Southwest Formula Mazda Series Rounds 5/6

Round 7-8 of SWFM Series
by Sandy Magrath

The 2003 Southwest Formula Mazda Series ran Rounds 7 & 8 at Texas World Speedway on June 21-22 at the SCCA Armadillo Sprints. On Saturday’s SCCA Regional, Darryl Wills qualified on the pole with Bill Daniel and Ben McCrackin in 2^nd and 3^rd. Darryl Wills held on to first place for the entire race. Bill Daniel retained 2^nd for the entire race as well. The big battle was for 3^rd amongst Ben McCrackin, Frank Tomlinson, and Dave Defnet. Tomlinson passed McCrackin on Lap 7 for the 3^rd place position. On Lap 8, Tomlinson and McCracken “got together” and McCrackin was finished for the day. Tomlinson’s car was slightly damaged and he finished the race 2 laps short. Dave Defnet finished the race in third. Congrats to Dave for his first podium finish! Michael Bradshaw, who started in 7^th, finished 4^th in his first FM race.

Sundays National qualifying was a repeat of Saturday with Wills on the pole and Daniel and McCrackin in 2^nd and 3^rd. At the completion of Lap 1 of the race, Bill Daniel had made his way around Darryl Wills. He held the lead until Lap 9 when Wills recaptured the lead. Wills, Daniel, and McCrackin had a tight race going until Lap 17 when McCrackin spun and created a gap. Wills won the race with Daniel finishing in 2^nd. Ben McCrackin finished 3^rd but was DQ’d by SCCA for not meeting minimum weight requirements.

Round 7 (Texas World Speedway SCCA Regional 5/24/03 )

Qualifiying	Race
1. Darryl Wills (1:08:13)	1. Darryl Wills (1:08:23)
2. William Daniel (1:08:54)	2. William Daniel (1:08:98)
3. Ben McCrackin (1:08:79)	3. Dave Defnet (1:09:33)
4. Dave Defnet (1:08:93)	4. Michael Bradshaw (1:09:75)
5. Walter Gragert (1:09:36)	5. Walter Gragert (1:10:19)
6. Frank Tomlinson (1:09:59)	6. Ross Smith (1:11:12)
7. Michael Bradshaw (1:10:06)	7. Keith Verges (1:10:85)
8. Keith Verges (1:10:25)	8. R. David Jones (1:11:48)
9. R. David Jones (1:10:45)	9. Greg Byrne (1:12:57)
10.Greg Byrne (1:11:55)	10. Greg Labadie (1:11:70)
11 Ross Smith (1:11:76)	11.Frank Tomlinson (1:09:49)
12. Greg Labadie (no time)	12. Ben McCrackin (1:09:34)

Round 8 ( Texas World Speedway SCCA National 5/25/03 )

Qualifiying	Race
1. Darryl Wills (1:07:96)	1. Darryl Wills (1:08:55)
2. William Daniel (1:08:17)	2. William Daniel (1:08:37)
3. Ben McCrackin (1:08:41)	3. Tim Magrath (1:09:54)
4. Tim Magrath (1:08:68)	4. Dave Defnet (1:09:33)
5. Dave Defnet (1:08:89)	5. Keith Verges (1:10:15)
6. R. David Jones (1:09:34)	6. R. David Jones (1:09:70)
7. Walter Gragert (1:09:37)	7. Walter Gragert (1:09:94)
8. Keith Verges (1:09:37)	8. Michael Bradshaw (1:10:44)
9. Greg Labadie (1:10:23)	9. Greg Labadie (1:11:06)
10. Michael Bradshaw (1:10:55)	10. Frank Tomlinson (1:11:01)
11. Frank Tomlinson (1:10:62)	11. Ben McCrackin (1:08:53)

2003 Southwest Formula Mazda Series Point Standings
(Revised 6/27/03)

1. Darryl Wills	170	10. Greg Labadie ® (m)	92
2. William Daniel ®	145	11.Nur B. Ali	91
3. Keith Verges ®	127	12. Ross Smith ®	58
4. Ben McCrackin ® (m)	124	13. Michael Tari ®	55
5. Frank Tomlinson	110	14. Tim Magrath	51
6. Greg Byrne (m)	108	15. Michael Bradshaw ®	36
6. Walter Gragert ®	108	16. Doug Saylors	31
8. R. David Jones (m)	106	17. Charlie Brown ® (m)	18
9. Dave Defnet ®	103

Note: Drivers are scored on their best 11 out of 13 races. Drivers that attend all races will drop 2 of their worse finishes. Points shown above reflect the dropped finishes.
® = Rookie (m) = Master