NickHolt Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 Anytime you bring 31 Late Models together in one place, the level of competition has to be very high. And thats exactly what it was Saturday (and Sunday) at Sandia Motor Speedway. Six different western states were represented, with drivers from California and now Nebraska adding to the already diverse mix of drivers in the USLMA. Heat race action was intense, as in heat #1, championship contender, Jim Sikes Jr, was involved in an altercation with local hot shoe, JR Fanelli. Sikes was placed to the rear of the pack, while JR ran away with the checkers. In heat #2, Terry Bowen got away with the early lead, while points leader John Webb wowed the crowd by putting on a three-wide driving clinic, pushing his #87 RanderCar Monte Carlo in between the cars of James Southerland and Robbie McCabe. Webb prevailed and took over 2nd but it was short-lived as his chief rival for the 2004 USLMA Championship, Mike Hathaway made his way to Webb's bumper, finally passing him on the last lap by a few feet. In heat #3, Jeff Larsen Jr. must have attended John Webb's racing clinic, as Larsen also went 3-wide to command the lead. But Nebraska new-comer Trent Phillips wanted the top spot and the two put on a great show before Phillips went on to take the checkers. B-Main action was all about Jim Sikes. Sikes cruised to the win, but Ron O'Neil looked to have something for Sikes about halfway thru, but some late cautions allowed Sikes to pull away. As the A-main was staging, the skies opened up, forcing the delay of the final event of the night. So the crews went to the hotels to return on Sunday for the conclusion of the 1st annual Mayors Cup. On a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon, the racing was clean, efficient, and very fun to watch! John Webb took the early lead from his 3rd starting spot followed by Bob Howard, and Mike Hathaway. Hathaway took a few laps to get around Howard, and he grabbed 2nd. Webb and Hathaway pulled away from the pack early, but veteran racer Terry Bowen was working his way to the front and by halfway, had taken the 2nd position from Hathaway. As Bowen went to work on the leader, Mick Jepson had closed in on Hathaway and was marching his way to the front. A few laps later and Jepson had dispatched Bowen back to 3rd, and was hounding Webb for the lead. And with just a handful of laps left, Jepson finally wrestled inside of Webb, and drove away for his first win of the season to grab the Mayors Cup trophy in his McCabe Racing Engines equipped Monte Carlo. John Webb was 2nd, and Terry Bowen rounded out the top-three. The 2004 Championship is still very tight, as John Webb gained one point on the 2003 Champ, Mike Hathaway. Jim Sikes Jr. lost some ground to both leaders with his heat race mishap, but is still within striking distance. Scott Blevins worked his way back into the top ten as Darrel Stutzman missed the event, dropping Stutzman to 10th. US Late Model Spcl - Heat 3 Pos Driver (Car) 1 Trent Phillips (94) 2 Jeff Larsen-Jr. (81) 3 Les Wilson (47) 4 Bob Howard (89) 5 Mick Jepsen-M (7) 6 Calvin Wilson (32) 7 Jimmy Dick (05) 8 Kenny Backstrand-Jr (24) 9 Robert Turano (52) 10 Deral Meek-Sr. (17) DNF US Late Model Spcl - Heat 2 Pos Driver (Car) 1 Terry Bowen (10) 2 Mike Hathaway (27) 3 John Webb (87) 4 James Southerland (07) 5 Robbie McCabe (15) 6 Scott Blevins (41) 7 Ron Oneil (64) 8 Robert Schorr (96) 9 James Long (5) 10 Brandon Schilling (01) US Late Model Spcl - Heat 1 Pos Driver (Car) 1 JR Fanelli (2) 2 Larry Hunter (8) 3 Mike Day (9) 4 Doug Adams (18) 5 David Cartee (123) 6 Jaimie Dick (04) 7 Jim Sikes-Jr (83) 8 Clifford Waid (30) 9 Mike Andrews (58) 10 Steve Caravajol (61) 11 Karl Bennett (21) US Late Model Spcl - A Main Pos Driver (Car) 1 Mick Jepsen-M (7) 2 John Webb (87) 3 Terry Bowen (10) 4 Mike Hathaway (27) 5 Les Wilson (47) 6 Jim Sikes-Jr (83) 7 JR Fanelli (2) 8 Ron Oneil (64) 9 Mike Day (9) 10 Calvin Wilson (32) 11 Doug Adams (18) 12 Scott Blevins (41) 13 Deral Meek-Sr. (17) 14 Robbie McCabe (15) 15 Trent Phillips (94) 16 Robert Schorr (96) 17 Clifford Waid (30) 18 Robert Turano (52) 19 Mike Andrews (58) 20 Jaimie Dick (04) 21 Jeff Larsen-Jr. (81) DNF 22 Jimmy Dick (05) DNF 23 Bob Howard (89) DNF 24 Larry Hunter (8) DNF US Late Model Spcl - B Main Pos Driver (Car) 1 Jim Sikes-Jr (83) 2 Ron Oneil (64) 3 Robert Schorr (96) 4 Jimmy Dick (05) 5 Mike Andrews (58) 6 Deral Meek-Sr. (17) 7 Clifford Waid (30) 8 Robert Turano (52) 9 Steve Caravajol (61) 10 Karl Bennett (21) 11 James Long (5) DNF 12 Brandon Schilling (01) DNF 13 Kenny Backstrand-Jr (24) DNS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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