Southwest Formula Mazda Series
by
Sandy Magrath
The 2002 Southwest Formula Mazda Series ran Rounds 7 & 8 at the Lone Star Region SCCA 2002 Grand Prix held at Texas World Speedway on May 25th and 26th. Saturday’s Regional made for a very exciting race with the top three places changing dramatically throughout. Nur B. Ali (Euless) got his first pole with Brad Pollard (Fairview, Tx) 2nd and Darryl Wills (Deer Park, Tx) in 3rd. Ali held on to the lead until Lap 5 when Nick Leber, qualifying 4th, overtook him. Soon Ali was battling another, Darryl Wills. Wills took 2nd on Lap 8. Wills followed Leber very tightly through the remaining 9 laps. On the last lap of the race, Leber made the wrong choice through lap traffic and Wills took the win. Tom Woodman who started in 5th and held 3rd for 6 laps, had the fastest race lap with a 1:08:98. Wills’ win on Saturday charged him up for Sunday’s qualifying and he got the pole with Pollard in 2nd and Ali in 3rd. Ali was out of the race after only 1 lap with a battery connection problem. Roger Addison was also out of the race after lap 3 when an altercation with a Continental left him minus a rear wing. Wills and Pollard held a comfortable 1st and 2nd for the entire race. Greg Byrne (Southlake, Tx) finished 3rd. Darryl Wills had the fastest race lap with a 1:08:87.
Round 7 (TWS SCCA Regional 5/25/02)
| Qualifiying | Race |
| 1. Nur B. Ali (1:08:23) | 1. Darryl Wills (1:09:14) |
| 2. Brad Pollard (1:08:43) | 2. Nick Leber (1:09:07) |
| 3. Darryl Wills (1:09:16) | 3. Nur B. Ali (1:10:13) |
| 4. Nick Leber (1:09:29) | 4. Brad Pollard (1:09:40) |
| 5. Tom Woodman (1:09:88) | 5. Greg Byrne (1:09:63) |
| 6. Greg Byrne (1:10:50) | 6. Frank Tomlinson (1:10:86) |
| 7. Frank Tomlinson (1:10:98) | 7. Tom Woodman (1:08:98) |
| 8. Roger Addison (1:11:50) | 8. Roger Addison (1:11:56) |
| 9. Dena Tomlin (1:13:96) | 9. Dena Tomlin (1:14:18) |
Round 8 (TWS SCCA National 5/26/02)
| Qualifiying | Race |
| 1. Darryl Wills (1:08:11) | 1. Darryl Wills (1:08:87) |
| 2. Brad Pollard (1:08:46) | 2. Brad Pollard (1:09:17) |
| 3. Nur B. Ali (1:09:26) | 3. Greg Byrne (1:09:57) |
| 4. Greg Byrne (1:09:70) | 4. Tom Woodman (1:09:66) |
| 5. Nick Leber (1:09:74) | 5. Frank Tomlinson (1:10:15) |
| 6. Tom Woodman (1:09:86) | 6. Dena Tomlin (1:12:59) |
| 7. Frank Tomlinson (1:10:29) | 7. Nick Leber (1:09:14) |
| 8. Roger Addison (1:10:72) | 8. Roger Addison (1:13:89) |
| 9. Dena Tomlin (1:12:17) | 9. Nur B. Ali (1:14:07) |
2002 Southwest Formula
Mazda Series Point Standings
(Revised 5/29/02)
| 1. Brad Pollard ® | 170 | 8. Roger Addison | 101 |
| 2. Bob Stallings ® (m) | 143 | 9. Dena Tomlin ® | 81 |
| 3. Darryl Wills | 134 | 10. R. David Jones (m) | 76 |
| 4. Nur B. Ali | 122 | 11. Tom Woodman ® (m) | 75 |
| 5. Nick Leber ® (m) | 121 | 12. Larry Eppard ® (m) | 70 |
| 6. Greg Byrne (m) | 120 | 13. Kevin Dutton ® | 15 |
| 7. Frank Tomlinson ® | 112 |
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