For the second straight year, Craig Raudman staged a race long duel with Dan Holtz and Raudman won the Mechanix Wear 200 NASCAR Late Model special during the annual October Classic at Mesa Marin Raceway Sunday night. Track champion Holtz led the first 151 laps before Raudman took over. Holtz crashed into the wall on lap 191 and did not finish as Raudman wheeled his Victory Circle Chassis sponsored mount to the $3,000 win. He was quick to thank Les Denherder at Victory Circle, an engine from Billy Sanders Motorsports and loyal crewmen Tracy Norman and Dan Smith. The win came less than a day after he lost a last lap shootout with Arizona's Darrell LeMoure in the 150 lap NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series feature. Raudman is the point leader on that prestigious series and he makes only token appearances with his NASCAR Late Model. 2000 Mesa Marin champion Mike Duncan spun dueling Holtz for second on lap 186 and Brandon Whitt ended up with the $1,200 runnerup check. Irwindale Speedway Super Late Model rookie Rip Michels, a graduate of the modifieds, was a $1,125 third as Duncan settled for a $1,000 fourth. Young David Gilliland ran in the top five all day and finished fifth as only five cars remained on the lead lap after the grueling 200 lap grind. The day started with early morning practice, but nearly 500 laps of feature action saw the final checkered flag around 8:30 PM.
The late model special drew 38 entries and Holtz paced the time trial effort with a 19.225 fast time. Raudman was just a tick back at 19.267, Kevin Vernon ran a 19.353, Gilliland a 19.363, Whitt a 19.385 and young Kevin Thompson a 19.397. The fastest 21 qualifiers went straight to the 200 lap feature where they started straight up with Holtz and Raudman on the front row. Kevin Small crashed hard into the front fence in time trials and his day was over. They were joined by 6 transfers from a 30 lap B Main and Irwindale champion Sean Woodside was added as a promoters' option after he hit the front wall on his qualifying run. Cajon Speedway's Danny Gay won the 30 lap B Main over James Roland, Jeremy Salamacha and Pahrump, NV's Jim Wulfenstein as Stephan Sadler and Jeff Latimer rounded out the six transfers. Nevada's David Quartaro coated the track with oil as he blew and both Latimer and double division racer Rick Grissom spun in the oil with just five laps to run.
The 200 lapper saw Holtz race into the lead over Raudman, Vernon, Gilliland and Thompson. The day was over for Nevada veteran Wayne Jacks as he crashed on lap 5. Salamacha was done on lap 11 and Rod Johnson crashed on lap 24, joining Lance Wilson on the sidelines. By the 30 lap mark, Holtz led Raudman, Vernon, Gilliland and Jason Small, but Small was out by lap 35. Whitt gained the fifth place spot. Previous week Irwindale special winner Greg Voigt was done by lap 41. While dueling for 9th, Thompson and Tommy Fry crashed badly damaging both mounts on lap 47. When the field got the green flag to resume on lap 52, Raudman got out of shape and was rear-ended by Vernon. Vernon lost three laps making repairs in the pits. This moved Gilliland into third over Whitt and Michels, but Michels slipped high on lap 60 and lost fifth to Sammy Potashnick. Duncan raced into fifth on lap 64. Woodside was done on lap 80 and Raudman just missed clipping the turn 2 fence when he again got out of shape on lap 93. Gilliland did take over second in the incident. Just before the five minute midrace work break, Roland broke and he fell off the lead lap. The first 100 lap segment ended with Holtz leading Gilliland, Raudman, Whitt, Duncan, Potashnick, John Tyczki Jr, Terry Henry and Ron Overman. Henry did not return to start the second segment Raudman continued to try and make the inside groove work in his duel with Holtz and Gilliland for the top 2 spots. When Fry and Overman tangled for a lap 110 yellow, Duncan pitted for two new tires as each team was only allowed to change two tires at the midway break. Ray Hooper Jr lost several laps with a pit stop. Raudman got underneath Gilliland and pushed him high in turn 4 on lap 121 to take over second. Raudman pulled alongside leader Holtz several times, but could never make the move work to get him a nose ahead. Rex Calderwood was out on lap 140 and Duncan worked his way back to fifth. Riding on the newer rubber, Duncan took fourth from Whitt and third from Gilliland in short order as he ranked third on lap 146. Raudman made another inside run at leader Holtz and this time it stuck as Holtz slipped a little high in turn 4 on lap 152. Once in front, Raudman stretched his advantage over Holtz. Gilliland slapped the front wall on lap 165, falling back behind fifth place Potashnick. Tyczki spun for a lap 173 yellow flag. Potashnick blew his rear end on lap 183 with Michels moving into fifth. Duncan briefly nosed ahead of Holtz at the start-finish line on lap 185 to take over second. Duncan spun wildily in turn 2 on lap 186, falling back to fifth. Holtz' great day ended as he crashed into the turn 2 fence running 2nd on lap 191. Duncan was able to get back by Gilliland to gain fourth behind winner Raudman, Whitt and Michels. Gilliland settled for fifth with Gay, Nathan Wulff, Tyczki and Roland in the top 9. Despite losing those three laps early, Vernon ran 10th.
Summary Fast Time-Dan Holtz 19.225 B Main-Danny Gay, James Roland, Jeremy Salamacha, Jim Wulfenstein, Stephan Sadler, Jeff Latimer, Lloyd Mack, Darren Michaels, Rick Grissom, Leslie Lipscomb, Eric Middleton, Bob Newberry. A Main-Craig Raudman, Brandon Whitt, Rip Michels, Mike Duncan, David Gilliland, Gay, Nathan Wulff, John Tyczki Jr, Roland, Kevin Vernon, Ron Overman, Ray Hooper Jr, Sadler, Wulfenstein, Latimer, Holtz, Sammy Potashnick, Rex Calderwood, Tommy Fry, Terry Henry, Sean Woodside, Kevin Thompson, Greg Voigt, Jason Small, Rod Johnson, Lance Wilson, Salamacha, Wayne Jacks.
