Jimmy Mars looked to have the Wednesday night edition of Tucson International Raceway's Late Model Winter Xtreme well in hand until he got caught in lapped traffic and was passed by Will Vaught with just two laps remaining. Mars had started the 30-lap main event on the front row next to Iowa upstart Justin Kay with Mars jumping out to a solid early lead. Bill Moyer settled into second and took up chase as two of the most successful drivers in the winter series here in the desert over the years tried to pull away on a track that was tacky and lightning fast.
The only caution of the event waved on lap ten when Kyle Beard stopped at the exit of turn four and the field lined up with the leader Mars out front and the rest of the field paired up behind him. Moyer and Will Vaught occupied that first double row and on the restart Vaught hooked the cushion perfectly in turn one and took over second. It was a terrible restart for Moyer though as he drifted in turn two and faded back to sixth as the field raced down the backstretch.
Vaught could not keep pace with the leader though as Mars opened up a full straightaway lead over the next ten laps, until he caught the back of the field in Nick Bartels. Mars took a peek under the California driver, but then settled in behind him and his lead disappeared quickly as both Vaught and the now third-running Shane Clanton closed in. Vaught took a look on the outside of turn two with four laps remaining, but could not make it stick and on the following lap he tried the inside with no success. As the leaders raced into turn three, with the slower car of Bartels still in front of them, Vaught went to the high line. Mars seemed to sense that he was up there and he drifted wide coming off turn four to shut the door only to have Vaught jerk the car sideways diving for the bottom line down the front stretch. The maneuver worked to perfection as "The Thrill" took the lead and then pulled away over the final two laps to take the win. Mars held off Clanton to finish second, Terry Phillips came home fourth, Kay was fifth, Moyer took sixth, Californian Clay Daly was seventh while Tim Fuller, Tim Isenberg and Joey Moriarty completed the top five.
The win was worth $3,000 to Vaught who told pitside announcer Ben Shelton that this would make it possible for his team to get back home to Missouri after the series wraps up on Sunday. When asked about the track conditions Vaught quipped that a track like this "takes a big motor and a lotta balls" and, apparently Will Vaught had all three on this night.
Tucson Wednesday Notes.....The mid-week show played out in front of a small crowd as temperatures were in the high forties, warmer than it has been but still pretty chilly for the area......42 Late Models and 23 USRA Modifieds were in action......Kyle Beard sent Pat Doar for a spin down the fronstretch during the second heat race and Doar could not get qualified through the second B-Main......Vaught looked to have the fourth heat race well in hand only to have Tim Isenberg make a run at him on the final lap. Vaught won by inches and would have started the main further back than fourth had it gone the other way.....Steve Isenberg and Rick Shafer nailed the backstretch wall on the opening lap of the fifth heat ending the night for both of them.....Steve Drake was running in the second and final transfer position in the first B-Main before coasting to a halt mid-race. Fellow Californian John Lowery capitalized on Drake's misfortune and transferred to the main behind Morgan Bagley.....Sunday's winner Chris Simpson won the second B-Main but then told Shelton that he would only take a couple of laps in the feature due to track conditions.....In the 25-lap Modified feature Rodney Sanders slipped by Michael Maggard on lap twelve and went on to win his third straight here in Tucson. Maggard finished second, Moriarty was third in double-duty, Aaron Turnbull was fourth and Jake O'Neal took fifth......Sanders was also scheduled to drive Jason Krohn's Late Model tonight, but they scratched before the heat races......It was no surprise to me when I heard the voices of Ed and Linda Reichert and I enjoyed sitting with the fans from Wisconsin who travel far and wide to enjoy their favorite sport. Ed pens a column for both All The Dirt and Hawkeye Racing News.
TIR is a first class facility and I look forward to seeing what different track conditions on Friday night will do for the racing action.
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