DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- Jim Pettit II from Prunedale, Calif. used his vast experience at Madera (CA) Speedway to capture his second career victory Saturday night in NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series competition. Pettit started in the 8th position and waged a fierce mid-race battle with Craig Raudman to win over David Gilliland, with Bob Lyon, Danny Burson, and Burney Lamar rounding out the top five finishers in the AutoZone “125” presented by Star Nursery.Com.
Craig Raudman of Bakersfield, Calif. topped the speed charts in qualifying to claim his 26th career Bud Pole Award. Raudman needs only one more Bud Pole Award to tie long-time series veteran M.K. Kanke for the most career awards (27). Raudman’s teammate Burney Lamar, also of Bakersfield clocked in with the second quick time, with Pettit, Joe Herold, and Nick Joanides rounding out the top five qualifiers.
With 31 drivers taking time, 11 were relegated to a 15-lap non-qualifiers race with the top two finishers transferring to the 125-lap feature. Ben Walker and Autometer Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Rip Michels made the transfer sending Todd Burns, Tracy Bolin, Jeff Seifert, John Moore, Richard Johnson, Nick Lynch, John Luecht, Mike Price, and Stand Silva Jr. home early.
Darrell LaMoure of Phoenix, Ariz. started the 125-lap race on the pole after Raudman drew a 10-car invert. Danny Burson started on the outside front row with Raudman and Lamar having to take the green from the fifth row.
LaMoure got the early jump on Burson and set the pace over the first 17 laps. Rip Michels was the first car to suffer mechanical woes and exited the event with transmission problems on lap 15. Burson challenged LaMoure for the lead and took the point on lap 18.
The First of three cautions flew after Travis Bennett and Doug McCoun made contact in turn one sending Bennett spinning into the racing groove. The field restarted on lap 51 with Burson holing the point over Jeff Belletto, Raudman, Pettit, and Lyon. LaMoure dropped back to sixth, with David Gilliland moving up from his 15th starting position in seventh. M.K. Kanke, Lamar, and Nick Joanides rounding out the top ten in the running order.
By lap 60, 2002 Southwest Series champion Eddy McKean had moved his Pontiac into the top ten when he passed McCoun for tenth. Burson then built a lead of 10-car lengths on second place Raudman by the lap 75 mark. With Burson checked out, Pettit and Raudman put on a show for the fans racing side-by-side and wheel-to-wheel for more than 40 laps with Pettit finally taking the second spot on lap 85.
Pettit then closed the gap on Burson and took the top spot on lap 93. Kanke’s time at the front came to an end on lap 95 for a broken right front a-arm. The second caution flew on lap 102 for Greg Voigt as he spun in the middle of the lead causing Raudman to stop to avoid contact. Raudman finally rejoined the running order after loosing four spots dropping the former series champion back to 7th.
Pettit led the field to green on lap 110, but the action slowed just four laps later when LaMoure looped his Chevrolet in turn. The final caution set up a six lap shoot between Pettit, Gilliland, Lyon, Burson, and Lamar. McKean got underneath Lamar on the restart and looked to take the fifth spot but was unable to hold the position. Pettit maintained his advantage on Gilliland over the final three laps to win for the second time in his career in front of his enthusiastic fans. Gilliland finished second in his new ride, with series “Iron man” Bob Lyon third. Burson, who led 75 laps, finished fourth, and area favorite Lamar rounded out the top five finishers.
McKean led the second group of five, with Raudman, Eric Holmes, Todd Souza, and Belletto rounding out the top ten in race number two of the 14 race championship series.
Pettit knew fortune smiled on his team as he discovered a broken rocker arm in practice earlier in the day and was able to affect repairs before qualifying. “This win was big for our team,” Pettit said. “We really don’t have a sponsor, but we have everything else in place. To win at Madera is special as we had won a ton of races in my Late Model days. Duane and the whole crew made this win possible and it was a lot of fun racing the guys tonight.”
Charging to the front from his 15th starting position was second generation driver David Gilliland from Riverside, Calif. Gilliland is in his second race for his new team and delivered a spectacular finish. “This race was a lot of fun,” Gilliland said. “Everybody put on a good show and raced each other real clean. I have a great team and this is just the start of things to come.”
Claiming his best finish in nearly two years, Bob Lyon from Aqua Dulce, Calif. finished third. ”After not racing much the past two seasons, this was a lot of fun,” Lyon said. “I love this place and we had a great set up. I think the fans saw what makes the Southwest Series great!”
The race took just 38 minutes and 53 seconds to complete at an average speed of 64.294 mph. The action was slowed three times for 21 laps with 20 cars running at the end. Pettit’s margin of victory over Gilliland was a mere .188 seconds. Raudman won his first $350 Bud Pole Award of the season with a quick lap of 14.717 seconds/81.457 mph. Gilliland collected the $750 Powerade Power Move-of-the-Race Award for improving the most positions in the event (15th – 2nd). Danny Burson collected the $300 Featherlite Award for improving the most positions from the previous event, and Rip Michels was the top finishing Autometer Rookie-of-the-Race.
There were two lead changed among three drivers with Burson leading the most laps (75). With Pettit’s victory, he took over the top spot in the point standings with McKean dropping to second. Lamar, Raudman, and Holmes complete the top five in the standings after two events. Lyon, Dan Holtz, Todd Souza, Gilliland, and Ben Walker round out the top ten.
The next event for the AutoZone Southwest Series is Sunday, March 28 at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif. for the running of the Star Nursery.Com “150”. The event weekend will kick off Friday, March 26 with MMR’s annual Downtown Street Festival where more than 25,000 fans are expected. The event features drivers and teams from the NASCAR Grand National West Series and AutoZone Southwest Series, along with live entertainment and food.
For more information regarding the AutoZone Southwest Series please log onto www.nascartouring.com .
