Colorado's own Scott Gaylord (No. 00 Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet) won the coveted pole position at Thunder Hill Raceway in Kyle, Texas, last Saturday, qualifying with a blazing 89.274 mph. This pole award marks Scott's fifth career Bud Pole Award.
He finished the race in third place at the hotly contest battle as the series staged its first race in Texas on the Central Texas 3/8-mile paved oval. The race featured typical short track action with plenty of bumping and banging. The whole weekend was marked by a festive mood and a capacity crowd of enthusiastic fans. They enjoyed a variety of musical performances, capped off by the popular group Little Texas, who sang the National Anthem prior to the start of the Grand National Race.
Scott Gaylord led for the first third of the race, fending off multiple challenges from Mike Duncan, Steve Portenga and Scott Lynch. Lynch bumped his way by Gaylord for the lead on lap 69. That bump caused suspension damage to the Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminar Chevrolet, causing it to fall back a bit. Ultimately, the race featured six lead changes among four drivers.
"It was great to win the Bud Pole Award again," Gaylord said. "Our Oliver Gravity Separators/ Denver Seminary Chevrolet team's season-long hard work has really paid off. We've moved up to seventh place in the drivers championship points standings for the year, moving up from a frustrating 20th place at one point in the season. Having experienced a season full of bad luck, seventh place is quite an accomplishment. Now we're looking forward to our final race of the season at Mesa Marin."
The NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series will wrap up the 2005 season
with the Ford Motorcraft Parts 150 presented by 3M at Mesa Marin Raceway in
Bakersfield, Calif., on Oct. 15. The event, part of the annual October
Classic, will mark the final event at the high-banked half-mile facility
before it is razed for development.
