BAKERSFIELD, California -- For the past two weeks, things have started out handsomely for Burney Lamar, but the final results have been just the opposite. With three races to go in the 2004 season for the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division - Southwest Series, the 24 year old W. Sacramento driver had a good shot at the Series championship as he was third in the point standings. After Sunday's event at Tucson Raceway Park, he's still third, but hopes for the number one spot are now gone.
A week ago at Mesa Marin Raceway (CA) Raceway, Burney qualified tenth. A ten car invert put him on the pole, and he led 107 out of the first 111 laps. Then an oil line blew. He finished 24th. Sunday at Tucson, he won his fourth Bud pole of the season. An eight car invert started him eighth, and on lap 49 he took the lead. "It happened pretty quick", said Lamar. "I was racing with second, and suddenly another car was there and racing with me, and we got together. He hit me in the left rear near the bumper and spun me out. I spun down towards the bottom of the track and lit up the tires and blistered the right rear". Recovering in ninth place, Lamar never was able to move towards the front. "At the end of the race, the right rear was gone", he said. He finished 13th.
The final Series race will be at Phoenix International Raceway on November 4th. "We've run good at PIR in the past and we'll be giving it all we have to win the race. If we can't win the championship, all there is left is to win races, and that's what we'll be going for". If, as he has done in the past, he should win the Bud pole at PIR, it would be his fifth of the year, and give him his second Series Bud Pole Award for winning the most poles in a season.
For more on Burney Lamar, visit his website at www.burneylamar.com
