Garrett Sweeps ARTS Again

[KELLY83]

Garrett Sweeps ARTS Again

by Kelly Freeman

July 24, 2003

 

Jon T. Garrett picked up where he left off two weeks ago on his most recent visit to Wichita Falls' Red River Speedway. The #66 Rose City Racing Team skipped the first couple practice sessions because of the extreme temperature of the asphalt on this 105 degree Saturday afternoon. Jon did make one of the last practice sessions but learned nothing as there was oildry all over the track from the cleanup of a previous blown motor. This caused every truck on the track at that time to slide and spin the tires constantly. The track was eventually swept before qualifying.

 

Garrett took the Fastest Qualifier Award when he timed in with a 15.724 lap edging out Blake Harris with a time of 15.752 and Bryan Meredith with a 15.787 lap. This would sit Garrett on the pole of heat #1 and he would lead from flag to flag to take the win. The second heat was taken by the #2 of Blake Harris.

 

After a draw by Garrett to set the invert, he would be starting 3rd with Robert Walton's #10 starting 4th. The front row would include Harris in the #2 starting 2nd and Jon Denham in the #26 on the pole.

 

Denham would take the early lead with the field in tow. After several laps Denham would eventually slide up the track in turns 3 & 4 allowing Garrett to make a pass on the low side coming onto the front straight. Jon would not look back as the race went from green to checkers with no cautions. There were several spins however and an incident where a truck hit the wall on the front straight. But everyone kept going with no delays or pulled to the infield and with no debris on the track there was no need for a caution. Jion T. was followed by Robert Walton, G.W. Griffin, Blake Harris, and Dusty Tutten to round out the top 5 in that order. The 50 lap event took less that 13 minutes to complete but was full of action to please the fans of Red River Speedway.

 

This was the second sweep of Wichita Falls by Jon T. Garrett in these last 2 visits to the speedway. This coming Saturday night Jon T. and everyone on the Lone Star Region Tour of ARTS will take aim on Thunderhill Speedway in Kyle, Texas, south of Austin. Jon T. has one win this season at Kyle as well as a win for Rick Emde and a win for John Paul Kliewer.

 

Robert Walton sits atop the current point standings with 1464 points. He has 6 top 10 finishes, 5 of those in the top 5 but with no wins. Jon Denham has 2 wins and 2 other top 10 finishes and is second in points with 1401. Jon T. Garrett has 3 wins and 3 other top 5 finishes. He has missed one race due to an injury but holds 3rd in points with 1391 points. Bryan Meredith holds 4th with 1174 points and Steve Green is tied for 5th with Bud Carroll, both with 1173 points.