BLISS' TRUCK IS FASTEST IN NO FEAR CHALLENGE.Byline: Bill Schlotter Daily News Staff Writer They weren't quite as bold about predicting victory as say Babe Ruth calling his shot. But the Ultra Wheels Racing Craftsman Truck Series team and driver Mike Bliss Mike Bliss (born April 5, 1965, in Milwaukie, Oregon) is a NASCAR driver. He races the #16 Xpress Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado for Xpress Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series and the #49 Dodge Charger for BAM Racing in the NEXTEL Cup series.. He began racing at age 10. felt all week that the No Fear Challenge 200 at the California Speedway The California Speedway is a two-mile, low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, similar to that of "sister track" Michigan International Speedway. It is located approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill. was theirs for the taking. And they didn't mind saying so. Bliss made good on the promise Saturday, keeping his untouchable untouchable Former classification of various low-status persons and those outside the Hindu caste system in Indian society. The term Dalit is now used for such people (in preference to Mohandas K. Ford F-150 well out front for all but seven of the race's 100 laps en route to his first series victory of the year. Meanwhile the rest of the 36-truck field was left to squabble squab·ble intr.v. squab·bled, squab·bling, squab·bles To engage in a disagreeable argument, usually over a trivial matter; wrangle. See Synonyms at argue. n. A noisy quarrel, usually about a trivial matter. over the scraps. ``I knew after about 10 laps that nobody was going to beat the No. 2 truck,'' said third-place finisher Kenny Irwin. ``I could draft with him, but I couldn't catch him.'' Runner-up Mike Wallace Mike Wallace may refer to:
``They were just in a different zip code zip code System of postal-zone codes (zip stands for “zone improvement plan”) introduced in the U.S. in 1963 to improve mail delivery and exploit electronic reading and sorting capabilities. than we were,'' Wallace said. And when the victory was in hand, Bliss and his team - owned by veteran Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, desert racer and truck-series originator Jim Smith There are several famous people with the name Jim Smith, including:
tr.v. o·ver·joyed, o·ver·joy·ing, o·ver·joys To fill with joy; delight. o to win one for the boss. ``Before the race (Smith) came to us and said, `This is my home track: I want to start on the pole, I want to win and I want to dominate,' '' Bliss said. His team gave him all of that. Bliss started the race on the pole after topping the field with a 173.198 mph lap during qualifying on Friday. He gave up the lead briefly to season points leader Jack Sprague in Saturday's opening laps. And later, Ernie Irvan - taking advantage of a Winston Cup off-week to drive in the truck series - led a few laps while Bliss was in the pits. But for most of the race, Bliss was a blur at the front of the pack. ``This thing was just a rocket all day,'' Bliss said. The best shot at beating Bliss came with seven laps left, when the race resumed after a three-lap yellow flag. But Bliss refused to let anyone get the jump on him as green flag came down. ``I really wasn't worried,'' he said. ``We were just so good on the restarts, I figured we could run away from it.'' San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. product Ron Hornaday Jr., the defending Craftsman Truck Series champ, was one of several drivers to run second to Bliss on Saturday. Getting that far was a remarkable effort for Hornaday, considering he started 25th. ``I looked in the mirror and thought, `Wow, Ron's really having a run,' '' Bliss said. But before Bliss could appreciated the accomplishment, Hornaday had faded to ninth. ``The Chevy's aren't the most aerodynamic things out there,'' Hornaday said. ``Once I got up there, nobody would work with me. I got caught out of the draft.'' Hornaday finished ninth and remains fifth in the season points race. Hard racing led to some scrapes and bumps between Irwin and Irvan down the final straightaway straight·a·way adj. 1. Extending in a straight line or course without a curve or turn. 2. Unhesitating; immediate: a straightaway denial. n. , where Irwin prevailed to take third to Irvan's fourth. After the race, Irvan was seen heatedly blistering Irwin with a tirade. Neither driver was specific about what was said. ``I'm just not real happy with Kenny Irwin,'' said Irvan, who will be replaced by the younger racer as driver in the Robert Yates race team's Winston Cup car next season. Irwin said the bumps were just the result of hard racing. ``Where I've been racing, you race for position,'' Irwin said. ``Whatever you have to do - short of hitting someone - is fair. He was just very upset - I guess because he wanted to be third.'' Cup runneth dry: Winston Cup drivers in Saturday's race met with mixed results. After trading paint with Irwin, Irvan finished fourth. Michael Waltrip was seventh, Kyle Petty 11th and Robby Gordon 30th. More Cup: Winston Cup drivers will also have a presence in today's (1 p.m.) Busch Grand National Home and Car Audio 300 at California Speedway. Rusty Wallace, Bobby and Terry Labonte, Dick Trickle and Michael Waltrip will all drive. Steve Park, third in this season's points race, won the pole position Friday with a 173.741 mph lap. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion