FONTANA, California -- It was a race in which fans spent little or no time at all sitting in the seats they paid for. It was a race where fans repeatedly jumped up and down while excitedly pointing at the action on the track. It was a race where the fans yelled so loud they felt a throbing pain in their throats. It was the NASCAR Grand National Division, Autozone, West Series at the California Speedway and the September 1st Relocate Here 200 was one of the finest West Series races we've seen in quite some time.
The Relocate Here 200, 100 laps around the California Speedway's two mile oval, ended with a green-white-checker finish and concluded with a daring move by Mike Duncan, on the white flag lap, that saw him go from third to first in the final moments of the race.
The West Series adopted a new policy this year that calls for all race restarts to be done in a two by two line up. That policy loomed large in the final outcome of this race. With seven laps to go Peyton Sellers held what appeared to be an insurmountable half a straightaway lead. But this was a race where those who led a lengthy ammount of laps were not going to be rewarded. Seller's luck ran out, on lap 93, when a right front tire went down and his Napa Chevrolet slammed hard into the turn three wall. Sellers led roughly one fourth of this race before harsh luck ended his night.
That set up the final two by two shootout. New race leader Brett Thompson and Eric Holmes were on the front row while Mike Duncan and Jim Inglebright lined up behind them. With one and a half laps left, Duncan made a magnificent move to the extreme low side of turn two. He passed both cars in the front row and then did a magnificent slide job, going into turn three, to secure the position and the win.
One circuit later, Inglebright made a similiar move coming off of turn two to take over second. Holmes and Nick Lynch finished third and fourth. Thompson slapped the wall on the final lap but managed to recover to complete the top five.
After parking his Lucas Oil Chevrolet in victory lane the Bakersfield driver, and two time series champion, celebrated his first win of the 2006 season and said "we had a great strategy with putting on new tires late in the race and man that car came on. It was a lot of fun to drive that aggressive late in the race. I know it was exciting up there, (in the grandstands), but believe me it was twice as exciting from where I was sitting."
While Duncan celebrated a most impressive win, there were many other drivers in the garage area who had to deal with the agony of harsh racing luck. Chief among them was Auggie Vidovich who completely dominated the first half of the race in his Against Graffiti/Denbeste Ford. The Lakeside, California driver, now a regular in the NASCAR Busch Series, had a very busy day at the California Speedway. He began the day with two practice sessions in the West Series car. By late afternoon he was driving in a Busch Series practice session. Early evening saw Vidovich qualifying the West Series car and winning the pole position.
Under the lights of the California Speedway, Vidovich led the 32 starters under the initial green flag and just ran away from the field. By lap 40 he held a huge 14 second lead. But the prospect of a wonderful evening unravelled on the 41st lap. While racing down the backstretch, the Dodge of Chris Bristol spun out. Vidovich moved up high to the wall to avoid him but, unfortunately,. Bristol's car slid back up the track and rammed race leader's car just behind the left front tire. The melee ended the seemingly dominant race for Vidovich.
You also had to feel sorry for series veteran Tim Woods III whose evening ended on lap seven in a ball of flames. Going into turn two, his Chino Hills Ford Taurus appeared to have blown a tire. The car went up the track and slammed hard into the wall. The impact ruptured the oil line and the car burst into flames. The flames came precariously close to the driver inside of the car and Woods had to make quick work of freeing himself from his safety gear to make his escape. The driver was uninjured but the engine compartment of his Ford sustained major damage.
The Relocate Here 200 was hampered by seven caution flags due to everything from savage wrecks, spin outs, oil on the track from blown engines and debris on the track. But the absolute worst of the incidents came on lap 71 when officials had to stop the race with a red flag.
Going down the backstretch the cars driven by Rogelio Lopez and Johnny Borneman made contact. The Lopez Lucas Oil/Telmex Chevrolet hit the wall, literally flew up into the air and then landed on its roof. After sliding down the backstretch upside down, the car rolled over onto its wheels. The Mexico City driver was uninjured and it was a true testament to the NASCAR mandated safety equipment.
You also had to feel sorry for Todd Souza who moved up to the Grand National Division West Series after a stint in the Elite Diviison Southwest Series. On the last quarter lap of the race, Souza received some contact and slammed hard into the frontstretch wall. The impact sent him sliding through the track's grassy area. With all four tires flat as pancakes, and the front of his Central Coast Manufacturing Chevrolet heavily damaged, Souza gunned the engine and, in a heavy plume of smoke, limped under the checkered flag to complete the race much to the delight of the crowd.
In addition to Mike Duncan, there was another winner during this race. It was the County of San Bernardino, California the race official sponsor. The inent, by the County Board of Supervisors, is to showcase business opportunity and entice corporations to consider moving there. From that concept came the name of the race: the Relocate Here 200.
According to a prepared statement, this is a highly unique partnership between the County and the California Speedway that provides the County a world class venue to promote business and lifestyle opportunities.
The County Board of Supervisors absolutely got a good return on their investment. The Relocate Here 200 was one of the most exciting NASCAR Autozone West Series races we've seen in many years.
