WOODSIDE NEARS SOUTHWEST LEAD.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Auto Racing

NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series driver Sean Woodside of Saugus inched a little closer to the points lead after the Firecracker 150 at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield last Saturday night.

The Saugus High graduate and driver of the No. 45 Lucas Oil Chevrolet was headed for a top-five finish when a cut tire forced him into the pits late in the race. Woodside returned to the race, but fell back to 13th when the checkered flag dropped.

Despite the disappointing finish, Woodside was able to finish three spots ahead of series points leader, Eddy McKean, and trim his lead to 19 points.

``It was good to be able to make some progress toward the top, even if we couldn't bring home a win,'' Woodside said. ``The team lost no time changing the flat tire. A good, quick pit stop gave us what we needed to get back out onto the track and finish ahead of our closest competition. I have to thank my crew for that.''

Doug McCoun of Prunedale won the Firecracker 150, the eighth different winner in eight races on the Southwest Series this season.

Frank Maronski Jr. of Quartz Hill was third; M.K. Kanke of Frazier Park was ninth; Bob Lyon of Acton was 16th; and Rod Johnson of Canyon Country was 27th.

The next race on the Southwest Series is July 20 at Altamont Raceway Park in Tracy.

--American Le Mans Series: Valencia's Bryan Herta driving with Panoz Motor Sports teammate Bill Auberlen, finished fourth in Sunday's American Le Mans Series race at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

Panoz had two entries in the Mid Ohio race. The other Panoz team of David Brabham and Jan Magnussen was third, its second podium finish in a row.

Herta and Auberlen finished 40.23 seconds off the pace of race winners Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro from the Audi team.

``Like the other car, the balance in the race wasn't as good as we would have liked but we pressed on and came with a good handful of points,'' Auberlen said. ``We have certainly closed the gap to Audi this weekend and it was good to have both cars finish in the lead lap after two hours and 45 minutes.''

The Panoz team of Brabham and Magnussen had a better shot at winning the race, but handling problems and slow traffic created problems.

``We pushed as hard as we can and I actually was in front of Pirro after the last safety car period, but I got held up by a slower car and he got by me,'' Magnussen said. ``Audi remains very strong, but we just have to keeping pushing as hard as we can. With a bit of luck (Sunday) we could have been second and third or better but we gave it our best shot.''

The American Le Mans Series will be making two debuts Sunday. The first will be the first visit of the series to Elkhart Lake, Wis., for the Road America 500. The second will be the first time CBS will televise an American Le Mans Series race.

CBS will have two hours of race coverage of the Road America 500, starting at 1 p.m.

--NASCAR Winston West Series: Greg Pursley of Santa Clarita was 15th in the Coors Light 200 at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., last Saturday.

The rookie driver of the No. 77 Ford Taurus fell three points behind Mike David of Modesto in the rookie points race.

David finished fifth at Evergreen Speedway.

Eric Norris won his second race of the season and third of his Winston West career. Mike Duncan of Lamont, whose crew chief is two-time Winston West champion Bill Sedgwick of Acton, was third.

The next race on the Winston West Series is the JaniKing 200 at Irwindale Speedway on July 27.