns three and four. During the caution, Wood made a visit to the pits to correct his ill handling racecar. On the restart, Chand pulled out to a sizeable lead as Collado and Jason Rhodes battled for the second spot. At the checkered flag, Chand was the victor followed by Collado, Rhodes and Wood.

The real stock division again had quite a large turnout of cars with 18. In the trophy dash, Marty Walsh took the victory over defending points champion Shawn Craig. In the first of the three heat races, Gary Adams came from the back to the front to take the victory after taking the lead on the white flag lap. Behind him were Chad Trump and Chad Gurney.

The second race was even more exciting as Ron Peters forced his car past Doug Way on the last lap coming off of turn four. Third was Bill Middleton and fourth was James Henry. The action was tight in the third heat as Aaron Byers and Goinn paced the field. On lap four, Walsh spun but kept a yellow flag from coming by getting back into the action. On lap 6, Rick Fox took the lead and never looked back to claim the victory over Craig, Donnie Hyman and Byers.

Because of the high car count, a ten lap B-Main event was run with the top two finishers transferring to the main event. Taking those two positions were Adams and Craig Hoffmann. The main event was exciting as Middleton and Craig Baker led the field to the green flag. By lap two, Way led. On the same lap, Hoffmann, Craig and Walsh made contact resulting with Craig not returning to the racing action.

After the restart, Fox took the lead. On lap eight, Peters took second and began to close in on Fox and eventually he took the lead. On lap 13, Goinn spun in turn three. Under the caution flag, Mark Williams made a pit stop as well as Fox. Peters went on to take the victory over Travis Maytanes who fought hard for his second place finish with Walsh whom placed third.

Coming off of his great victory of the last race, Al Acuna used won the sportsman trophy dash over David Henderson and Shawn Andrews. Angelo Marcelli and Ronnie O’Neill paced the field in the heat race. Marcelli took the lead going into turn one and never looked back as he went on to the victory over Scotty Turner and Henderson.

The thirty lap main was close and tight as Marcelli and Jacob Winfrey led the field to the green flag. Marcelli took control of the lead as the rest of the field jockeyed for position. On lap 5, defending sportsman track champion, Shawn Andrews and veteran Pat Walsh tangled with Walsh spinning. Andrews was sent to the back and the field regrouped and took the restart.

On the restart, Turner got loose and lost several positions. The next lap, rookie Joe McDonald and Walsh tangled resulting in another caution. Under the caution, Andrews pulled his car into the pits and did not return for the rest of the action. The racing resumed again as Marcelli and Acuna fought in what was a repeat of the last race at the 3/8 mile paved oval. On lap 21, Henderson made a move under Acuna and took second position. After two more laps a caution flag was thrown when track officials noticed that Acuna was leaking water. He pulled his car into the pits and did not return.

After a restart, on lap 25 Turner and Winfrey made contact. The black flag was given to Winfrey and he pulled his car off of the track. With cool tires, on the restart Henderson took advantage and made a move on Marcelli coming off of turn two with two laps to go. Going into turn three, the two made contact, Marcelli hitting the wall with his rear end and Henderson continuing on. From third place came Jim Norris who patiently had bided his time and avoided all of the incidents. He avoided the Marcelli-Henderson incident and passed Henderson coming to the white flag and onto the victory. Second was Turner with Henderson and returning driver Ed Peters in fourth.

Racing At Redwood Acres Raceway Off To Exciting Start

Racing At Redwood Acres Raceway Off To Exciting Start
By Matthew J. Sullivan

An exciting Saturday night at Redwood Acres saw some old faces in familiar places as defending mini stock champion, Phil Wood, defending real stock champion, Shawn Craig and Acres racing veteran, Al Acuna each claimed main event victories.

The mini stock cars had a turnout of 10 cars total. In the trophy dash, Wood took the victory over Jason Chand who passed Jason Rhodes on the final corner of the final lap of the race. The heat race saw the car of driver Chad Grammer lead the field into turn one, however at the end of the first lap, Jason Rhodes took command of the field. The next lap, Wood took the lead. On lap 5, the cow car driven by, Dan Brown spun. The rest of the race was clean as Wood took the victory over Rhodes, Grammer and Chand.

The 25 lap mini stock main event had the 13 car of, Brian Murrell on the pole. On the start Grammer and Murrell made contact. Rhodes, trying to avoid the incident ended up spinning but all were able to continue on. The restart had Brown and Wood pacing the field. Off the start, Wood took the lead. On lap 3, the 19 truck of, Mat Wolfe had radiator problems and pulled off of the track and the 09 of Joe McDonald pulled into the pits. On lap seventeen, the Grammer spun resulting in a caution. After the restart, Wood pulled out to a large lead and into victory. Second was Jason Chand, third was Jason Rhodes and fourth was Brown.

The pure stocks had a large turnout of 21 cars. Defending champion, Shawn Craig paced the field with a 20.248 lap around the 3/8 mile paved oval. In the trophy dash, Rick Fox held off a hard charging Craig for the victory. In the first of two heat races, the 45 of, Curt Vance sat on the pole next to the 8 of Keith Conn. After a restart, Conn took the lead going into turn one. By lap three however, Mike Peters took the lead going into turn three. That same lap saw a multi car wreck. After a restart and two green laps, the 73 of Hymie Yellon spun for a caution flag. The rest of the race was tight as Peters took the victory over Steve Kimberling, Brad Fite and Daren Gallagher.

The second pure stock heat was exciting and the first five laps were tight however the fifth lap was a little too tight as Gary Adams and Don Hyman made contact resulting in a flat tire for Adams and no more racing action for Hyman for the rest of the evening. The rest of the race was full of excitement as Fox made it two for two with the heat race victory. He was followed by Craig who passed Aaron Byers for second off of the last turn on the final lap.

The 87 of Jimmy Thornberry had the pole for the 25 lap main event. On lap 4 the Curt Vance slowed to a stop in turns one and two resulting in a caution. After a restart, the side-by-side was intense and at times too intense. On lap 11, Lisa Uselton made contact with another driver and the result was Uselton in the grass; there was no caution however. By lap 12, Craig who had started 14 had moved his way to second and began an assault on first place Brad Fite. Lap 15 the 7 car of, Carl Bowling and Gary Adams collided resulting in the 7 car out of the race. Adams continued on. After the restart, Craig took advantage of it and took the lead. He went unchallenged for the rest of the event and took the victory. Second was Fite, third was Rick Fox and fourth was the Aaron Byers.

The sportsman cars had a turnout of 8 cars, however there is an expectation of more cars for the upcoming season. In the trophy dash, sportsman rookie, Scotty Turner won followed by David Henderson, veteran Pat Walsh and Ronnie O’Neill. The heat race was fast paced as Al Acuna led the field to the green. Early in the heat, defending champion, Shawn Andrews and O’Neill made contact resulting in a dinged up fender for Andrews. On lap 8, Andrews and Walsh made contact resulting in a spin for Andrews, there was no caution as Andrews continued on. Acuna took the victory over 2000 champion Angelo Marcelli, Walsh and Henderson.

During tire warm ups, rookie Jim Norris spun and pushed the nose a bit on his car. This gave the pole to Marcelli with Acuna at his side. Marcelli jumped to the lead off the start. On lap 2, O’Neill pulled into the pits and was done for the night. It was close racing up front for most of the race with the cars nose to tail within inches of each other. On lap 10, Norris pitted and was done and a lap later Henderson visited the pits as well. On lap 14, Scotty Turner got a little loose and Andrews took advantage and moved by. Turner got loose again but couldn’t save it and spun. The car was not damaged and he was able to continue on. After the restart, Andrews tried to make the outside work on Acuna who was running second. Going into turn one, Andrews spun for another caution, he continued on. After the restart, Acuna took advantage of cool tires and made a charge on Marcelli going into turn 3. The two made contact and Marcelli spun into the infield as Acuna continued on with Walsh by his side. Acuna with the inside line took the lead back and held on for the victory over Walsh.

Bobby Hogge IV An Impressive Third At IMCA SuperNationals

By Gary Jacob

Boone, IA -- Watsonville Speedway star Bobby Hogge IV turned his pole starting spot in the IMCA Modified SuperNationals in Boone, Iowa into an impressive third place finish Saturday night as Boone's own John Logue turned in an incredible drive as he won the most prestigious modified race in the country for the fourth time, coming from 33rd starting spot. When the Friday night action was rained out, the event used the usual 40 heat, two qualifying feature format early on Saturday to determine 8 more transfers into the A Main. They then used points earned during the three nights of racing to determine the final 9 starters in the 11 rows of 3 abreast starting grid. Logue was final of those 9 additions and he lined up 33rd for the 40 lapper.

Hogge and Jerry Hoffman took turns leading the first 12 laps of the 40 lapper. Karl Tipton from Central Arizona Raceway got tangled up with Deana Wilson on lap 2 and had to restart in the rear. Wilson was the first female racer to make the A Main ever in this event. Incredibly, Logue worked his way from the 11th row to take the lead on lap 13 and he went on to win by a half-straight over Kelly Shryock. Shryock and Hogge battled for second throughout the race and Hogge put his Joe Carr chassis into the third finishing spot. Tipton did rally to finish 17th. The top finishers in the A Main all have their engines claimed by the track and they are auctioned off to add funds to the race purse. Therefore, Hogge lost his engine at the end of the night. The IMCA Modified portion of the show drew over 400 cars and each driver that survives the four race nights is guaranteed $300 in winnings. Hogge and Tipton ended up being the only western United States racers to make the elite 33 car lineup.

Watsonville's Bobby Hogge IV To Start On The Pole At IMCA SuperNationals

By Gary Jacob

Boone, IA -- By winning both his heat race and the first qualifying main event on Wednesday night, Watsonville Speedway regular Bobby Hogge IV from Prunedale will start Saturday night's prestigious IMCA Modified SuperNationals A Main event in Boone, Iowa from the pole position. The event draws over 400 cars from throughout the country and each of the three qualifying nights sees a total of 40 heat races. You have to win your heat race to be qualified to run in one of that night's two qualifying feature races. Only the top 4 drivers in each of the two qualifying features advance to the big 40 lap, 33 car A Main on Saturday night. After Hogge wheeled his Joe Carr chassis to his two big wins, he won a drawing with Boone champion Joe McBirnie for the pole position as McBirnie had won the other qualifying feature. Another Western US racer also made Saturday night's feature on Wednesday as Central Arizona Raceway star Karl Tipton won his heat and then ran second in his qualifying main event in his Pro Chassis to earn the right to lineup on the inside of row 3 on Saturday night. Arizona's Terry Belcher Jr also won a heat race Wednesday, but was 15th in his qualifying main and Bob Sikes from Eunice, New Mexico ran 12th in his qualifying main event after winning a heat race.

On Thursday night, three more Western US drivers won their heat races, but none were able to finish in the top 4 in their qualifying features as those 8 transfers will start in the first 8 rows of the middle column. The 40 lapper as Boone is started like the Indy 500 with 11 rows of 3 drivers each. Western Region point leader Jason Pike from Pahrump, Nevada came the closest with a 7th place finish in his qualifying main event in his Dirt Works Chassis. Phoenix's Darren Williams was right behind him in 8th and former regional champion Jim Perkins from Fort Mohave, AZ was 16th. The Thursday night action was delayed two hours by rain and finished up in the wee hours of the morning.

Ricky Hood Adds To Point Lead With Dusty Win In Gallup

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.

SCOA Returns To Action With Wilcox Win At Gallup

By Gary Jacob

Gallup, NM -- The SCOA winged 410 sprint cars raced for the first time since the July 4th weekend and Marty Wilcox opened a two-race New Mexico swing by racing to victory in the Friday night main event at Gallup Speedway. He entered the night one point behind point leader Calvin Landis, but the win propelled him into first. Wilcox came from 10th starting to take the lead on lap 10 and win in his Klein Engines, Royal Purple Motor Oil sponsored Maxim. Scott Box finished second ahead of Landis and Jeff Slinkard.

The 23 car field was led through time trials by Wilcox's new track record run of 14.22 seconds. His time was more than 1/2 second faster than the old mark held by Landis. Wilcox then won the dash ahead of female star Kaylene Verville. Heat winners were Box, Slinkard and Verville. The Gallup track had received heavy monsoon rain showers during the week and the winged sprint cars raced on very tacky track conditions.

Patrick Sallaway led early in the main event, but the race was redflagged on lap 1 when Ricky Hood and Jeff Branaman tangled. On the restart, Sallaway again led over Box, Slinkard and Zeke Ziska. Wilcox took the lead from Box on lap 10 and Landis moved up to challenge Box for second. Wilcox's bid for a clean sweep was only marred by the second place heat finish behind Box. Wilcox, Box and Landis were trailed in the main event by Slinkard, Ziska, Bobby Marcum, Steve Martin and Buddy Ray Earle.

Summary Fast Time-Marty Wilcox 14.22 NTR Dash-Wilcox, Kaylene Verville, Calvin Landis. Heat 1-Butch Box, Wilcox, John Harris, Robert Hall, Ben Cheever. Heat 2-Jeff Slinkard, Rob Davis, Buddy Ray Earle, Patrick Sallaway, Bobby Marcum. Heat 3-Verville, Ricky Hood, Steve Lohn, Ty Brooks, Steve Martin. Main-Wilcox, Box, Landis, Slinkard, Zeke Ziska, Marcum, Martin, Earle, Davis, Hall, Sallaway, Steve Dunn, Wheeler, Steve Cushman, Cheever, Tom Saenz, Brooks, Steve Stone, Lohn, Harris, Hood, Jeff Branaman, Verville.