Thirty four cars signed in for a windy night of racing in celebration of Cinco De Mayo.
As five (cinco) was the theme for the evening, all races were staged in multiples of five. The NASCAR Late Models were again led by Past Champion, "Stormin" Ron Norman. The NASCAR Late Model Trophy Dash was five cars for five laps and Rookie sensation Mat Williams took his first 2007 Dash with ease. The first heat race of the night was all Wes Fry in the Legends class. The TRP Modifieds were again slim and Chris Stress won another one. The NASCAR Mini Stocks were led to the finish by returning David Bosley from Sierra Vista driving the Flash Automotive #22 Mercur. The two NASCAR Factory Stock heats were all Tom Mikla in heat one and Casey Rohrer in heat two. The new Bomber Lite division saw a great five lap heat won by Karl Griggs.
After a short intermission to clean up the track, the INEX Legend main event rolled onto the raceway with Fry starting in the rear and leading by the end of lap one. The race would end with Fry over Suave Brachowski and Cassie Gannis. The TRP Modifieds were next up with a fifteen lap main event that was won by late arriving Pat Bush over Stress and Harrington. The NASCAR Mini Stock main event was led by Tammy Lynn through the halfway mark when Bosley took over. Lynn kept the pressure on until the end to finish just a couple of feet behind Bosley with Becky Harrington a distant third in her ailing Pick up truck. The NASCAR Factory Stocks main was all "Lightning McQueen" aka Tom Mikla in the beautiful and fast number 95 Camaro. Ray Johnson would keep the pressure on to the finish and Casey Rohrer would recover from a spin to finish second over Johnson. The NASCAR Late Model fifty five lap main event was sure to be exciting with Mike Donoho in the potent number 5 on the pole with Rick Butler alongside and Norman starting in eighth. By lap three Norman had worked the bottom to perfection to take the lead. Over the first thirty five laps it was Norman, Paladenic and Egurola out front with fourth through tenth being a battle of the rookies swapping positions lap after lap. By lap fifty it was obvious that Paladenic was saving his best for last and on lap fifty two Paladenic took the lead from Norman on the bottom which he held until turn three of the last lap. With inches separating the two veterans it was Norman at the line in a photo finish over Paladenic, followed by the night's Trophy Dash winner, Williams.
The first official Bomber Lite fifteen lap main event was next up and Karl Griggs dominated the field with his impressive driving on Tucson Raceway Park's new 3/16 mile combo oval (half dirt, half pavement). Young Wesley Witz would garner second over veteran George Milburg.
Dan Ruth
Tucson Raceway Park
