BAKERSFIELD, California -- After the first three races of the 2004 AutoZone Southwest Series season, the Jim Pettit Racing/ HotWood 03 Ford is setting a blistering pace. Jim Pettit II extended his points lead over 2002 champion Eddie McKean to 30 points after his 2nd place finish in the Star Nursery 150 at Mesa Marin Speedway. This finish marked the 3rd straight top 3 finish to start the young 2004 season.
The day started early on Sunday for the teams entering the pit area at 6:00AM. The Jim Pettit Racing /HotWood 03 Ford rolled out of the hauler fast with lap times in the top 10 during the first practice. But, the team was not satisfied. They brought the car in nine different times to make changes before the one-hour practice session was over. The car registered 7th quick by the end of the first practice but the work was not done. Crew Chief, Duane Sharp, drew on his years of experience to make a last minute change to the car that he knew might hurt the qualifying effort a little but would pay off later for the show. Regardless, the 03 qualified 8th fast and after a 10 car invert started in the 3rd position.
Pettit started off the race in 3rd but quickly got past the #62 of Eric Holmes and was working rookie Rip Michaels in the #12 before the first caution of many flew on Lap 9. On Lap 13 the action got started once again and Pettit worked high and low to take the lead on Lap 18. Burney Lamar quickly came through the field and was running in 2nd until he lost a motor on Lap 26. The caution came out again on Lap 28 when the #7 and the #37 got into each other going into Turn 1. Restarting on Lap 35, the #03 was followed by Gilliland in the #88 and the #34 of McCoun. Before the caution flag flew on Lap 51, Vidovich was able to get past the #88. Pettit lead Vidovich until Lap 81 when going into Turn 3, Vidovich got loose under Pettit and forced the #03 high into the wall. In the fiasco Gilliland and Raudman were able to get by putting the #03 in the 3rd position. Pettit ran 3rd until Lap 105 when the lapped car of Greg Voight got into the leader and brought out the caution. The race restarted on Lap 119 with the #2 of Raudman leading the way. Pettit worked hard to try to get by Raudman but the high groove was working for both drivers and there was no clean way around him. Several more cautions flew over the last 30 laps but the running order at the front did not change. Craig Raudman crossed the line victorious with the current points leader Pettit on his bumper. Pettit had mixed emotions after the race about the incident with Vidovich but finishing 2nd in this highly competitive series is always a good thing.
Jim Pettit Racing thanks California HotWood for their support of the #03 team. California HotWood, the largest manufacturer of packaged firewood in the United States, offers a small clean package for the person who wants to burn natural firewood. Jim and the entire crew would like to give special thanks to LRP and DPI for their continued help and support. The next race for the Jim Pettit Racing/HotWood Ford is at the 1/3 mile El Cajon Speedway this Saturday night. Jim has run well at El Cajon and the team goes in with a tremendous amount of momentum. Catch up with Jim and the #03 team in the pits after the race.
