San Antonio Speedway August 21 Race Recap

[GoGirl]

It was Craftsman night at San Antonio Speedway this past Saturday night. Mark Mathias, Tater Mason, Jason Smith and Ann Freudiger each won their feature event and proved they had all the "right tools" to get the job done.

 

ONE...TWO...THREE STRIKES YOU'RE OUT. Wait a minute...this is racing, not baseball AND thank goodness for that because it took 4 tries to get the Road Runner feature event underway. The only two cars eliminated from competition due to those early yellow flags were Ken Jones and Irish O'Leary III. Randy Frautschi and Irish O'Leary sat on the front row followed by Jason Kelly, Ann Freudiger, Michael Odom and Roy Bernal. As the green flag waved, the top three starters entered Turn 1 side by side. Jason Kelly emerged with the lead. Little did he know that in just a few laps, trouble would be right around the corner. As he attempted to put a lap on Freudiger, the two touched. This put the heavy-hitters, Mark Mathias and Greg Rohmer, into the #1 and #2 positions on Lap 7. As the laps wound down, Mathias had all the bases covered and took the win. Rohmer finished second followed by Kelly, Bernal and O'Leary.

 

Seventeen Sportsman racers thundered onto the track for their feature event. On Lap 1, Justin Oates and Garfield Shanklin made slight contact which sent Shanklin, Steven Ramzinski and David Schooman spinning out. As the field re-grouped, it was Charlie Earnhardt sharing the front row with Craig Crawley followed by Tater Mason, Eric Knudtson, Marcus Bellino and Jamie Evans. Earnhardt jumped into the lead for a short time before being overpowered by Mason and Bellino. On Lap 4, there was a huge pile-up coming off Turn 2 involving Robert Mayberry, Shanklin, Evans, Keith Garrett, Dwayne Markgraf and Ramzinski. Markgraf and Ramzinski hit the pits for repairs. The other four drivers didn't fare as well, their damage was too severe to continue. On the restart, Mason was leading with Bellino, Earnhardt, Knudtson and Crawley lined up right behind him. On Lap 6, Mr. Come From the Back of the Pack (Oates) had already grabbed the third position. At the halfway marker, there was yet another massive melee between Turns 3 and 4. Caught up in this incident were Crawley, Ramzinski, Earnhardt, Schooman, Frank Johnson, Tom Casey and Nathan Davis. Earnhardt, Schooman, Davis and Johnson were knocked out of contention. When green flag racing resumed, the top spot was being hotly contested between Mason, Bellino and Oates. Lap after lap, Bellino found Mason's back bumper simply irresistable, right up until he experienced motor problems. Mason's racing was magnificent, as he was able to hold off the hard-charging Oates. Knudtson, Casey and Ramzinski filled out the top five positions.

 

Making their grand entrance onto the track were the lightning fast Late Models. Talk about a tight race in the points battle. Going into this event - Jason Smith, Danny Garcia, Larry Bendele, Jesse Salazar and James Cole were separated by a mere 9 points. It's getting down to crunch time.....Robert Barker was on the pole followed by Mike Balzer, Salazar, Cole, Garcia and Smith. When the flagman displayed the green flag, Barker leaped into the lead. Cole and Smith were stout and by Lap 13 raced into the 2nd and 3rd positions. Garcia's hopes of holding on to the points' lead went up in smoke when his engine expired. During this red flag, Cole, Balzer, Jim Creech and Mark Ackerman pitted. Smith, Bendele, Wesley McGuffin and Salazar all had their eyes peeled on Barker's back bumper for the restart. Smith zoomed by Barker for the lead coming off Turn 2. That's when things got wild and woolly. Barker and Bendele tangled on the backstretch, leaving everyone else scrambling for an escape route. Unfortunately, McGuffin didn't find one. Cole pitted again with a brake problem. When racing resumed, Smith was still showing the way. With four laps remaining, the yellow flag came out for debris on the track. Tucked tightly on Smith's bumper were Salazar, Barker, Cole and Balzer. Cole jetted past Barker and Salazar, but was unable to land in victory lane. It was Smith in his #28 fast Ford taking his first 2004 feature win. Barker finished third followed by Salazar and Balzer. Cole's great finish moved him into the 2nd position in points, just 13 points behind Smith.

 

In other racing action, Ann Freudiger rolled to victory over Missy Jones in the Women on Wheels feature event.

[LEGACY]

Exellent,good to see you back!

Lloyd

[REBELRACER]

dwayne markgraf wasn't involved in that wreck on the backstretch..............the reason he was in the pits was due to an oil pressure problem which ended the night early...........the damage to the car was from a wreck in practice that ripped the right front suspension off...........thanks again to rohmer racing and everyone else that helped us get back on the track for the feature