SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. -- Gary Smith left Las Vegas a winner. The Canadian competitor took home the $15,525 winner's purse from the NASCAR Winston West Series portion of the Cactus Clash at Las vegas Motor Speedway on June 7.
Smith, 28, came away victorious after waging a tight door-to-door battle with Sean Woodside and Sammy Potashnick in the late stages of the event. All three swapped the lead back and forth as they raced around the 1.5-mile speedway.
The struggle ended abruptly on lap 95 when Woodside spun the Cinema Vehicle Services/Unocal Pontiac and hit the wall in turn four, leaving the Saugus, Calif., driver to limp to a fourth-place finish. Potashnick was caught up in the action and ended up on the sidelines in 11th.
Smith, a resident of Malahat, British Columbia, had the Tootsietoy/Rabanco Chevrolet in front for the restart with one lap of racing remaining. He charged ahead and crossed the line three seconds in front of Butch Gilliland of Anaheim, Calif., in the Pro Insulation/Stroppe Motorsports Ford. Craig Rayburn, of Simi Valley, Calif., finished third in the ADL/Direct Blinds/Blachley Chevrolet, the final car on the lead lap. John Kinder of Santa Ana, Calif., was fifth in the Stardust/MultiMedia Graphics Pontiac. Rounding out the top 10 were Rich Woodland Jr., Scott Gaylord, Billy Kann, Jeff Davis and Lance Wade.
The race featured six lead changes among four drivers. There were three cautions for 21 laps, slowing the average speed to 108.086 mph.
Potashnick stole the Las Vegas spotlight early by winning the Busch Pole award with a record speed of 159.537 mph in his PTI Racing Chevrolet. It was the first Busch Pole Award and the first NASCAR Winston West Series race for the 23-year-old Sikeston, Mo., driver.
Despite his win, Smith was not able to overtake Gilliland in the championship standings, Gilliland leads with 1,013, to 1,006 for Smith. Woodside is close behind with 976, followed by Larry Gunselman with 864 and Gaylord with 847. Completing the top 10 in the standings are Bill McAnally with 789, Wayne Jacks with 787, Kevin Culver with 738, Dan Obrist with 677 and Chuck Pruett with 657.
Smith leads the Sears Point Raceway Rookie-of-the-Year Award with 47 points. He is followed by Woodside with 43, Culver with 41, Kenny Smith and Chuck Pruett both with 27 and Billy Kann with 14. Ford and Chevrolet continue to battle for the Manufacturers' championship, meanwhile. Chevrolet has 35 points and three wins. Ford has 34 points and two wins. Pontiac trails with 26 points, followed by Buick with 12 points.
The next event on the NASCAR Winston West Series schedule is the Auto Club 200 at California Speedway on June 21.
