CARUFEL TO TAKE BEST SHOT SAUGUS DRIVER NEEDS BIG FINISH TO CLAIM TITLE.Byline: TIM TIM Timothy TIM Technical Interchange Meeting TIM Transient Intermodulation Distortion TIM Time Is Money TIM The Invisible Man (movie) TIM Telecom Italia Mobile (Italian cellular provider) HADDOCK Auto Racing The next two weeks might be the longest two weeks in the auto-racing career of Roger Carufel. The Saugus driver of the No. 25 Pacific National Group entry has to wait until Sept. 15 for his regular-season-ending showdown with Dean Kuhn of Oceanside in the NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. Grand American For sports car racing association formed in 1999, see . Grand American was a NASCAR sanctioned series of pony car stock cars. The series ran from 1968 until 1971. The series was sometimes called the Baby Grand series. Modified division at Irwindale Speedway Irwindale Speedway is a motorsports facility located in Irwindale, California. It features banked, paved 1/2 and 1/3 mile oval tracks. It is mainly used for USAC sprint car and regional NASCAR races. . Carufel is coming off his second win of the season, recorded last Saturday night at the half-mile oval in Irwindale, and cut into Kuhn's lead in the Grand Am standings. Carufel trails Kuhn by 12 points and needs to finish seven places ahead of Kuhn in the final race to claim the championship. Though it's an outside shot, Carufel said he is going to do his best to win the Sept. 15 race and let fate decide the rest. ``I said I was going to take it one race at a time,'' Carufel said. ``I've gotten one out of the three.'' The third race to which Carufel is referring is the Sept. 29 Grand Am 50, a nonpoints race to end the Grand Am season. Carufel was able to take advantage of Kuhn's bad fortune last Saturday. Kuhn blew a motor in the afternoon practice and had to use a borrowed car for the race. He started last in the field and moved as high as third before dropping back to fourth to finish the race. Carufel, on the other hand, had a strong entry that won the trophy dash before dominating in the main event. Asked if he thought his car was good enough to beat Kuhn's regardless of Kuhn's mechanical problems, Carufel said, ``I think I could have beat him.'' ``We were running 18.50s all throughout the race. Yeah, I think I could've beat him.'' Carufel doesn't plan on being completely idle over the next two weeks. He will be making maintenance adjustments to his car and will be working the pits for Scott Davidson's Ultra Wheels Super Trucks team, which is running tonight at Irwindale Speedway. The NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series also will be racing tonight at Irwindale in the Food 4 Less 150. ``I'll be in the pits,'' Carufel said. ``I'll do tires or whatever I can. And I'll have my nose in some of the Southwest Tour people's pits.'' --Southwest Series notes: Some familiar drivers will be competing for a spot in tonight's NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series Food 4 Less 150. Bob Lyon Bob Lyon, an American politician, is a former Kansas State Senator from the city of Winchester. A civil engineer, Lyon is a graduate of the University of Virginia and George Washington University. of Agua Dulce Agua Dulce is Spanish for "sweet water". It also refers to various locations: In Mexico:
Frank Maronski Jr. of Quartz Hill, who won a 100-lap Southwest Series race at Irwindale Speedway in 1999, is entered. Former Saugus Speedway stars Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills and Keith Spangler of Chatsworth also are entered. Ben Walker of Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, , one of the top Southwest Series rookies who finished second in his last visit to Irwindale, and Greg Pursley of Canyon Country, who has won his share of Southwest Series races over the years, round out the list of locals in tonight's race. Gates open at 4 p.m. Racing starts at 7. Craig Raudman Craig Raudman, born August 6, 1961 in Redding, California, is a former NASCAR driver. He only competed in one Busch Series event. It came in 2002, when he ran the event at Las Vegas for Jay Robinson Racing. Raudman started 42nd and managed his way to 32nd by day's end. leads the series and holds a 113-point edge over Auggie Vidovich Jr. M.K. Kanke of Frazier Park, winner of this year's previous two Southwest Series races at Irwindale Speedway, is not expected to be racing tonight. He broke his leg while competing at Sears Point Sears Point is a prominent landform jutting into the historic reaches of San Pablo Bay in Sonoma County, California, USA. This hill is the southernmost peak of the Sonoma Mountains and forms the southwestern ridge above Tolay Lake. Raceway in Sonoma in July and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. At the time of his accident, Kanke was leading the series and had four wins. --Winston West notes: Saugus High graduate Sean Woodside, driver of the No. 45 Walker Racing Chevy, has a chance to match a series record tonight in the Bank One 250 at Rocky Mountain Raceways in Salt Lake City. Woodside can match a series mark of four consecutive poles if he can set the fast time tonight. Jim Insolo and Ron Eaton are the only two other Winston West drivers in the modern era to win four poles in a row. Insolo did it in 1978 and Eaton matched it in 1982. Woodside, the 1999 Winston West champion, is fifth in Winston West points and holds the Rocky Mountain Raceways qualifying track record, set in 1999. He clocked a lap at 88.699 mph on the .375-mile paved oval. Defending series champion Brendan Gaughan Brendan Gaughan (born July 10, 1975 in Los Angeles, California) is a truck racer from Las Vegas, Nevada. Gaughan is the grandson of Vegas gaming pioneer Jackie Gaughan and son of Michael Gaughan, a hotel and casino magnate. of Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. leads the Winston West Series and has four wins. He holds a 32-point edge over rookie Mark Reed Mark Reed may refer to:
Former Winston West champ Bill Sedgwick of Acton is 10th in points. --CART Series notes: CART FedEx Series driver Bryan Herta Bryan Herta (b. May 23 1970, Warren, Michigan) is an American race car driver. He currently drives for Andretti Green Racing, which is co-owned by former CART and IRL driver Michael Andretti, in the ALMS, although his career has primarily been spent in open-wheel cars of Valencia will be making his sixth career start in the Molson Indy Vancouver Molson Indy Vancouver was an annual Champ Car race near B.C. Place in the streets of Vancouver, British Columbia held in July or August from 1990 to 2004. In 1990, the first race took place on the original circuit, was won by AL Unser Jr. on Sunday. But the driver of the No. 77 Forsythe Championship Racing Forsythe Championship Racing is a racing team in the Champ Car World Series owned by Gerald Forsythe. Team History The team first operated as Forsythe Racing from 1983 to 1985 with moderate success, most notably with rookie driver Teo Fabi who won four races in 1983, and Ford has to be feeling lucky to be driving at all after a harrowing collision at Road America Road America is a road course located in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the Champ Car, SCCA, American Le Mans, ASRA and AMA Superbike series. in Elkhart Lake, Wis., two weeks ago. Rookie driver Max Wilson Max Wilson, (born August 22, 1972 in Hamburg, Germany), is a racing driver of Brazilian parentage. He started his motor racing career in 1985 in go-karts. His tenacious racing style led him to move into single-seaters in 1993, when he was offered a ride in the Brazilian almost decapitated de·cap·i·tate tr.v. de·cap·i·tat·ed, de·cap·i·tat·ing, de·cap·i·tates To cut off the head of; behead. [Late Latin d Herta as the drivers prepared to restart the Motorola 220 after a rain storm left a treacherous gully flowing through a part of the track. Herta survived without a scratch, but the same couldn't be said for his car. Now Herta is focusing on Vancouver, a tight track which lends itself to pit strategy and qualifying. ``This will be my sixth time racing at Vancouver and it has always been a great event for me,'' said Herta, a Hart High graduate. ``It is a fun place to go racing and I am definitely looking forward to it. It is a tough place to pass so like all street courses, qualifying and pit strategy will play a huge role in the outcome of the race.'' NASCAR Winston West Series Bank One 250 Site: Salt Lake City, Utah For ships of the United States Navy of the same name, see . Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake, or its initials, S.L.C. Schedule: Today, race (7:30 p.m.) Track: Rocky Mountain Raceways (.375-mile paved oval) Race distance: 250 laps, 93.75 miles Posted awards: $118,528 Last race: Defending series champion Brendan Gaughan, driver of the No. 15 NAPA Chevy, won his fourth race of the season and took over the series points lead at Irwindale Speedway on July 21. It was his sixth Winston West win of his career, tying him with former Saugus Speedway champion Ron Hornaday Jr., Doug George and Harry Jefferson for most career victories. Saugus High graduate Sean Woodside won his third consecutive pole and the 11th of his Winston West career. Last year: Gaughan won the pole, but Bobby Dotter took the lead on the first lap. Dotter and Gaughan swapped places in front for most of the race, with Austin Cameron poking in for a time at the halfway point of the race. Cameron ran into trouble when he hit a lapped car and fell out of contention, leaving Gaughan and Dotter to battle. Dotter took the lead for good on lap 166 and held on for the final 84 to win the race. Featherlite Southwest Series Food 4 Less 150 Site: Irwindale Schedule: Tonight, race (8:30 p.m.) Track: Irwindale Speedway (Half-mile paved oval) Race distance: 150 laps, 75 miles Posted awards: $40,700 Last race at Irwindale: John Baker won the pole, but Marc Groskreutz took the lead early and held it for the first 25 laps of the June 9 event. Rookie Ben Walker of Santa Clarita took over the lead on lap 26, but a hard-charging M.K. Kanke pressured Walker and the rest of the field for the rest of the night. Kanke took over the lead for good on lap 116 and held on to win his fourth race of the season. Walker had his best finish of the year in second. Greg Pursley of Canyon Country was fourth and Saugus High graduate Sean Woodside was 10th. CART Molson Indy Site: Vancouver, British Columbia Schedule: Today, qualifying, 4 p.m. (ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network 2, Sunday, 10 p.m., tape); Sunday, race (ESPN2, 3 p.m.) Track: Concord Pacific Place Street Circuit (temporary road course, 1.781 miles, 12 turns) Race distance: 160.29 miles, 90 laps Last race: Bruno Junqueira gave car owner Chip Ganassi his first victory of the season, taking advantage of a collision by former teammates Michael Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi to win the chaotic Motorola 220 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Junqueira became the ninth different winner in 14 races this season. Last year: Paul Tracy won with Team Kool Green teammate Dario Franchitti finishing second. Fast facts: This is the 11th year of the race, but just the third with this track setup. ... Mauricio Gugelmin earned his only CART win at the 1997 race. ... No driver has led every lap of the race. Next race: German 500, Sept. 15, Lausitz On the net: www.cart.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- 2) Troy Cline of Santa Clarita will compete in the Winston West Series' Bank One 250 in Salt Lake City on Sunday. Box: Schedule (see text) |
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