Southwest Formula Mazda Series
by Sandy Magrath

The 2002 Southwest Formula Mazda Series ran Rounds 11 & 12 at the Houston Region SCCA Fiesta Carrera Regional/National held at Texas World Speedway on July 27th and 28th.  For the Saturday Regional, Brad Pollard (Fairview, Tx) qualified on the pole with Darryl Wills (Deerpark, Tx)  2nd and Nur B. Ali in 3rd.   Ali (Euless, Tx) and Wills had a good battle going on for 2nd place, but Wills prevailed and started building a gap between himself and Ali.  Greg Byrne and Frank Tomlinson had quite a battle swapping position several times but Frank made it stick on Lap 10 and finished the race in 4th with Pollard, Wills and Ali taking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.  Darryl Wills had the fastest race lap with a 1:08:48. 

Sunday’s qualifying mirrored Saturday’s with Pollard on the pole and Wills and Ali in 2nd and 3rd.  All Formula Mazda racing is exciting, but Sunday’s race was packed full of punch.  On the start, Ali moved up to 2nd and Wills moved back to 3rd with lots of FC’s between him and Ali.  But on Lap 4, Ali was off the track and done for the day.  By Lap 22, Wills had slowly closed the gap between him and Pollard and they ran side by side up the front straight-a-way.  In the meantime, there was a huge battle for 3rd going on.  Nick Leber, Greg Byrne, and Frank Tomlinson swapped positions for 3rd four times.  They ran a very tight battle and we witnessed some very exciting racing.  Byrne held the position for 8 Laps, then Leber held it for 6 Laps, then Tomlinson for 5, then back to Byrne for 2.  Byrne finished the race in 3rd with Tomlinson 4th and Leber 5th.  On Lap 23, Wills overtook Pollard and finished the race in 1st.  Brad Pollard finished a close 2nd.  Darryl Wills had the fastest race lap with a 1:08:46.  With only two races left in the 2002 Southwest Formula Mazda Series, Brad Pollard has the Championship cinched.  But, 2nd and 3rd places are still up for grabs.  The last two races will be held at Texas World Speedway on August 24-25.  The awards banquet will be held following the race on Sunday with trophies, cash, and prizes being awarded to the Top Ten Finishers in the Series.

 

Round 11 (TWS SCCA Regional 7/27/02)       

Qualifiying Race
1.  Brad Pollard   (1:08:75) 1.  Brad Pollard  (1:08:74)
2.  Darryl Wills  (1:09:45) 2.  Darryl Wills  (1:08:48)
3.  Nur B. Ali  (1:09:71) 3.  Nur B. Ali  (1:09:34)
4.  Nick Leber  (1:10:13) 4.  Frank Tomlinson  (1:11:55)
5.  Greg Byrne  (1: 11:58) 5.  Greg Byrne  (1:11:26)
6.  Frank Tomlinson  (1:11:86) 6.  Roger Addison  (1:12:79)
7.  Dena Tomlin  (1:12:46) 7.  Dena Tomlin  (1:13:05)
8.  Roger Addison  (1:12:87) 8.  Nick Leber  (1:10:84)

Round 12 (TWS SCCA National 7/28/02)

Qualifiying Race
1.  Brad Pollard  (1:08:76) 1.  Darryl Wills  (1:08:46)
2.  Darryl Wills  (1:08:85) 2.  Brad Pollard  (1:08:97)
3.  Nur B. Ali  (1:09:91) 3.  Greg Byrne  (1:11:41)
4.  Frank Tomlinson  (1:10:93) 4.  Frank Tomlinson  (1:11:87)
5.  Greg Byrne  (1:11:00) 5.  Nick Leber  (1:11:97)
6.  Nick Leber  (1:11:08) 6.  Roger Addison  (1:12:87)
7.  Dena Tomlin  (1:11:53) 7.  Dena Tomlin  (1:12:21)
8.  Roger Addison  (1:12:87) 8.  Nur B. Ali  (1:09:80)

2002 Southwest Formula Mazda Series Point Standings
(Revised 7/31/02)

1. Brad Pollard ® 282 8. Greg Byrne (m) 161
2. Nur B. Ali 202 9. Dena Tomlin ® 146
3. Bob Stallings ® (m) 193 10. R. David Jones (m) 118
4. Nick Leber ® (m) 189 11. Larry Eppard ® (m) 108
5.  Darryl Wills 188 12. Tom Woodman ® (m) 75
6. Frank Tomlinson ® 185 13. Kevin Dutton ® 15
7. Roger Addison (m) 172    

Note:  Drivers are scored on their best 12 out of 14 races.  Drivers that attend all races will drop 2 of their worse finishes.  Points shown above reflect the dropped finishes.
® = Rookie         (m) = Master