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Lubbock, TX.....June 6-7.......Nationally
known Kansas racer Garry Lee Maier and series point leader Mike Martin from
Yuma, AZ shared the honors as the new USAC Southwest Sprint Car series made
their furthest trip east for two nights of racing in the Lubbock area. On Friday
night at Lubbock Motor Speedway, Maier grabbed the lead from fast timer Derek
Drown from Amarillo on lap 28 and won the 30 lap feature in front of Las Cruces
NM star Rick Ziehl and Brandon Lane. Martin settled for a 10th place run on
Friday night, but timed in sixth quick on Saturday at nearby Tech Motor Speedway
and paced all 30 laps from his pole start to win. Robert Hall Jr and Matt Rossi
made it an all Arizona sweep of the podium. The honors were spread around with
Ronnie Clark the only driver to combine top six runs on both nights.
There were 19 cars on Friday
night and Drown paced time trials on the 1/3 mile clay oval with his 15.26
qualifying run. Hall ripped off a 15.70 and Maier was third with his 15.85 run.
Martin was the final 15 second car at 15.96 and Rossi ran a 16.02. Ziehl was
only 10th quick, but he won the first heat ahead of Beau Binder and Drown. Rossi
beat female star Kaylene Verville and Bruce St James in heat 2. Maier won heat 3
ahead of local favorite Edward Munoz and Leighton Crouch. Martin's 7th
place heat finish left him out of the usual USAC six car inversion for the main
event and 7th quick Brandon Lane inherited the pole. He paced the first 12 laps
before Drown took over. Drown had problems late in the race as Maier paced the
final 3 laps for the win. Ziehl ran second ahead of Lane, Shon Deskins,
Verville, Clark, Binder and Rossi.
The field was down to 16 cars for the
second night a mile away at the other Lubbock track and Verville paced time
trials with her 15.39 lap. Phoenix traveler Deskins had a 15.46 lap and Texan
Scott Pace ranked third at 15.88. Only those three were in the 15's as Martin
ranked sixth and Maier 12th. A dash was added to the format and Deskins won that
race ahead of Binder and Pace. Ziehl was only 13th quick, but won the first heat
ahead of Binder and Rossi. Drown ranked 11th in time trials, but captured heat 2
with Deskins and Clark in the 2-3 slots. Maier did win heat 3 ahead of Lane and
Martin. With his 6th quick time, Martin was on the pole for the 30 lap feature
and he was never headed as Hall worked his way forward to finish 2nd ahead of
Rossi, Clark, Binder, Drown, David Burns and Maier. Martin came out of the Texas
weekend with a six point lead over Clark and just 10 in front of Verville as
they travel next to Show Low AZ on July 5. Lane and Ziehl are tied for fourth
place in points, just 13 behind the point leader.
Summary
Friday
Fast Time-Derek Drown 15.26
Heat 1-Rick Ziehl, Beau Binder, Drown, Brandon Lane, Pete Zeidl.
Heat 2-Matt Rossi, Kaylene Verville, Bruce St James, Robert Hall Jr, David
Burns.
Heat 3-Garry Lee Maier, Edward Munoz, Leighton Crouch, Shon Deskins, Gary Appel.
Main-Maier, Ziehl, Lane, Deskins, Verville, Ronnie Clark, Binder, Rossi, Hall,
Mike Martin, St James, Burns, Crouch, Drown, Munoz, Appel, Zeidl, Larry Jones,
Scott Pace.
Saturday
Fast Time-Verville 15.39
Dash-Deskins, Binder, Pace.
Heat 1-Ziehl, Binder, Rossi, Verville, St James.
Heat 2-Drown, Deskins, Clark, Hall, Burns. Heat 3-Maier, Lane, Martin, Appel,
Pace.
Main-Martin, Hall, Rossi, Clark, Binder, Drown, Burns, Maier, Lane, Ziehl, St
James, Deskins, Verville, Appel, Crouch, Pace.
*eot
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