ROSEVILLE, CA -- Sean Woodside, driver of the #16 NAPA Auto Parts/Martin Senour Automotive Finishes/NAPA Filters/California Integrated Waste Management Recycled Oil Program Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the NASCAR Winston West Series, was dismayed, to say the least, after he hit the wall in turn two during the second round of practice last Saturday, badly damaging his team's primary race car.

Up until that moment, the team had posted the fastest practice times and thought they had a winning car for Sunday's King Soopers 150 NASCAR Winston West Series race. Now, they just hoped to make a reasonable showing in their only option, the show car, which was by then on display in the NAPA hospitality tent.

With just over an hour until qualifying was scheduled to begin, it was clear that quick work would be required to put Woodside back on the track in time to take his qualifying lap. The #16 team flew into action. They retrieved the show car from the NAPA hospitality tent and ran it through inspection. The show car was the team's superspeedway car, and was not set up for short track racing. The team pulled parts from the damaged primary car and matched their practice setup as closely as possible, then turned the car over to Woodside.

Amazingly, Woodside turned in the second fastest qualifying time at 27.002 seconds, giving him the outside pole starting position.

Woodside said "The team's ability to pull the car together enough and in time for me to qualify for a front row starting position showcases their technical capabilities and ability to pull together as a team. I was confident going into the race that we still had a chance to win."

In fact, by the race's end, Woodside had led the most laps, and had run in the top five for nearly the entire race. Fading tires cut into Woodside's ability to maintain his lead toward the end of the race, and Mike Wallace passed him with twenty-nine laps remaining. Austin Cameron managed to duck by with three to go, and Woodside finished the race in third place, his second top five and fourth top ten for the season.

"We just began running out of rubber," Woodside commented after the race. "The tires that were on the car when I crashed during practice were flat-spotted, and that left us a little short of tires for the race."

Teams are allowed four sets of tires, which are expected to last through practice, qualifying and the race itself. Tires are critical to speed, and losing an entire set puts the team at a definite disadvantage.

All things considered, and much to the delight of NAPA, the team's primary sponsor, Woodside and his team did well. The damaged primary car was taken to the NAPA hospitality tent, and was the subject of much conversation among the NAPA Mountain Division, NAPA's many manufacturers, the NAPA distribution center employees, store owners and customers who attended Sunday's race. NAPA was title sponsor for this weekend's companion event to the NASCAR Winston West Series race, the NAPA 300K NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.

The King Soopers 150 Presented by American Express will be televised on ESPN2 tape delayed on June 12 at 10:00 p.m. PDT.

Bill McAnally Racing (BMR) owns and operates the #16 NASCAR Winston West team with Sean Woodside as driver. They are currently in second place in the points standings. Current season results include one win, two top five and four top ten finishes. Woodside finished both the 1997 and 1998 seasons in second place in the Winston West points standings.

Source: Bill McAnally Racing
Posted: 5/19/99