USRA Trucks @ Stock Car Spectacular

[rebelracewriter]

Craig Roper and Jason Marshall paced the thirteen truck field for the 50 lap feature. On the first attempt, Roper with the jump got the lead but Rusty Mirth and Shawn Paul Lehman spun in the pack, sending James Lynch into the grass to avoid them. On the second start Roper got a big jump on Green as Marshall fell back on the high side.

 

At the end of lap 1 the points chasers, Roper and Steve Green were one and two, with former ARTS Champion, Bryan Meredith in third. Roper and Green quickly began moving away from Meredith, Marshall, Jim Albert, and past ARTS National Champion, Colt James.

 

Lap 5 saw Albert putting pressure on Marshall, with occasional raps on the bumper. As Albert challenged Marshall, James looked high on Albert. James ducked low on Albert as the two rubbed and James got by for fifth. By lap 10 Green was closing on Roper as the two continued to build their lead on the field. James picked off another spot on lap 11, getting by Marshall for fourth. Yellow waved on lap 12, when Chris Snocker slid off on turn 4. On the restart, Roper got two truck lengths on Green, with James pressuring Meredith for third.

 

Mirth spun on lap 20, but was able to keep going with no caution. Up front, James was able to get by Meredith, then Green for second, as Roper got away to a huge lead. At the crossed flags it was Roper, James, Green, Meredith, and Albert rounding out the top five. Green closed back in on James, and was putting heat on him to take second back. On lap 33 Green got inside James running side by side for a lap, until the two made slight contact in turn 1 and James spun, bringing out a caution.

 

The top five got away clean as green waved again, with Jody Busby slowing and splitting the field. Albert and Meredith ran door to door with some contact in turn 4. Meanwhile, up front, Green was pressuring Roper for the lead as they put a full straight away on the field. Roper was able to hold Green off in the final laps to win the battle in the CCC Group, Bradford's Transmission, McGinnis Welding Supply, Brian's Tire crate motor powered ARTS chassis. Green's second place was enough for him to win the war, as he secured his second USRA Truck Championship.

 

“I couldn’t think of a nicer guy to lose the championship to,” said Roper. “I’m not too disappointed. We’re disappointed at a couple previous races, but I’m glad he won. All we could do was win the race. That’s the best we can do. I saw him in my mirror the whole night, so there was never a doubt that he was going to win the championship. Winning the race was the best we could do, and I got that done. We did all we could do. We won five races this year, so I’m happy with that”

 

 

“This is my first champion, and it’s great.” replied the elated Green. “The first one’s good. I came here to race tonight and I wanted to win it. I think we had a truck good enough to. We kind of lost a little ground when my spotter said the caution was out and it wasn’t. We just had to go chase them back down. We lost 10-12 laps there trying to get back to the front and we just did what we could and had a good run.”

“The Roper’s are good folks. We have a good time with them. We went over to Florida a couple weeks ago to run the Late Models and Trucks with them and had thought about heading to Altus with them tomorrow. “

 

 

 

USRA Trucks

Position, Car Number, Name, Hometown, Qualifying Time, Laps Completed

1. (40) Craig Roper, Vernon, TX, 16.353, 50 Laps

2. (54) Steve Green, Marble Falls, TX, 16.142, 50

3. (42) Jason Marshall, Leander, TX, 16.477, 50

4. (31) Jim Albert, Lockhart, TX, 16.467, 50

5. (30) Bryan Meredith, Austin, TX, 16.586, 50

6. (13) James Lynch, Cedar Park, TX, 16.977, 50

7. (72) Brent Bell, Katy, TX, 16.805, 50

8. (1) Jody Buzbee, Waco, TX, 16.769, 49

9. (38) Cameron Moore, Jr., Buda, TX, 17.062, 49

10. (43) Chris Snocker, San Antonio, TX, 16.817, 49

11. (60) Colt James, Buda, TX, 16.472, 44

12. (07) Rusty Mirth, Austin, TX, 16.636, 21

13. (28) Shawn Paul Lehman, Manchaca, TX, 16.622, 9