Despite some morning showers in the North Texas area, the second night of the USMTS Texas Spring Nationals came off as planned on Saturday night, March 5 and it was Kansas driver Tyler Davis that earned his first ever USMTS feature win and the ten thousand dollars that went along with that memorable win. Also taking feature wins on Saturday night were Rowdy Day(his second of the weekend), Michael Smith(also his second of the weekend when the apparent winner was disqualified) and Shelby Williams.
After the rains stopped, it was a sticky but pleasant night for racing(particularly in March) and another large crowd was on hand for the finale to this opening weekend of racing at the newly named Rocket Raceway Park(I should have asked how the name was given but I didn't) for new owners Kevin Rogers and Kevin Sustaire.
After the challenging conditions of Friday night, the Modified and Factory Stock fields were down slightly while the Limited Mods were up and the Stock Cars hung tough with the same number and one hundred and thirty nine drivers signed in to race.
The program would be the same as on Friday night in terms of qualifying for all classes with the only difference being the Modifieds would go an extra ten laps for an extra five grand while the other classes would also see a boost in pay for themselves.
It was a substantially different race track for Saturday night's finale as both Kevin S. and Todd Staley spent most of the day on the track with heavy equipment, trying to straighten out the first and second corner that was the source of most of the issues on Friday night. What they ended up with was a track that was considerably smoother, very slick and slower but still allowed much side by side racing while not tearing the guts out of so many cars.
Again it would be seven heats and three B Features that would set the field for the evening's longest race, with the Mods set to go fifty laps. And for one of the top finishers, that extra distance would be very much damaging.
Twenty seven cars would take the green flag(not quite as many provisional starters on Saturday) with Jacob Bleess and Davis on the front row. Davis would lead lap one, Bleess would steal the lead the next lap but on lap three, Davis would again regain the point and he would lead every lap after that.
While at face value that sounds both easy and boring, it really was neither. Davis had to work like heck to continue to hold that lead as he had constant challengers and generally more than one at a time. Also, there were a considerable number of yellow flags and each time that yellow bunting waved, it would set up a double file restart snapping at his heels. The track was slick and very technical and one slip up could have cost Davis the lead.
He had heavy challenges from Dereck Ramirez and Tanner Mullins and finally his most severe challenge was from Jason Hughes. Several times on yellows, Hughes would get up beside Davis and nearly get by, only to have Davis edge out front down the back chute. The last yellow set up a two lap sprint to the finish but Davis remained cool, hit his marks and held off everything that Hughes and Ramirez could throw at him.
Significantly, it was the first ever USMTS feature win for Davis and he gave much credit in victory lane to his biggest benefactor, J.R. Sartain. Folks will probably recognize Sartain as the owner of Eighty One Speedway in Park City Ks as well as the new owner of Humboldt Speedway, also in Kansas. The win also had to be a big boost for Bill's Built chassis, another Kansas product and the only Bill's Built in the field.
Jason Hughes, after a down period, looked very strong all weekend and will be a factor it appears, all year. Rodney Sanders had two steady finishes and that kind of consistent running will make him a contender for the hundred grand at the end of the season.
On the other side of things, it must have been an incredibly frustrating weekend for Ramirez. He was running good on Friday night until he spun with contact and was out of the race and then he came back with a strong effort on Saturday to finish third, only to weigh in light and loose everything. He is now twenty sixth in points after the first weekend with a big mountain to climb to pull off a repeat title.
Shelby Williams, who lives just down the road from RRP, made a nice comeback from Friday night's disappointment when he faded out of the lead to win the Stock Car feature on Saturday.
He started on the pole, led a few laps until being passed by James McMillin. However, Williams got his elbows up, made a repass on McMillin and would lead the rest of the race. It was another one of those one lap sprints after a late yellow but Williams made no mistakes as he drove on for the win. McMillin went for broke on the last lap and he spun in turn four, giving the runner up spot to J. D. Jackson.
It turned out to be a quirky Factory Stock main event with a surprise finish but not of the pleasant kind. Kyle Blanton would lead the first lap before being passed by last night's winner Michael Smith. Smith would be in front the rest of the way with Rodney White challenging him very closely. White had been the leader on Friday night until his car broke so he was looking for redemption.
However, Smith would lead up until the final lap when yet again, a yellow would set up a one lap sprint to the finish. White would get a great restart and it appeared that he had stolen the win away from Smith on the final lap. However, word filtered down that White had been DQ'd for a technical issue and Smith would end up getting the win over Tyler Killingsworth and Chad Abernathy. It was frustrating indeed for White who had two features taken away when both appeared to be his.
The Limited Mods wrapped up the night with a spirited feature race and once again, in a close finish, it was the Limited Mods edging out the B Mods. Early on, it was Robert Vetter and then Kort Morgan holding the top spot.
However, Rowdy Day moved up from the second row to take the lead and he would then fight off several challenges to get the win. Four times he and John Potter would exchange the top spot but when Potter made a pass on lap sixteen to take over the lead, it seemed like Potter would hold on.
However, yet again, the yellow would fly late and bunch up the field. Day really turned on the power for that last three lap burst and he would get past Potter who was protecting the low side and then drive away for the win, sweeping the class for the weekend. Potter would settle for second with Dalton Ragsdale third.
In summation, it was a good weekend of racing. The competition was close and while I personally would have preferred to have less in the way of support classes to keep the shows a little bit shorter in length, they all did a good job of providing entertaining racing. The Modified field was a strong one and looks to remain so all season. Rocket Raceway Park is a nice place and a good one to watch races at and the new owners did a solid job for their first weekend ever. Many veteran owners would kill to get the kind of crowds they pulled in and this track, with some of the modifications that the new owners did to the corners, surface etc. have made this a very entertaining race track to be sure.
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