TSRS @ Stock Car Spectacular 9-27-03 recap

[rebelracewriter]

7th Annual Stock Car Spectacular @ Thunder Hill Raceway 9-27-03

By J M Hallas

First Three Time TSRS Winner Takes First Jewel of Triple Crown Series

Kyle, Texas. The Texas Super Racing Series portion of the Stock Car Spectacular was the first race of the Triple Crown Series, with anyone good/lucky enough to win all three race taking home numerous contingency awards.

 

Of the 31 Limited Late Models timed in, Houston’s Brad Hudek set the fastest time touring the 3/8 mile track in 15.604 seconds. Jeff Pollard and Matt Brune had their times erased after being DQ’ed for illegal carburetors, though Pollard said his had passed tech in the past.

 

An “11" was rolled on the dice to set the invert for the field, putting two-time winner, Tommy Gural and Leland Waddell on the front row. On the start, Waddell got stuck in the high groove and tried to squeeze in, causing James Reeder to spin and collect David Snokhaus and Larry Stein. Shortly after the restsrt, Lloyd Alexander got into Robert Stewart causing Stewart to spin and bring out caution again on lap 14.

 

Once back under green, Gural was starting to get away from a smoking Beau Bukowski who was running second. Lap 28 saw the yellow fly again as Keith Sandefur and Stewart got together and spun to the infield. Just as the race restarted Alexander lost some pieces of bodywork to slow the pace once again on lap 35.

 

As green flag racing resumed, Gural once again eased away, with 2nd-12th running nose to tail in the pack. The leader survived a scare on lap 40 when John Hernandez spun in front of he and the other frontrunners. During the caution, Bukowski was called to pits by officials to check for an oil leak. Bukowski had apparently cracked the fuel pump and was pushing oil out on the headers.

 

On the restart Mike Yale and Snokhaus got tangled, with Steve Riggs spinning in the back up. At this point it was announced that the originally scheduled 125 lap event would be shortened to 100 laps, with no competition yellow. This would not bode well for those who elected to reduce their fuel load to help the set up.

 

As the race restarted the crossed flags were shown with Gural, still holding the point, followed by Waddell, Chris Schild, Todd McLemore and Ian Webster rounding out the top five. McLemore got inside and past Schild on lap 51 to grab third. By lap 55 Gural had eked out a two car lead over Waddell and McLemore, who had built a gap back to Schild in fourth.

 

Lap 56 saw McLemore looking inside on Waddell, while Webster was pushing Schild for fourth. Webster finally got by a fading Schild on lap 59 and Hudak got around one lap later, with Schild slamming the door on Ryan Englehardt. McLemore was still knocking on the door of Waddell trying to get second on lap 62.

 

Ronnie New was making a late charge, trying to get the spot from Englehardt and it was three wide coming out of turn two as the duo slipped past a lap car. Hernandez spun in front of that battle on lap 64 and nipped Englehardt who spun a half lap later with a flat tire.

 

As the green came back out, McLemore had a tire go flat and slid high. As he limped to the pits, Jamie Fuller clipped McLemore’s rearend, with several cars spinning to avoid both. When the race restarted, Gural quickly got a five car length lead over the four car pack of Waddell, Webster, Hudak and New. Brune and Pollard both were finally making their way up the front, after starting in the back, closing on that pack with 15 to go.

 

Gural had another close call on lap 90, when Stewart spun in between turns 3-4, and rolled backwards down the track in front of the lead group. Brune pitted from sixth under the caution. On the restart, Webster got loose and was tagged by Hudak, causing the field to accordian with Pollard getting dumped in the stack up.

 

The final yellow flew shortly after the restart when Snokhaus spun on the back stretch, with Damon Bean doing a similar synchronized spin behind him. During the yellow Hudak was forced to pit from fourth to add fuel. This set up a green, white checker finish as the race went back to green. Gural was able to hang on the final laps to become the first three time series winner in his Austin Mobile Marine/Steve Chapman Motors/TORCO Racing Oils/Gural Chassis/Chevy Monte Carlo.

 

The second race of the Triple Crown Series, The Space City 125 is scheduled for October 4th at Houston Motorsports Park. The finale of Texas Super Racing Series points and Triple Crown will be held at San Antonio Speedway during the 7th Annual Oktober”Fast” on October 11th.

 

Position Car No. Driver Laps

1 9 Tommy Gural / Elgin, 101 laps

2 28 Leland Waddell / Austin, 101 laps

3 13 Ian Webster / Spring, 101 laps

4 1 Ronny New / Austin, 101 laps

5 17 Jeff Pollard / Houston, 101 laps

6 77 Charles Buxton / Round Rock, 101 laps

7 29 Don Fowler / Rockwall, 101 laps

8 27 Michael Jones / Austin, 101 laps

9 40 Richard Norman /Fort Worth, 101 laps

10 03 David Snokhous / Round Rock, 101 laps

11 50 Mike Yale / Houston, 101 laps

12 98 Robert Elizondo / Corpus Christi, 101 laps

13 7 Chris Schild / Austin, 101 laps

14 04 Brad Hudak / Kingwood, 101 laps

15 18 Matt Brune / Giddings, 91 laps

16 22 Robert Stewart / Austin, 89 laps

17 3 Buck Basey/Buda, 82 laps

18 4 James Reeder / Buda, 77 laps

19 44 Damon Bean /San Antonio, 77 laps

20 5 Lloyd Alexander / San Antonio, 76 laps

21 54 Todd McLemore / Austin, 73 laps

22 48 Jamie Fuller / Converse, 73 laps

23 57 Steve Riggs / San Antonio, 67 laps

24 69 Gary Harvey / Seguin, 66 laps

25 53 Ryan Engelhardt / Lake Travis, 65 laps

26 24 John Hernandez/San Antonio, 54 laps

27 21 Richard Hearn / Elmendorf, 41 laps

28 00 Beau Bukowski / San Antonio, 40 laps

29 88 Keith Sandefur / New Braunfels, 19 laps

30 26 Toby Robertson / Midland, 19 laps

31 94 Larry Stein / Austin, 6 laps

[NickHolt]

This is a copy of an email from Mary Ann Naumann received this afternoon. It is written by J.M. Hallas and edited by "C.L"

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

First Three-Time TSRS Winner Takes First Jewel of Triple Crown Series

 

By J.M. Hallas, edited by C.L.

 

(Kyle) The Texas Super Racing Series portion of the Stock Car Spectacular was the first race of the Triple Crown Series, with anyone lucky enough to win all three races taking home numerous contingency awards.

Of the 31 Limited Late Models that timed in during qualifying, Houston's Brad Hudak (#04) set the fastest time on the 3/8 mile track in 15.604 seconds. Jeff Pollard (#17) and Matt Brune (#18) had their times erased after being DQ’ed for illegal carburetors, though Pollard said his carburetor had passed tech in the past.

An “11" was rolled on the dice to set the invert for the field, putting TSRS two-time winner Tommy Gural (#9) and Leland Waddell (#28) on the front row. On the start, Waddell got stuck in the high groove and tried to squeeze in, causing James Reeder (#4) to spin and collecting David Snokhous (#03) and Larry Stein (#94) with him. Shortly after the restart, Lloyd Alexander (#5) got into Robert Stewart (#22), causing Stewart to spin and bring out caution again on lap 14.

Once back under green, Gural was starting to get away from a smoking Beau Bukowski (#00) who was running second. Lap 28 saw the yellow fly again as Keith Sandefur (#88) and Stewart got together and spun to the infield. Just as the race restarted, Alexander lost some pieces of bodywork to slow the pace once again on lap 35.

At the green flag, racing resumed. Gural once again eased away, with 2nd-thru-12th running nose to tail in the pack. The leader survived a scare on lap 40 when John Hernandez (#24) spun in front of Gural and the other front-runners. During the caution, Bukowski was called to pits by officials to check for an oil leak. Bukowski had apparently cracked the fuel pump and was pushing oil out on the headers.

On the restart, Mike Yale (#50) and Snokhous got tangled, with Steve Riggs (#57) spinning in the back up. At this point, it was announced that the originally scheduled 125 lap event would be shortened to 100 laps, with no competition yellow. This would not bode well for those who elected to reduce their fuel load to help the set up.

As the race restarted, the crossed flags were shown with Gural, still holding the point, followed by Waddell, Chris Schild (#7), Todd McLemore (#54) and Ian Webster (#13) rounding out the top five. McLemore got inside and past Schild on lap 51 to grab third. By lap 55, Gural had eked out a two car lead over Waddell and McLemore, who had built a gap back to Schild in fourth.

Lap 56 saw McLemore looking inside on Waddell, while Webster was pushing Schild for fourth. Webster finally got by a fading Schild on lap 59 and Hudak got around one lap later, with Schild slamming the door on Ryan Englehardt (#53). McLemore was still knocking on the door of Waddell trying to get second on lap 62.

Ronnie New (#1), who entered the race as the TSRS overall points leader, was making a late charge, trying to get the spot from Englehardt and it was three wide coming out of turn two as the duo slipped past a lap car. Hernandez spun in front of that battle on lap 64 and nipped Englehardt who spun a half lap later with a flat tire.

As the green came back out, McLemore had a tire go flat and slid high. As he limped to the pits, Jamie Fuller (#48) clipped McLemore’s rear, with several cars spinning to avoid both. When the race restarted, Gural quickly got a five car-length lead over the four car pack of Waddell, Webster, Hudak and New. Brune and Pollard both were finally making their way up the front – after starting in the back – closing on that pack with 15 to go.

Gural had another close call on lap 90, when Stewart spun in between turns 3-4, and rolled backwards down the track in front of the lead group. Brune pitted from sixth under the caution. On the restart, Webster got loose and was tagged by Hudak, causing the field to accordian with Pollard getting dumped in the stack up.

The final yellow flew shortly after the restart when Snokhous spun on the back stretch, with Damon Bean (#44) doing a similar synchronized spin behind him. During the yellow, Hudak – running fourth – was forced to pit from fourth to add fuel. This set up a green/white/checkered run to the finish as the race went back to green. Gural was able to hang on the final laps to become the first three time series winner in his Austin Mobile Marine/Steve Chapman Motors/TORCO Racing Oils/Gural Chassis/Chevy Monte Carlo.

The second race of the Triple Crown Series - The Space City 125 – is scheduled for October 4th at Houston Motorsports Park. The finale of Texas Super Racing Series points and Triple Crown will be held at San Antonio Speedway during the 7th Annual Oktober”Fast” on October 11th.

 

 

Race #9- Feature Race Results, Sept. 27th @ Thunder Hill Raceway

 

Finish (Car #) Driver, Hometown, Car Laps Completed

1 (9) Tommy Gural, Elgin, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 101 laps

2 (28) Leland Waddell, Austin, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 101 laps

3 (13) Ian Webster, Spring, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 101 laps

4 (1) Ronnie New, Austin, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 101 laps

5 (17) Jeff Pollard, Houston, Pontiac Grand Prix 101 laps

6 (77) Charles Buxton, Round Rock, Pontiac Grand Prix 101 laps

7 (29) Don Fowler, Rockwall, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 101 laps

8 (27) Michael Jones, Austin, Pontiac Grand Prix 101 laps

9 (40) Richard Norman, Fort Worth, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 101 laps

10 (03) David Snokhous, Round Rock, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 101 laps

11 (50) Mike Yale, Houston, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 101 laps

12 (98) Robert Elizondo, Corpus Christi, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 101 laps

13 (7) Chris Schild, Austin, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 101 laps

14 (04) Brad Hudak, Kingwood, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 101 laps

15 (18) Matt Brune, Giddings, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 91 laps

16 (22) Robert Stewart, Austin, Chevrolet Camaro 89 laps

17 (3) Buck Basey, Buda, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 82 laps

18 (4) James Reeder, Buda, Chevrolet Camaro 77 laps

19 (44) Damon Bean, San Antonio, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 77 laps

20 (5) Lloyd Alexander, San Antonio, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 76 laps

21 (54) Todd McLemore, Austin, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 73 laps

22 (48) Jamie Fuller, San Antonio, Pontiac Grand Prix 73 laps

23 (57) Steve Riggs, San Antonio, Chevrolet Coupe 67 laps

24 (69) Gary Harvey, Seguin, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 66 laps

25 (53) Ryan Engelhardt, Lake Travis, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 65 laps

26 (24) John Hernandez, San Antonio, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 54 laps

27 (21) Richard Hearn, Elmendorf, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 41 laps

28 (00) Beau Bukowski, San Antonio, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 40 laps

29 (88) Keith Sandefur, New Braunfels, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 19 laps

30 (26) Toby Robertson, Midland, Chevrolet Monte Carlo 19 laps

31 (94) Larry Stein, Austin, Pontiac Grand Prix 6 laps

 

Notes: This Tommy Gural’s third victory of the season, all of them coming at THR (the other two came on 5/30/03 and 6/21/03)…Brad Hudak was the fastest qualifier (15.604 seconds; track record belongs to Hudak, 15.483 on 5/30/03); Gural was put on the pole when the “dice roll” came up with a total of “11”…Gural led the race, green flag to checkered flag…The series’ next race comes up this Saturday at the Space City 125 at Houston Motorsports Park. The TSRS will then hold its last race of the season Oct. 11 at the October”Fast” at San Antonio Speedway.