By Sandy Magrath
Rounds
5 & 6 of the Southwest Formula Mazda Series were held at Texas Motor
Speedway on May 1-2 at the SCCA Sunburn 2004 Regional/National. Qualifying
on Saturday was run on rain tires under light rain conditions. David
Stover, who just joined the SWFM Series, qualified on the pole with
a 1:34:40. Ross Smith (1:34:52) qualified in 2nd and Mike Kaeske in
3rd. David Stover, who is currently being tracked in a reality TV show,
had his film crew present all weekend. The TV Series is called The Drive
and airs on CMT. The Drive is a continuous series that follows 7 race
car drivers through their racing careers and personal lives. The film
crew was present all weekend and filmed David on the track and off.
This episode should air in 5-6 weeks. Several other SWFM Series drivers
should also be seen in this episode. Check out the website (www.cmt.com/shows/dyn/the_drive/series.jhtml)
for the exact air dates and times. Saturday’s race proved to be very
exciting with lots of swaps for position. Nur B.Ali, who qualified 9th,
was up to 2nd position at the conclusion of Lap 3. He held that position
until Lap 5 when Smith passed him on the front straight. That was not
the end of Ali’s bad luck. On the same Lap, Ali ended up in the tire
wall and ended his race. (Unfortunately, his racing was ended for the
entire weekend due to an injured finger from the mishap.) Then, the
race was “under double yellow” for a couple of laps. A restart on Lap
11 tightened up the field. Darryl Wills, points leader, put his sights
on Ross Smith who was holding onto 2nd position behind Stover. Wills
and Smith had a very tight battle going on and Wills finally passed
him on Lap 13. On the last Lap of the race, Stover (leader) missed a
shift and Darryl Wills got by him. Stover drafted behind Wills in Nascar
Turn 4 and then it was a race to the finish line side by side. Stover
won by a wheel’s length with Wills in a very close 2nd and Ross Smith
in 3rd. Mike Bradshaw (qualifying 8th) made his way up the pack to finish
4th.
For Sunday’s 20 Lap National, Wills got the pole with Stover in 2nd
and Bradshaw in 3rd. Stover took the lead at the beginning of the race
and held on for 3 laps. Then Wills took over. The two swapped positions
throughout the entire race. But on Sunday, Wills prevailed and won.
There were many other exciting battles going on as well. Mike Bradshaw
and Ben McCrackin battled it out for 3rd position. Frank Tomlinson had
his hands full with rookie Russell Walker on his tail. Ross Smith and
William Daniel, tied for 2nd in points coming into the weekend, finished
5 and 6th respectively. Daniel, with a 2 week old busted collar bone,
suffered through the race weekend to protect his points position.
The Rookie
of the Year race is close with Steve Davison at 51 points, Brad Jackson
at 49, and others close behind. The Rookie of the Year will win a full
set of BBS wheels valued at $2,300.
|