23 Formula Mazdas Turn Out for SWFM Series Opener

Rounds 1 & 2 of the 2004 Southwest Formula Mazda Series were held at Motorsport Ranch on March 6-7. 23 Formula Mazda drivers registered in the Series and created our largest fields yet.

We had perfect weather all weekend for our 30 minute race on Saturday and our 40 minute race on Sunday. Ross Smith, at his home track, got his first pole during Saturday’s Qualifying. During the race, he built up quite a lead, and won the race seemingly effortless. On Lap 4, Forest Barber spun right in front of Ben McCrackin. McCrakin hit Barber’s car, went airborne, and rolled end over end. Fortunately, both drivers were fine. In fact, McCrackin raced a Miata an hour later and found another FM to race on Sunday. Darryl Wills, William Daniel, Walter Gragert, and Keith Verges put on quite a show. They all battled it out for most of the race as evidenced by their fastest race laps. Wills finished 2nd, Daniel 3rd and Gragert and Verges finished 4th and 5th.

Sunday’s story could be 12 pages, but we will only report the condensed version. The “call to the grid” for the race was much earlier than what was originally scheduled and all of the FM’s housed in MSR garages did not hear the call over the loud speaker (so much for home track advantage!). So, only ½ of the 22 car field took the track when the grid was released. The other half took the track one by one as they reached the grid area. Needless to say, the field was really mixed up and qualifying positions didn’t matter much. Darryl Wills started on the pole and took the early lead with William Daniel in a very close 2nd. Ross Smith, who started somewhere in the back, was in 3rd by Lap 5 and was closing in on Wills and Daniel. The 3 were no more than a few seconds apart for the rest of the race. With about 3 laps to go, Smith passed Daniel for 2nd and was trying for Wills. However, he could not get the pass made with Wills driving a very smart and consistent race. Wills won the race with Smith in 2nd and Daniel in 3rd. Unfortunately for Smith, his scurry up to 2nd place was for nothing. At post race inspection, Smith’s rev chip was found to be 8 rpm’s over the maximum allowable. The chip was set the day before (by the same official Series Tech) at 45 rpm’s under the maximum. Results and Point Standings are shown below. Since the April TWS event was cancelled, the next Series race (replacement date) will be held at TWS on March 27-28.

 

Round 1 (MSR NASA Regional 3/6/04) 

   QUAL 3/6/04
 
   RACE 3/6/04
 

1
Ross Smith
(1:12.08)
 1
 Ross Smith 
(1:13.37)

2
Darryl Wills
(1:12.27)
2
 Darryl Wills 
(1:14.61)
3
Forest Barber
(1:12.55)
3
 William Daniel 
(1:14.33)
4
William Daniel
(1:13.15)
4
 Walter Gragert 
(1:14.67)
5
Keith Verges
(1:13.30)
5
 Keith Verges 
(1:14.21)
6
Ben McCrackin
(1:13.68)
6
 Mike Bradshaw 
(1:15.88)
7
Michael Bradshaw
(1:14.22)
7
 Nur B. Ali
(1:15.70)
8
Mike Kaeske
(1:14.32)
8
 Doug Saylors 
(1:16.40)
9
Walter Gragert
(1:14.40)
9
 Frank Tomlinson 
(1:17.13)
10
Greg Labadie
(1:14.65)
10
 Greg Labadie 
(1:15.99)
11
Michael Tari
(1:15.56)
11
 Michael Fling 
(1:16.72)

12
Doug Saylors
(1:16.20)
12
SteveDavison
(1:17.07)
13
Ricky Woods
(1:16.34)
13
 Roger Addison
(1:18.93)
14
Frank Tomlinson
(1:16.45)
14
 Jesse Shelmire
(1:17.63)
15
Dave Defnet
(1:16.90)
15
 David Knapp
(1:21.22)
16
Jesse Shelmire
(1:17.46)
16
Mike Kaeske
(1:15.09)
17
Brad Jackson
(1:17.48)
17
Ricky Woods
(1:16.15)
18
Michael Fling
(1:18.28)
18
 Brad Jackson
(1:19.15)
19
David Knapp
(1:18.68)
19
Forest Barber
(1:15.29)
20
Steve Davison
(1:18.70)
20
Ben McCrackin
(1:16.05)
21
Roger Addison
(1:19.86)
21
Michael Tari
(1:18.49)
22
Nur B. Ali
00.000
22
Dave Defnet
DNS

Fastest Race Lap - Ross Smith Hard Charger - Nur B. Ali Top Gun Novice - Mike Bradshaw

    
Round 2 (MSR NASA Regional 3/7/04)

     QUAL 3/7/04        RACE 3/7/04  
1 Darryl Wills (1:13.45) 1 Darryl Wills (1:13.01)
2 Michael Tari (1:13.66) 2 William Daniel (1:12.76)
3 Keith Verges (1:13.82) 3 Mike Bradshaw (1:13.60)
4 Mike Kaeske (1:13.95) 4 Ricky Woods (1:14.30)
5 William Daniel (1:13.96) 5 Michael Fling (1:15.33)
6 Mike Bradshaw (1:14.30) 6 Nur B. Ali (1:14.33)
7 Ricky Woods (1:14.79) 7 Michael Tari (1:13.87)
8 Ben McCrackin (1:15.18) 8 Doug Saylors (1:14.75)
9 Nur B. Ali (1:15.75) 9 Brad Jackson (1:16.45)
10 Michael Fling (1:15.95) 10 Roger Addison (1:16.35)
11 Greg Labadie (1:16.20) 11 Steve Davison (1:15.95)
12 Doug Saylors (1:16.25) 12 JesseShelmire (1:15.45)
13 Steve Davison (1:16.59) 13 JJ Fischer (1:12.96)
14 Jesse Shelmire (1:16.94) 14 David Knapp (1:17.37)
15 Roger Addison (1:18.64) 15 Frank Tomlinson (1:14.75)
16 Brad Jackson (1:18.64) 16 Mike Kaeske (1:13.94)
17 David Knapp (1:19.15) 17 Ben McCrackin (1:13.69)
18 Walter Gragert (1:23.02) 18 Greg Labadie (1:15.00)
19 Dave Defnet (1:29.79) 19 Keith Verges (1:14.70)
20 Ross Smith 00.000 20 Ross Smith  
21 Frank Tomlinson 00.000 21 Dave Defnet DNS
22 JJ Fischer 00.000 22 Walter Gragert DNS
           

Fastest Race Lap - William Daniel Hard Charger - JJ Fischer Top Gun Novice - Ricky Woods

2004 Southwest Formula Mazda Series Point Standings