SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., (February 18, 1998) -- Like a lot of people, Sean Woodside hopes his luck is better on his next trip to Las Vegas. But unlike so many who head to Las Vegas to try their hand at gambling, Woodside is going there for another reason. He hopes to turn his luck around when he returns to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the $170,682 Cactus Clash NASCAR Winston West Series race on Feb. 25.
The 27-year-old driver from Saugus, Calif., competed on the 1.5-mile superspeedway twice during his rookie season last year. In his first race there, he spun and hit the wall while racing for the lead with less than 10 laps to go in the event.
"I think I had a flashback that I was at Mesa Marin (Raceway) and thought I could just turn the car down real fast," Woodside jokingly said of the incident. " I kind of forgot just how fast we were going there. I made a rookie mistake. Hopefully, this year being my second year, we won't make those mistakes."
Woodside, who drives the Golden West Motorsports Pontiac owned by Ray Claridge, recalled the battle he waged with fellow rookie Gary Smith that lead to the incident. "Gary and I had a great race," Woodside said. "I haven't had that much fun on a race track in a long time. But the bad luck I usually have at Vegas bit me and we wrecked a race car."
Woodside admits that going from a short track 1/2-mile facility such as Mesa Marin Raceway where he raced in the NASCAR Winston Racing Series to a superspeedway takes some adjustment. Adapting to going that fast is a big learning curve, he said. "It's all about getting the car comfortable," Woodside explained. "It's definitely a whole different ball game than the short track program. You really don't have the margin of error on the big track that you do on the small track," he said. "If you're a tenth off on each corner it really kills you on a superspeedway. It makes you a half-second off the pole. It's definitely more critical there and the equipment has so much more to do with it than the short-track does. It makes it a team effort."
Despite his past luck at Las Vegas, Woodside is optimistic about his chances in the upcoming Cactus Clash. "I love the facility there. We went up there and tested and did pretty well," Woodside said. "I think we should be in the running as a top-five car."
A good finish will help put the Golden West Motorsports team in a position to make a run for the championship, he said. "Jeff Schrader is the crew chief that we won all three races with last year. The team is strong. That makes it much easier to stay consistent."
The Cactus Clash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the second of 14 events on the NASCAR Winston West Series schedule for 1998. In addition to Woodside, other competitors expected to enter the event include defending series champion Butch Gilliland of Anaheim, Calif.; Gary Collins and Kevin Harvick, both of Bakesfield, Calif.; Bill McAnally of Elverta, Calif.; Kevin Culver of Portland, Ore.; Scott Gaylord of Lakewood, Colo.; Wayne Jacks of Las Vegas; and Gary Smith of Malahat, British Columbia.
The race will feature a strong field of talented rookie drivers in the series. They include two-time NASCAR REB-CO Northwest Tour Champion Kelly Tanner of Woodinville, Wash.; Jerry Cain of Canyon Country, Calif.; Craig Raudman of Redding, Calif.; Kevin Richards of Spokane, Wash.; Sammy Potashnick of Sikeston, Mo.; Ron Burns of Phoenix, Ariz.; Eric Norris of Dallas, Texas; Craig Rayburn of Simi Valley, Calif.; Tony Toste of Pismo Beach, Calif.; Brandon Ash of Umpqua, Ore.; Bo Lemler of Chula Vista, Calif.; Darrel Krentz of Sparks, Nev.; and Bruce Bechtel of Corona, Calif.
