|
 LAKEVILLE,
IN -- After not having any of last year's 14 races affected by rain,
the NASCAR Northwest Series season-opener at Evergreen Speedway in
Monroe, Washington was a wash out. NASCAR expects to reschedule the
event later in the season. The next race on the series schedule is
April 24th at Tri-City Raceway in West Richland, WA. While in the
NASCAR Southwest Series race, Craig Raudman (photo) came from 10th to
the front en route to becoming the series' third race winner in as
many events in 2004. The NASCAR Southwest Series and the NASCAR
Northwest Series are among the five NASCAR divisions that exclusively
run Hoosier tires at all scheduled events.
NASCAR SOUTHWEST SERIES
BAKERSFIELD, CA (March 28) -- Thirty cars took turns in qualifying on
the Mesa Marin Raceway 1/2-mile. Craig Raudman was fast qualifier at
18.496 (97.318 mph). After drawing a 10-car invert, Raudman started
10th with Eric Holmes starting on the pole.
The race featured four lead changes among five drivers
including Eric Holmes (pole), Rip Michels (1-17), Jim Pettit II 18-83,
David Gilliland (84-105), Craig Raudman (106-150). Raudman collected
$3,750 for his 19th Southwest Series win.
Thirteen drivers finished the race on the lead lap
including previous race winner Jim Pettit II in second followed by
Doug McCoun, defending series champion Auggie Vidovich, Jr., and
season-opener winner Eddy McKean in third through fifth, respectively.
Completing the list of lead-lap finishers in sixth through thirteenth
were; Dan Holtz, Eric Holmes, Ben Walker, Nick Joanides, Rip Michels,
Keith Spangler, Joe Herold, and Darrell LaMoure.
The NASCAR Southwest Series has now had three race
winners in three events to begin their 2004 campaign. The next stop on
the 14-race series schedule is at California's Cajon Speedway on April
3rd.
After finishing third in the rankings last season, Jim
Petitt II is currently atop the driver standings in the NASCAR
Southwest Series with 345 points followed by Eddy McKean with 330
points. Burney Lamar is in third place with 305 points, while Craig
Raudman is in fourth place with 301 markers.
Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. is once again proud to have
been selected by NASCAR to provide tires to the series mentioned in
this report. Terry Newton and Irish Saunders are the Hoosier Product
Managers that handle these five NASCAR divisions.
|
