San Antonio Speedway

[GoGirl]

The hottest ticket in town was not to a San Antonio Spurs play-off game...it was to the Twin 50's and Texas All Star Late Model Summer Showdown this past Saturday at San Antonio Speedway (SAS).

 

The first of two 50-lap races was a Texas Super Racing Series (TSRS) points event. The SAS late models were invited to participate. During qualifying, Ervin Breiten Jr. set a new series record with a lap clocked in at a sizzling 19.824 seconds. Lady Luck was on Breiten's side when he rolled the "infamous" dice used to determine field inversion and it landed on the number one. This meant the field would start exactly like they qualified. When the green flag dropped, Breiten jumped into the lead followed by Colt James and current SAS points' leader Robert Barker. On Lap 10, the yellow flag waved when J.D. Dusek hit the wall between Turns 3 and 4. On the restart, Barker was all over James and on Lap 21, he jetted past him for the second position. Barker then turned his attention to Breiten. Three laps later, the racing action slowed when Beau Bukowski spun in Turn 4. At this point, Breiten had two problems. Number 1: Barker was right on his back bumper. Number 2: he had a right rear tire going down. When racing resumed, Barker drove to the inside of Breiten and took total command of this race. James experienced mechanical problems which put him in the pits. The final caution light lit up when Larry Bendele tried to get under Breiten for the second spot. Bendele was sent to the back of the pack. This set up a green-white-checkered flag finish. Barker easily cruised to victory followed by Breiten, Chris Schild, Lloyd Alexander and Mike Balzer.

 

The second 50-lap race was a NASCAR-sanctioned points' race for the SAS late models. The TSRS drivers were invited to join in on the fun. As an added bonus, if any driver could beat Robert Barker, he would collect the $500 "Barker Bounty." Twenty-six racers stormed onto the track for this event. Ervin Breiten Jr. paced the field to the green flag. As white lightning flashed across the sky, Breiten bolted into the lead with Barker and Joe Aramendia falling in line behind him. There was a high-voltage crash on Lap 9 when Brian Moczygemba and Mike Reininger tangled between Turns 1 and 2. As Moczygemba's racecar slid down the track, Jamie Fuller was left with nowhere to go. Both Moczygemba and Reininger were knocked out of contention. It should come as no shock that Breiten, Barker and Aramendia were running 1-2-3 at this point. After all, all three drivers know their way very well around the high-banked oval. Damon Bean encountered the Turn 4 wall on Lap 15. Just past the halfway marker, Aramendia didn't blow a fuse when he finally got past Barker for the second spot, only to be relegated back to third due to a caution flag being thrown for an incident involving James Cole. He just kept plugging away and with 14 laps remaining in the race, Aramendia retook second place from Barker. Then, he really switched into high gear and caught up to Breiten, the leader. On the final circuit, Aramendia's plan to take the lead was foiled when he clipped the lap car of Ian Webster. Aramendia hung on to finish in the runner-up position. Breiten led wire to wire and also collected the "Barker Bounty". Barker ended up in the third spot. Brandon Bendele (in Allen Alexander's car) electrified the fans with a fantastic run which took him from last to fourth. John Heil rounded out the top five finishing positions.

 

Due to inclement weather, the All Star Summer Showdown has been postponed until June 25th.

 

In the NASCAR Sportsman division, Steve Ramzinski looked to have the entire field covered until a late yellow flag flew when Greg Rohmer and Tater Mason touched in Turn 2. On the restart, a very racy Tom Casey rocketed past Ramzinski for the top spot. Casey went on to capture his first feature win of the season. Chasing him to the checkers were Ramzinski, Keith Garrett, Jamie Evans and Charles Earnhardt. Eric Knudtson experienced problems during the race which ended his night early.

 

In other racing action, Kelly Earnhardt motored to victory in the NASCAR Women On Wheels feature event. Mona Turner, Stacy Votion and Amanda White were next to cross the stripe.

 

The NASCAR Road Runners were unable to compete due to rain.

 

Congratulations to all of the winners!

[waltripracingTHR]

very nice recap almost like being there. Sounds like a great set of races last Saturday night to bad the rain came.

[SVCMNGR1]

Excellent recap as usual. Better watch out Reb!