By Rhonda Costa-Landers
Appeal Staff Writer
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - The five Northern Nevada teams of the American Speed Association/Western States Supermodified Racing League made a trip to Salt Lake City Wednesday to race a 50-lap feature at Rocky Mountain Raceways.
There were 21 cars making the haul, with 19 of the 21 taking the starting grid for the main event.
It was a spectacular Fourth of July for the team of S&S Motorsports of Carson City. And DNA Racing of Minden didn't do too shabby, either.
But hard luck hit the No. 48 of Dale Lamborn; and it was just a so-so night for the No. 96 car owned by Courtney Lewis of Reno.
On the first lap of the main event, the No. 12 car of Jim Pasquin got loose going into turn 3, and bumped Lamborn. Pasquin then hit the accelerator, spinning his car around and causing his right rear to drive right over Lamborn's motor, causing serious damage.
"I got along side him (Pasquin) coming out of 2 and he bumped me, then started to spin," Lamborn said. "He just rode his right rear right over me and knocked off my stacks and mag.
"You win some and you lose some. This was definitely a loss."
"Earlier in the day we had motor issues," Kirk Wartman said of his car. "We got through that, then the chassis wasn't right. We started out loose then was tight at the end of the race."
On the restart, the 24x of Jimmy Waters from Salt Lake City was in the lead until Amy Barnes of Minden in the No. 67 made her way to the front on lap 4. Barnes was putting space between her and Waters until Troy Regier, driver of the No. 98 made his way around traffic, passing high and low, to take the lead from Barnes on lap 9.
The remaining 41 laps were completed at a blistering pace under the green flag. Regier, of Dinuba, Calif., found ways around slower cars by passing low, then high, then splitting cars in between.
"When I jumped in this car today it was fast," Regier said. "It's a new car and it's sensitive to changes.
"We hit a grand slam tonight. The guys did a heck of a job and it made my job easy. I like these big tracks that are wide, too."
Regier won the race with an average speed of more than 100 miles per hour on the three-eights paved oval. Finishing second was Barnes, with Jeff Russell of Boise, Idaho third, Eric Silsby of Minden fourth and Martin McKeefery of Milpitas, Calif., fifth.
"I was losing my brakes, they were getting squishy in the corners," Barnes said of the car's performance. "It was a little loose, but got better toward the end.
"You gotta do what you gotta do and everything was good. It was a great race."
Silsby said he had a good car also, and was pleased he was able to run the bottom of the track.
"I never ran the bottom here before," Silsby said. "We changed the gears, we lowered them, to get more rpms. We ran good after that."
Rounding out the field were: Bobby Dalton of San Martin, Calif., Jim Birges of Fresno, Calif., Wartman of Meridian, Idaho, driving for Lewis, Ernie Coppo of Clovis, Calif., Ira Castor of Brighton, Colo., Rich Castor of Bennett, Colo., Harold Evans of Littleton, Colo., Lonnie Adamson of Salt Lake City, Rick Cameron of Scotts Valley, Calif., Harry Stone of Broomfield, Colo., Waters, Pasquin of Salt Lake City, Lamborn, Cris Muhler of Brighton. Not starting the main event were Ricky Otts of Houston and Rick Veenstra of Emmett, Idaho.
Top-3 in heat 1 were: Regier, Adamson and Wartman. Top-3 in heat 2 were: Birges, Dalton and Waters. Top-3 in heat 3 were: Lamborn, Stone and Russell.
Top-5 fast qualifiers were: Regier, Russell, Birges, Adamson and Silsby.
Steve Shaw, co-owner of the No. 98 with Tom Silsby, added a thank you to their sponsors for the Salt Lake City race. they include: Ron Burdg and Sierra Racing Products, Donn Simons and Artistic Fence, Capital City Auto Parts (NAPA), International Cafe and Bar in Austin, Paughco, and T & D Machine.
The ASA/WSSRL will next race Aug. 10 at Spokane Raceway Park in Spokane, Wash., and Aug. 11 at Wenatchee Super Oval in Wenatchee, Wash. Spokane is a scheduled 40-lap race; Wenatchee is a 50-lap race. For information on the ASA/WSSRL visit, www.wssrl.com.