Winter Cup Series 1-25-03

[rebelracewriter]

OK OK I know y'all are saying, "WHAT, This is Texas not New Mexico." But working out near El Paso for four days gave me a chance to visit a different track. Besides, there were no Texas tracks running and if you check the results the winner was a Texan!!!! LOL

 

3rd Annual Barnett Harley Davidson Winter Cup Series @ Southern New Mexico Spwy. Race 2 of the 4 race series 1-25-03

By J M Hallas

Godwin rides into Sunset for win.

Las Cruces, New Mexico. 40 modifieds signed in for race 2 of Winter Cup Series at SNMS on the 5/16 mile semi-banked clay track on a warm sunny Saturday afternoon. Qualifying was done through five heat races, taking the top three from each and a B-main which transferred the top 9 to fill the 24 car field. Heat race winners were John Carney jr., former SMNS track champ Terry Tipton, last week’s winner and past SNMS champ Lorne Wofford, Troy Godwin and Billy Roy Harris.

24 cars battled it out in the B-main for the top 9 spots. John Carney sr. and Holly Jones led the field to green for the 20 lap event. J. Carney sr. edged out to the lead on lead on lap1, but young lady H. Jones fought back getting along side J. Carney sr. on lap 2. J. Carney sr. was able to resecure the point on lap 3. The pack was forced to scatter when Brad Bowden spun in front of the leaders to bring out the caution on lap 4. During the yellow J. Carney sr. was forced to pit because the fuel cap was missing. This handed the lead to H. Jones who battled with another youngster, Johnny Scott on the restart. H. Jones and J. Scott ran door to door on lap 6 with the 13 year old(yes 13 yr. old) J. Scott making the pass on lap 7. Jimmy Ray, using the high groove was making headway, along with Butch Reid and John Tanner.

At the mid point the top five were J. Scott, H. Jones, Ray, Mike Wells and Mike Stringfield. Lap 12 saw the young miss Jones’ hopes of making the A-main go out the window when she spun and collected Matt Whetstine. The caution erased a large lead that J. Scott had built up over the second running Ray. On the restart J. Scott and Ray raced side by side for two laps before Ray gained the advantage on lap 14. The final yellow came on lap 15 when Bowden spun again, while Ralph Adams was spinning at the other end of the track. Ray got out to a comfortable lead on the restart while J. Scott and Wells fought it out for second. Meanwhile there was a great 3-car scrap going on for the transfer spot between Jeff Tanner, Chris Simms and Stormy Scott, the twin brother of Johnny. As the checkers flew it was Ray taking the victory by several car lengths.

B-Main

(top 9 transferred)

1- Jimmy Ray #9

2- Johnny Scott #1st

3- Mike Wells #66

4- Mike Stringfield #11

5- Michael Daut #49c

6- John Tanner #74T

7- Jeremy Payne #86P

8- Jeff Tanner #99x

9- Chris Simms #0

10- Stormy Scott #2nd

11- Butch Reid Jr. #1r 12- Lester Burns #53

13- Wayne Pelkey #28

14- Holly Jones #121

15- Shaun Harvey #10H

16- James Lynch #usa1

17- Ralph Adams #5A

18- Owen Puckett #06P

19- Billy Johnson #5

20- Matt Whetstine #11w

21- Allen Gaddis #21

22- Monte Hunter #3

23- Brad Bowden #40

24- John Carney Sr. #7c

25- Anton Salopek #6u

 

 

A full field of 24 modifieds started the 30 lap main with Alvie Williams and Godwin on the front row. Williams got the jump on the green as the pack battled 3-wide for 5th. Godwin got along side Williams on lap 2 with the two running door to door at the line. Godwin got the advantage on lap 3 as Williams began to fade. Bumper Jones was making a move using the high groove and they were three wide for 2nd on lap 4. The caution came out on lap 5 when Jf. Tanner slid off turn one. Rett Salopek, using the low side, picked off Williams on the restart and Bobby Curran the next lap to move into second. B. Jones charge came to an end when he broke and stopped on lap 10, erasing Godwin's five car length advantage. On the restart Godwin and R. Salopek ran wheel to wheel for the lead, while John Carney jr. was looking to get by both. Ray was the next big charger as he moved into 7th from his B-main transfer starting spot just before halfway.

At the halfway point it was Godwin, J. Carney jr., R. Salopek, Curran and Williams in the top five, with the top three easing away. Joe Alvorado and Mike Wells made contact on lap 16 with Alvorado spinning to bring out a yellow. On the restart, J Carney jr. looked inside Godwin for the lead allowing R. Salopek to get along side on the high groove. Lap 20 saw J. Carney jr. make slight contact with Godwin, then backed off allowing Godwin to regain control. This let R. Salopek get a run on both, but he was unable to make the pass for lead, but was able to grab second. With 5 to go Godwin was inching ahead while J. Carney jr. and R. Salopek battled side by side for second. J. Carney jr. secured the spot with three to go while Billy Roy Harris moved in the challenge R. Salopek for third. Godwin then, literally ran off into the sunset to grab the win in the Sunsets West Specialty/Tiara Building Corp./Performance Automotive, Joe Alvorado Motor/Ballistic Chassis.

 

1- Troy Godwin #51 El Paso TX.

2- John Carney Jr. #8c Las Cruces NM.

3- Rett Salopek #6 Las Cruces NM.

4- Billy Roy Harris #2wild Deming NM.

5- Lorne Wofford #18 Alamogordo NM.

6- Royal Jones #131 Las Cruces NM.

7- Jimmy Ray #9 Las Cruces NM.

8- Ricky Baldwin #105 Farmington NM.

9- Alvie Williams #22w El Paso TX.

10- Chris Simms #0 Las Cruces NM.

11- Greg Pratt Jr. #89 El Paso TX.

12- Bobby Curran #19 Alamogordo NM.

13- John Tanner #74T Edgewood NM.

14- Johnny Scott #1st Las Cruces NM.

15- JR Patton #86 Las Cruces NM.

16- Terry Tipton #99T Duncan AZ.

17- Jeremy Payne #86P

18- Jeff Tanner #99x Alamogordo NM.

19- Joe Alvorado #36 El Paso TX

20- Mike Wells #66 Las Cruces NM.

21- Michael Daut #49c Colo.

22- Bumper Jones #111 Las Cruces NM.

23- Pat Carney #6c El Paso TX.

24- Mike Stringfield #11 Alamogordo NM.

 

Wofford still holds a slim 2 point lead in the series over R. Jones and Harris. Racing resumes next Sat. afternoon at 2PM with the third race of the series and the finale of the series on Feb. 8th. Then Feb. 27-28, March 1-2 SNMS hosts the Winter Meltdown with a $6500 pay day for the winner and #700 to start the A-main.

 

Burton scores first ever win

No not Jeff or Ward, but Jonathon Burton. Burton took over the lead from Mike Rosales on lap 3 of the 20 lap street stock main and never looked back. Burton then pulled away from the second place battle between H. Jones and Rosales to put the Barnett Harley Davidson/Burton Body Shop/ Camero in the winner’s circle. Heat honors went to H. Jones and Rosales.

Burton

H. Jones

Dustin Smith

Rosales

Adam Gallivan

Tony Bujek

Bobby Otero

Tim Jackson

Rick Adkisson

Grant Schoner

Melissa Graham

Patrick Beach

Charley Morris

Steven Pendergast

JL Marquez

Rick Tomas

Cassandra Wells finished 5th but was DQ’ed after failing to stop for tech, thinking she had finished out of the top five. I didn’t check to see if she was a blonde, but I’ll bet she stops next time even if she’s dead last. Just kidding about the blonde comment, I’d hate to have all my blonde lady friends gang up on me.

Royal Jones charges to super stock checkers

In the super stock main, R. Jones made the charge from his mid pack start to snare the lead from Brian Mundell just past halfway. Mundell made a late effort to retake the lead but fell short as R. Jones piloted the Mesilla Valley Trucking/Alex Body Shop/Camero to victory lane. R. Jones and Gary Cheek scored the heat wins.

R. Jones

Mundell

Casey Rush

Morey Munez

Mike Fagie

Henry Brumley

Rick Gallenos

Brian Armstrong

Gary Boles

Gary Cheek

Rick Ortega

LD Leetch

Tim Jackson

Russell Allen

Leroy Christenson

Brent Deetz

Marty Scott

Writers notes; I want to thank SNMS track manager, Wilma Arroyos for extending the same hospitality, courtesy and access that the Texas tracks give me. It was a good, briskly run show and y'all did a good job. Also to Tre Brewbaker for all his help with drivers names, stats, etc. Thanx again for everything, wish y'all were closer than 10 hours away because I’d for sure make the Winter Meltdown show.

During the drivers meeting I was standing next to one the Scott twins, my first thought was, “Gee I don’t see any karts racing.” But to my surprise it was actually a modified driver. The twins Johnny and Stormy got their numbers 1st and 2nd after finishing first and second in last years street stock points–at 12 years old. These two boys can certainly drive the wheels off a car and I wouldn’t be surprised to one them score a win this season and a track championship before they’re even old enough to drive on the streets.

It appears that racing in New Mexico is definitely a family sport with several family teams represented. The Jones’, Scotts’, Tanners’, Carneys’ Salopeks’ and Wells’ were among those on hand.