The entire Jim Pettit Racing team had one goal in mind going to Tucson raceway this weekend-- extending the points lead. All of the team’s perseverance paid off with Pettit winning his 4th race of 2004 in impressive style and extending his lead to 116 over Raudman.
The AutoZone Southwest series completed its 13th race of the 14-race season Sunday at Tucson Raceway in Tucson, Arizona. Twenty-four teams showed up to the make-up event on a cool and cloudy October afternoon. The teams walked through the pit gates at 8:00 Sunday morning and practice started at 9:00 am. Pettit was fast during the early part of practice, but Duane Sharpe (Crew-Chief) had a lot of different things he wanted to try to ensure the 03 was set up for the win. Using every second of the allotted one and a half hour practice time, Pettit was in and out of the pit area more than ten times. Pettit was the next to last car to qualify and was 3rd quick with a first lap time of 15.621. Burney Lamar was fast time and pulled an eight-car invert for the Star Nursery 150.
Craig Raudman and Eddie Mckean lead the 24-car field to the green flag. Pettit started outside of row three, and jostled between 5th and 6th for the first six laps. On lap 7 Pettit got around Raudman for 5th position, and he stayed there until the caution flag came out on lap 13. Under an extended caution that included a 10-minute red flag period the #29 of Nick Lynch ended his day. Danny Burson eventually made his way back on to the track to finish in 21st. Green flag action started again on lap 26, and Pettit was content to ride in the 5th position. Sharpe relayed to Pettit that the leader was not getting away, and Pettit should go easy on the car. On lap 40 Pettit used the low line to get around 2003 champion Auggie Vidovich. Riding in the 4th position, Pettit was reeling in the #1 and #62 when the two got together and Lamar went spinning to the infield of turn two. The #62 sustained heavy damage to the right front tire and would not return. Lamar would continue, but he was now in the 8th position. Pettit, who was riding behind the two, drove through the incident unscathed and took the 2nd position. The green flag came back out on lap 53, and Pettit followed Mckean as they worked out to a ten-car lead. There was a heavy battle going on behind the leaders, but up front it was a two car break away. On lap 99 the caution flag was thrown for the #28 of Thomas Martin as he spun across the start-finish line into the infield.
When the green flag was displayed on lap 103, Pettit had waited long enough. Working high and low, Pettit finally decided on the low line and completed his pass on lap 108. Pettit quickly started pulling away, and with each lap he increased his lead by one car length. The 03 held a comfortable lead until lap 139 when the #57 spun to bring out the final caution. Greg Voight was now in the 2nd position behind Pettit and would have five laps to get around the veteran when the green flag dropped on lap 145. In the end Pettit was just too good and drove away from the #9 to his 4th win of 2004. With this win, Pettit now holds a commanding 116-point lead over Raudman going into the final event at Phoenix on November the 4th.
